Page 80 of Reaper's Quest

I hadno idea how long I’d slept. I opened my heavy eyes to a blurry vision of Winter and Camilla, their arms waving in wild gestures, and Camilla’s face flushed. My gut suggested they bickered because of me, and I knew I should care on some level, but…

I closed my eyes. Fell asleep again.

At some point later, I awoke to an empty room, but I couldn’t hold my eyes open and slept more.

Tripped headfirst into a tangled nightmare.

I stood in the upper hallway of Aoes’s pub, just outside the open door to Aldine’s room. My elder lay on his bed, and someone tall and laden in a heavy cloak hovered in the dark shadows beside the bed.

“Aldine,” I called out. “Who do you have visiting?”

Aldine’s head swiveled to meet my gaze, his face white, his mouth and eyes wide. He appeared to choke on his words…on his breath.

“Aldine?” Panic spiked my tone.

I lurched for the doorway. Whatever currently transpired, I needed to put a stop to it. I needed to help Aldine. Ease his suffering, make him better.

Before I could bound into the room and take on the role of hero and friend, the overbearing cloaked figure moved from Aldine’s bedside to the doorway, preventing my entrance.

He bent his head toward mine. The shadows of his cloak hid his features in a well of undiluted night. I wanted to look away, yet I couldn’t force myself to do so.

The darkness upon which I stared pulled and tugged at my reaper soul like a portal. Whatever dwelled within theshadowed hood was tasting me—devouring me—bit by tiny bit.

He hissed and pressed closer. “You cannot stop that which is written. This reaper’s time will soon come. And when I am done with him…I shall return for you, Raven of the Gunn family.”

I tried to back away, but I couldn’t. Couldn’t move.

Aldine made a strangled sound, and the cloaked figure returned to the elder’s bedside once more. The change happened as quick as a blink.

I sucked in a breath, understanding flooding me from the top of my head all the way to the tips of my toes.

Aldine’s body began to convulse, the bedsprings squeaking beneath the thrashing.

I wanted to dash to his side, but my feet refused to move, so I did the only thing I could do. I screamed his name.

The…the thing…in the overly large cloak raised one pointed finger to the space where his lips should have been.

Silence, he told me, without uttering a word.

“Are you the Killian?” I asked.

I sensed rather than saw the cloaked figure’s reaction. I discerned no eyes, and yet I felt his gaze snap on me, harsh and intense.

The world around me crashed with the thunder of a collapsing cathedral. Everything about me hurt, and I couldn’t breathe. Darkness fell over me, all around me.

Swept inside of me.

I jerked with a heavy gasp,sucking air deep into my lungs. Fighting for light, I opened my eyes to find myself someplace…someplace….

What is this place? Where am I?

My heart hammered in my chest. I tried to sit and…ouch…collapsed flat.

The memory of what had transpired crept back into place.

Winter had taken me to his friend’s home. A woman named Camilla.

My chest heaved with relief. The experience—Aldine’s suffering death—had been nothing more than a nightmare.