by Liz Long
“Oh good, I love riddles.”
“Humans,” Alistair sniffed, “with your sarcasm and disrespect. What a worthless race.”
My hands clenched into fists by my sides at his arrogance. “You don’t even know me. I’m helping souls just like you.”
“You are nothing like me,” he said, nostrils flaring. “I am a superior being in every way.”
“You really have a complex, don’t you?”
Alistair glared at me. “I think it’s time you met my demon. Maybe then you’ll be speechless. Moloch, I summon you!”
A growl emitted from the far tunnel on my left. Too dark to see, I only heard scrapes and scratches against the stone before the demon made itself known. The bulky shadow loomed in the doorway, entering before he did. Then the rest of him followed.
I didn’t dare let Alistair know it, but Moloch’s monstrous appearance actually did shock me. It was like a dinosaur demon from hell. Seven feet tall and covered in black and green scales, his highlighter yellow eyes bulged out of his head; he held up his hands, talon-like claws on the ends. It snarled and I saw rows of razor sharp teeth.
“Older, meaner frat brother?” I asked Brady, keeping my tone light, as though I were asking about a lunch menu.
Brady’s eyes narrowed but stayed on the reptilian demon. His fingers flexed by his sides. “Alistair, why is he here?”
Alistair sounded bored. “For the souls.”
Brady paled, his hands forming into fists by his sides. “You never said anything about a demon consuming souls. I help you get Reapers, you give me the power I need. That was the deal.”
Alistair stopped in his tracks to give Brady wide eyes. Anyone with half a brain could hear his blatant lie. “Your spell summoned him, witch. Do you or do you not want the power you were promised? Dark magic has its price.”
Brady’s upper lip curled. “I might’ve reconsidered the deal if I’d known you’d bring in a demon. Reapers are bad enough.”
I didn’t miss the split-second glare in my direction and I flipped him the bird. My eyes didn’t leave Moloch as his attention wavered between Alistair and the now panicking souls. With nowhere to go, they huddled together. Moloch’s lizard tongue flicked in and out of his gnarly mouth, perhaps his way of licking his chops in anticipation.
Despite the poor lighting, my eyes made out a dark shape sneaking up one of the room’s tunnel entrances. Red hair flashed in the yellow glare. My mentor had come for me. Hope dared to blossom and I kept my attention on Alistair.
He extinguished it in an instant.
“I knew you would come, Tully,” Alistair said, calling out to the shadows. His eyes never left mine and despair swept through me, a cold wind of fear up my spine. “You’re too human not to try and save her.”
Tully dashed all my hopes when he came out of the shadows. Brady’s muscles flexed, taut at the tension.
“I did not come because of her,” Tully said, never looking away from Alistair. “I came because what you are doing is wrong.”
Alistair sneered. “You underestimate me.”
“Why are you doing this?” Tully asked.
“Never you mind,” Alistair said. He waved Tully off, sneering at me. “Demon, prepare to kill the girl.”
Tully tensed, his hands curling into fists. Brady shifted uncomfortably, his eyes darting to the exits. It was obvious he didn’t want to stick around to watch. Moloch flexed his muscles, eager to attack. I glared at him for a total of six seconds before I had to look away, insides quaking with fear.
“Alistair,” Tully said, his tone half-pleading. “Why would you do this? After all these lifetimes?”
“You would not understand,” Alistair murmured back. The older Reaper glanced over his shoulder, back to where Tully stood. “Perhaps it is best you do, given our history. I suppose you’ve earned that much. Might as well know before you die.”
“Die?” I sputtered. Tully lifted a hand to silence me.
“Now that you’re down here with us, you shall be my seventh Made,” Alistair said to Tully.
I glanced at both of them in confusion. “So I’m free and clear?”
Alistair conjured a bag from nowhere, the black velvet casing appearing in his hand at will. I frowned; I didn’t know Reapers had that power. My attention focused, however, when Alistair pulled a handheld, lethal-looking scythe from the bag. Tully froze.
“What is that?” I asked.
“Think, Tully. You remember this,” Alistair said, ignoring me.
“It cannot be…” Tully trailed off, eyes never leaving the weapon Alistair held.
The oldest Reaper chuckled, spun the silver handle in his palm a few times. We didn’t look away from the flashing metal. Dim yellow light winked on the hooked blade.
Tully’s face hardened. “Where did you find it?”
“That doesn’t matter.”
“Does anyone wanna tell me what that thing is besides stereotypical?” I asked, annoyed at the talking over my head.
“Told you he had a badass weapon,” Brady muttered to me. I paid him no attention.
“It’s not real,” Tully assured me. His expression didn’t give me a lot of confidence, nor did his firm gaze on the blade. He didn’t want to lose sight of it; Tully’s intensity worried me. Considering all the black magic floating around, that scythe thing was probably bad news. I just didn’t know in what way.
Alistair hefted the weapon, turning it over and over in his palm so that the blade kept spinning. Still Tully’s eyes didn’t leave it and that feeling of dread pooled in my stomach.
“Oh, it’s real, all right,” Alistair said. “Did you really not think I could get my hands on it?”
“I never thought you would feel the need to try,” Tully said grimly, his posture stiffening as Alistair crept closer. Without a clue of what was happening, my limbs tensed in anticipation, unsure of fight or flight.
“Grace will be my sixth Reaper,” Alistair said, his eyes never leaving Tully.
“But you have six…”
My voice trailed off as Alistair stalked over to the Reapers on the ground. He yanked one up by the collar; while he wasn’t really showing emotion, I would bet this was be the closest to glee he’d ever felt. My muscles clenched with anxiety.
“You and Tully make seven,” Alistair said. He placed the scythe’s blade beneath the unconscious Reaper’s throat. The shocking grin that crossed his face stretched his thin skin back, his skull more prominent than ever. He nodded his head at the female Reaper in his arms. The smile made him so ghastly I wished I could unsee it.
“This one here,” he said, nodding to the being in his arms, “makes an example.”
Alistair ripped the scythe across her throat. A crack of lightning sounded, too bright to look directly at Alistair and so loud that Tully, Brady and I had to cover our ears. Alistair dropped the Reaper to the floor, spinning the handle in his palm again, as though nothing had happened. I stared at the Reaper on the floor; she’d appeared unconscious before, but the blade’s slice had changed her. Before our eyes, her body changed, rotting away until it was nothing more than a crumbled gray shell on the bones of her human self.
Tully moaned. “It killed her? You actually found the weapon of Death?”
“Reapers can die,” I breathed. My neck ached from the back and forth I did to see both of their faces. Tully, horrified and worried, was the exact opposite of his maker’s bemused expression.
The grin had died, but it still flickered at the corners of Alistair’s mouth. “It took centuries to even hear about it, much less find it.”
“Because it should never have been discovered,” Tully argued. “It’s too dangerous for others to know about that tool and you know it.”
“Perhaps,” Alistair replied, running a finger along the base of the blade. “But you’re not going to tell anyone now.”
Disappointment covered Tully’s face even as he hung his head. “Why are you doing this?”
The souls wh
o belonged to the now permanently dead Reaper answered the question for us. Their gasps got our attention; we looked over to see the red marks on their arms fading away. A few smiled, thinking this would mean crossing over and escaping this fresh hell. Instead, Moloch stepped forward and I flung myself in the way to stop him.
“No!” I shouted. We couldn’t just sit back and watch him consume souls. Tully also moved to stop the demon.
Faster and stronger than I’d expected, Alistair grabbed my arm and placed the scythe near my throat. “I don’t think so, girl. Tully, pay attention now and don’t force me to kill your Made before her time.”
The sharp edge touched my skin and caused a terrible burning sensation. I cried out and Tully froze. It felt like the scythe was on fire and ready to cut through my Reaper soul like warmed butter. If his blade went through me, my life, my soul, would be less than nothing. I would be nothing.
My skin burned and I stopped struggling. Somewhere beneath the scaly skin, Moloch smiled. Brady refused to look up, hands still in fists by his sides.
“Why would you let him do this?” I asked, daring to struggle under the blade. “How can you let a demon take what is by the very definition your reason for being?”
“He gets a few, I get a few,” Alistair said, his tone short and flat. “I ascend, he gets a hot meal, you and all the other Mades will be damned and I win.”
I stiffened, this time at the words instead of metal. Tully and I would be damned for eternity. I didn’t want to know what would happen to Allison. Then there was Brady; what would he do once he got a full battery?
“Wait, did you say ascend—?” I said, but Alistair pulled the blade in enough to keep me quiet.
Moloch went to the souls; no one reached for him. They cowered, huddled together as though that might save them. I averted my eyes as the demon consumed the souls, taking them in for his own power until no more of the dead Reaper’s souls were left. Once finished, he roared with pleasure, the sound thundering off the stone walls. The souls that belonged to the five unconscious Reapers panicked, jumped around like scared sheep who’d just spotted the big bad wolf. Alistair pointed the scythe at them and their scared bleats quieted.
“I no longer want this existence,” Alistair said, matter of fact. “It is time for me to ascend and go home.”
“Ascend?” Tully asked, his blue eyes a bit wild. He looked utterly confused and I jumped in to help.
“But humanity-,” I tried, but Alistair cut me off.
“Humanity is weak!” Alistair shouted. I winced at the volume in my ear. “I no longer have the stomach for them! Why should we be stuck on this Earth for all time? Why are we never offered a place in paradise?”
Tully’s face wrinkled in confusion. “You’re right, Alistair, I do not understand. We are Reapers, meant to guide souls. It is our sole purpose. We choose this life-”
“You chose this life,” Alistair snarled back. “I am being punished and I have served my time. It’s my turn to finally allow my soul peace in the bounty of paradise.”
The question slipped before I could stop myself. “Punished for what?”
Alistair threw me a dirty look. “I was made to accept this life, forced to soak in all of humanity’s worst traits until the end of time. And worse, I have had to deal with humans thinking they can become my equal!”
“Hey,” I said, offended. “Don’t act like you’re better than the rest of us.”
He growled through gritted teeth. “I am better than you in every way, human.”
“Why did you make me then, if you hate us so much?” Tully asked.
“The growing population, the stink that covered the earth, we had to do something. The Creator would not hear of terminating the entire project. There were not enough of us. We had to act or risk losing everything. Death required more of us and so we made them. Made you.”
His words sank in and understanding hit me. Tully’s expression said he’d come to the same conclusion.
“You…you are not one of the oldest Reapers,” Tully said, awe and fear in his hushed tone. “You are an Original.”
The room seemed to stop as everyone stared at Alistair.
“Wait,” I said, the pieces slowly coming together, “you were an angel?”
Even Brady gave Alistair a sharp glance, looking more and more like he wanted out of this game. It was obvious Brady had had no idea what he was getting into when he partnered up with his secret society’s mascot.
As Alistair’s features tightened, so did his grip on me. The scythe burned against my throat. “And I will be again soon enough. I am done with this punishment.”
“But Death chose you to help souls…” I said, trailing off at the rage that flashed in his amber eyes.
“Why did you never tell me?” Tully asked. “To be an Original, one of the very first to be made by Death…”
“It is not the honor you want it to be,” Alistair said. His lips thinned, eyes narrowing at whatever memories came to mind.
“I’m still wondering how you’re going to ascend by killing Reapers and taking souls as hostages?” I asked.
“I don’t give a damn what you’re wondering,” Alistair growled back at me.
“Rude.”
“It makes no difference,” he said, sweeping his arm at the situation. “You are doomed to damnation.”
“Then you’ve nothing to lose by explaining your plan,” I said, challenging him.
“As I said, Moloch gets his share of souls,” he said.
“And what do you need souls for?” I asked.
“It is not your concern, Made.”
“It is when you’re risking fate,” I said, my voice raising at the end.
“A prophecy never lies!” Alistair shouted. Rage shone in his eyes, his expression manic as he struggled to maintain composure. Maybe it wasn’t a good thing that I could push his buttons. After all those years of stamping his emotions down, he could easily let his angel side emerge and slice my throat.
“To what prophecy are you referring?” Tully asked.
“The one that speaks of my ascension,” Alistair said.
Before he’d finished his sentence, he shoved me. I went sprawling onto the ground, into the circle with his Reaper collection. Brady quickly walked over and yanked me up, keeping a hand on my elbow.
Tully’s face darkened. “How will that work?”
Alistair gestured to the lost souls. “When I save them from their existence here, then I will be able to go with them to the other side. I can return home.”
“Even I know that takes a great deal of magic,” Tully said. “Your half-witch will not live through that kind of spell.”
I cocked my head to see Brady, whose skin had taken on a green tinge. Looked to me like he didn’t know that part of the plan. Half-witch or no, he was way in over his head and he knew it. I hoped he didn’t puke on me.
“Sure I can’t appeal to your human side?” I muttered.
“I’ve already done more than I should’ve,” Brady hissed back.
Before I could ask what he meant, he took a few steps away from me. Alistair lifted an arm, gesturing to his demon pal.
“Moloch, accept these Reapers as my first sacrifice.”
Moloch, or as I’d forever call him, Reptile Guy, crept closer. His serpent tongue flicked in and out between those sharp teeth; his beady dark eyes never strayed from us.
Tully twitched behind me, the lightest whisper leaving his lips. “Run.”
“Wha-?” I asked, but my mentor cut me off.
“You won’t take us or our souls captive,” Tully said. His arm muscles, thick from his years of hard farm labor, flexed. He ran straight for his maker. Before Alistair could react, Tully hit him with a massive strength; it sent Alistair flying across the dark room. The elder Reaper hit the wall with a thud, groaning as he struggled to get up. Moloch growled and shifted in place, apparently unable to attack without Alistair’s command.
Brady came at me; instinct tol
d me to knee the frat boy in the groin. Half witch or not, the goods were there and he fell over as I’d hoped. He cursed at me, but he didn’t get up. I looked up at the dark tunnels around us, scared to choose the wrong exit.
“Grace!” someone screamed. “Hurry!”
I turned to the tunnel on my right, underneath the staircase. I burst into a run to see a buzz of light surrounding Tessa. Before our enemies could reach us, Tully and I raced to her. Our footsteps slapped against the wet stone floor, echoing in the tunnel. The moment Tully and I touched her, Tessa threw a glass vial down. The bottle hit the ground and broke, its spell releasing around us with blue smoke.
“I will have your souls and Ascend to paradise, filthy Mades!” Alistair screamed from behind the transportation spell. Moloch’s roar followed us down the black tunnel.
He was too late as we escaped from the clutches of an insane angel and his demon boy pet.
CHAPTER TWENTY
We arrived back in Tessa’s apartment in a heap. I grabbed at their arms, making sure we were all together. Tessa quickly performed a few protection spells on her place to prevent them from finding us. I helped gather the materials she needed and watched her work. At some point, Tully had sunk into the couch and was staring into space. I supposed Reapers weren’t often shocked into silence and decided to leave him alone for a few minutes.
“You heard everything?” I asked Tessa.
She nodded. “Hard not to with the sound bouncing everywhere. Talk about being in deep shit.”
“How did you even find me? That place is a maze,” I asked.
“Someone let me magic my way in,” Tessa said. “I thought you’d done something.”
I flashed back to what Brady had said about already helping. He’d let Tessa and Tully in to rescue me. Maybe there was redemption yet.
“Rogue angels,” I muttered. “Told you the angels wouldn’t help us.”
Tessa made a face. “If being turned Reaper was punishment, maybe whatever he did in paradise was bad enough to make angels hate him, too.”
“Well, I’m not asking them,” I said, my voice dropping to an urgent whisper.
