Reaper Academy: A Dark Forbidden Romance

by Allison West

  Fear didn't begin to describe what Leila felt. Her skin shone with sweat. Her heart pounded quicker than when she'd been murdered. "Where are you taking me?" Of course, she knew she was to visit the royal council, but where did they preside? By the looks of it, she'd guess in Hell.

  "Come now, I have no times for your childish games and insecurities," the man in the black robe said. His voice was thick and his face was unrecognizable as the hood covered his features. She could discern that he was most certainly taller than she was, but he also sat atop the carriage, towering from above.

  Leila glanced back at the house. Would this be the last time she'd see her home? Cautiously, she walked up to the carriage and opened the heavy black door. She stepped inside the darkness, feeling it weigh her down and pull her in tighter, restraining her as she sat down. Leila gasped, finding it difficult to breathe. Panic set in as she felt bile creep from her stomach up her esophagus. The last thing she wanted to do was vomit in the carriage. Her hands gripped the cold wooden bench she sat on, and she shut her eyes, feeling the carriage lurch forward.

  Leila jolted with each bump, and after an hour, she finally found the courage to glance out the window, catching sight of mountains to either side of her. There was nowhere within riding distance an hour away that had mountains. How was this possible? The horses hadn't appeared to travel any faster than usual; perhaps there were other undead forces at work. "Where are we going?" Leila asked the driver again, though she doubted he'd give her an answer.

  "The royal council."

  "Where's that?" Leila asked again.

  He didn't respond.

  Leila sighed and watched out the window as they traveled through a snowy forest in the mountains. From the winding, wintery road, Leila could see a broken bridge up ahead.

  "Sir!" Leila's grip on the window tightened as she leaned toward the door. "Sir! The bridge is out!"

  "I know that," he said, sounding unconcerned.

  How could he be so relaxed about it? The horses were galloping toward the cliff. Leila desperately tried the door of the carriage, finding it locked. "Let me out!" She wasn't ready to die again, not like this. Maybe she'd come back as another reaper, but it didn't make her fear death any less.

  Leila felt her stomach tumble as the four horses flew over the broken bridge and dropped onto the other side, with the carriage just behind them. Leila slammed forward, reaching a hand out to steady herself as the carriage hit the ground, forcing her to lose her balance. She tumbled in the backseat, but it didn't kill her. Stones slipped down behind them and off the road, presumably down into the ravine.

  "Are you crazy?" Leila couldn't believe what he'd done.

  "It's the only way to the royal council. Humans must never find it."

  She wiped the sweat off her forehead.

  The land looked remarkably different. The trees were barren and the ground dry. Strange, considering winter fell over all the nations. Where were they?

  A murder of crows swooped low, following the carriage on both sides.

  "What's happening?" Leila swallowed anxiously. She had never been a fan of birds.

  "We're entering the royal grounds now. Try to relax. Your day is only going to get worse."

  "Great," Leila said under her breath.

  The carriage didn't slow as they reached the metal gates or the building beyond it. Instead, it rode right through as if it were a ghost. Leila gripped the seat, hyperventilating. The carriage halted, and the gentleman in the black robe opened the door. "Get out," he said.

  Leila's eyes were wide like saucers for a teacup, bewitched by the journey. How had they managed to ride through the gates and into the building? This place seemed real and even smelled of lilies. Leila hesitated before she stepped out of the carriage. It was unlike any place she'd ever been, with marble floors and a ceiling that appeared to reach the sky. Light shined in, and clouds overhead could be seen through the glass ceiling.

  "This way. The council awaits your entrance." The robed man pointed to a set of double doors. "Enter."

  Leila glanced back at the carriage and opted to do as she was told for a change. Slowly, she walked to the tall wooden doors and knocked once before stepping inside.

  Six white thrones were situated in a circle. The room was smaller than the entryway but grander with gold statues that Leila did not recognize, until her eyes met the royal members of the council. Each statue represented each of the undead council members, positioned against the four corners of the wall with two guarding either side of the door.

  "Come to the center." An older woman in a white robe gestured Leila near. "You've had a long journey."

  Leila, unsure how to answer, opted to remain quiet. Her eyes landed on a man with black pants, a snug black shirt, and blood-red dragon wings.

  "Do you know why you've been called to our chambers?" the dragon man asked. His tongue was split in two like a lizard's and moved past his teeth as he dragged out the last syllable like a snake. Leila averted her eyes, trying her best not to stare.

  "Drake, don't scare the child. She's a young reaper," the older woman said, scolding the dragon man. "You've been brought before the royal council because you've intervened and broken the rules far too many times for us to continue to ignore it. To be blunt, you should have been punished after your first mistake, but we've been too busy to bring you in front of the royal council any sooner."

  "Worse is that you let your professor and a fellow reaper, a friend, become a dark angel for you," a woman with fangs, talons, and dressed in blood-covered cream garments said.

  "You're Keres," Leila said, forgetting her manners.

  "So you've heard of us," Keres said and smirked. "What you've heard doesn't scare you? It should!"

  Leila bit her bottom lip to keep herself quiet.

  "Speak, child," the older woman in white said again. "Don't be afraid of Keres. We are only here to determine your fate as a reaper. Honesty will go far."

  Leila let out an anxious breath. "My sister, Mara, who was supposed to be queen after I died, had been marked for death. My scroll had me scheduled to reap her soul, and I couldn't do it. Could any of you reap the soul of a loved one? Is that not why most reapers are forced out of their home territory to prevent such catastrophes?"

  Drake grinned and said, "She does prove a point, Smierc. We are in part to blame."

  A woman, almost impossibly older than Smierc, with a long blue nose spoke. Leila guessed she probably had a poisonous tongue and was named Laima as Wynter had told her. "Queen Mara is beginning to remember the death transfer and the dark angel who performed it. That is a problem. Once the memory begins to resurface, it cannot be permanently removed. We shall hope the girl thinks it nothing more than a strange repeated dream. Even so, she had been your reap, and you neglected to follow through with your responsibilities. You must pay for your crimes committed."

  "Pesta," Smierc said, "where do you stand on this issue? You have ties to the dark angel lineage."

  A rake rested against Pesta's throne. Since she was dressed in a black hood, her bright blue eyes and blonde hair stood out. If it weren't for the outfit, she'd almost look quite beautiful for an entity of death. "Leila should be put on probation."

  "You're joking!" Keres stood up. "Leila will destroy everything we've worked for. She may be a child, but even children must follow the rules or be punished! I demand she be expelled."

  "Sit down!" a burly entity of death bellowed. A rope lasso sat at the foot of his throne.

  Keres did as she had been told. She snarled in response and then muttered, "I will not be held responsible for the actions of this court."

  "We all will," the burly man said. "It is our job and our duty as royal council. This is not a position any of us accepted lightly. We each made a choice, and we uphold the rules at all costs."

  Leila had no idea what they were talking about. "I'm sorry, but this is ridiculous! You sentenced my sister, the future Queen of Casmerelda, to death. Let's not even get st
arted on the fact you allowed me to die!" Her cheeks burned. She was only getting started. "Who in my family pissed you off that you felt it necessary to murder practically the entire Dacre family? You are the reason the Dacre Curse exists at all!" Leila's fists clenched at her side. "So I screwed up as a grim reaper. Guess what, people make mistakes. Maybe your royal council should be figuring out how to fix your own mistake in putting me here. I didn't deserve to die any more than my sister deserved to get on your stupid death list. You've destroyed my family and are tearing apart my country. Don't expect me to be happy to be in your presence."

  "Casmerelda is no longer your concern, Leila," Drake said. "You must understand your actions and the consequences which follow. It is up to a dark angel to save the life of a mortal, not a grim reaper. Your professor, Wynter, should have instilled that knowledge in you. Especially now that you know of their existence."

  "I'd do it all over again," Leila said and stood proudly. "Punish me however you must. Just don't do anything to Wynter. He's an amazing teacher. I'm the screw up. All he wanted was to protect me and those I love."

  "I say we send her to Riley," Laima said.

  "You want to make the girl a slave? It's not bad enough the land is a desert and the heat will roast her pale skin, but let's whore her out as punishment." Drake slammed his fist against the armrest of his throne. "Absolutely not!"

  "There are slaves who only do hard labor. I wasn't suggesting anything sinister. I think it'd be the best source of punishment. It wouldn't be for eternity. Just a few months or maybe years," Laima said. "Let the girl know what it's like to really work."

  Keres cleared her throat. "Drake is right. She's still very much a child, at nineteen; she's lived as a princess her entire life. Her upbringing is such that she's unknowledgeable on many aspects of the world and should be punished as such. Whatever we decide, it doesn't change the fact that Mara is remembering the dark angel."

  Drake nodded. "I vote Leila is suspended as a reaper for thirty days. All in favor say 'Aye.' Those opposed say 'Nay.'"

  Four of the six royal council members voted in favor, Keres and Laima voted opposed.

  "I suggest you spend the next thirty days with your old friend Emblyn in Stile. Let her be your teacher, and please, don't sleep with her too. Clear your head, take a vacation, watch how work is done by a reaper who doesn't drown in her mistakes, and when you come back, get yourself in line. Or next time, there will be no vote and you'll be sent to Riley," Drake said.

  Her cheeks burned from embarrassment. "Yes, I will." Leila nodded, feeling relieved that her punishment had essentially turned out to be a vacation instead of slavery! How had that happened? Perhaps being young and naive paid off in some ways. "May I ask what will become of Queen Mara?"

  "Memory is a thread. Sometimes it follows a line. Often it curls over on itself, and it may even tangle. Mara cannot forget a dark angel when it has been fused into her memory, in the same way that she cannot forget her sister who has made a knot upon her memory string. However, Mara is no longer your concern," Smierc said. The double doors whipped open between the council room and the foyer. "You are dismissed."

  Chapter 40

  Wynter spent his afternoon chopping firewood. Snow began to fall and though he hoped spring would arrive soon, he knew they'd need a hotter fire to keep warm for the next few days. He paused, glancing up as he heard hooves pounding against snow and dirt. "Leila?" Wynter had expected her back a few hours ago, but the carriage didn't look like the one he had seen last night. This one was black and red with exotic detail on the door and along the trim. He stared curiously, recognizing the carriage but unsure from where.

  "It's nice to see you too," Juliana said and stepped out from the carriage. She climbed down onto the snow-covered ground, shivering as the air wrapped around her petite form.

  "What are you doing here?" Had something happened to Leila? It was the only reason Wynter could think of why Juliana would show up.

  "I thought you'd ask how I knew to find you here," she said and smirked. "I didn't even try your dormitory up over that hill." Her hand gestured into the air. "I knew you'd be spending every precious moment with your beloved Leila."

  Wynter returned to the task at hand, grabbing another large piece of tree branch and splitting it to fit into the fire. "What's your point?"

  "You've made a mess of things, saving a soul who shouldn't have been rescued from death."

  "What are you talking about?" Wynter put the axe down and turned to face Juliana. "The man I saved, Benedict, I saw in a vision. Isn't that what being a dark angel is about?"

  Juliana ran a hand through her unkempt hair. The wind blew it in every direction. "I told you specifically to live with us, your kind, at the refuge. It wasn't for my own benefit. If you'd listened, we could have prevented the mess with Benedict."

  "What are you saying?" Juliana's words unnerved Wynter.

  "A vision doesn't always mean to save the soul. Sometimes it's showing us another path. We have to interpret what we see and then decide what to do."

  Wynter shook his head no. "You never told me that." His heart raced; he was distraught.

  "It's been a long while since I had a student under me," Juliana said. "I'm sorry I've forgotten some of the basics that come with explaining our responsibilities. When it becomes second nature, we often don't even realize we comprehend the visions. The vision you saw, do you remember flashes of color?"

  "Yes. There were blue flashes and then definitely red."

  Juliana sighed. "I see. Red flashes mean a trucidator has rightfully marked the soul for death and we must not intervene. Blue flashes are common when we're pulled into our visions; they don't need interpretation. When we see green, yellow, or even orange flashes, then we must save the soul from death."

  Wynter reached for the axe and put down another log, slicing it in two. He couldn't look at Juliana right now; anger bubbled inside his veins. "I wish you would have told me that before I screwed up! After I saved Benedict, I believe it was a trucidator that paid me a visit. Well, someone or something did on my way home from Seora."

  Juliana grimaced, clearly unpleased. "That's not good, and yet you're still here." She glanced back at her carriage. "Are you forgetting to tell me something?"

  Wynter stared at her, confused. "I don't think so."

  Juliana kept her tone even, showing no hint of remorse. "I hear Stile is nice this time of year. Sure, it's cold, but there are beautiful ruins and a magnificent city to visit. Leila has been suspended for thirty days. I suggest you take her down to Stile to visit Emblyn. It's what the royal council is expecting, and it'd be good of you to join her. She shouldn't travel alone."

  "What about my responsibilities as a dark angel?" Wynter asked. He put another log on the stump and sliced it in half.

  "After the last debacle, I think it'd be good for you to have some time off as well."

  "You're suspending me?" Wynter couldn't believe what he heard. Juliana had apologized for not giving him all the information. Certainly, he'd screwed up, but it hadn't been his fault. Now he was being punished?

  Juliana gestured for Wynter to put down the axe. "You'll still receive your stipend, unlike Leila. Think of it more as a vacation. A time to clear your head. Go, come back refreshed, and then we'll worry about training you properly for this job."

  Wynter could see what was coming. "You mean we'll talk about me living at the refuge."

  "We do what we must," Juliana said and bid him a faint smile. "I'll see you in a month." She dusted the snow from her shoulders and coat, walking back to the carriage.

  Chapter 41

  Wynter greeted Leila the moment she arrived back at the cottage. The ride home in the death carriage felt far shorter than the one going to the royal council. The sun had begun to fall beyond the horizon; it would be dark soon and far colder.

  She shivered as she stepped outside into the snow. Leila wrapped her arms around herself, missing her jacket or even a scarf to keep warm.
She headed inside with Wynter close behind.

  "How was your trip to the royal council?" Wynter asked.

  Leila stepped inside and headed straight for the fire, rubbing her hands together to keep warm. "I guess it could have been worse. I'm suspended without stipend for thirty days, but I'll find a way to manage. The council suggested I visit Emblyn, probably because she never makes a mistake, ever."

  Wynter reached for her hands as he stood with her beside the fire. "I agree with the royal council. We should go visit Emblyn together. It's been months since we've seen or spoken with her."

  "I do miss her terribly." It hadn't been a secret that Leila had been disappointed when Emblyn graduated and was assigned a class of her own. "What about Juliana? You're a dark angel. Do you think she'd let you leave for an extended vacation?"

  Wynter squeezed her hands, helping to warm them up. "I've already got permission from Juliana. Don't ask." He held up a hand to stop her from questioning what was going on.

  "Are you trying to make me smile?" She fought the urge as she attempted to scowl at him, but the corners of her lips quirked up. Maybe getting away for a while wouldn't be so bad? Her sister didn't need her anymore and she had been given time off.

  "I win! I can see it peeking out like the sun behind storm clouds. You, my dear Leila, are going to smile."

  Leila scrunched her nose in protest, trying her best not to let Wynter win, but it was no use. She laughed and shook her head, her cheeks reddening. "Fine, but if we get into trouble, I'm blaming you."

  "Promises, promises."

  The next morning, the snow had stopped. Leila and Wynter each packed a small bag to take on their trip. Bundled in a long purple cloak and gray wool gloves, Leila mounted her horse. "Do you know where Emblyn's staying?" she asked.

  "Being a dark angel has its advantages. I know where all the reaper housing is located. We'll be able to find her without too much difficulty. Just follow me," Wynter said.