Page 100 of Souls We Rip

Undrea hit our doors with the first snow. The large snowflakes fell fast, the snow layer making it harder for my horse to gallop.

Ana insisted on collecting the ninth soul on the first day of winter. A symbol of some sort. Therefore, she glided her fingers on her Mirror for the perfect soul. Once she found it, she ran outside, where Eugen and I were trying to build snowmen. If only the horse wouldn’t eat their heads.

“Shoo, horsey!” Eugen yelled, with his cheeks already pink.

“Let him be,” I said, gesturing around us, “there’s plenty of snow, and we can try again.”

I was already walking towards a new spot when Ana came to me. My eyes tracked the stomping of the woman who captured my mind, and my lips spread into a smile.

“I found him,” she announced, her gaze travelling to Eugen, who was collecting some branches meant to be the hands of the snowmen army.

“Where?” I asked, catching her waist.

Her hands flew to my neck, pulling me closer to her. As soon as our lips met, my pulse quickened, as it did every time I held Ana in my arms.

Only if the child wasn’t watching with disgust. “You two, please!”

Laughing, Ana broke the kiss and extracted her hands. “Săpânța, Maramureș,” she breathed, her eyes staying on my lips.

“Do you want to travel alone?” I asked, preparing one large ball of snow for the base of a snowman.

She pondered for a bit until Eugen was out of earshot. “Yes,” she stated, placing her hands in the apron’s pockets. “I would like that.”

I nodded, watching the child. “So be it. When do you leave?”

“This afternoon.”

I turned to her. She kept her eyes closed to hide her true feelings. My Ana by no means would speak so lightly about taking a soul. “Is something the matter?”

She shook her head, but the tremor in her hands told me otherwise. I let her be. I didn’t want to pressure her into giving me information that she didn’t want to share.

“Alright then,” I said, kissing her cheek.

“Tiberius.” Her voice shook, and it broke my soul. “We will be fine, right?” She swallowed, tears forming in her eyes. My hands grabbed her waist and gathered her to my chest.

“We will be more than fine. One more soul and we will take down the Elk,” I whispered in her midnight hair. My hands tightened around her because there were no words of comfort when the threat of dying was around us.

“Where are you going, Mr Goat Man?”

Whirling around from my dresser, my eyes fell on the boy munching on some jumări. My stomach recoiled immediately.

“You should eat some bread with those,” I suggested, picking up my cloak.

“It’s not done baking yet… but these are warm and freshly cut. Want some?” the child asked, coming inside the chamber. He stretched his hand and offered me a piece.

It was the time of the Ignat. When everybody cut their pigs and prepared the meat for the winter. Andrei made no exception, following each tradition even in death. I had no idea where he procured our meat from; he had his ways.

“No,” I shook my head and draped the cloak over my shoulders.

“Are you going after Ana?” Eugen asked, popping another piece in his mouth, the crunch of the fat making me jump.

“Yes, I am. Why?” I arched one eyebrow at him.

“Don’t you want her to deal alone with her ripping?”

I wanted that. But her demeanour from early morning placed many doubts in my head. As if something ominous was brewing. My hands stilled on my scythe.

“I want to come too.”