Reaper (Dragon Prophecies Book 1)

by Hickory Mack

  “Commander Grant and Security Chief Rand are with me,” Cornick answered, a bitterness entering his tone.

  “Ah, welcome, Commander Grant,” Elsie said in an overly friendly way. “It would be nice to add your voice to the conversation. After all, you orchestrated the attack against me in my own home, correct?”

  “I collaborated with others to devise methods of convincing you to join our cause, yes.” Grant’s voice was younger and deeper than Cornick’s.

  “You bound me to the king of a shadow dimension, destroyed my apartment, cursed me, drove me out of my home, and nearly killed me more than once. You really ought to re-think your methods of persuasion, Commander Grant,” she scolded.

  “Perhaps,” he agreed.

  Elsie raised an eyebrow. “Perhaps, what?”

  There was another long silence while Elsie amused herself with imagining the other men in the room pushing him to answer.

  “Perhaps, First Field Commander Chantraine,” he corrected himself.

  “I earned my position above you, Grant, and you’d better start fucking acting like you respect it,” she demanded.

  “Yes, ma’am.” He sounded flustered.

  “Have you read my files? Do you know who the fuck you’re dealing with? Did you think I’d take this lying down?” she growled.

  “Chantraine, go easy on the guy. He looks like he’s about to faint,” Cornick chuckled, trying to ease the tension between them.

  “You idiots made an offer. I have a counteroffer,” she said coldly.

  “We may be willing to work with that,” Cornick stated.

  “The wolf’s life will be unlinked from mine, and the containment spell shackling us together will be removed. Obviously, forcing us to work together did not work out for you anyway, so this should not be an issue for you,” Elsie started.

  “That’s not a problem. It was always a part of the plan if you agreed to—”

  “You will not kill my mother’s wolf, nor will you retain him for your purposes.”

  Silence.

  Frost stood so close to her his fur covered her shoulder and arm, his ears perked as he listened attentively.

  “What are you planning to do with him?” Commander Grant asked.

  “I will release him to wherever he wishes to go. If I so much as hear a whisper that the hunters have chosen to target him after this, there will be consequences,” she promised.

  “This is a subject we will have to speak about in person,” Cornick stated. “That wolf is a valuable subject for study.”

  “I am not willing to compromise on this. Either he goes free, or I do not join you,” Elsie said. “I would rather die than go back on my word.”

  Cornick sighed. “I suppose that is not your only demand?”

  “I will not hunt for you,” she said simply. The other side of the line was a flurry of curses and angry voices. There were clearly more people in the room than Cornick had admitted to.

  “That is one of the requirements of your position with us,” Grant said angrily.

  “This is a position I am being forced to take. In spite of that, I will not accept criteria at odds with my morals or my calling as a reaper,” she said firmly even though it was a total joke. She hadn’t lived as a reaper for the past three years. Aside from teaching herself how to use the Staff of Sanaia, she’d barely even trained. She’d kept her head low, avoiding anything and anyone who’d trigger memories of her past.

  “I am willing to play doorman with the dimensional gates, but I will have my own lodgings, and I will be allowed to come and go as I please. You will provide me with a schedule, so I will know when I need to open the gates ahead of time. My rank, clearance, and prerequisites will all remain from before I left the hunters. I will expect a considerable raise in pay, and you’d better come up with some palatable food because I will not be eating galley garbage.” She paused.

  “My room will be completely off limits to anyone, even you. My final demand is that I be given seven vials of the elixir. I must have insurance in the case that you choose to withhold it to force me into doing something I choose not to do,” Elsie finished. “I hope you’ve written everything down.”

  “We have,” Cornick said. “You are far more demanding than your sister.”

  “Muriel? Yeah, Callum told me what happened to her. I won’t become the second reaper your organization kills off,” she scoffed. “I know what demands I can make of you because I know what you’re capable of.”

  “We will grant you the refusal on hunting if you agree to help us with one demon we’ve been trying to get our hands on for a long time,” Grant said.

  “Callum told me about that creature too. I’ll ask you the same thing I asked him. How can you expect me to single handedly contain a creature your entire Clan cannot?” she asked.

  “Your role will be to contain him in a pocket dimension within an enclosed container while we transport him. We will not ask you to fight him yourself or even come in contact with him. He is extremely dangerous,” Cornick said.

  “Then why do you want him so badly?” she asked.

  “That’s classified,” Cornick answered, and she rolled her eyes. Of course it was.

  “Fine,” she agreed. She could give them one demon if it meant they wouldn’t expect her to hunt for them.

  “Everything else is well within our ability to allow, though if you’re going to be running amok, we will of course need to reapply the tracking spell that was placed on you. Clearly it was done incorrectly. The only thing we take issue with is giving you seven vials of the elixir,” Cornick stated.

  “Get over it,” Elsie snorted. “You’re going to send a team to escort me to wherever the hell your top secret compound is, and if they do not have those seven vials in addition to an eighth for me to take immediately, they’ll end up every bit as dead as the last five to come for me.”

  “Do you need another one so soon?” Cornick asked. “You’ve gone so long with so little.”

  “Only because the dimension we escaped into had a time distortion. It’s been sixish weeks on Earth, but less than two weeks for me,” Elsie informed him.

  “Fascinating,” Cornick said, and she could almost see him leaning forward eagerly. He wanted so badly to study everything about her, and it gave her the full on heebie jeebies.

  “Eight vials, and you will not kill our people…” Grant seemed to be considering, though everyone knew the decision was already made. They could say no, but she’d disappear. She’d made it very clear that she would rather die than comply with their demands the way they were.

  “I’m assuming you have plenty of it made ahead of time,” Elsie said, starting to feel bored. She spun her chair around in circles, holding the headphone’s cord above her head so it wouldn’t choke her.

  “Naturally, we’re not going to divulge that information,” Cornick said easily.

  “Naturally. I have a guest with me. She will accompany me to the gate site, but she will be staying Earthside,” Elsie said, only noticing now that Wren was missing from the room. She cleared her throat uncomfortably. If Shepherd noticed that the spirit was gone, they might have a bit of trouble on their hands, but his attention was focused on Elsie and her conversation.

  “We’re not in the business of giving people transport, Chantraine.” Cornick was starting to sound weary.

  “It’s not like she’s going to try sneaking into your top secret demon experimentation center,” Elsie scoffed. “She hates your kind, so she has no interest. My cat will be coming along with me as well.”

  “Fine, but you’ll have to keep the cat confined to your quarters,” Cornick said, making Elsie wonder what else she could squeeze out of them. She seriously pondered making them give her ice cream every day but stopped herself. It might just be one demand too far. “Are we in agreement then?”

  “I won’t sign a contract,” she said, almost slapping herself on the head. She’d nearly forgotten the one thing that could bind her to the hunte
rs for an untold amount of time.

  “Then how do you intend to hold us to your demands?” Commander Grant asked, laughter in his voice.

  “You will sign a witnessed statement agreeing with all we have discussed,” she said.

  “And what assurances will we have that you will hold up your end of the deal, First Field Commander Chantraine?” Grant asked.

  “You are holding the supply of the elixir keeping me alive over my head. I think you should count that as assurance enough. So long as my quality of life makes it worth continuing to live, I will uphold my end of the agreement,” she said.

  “Completely one sided…” Grant muttered.

  “What did you expect when you came for a reaper who knows your organization inside and out? Who do you think trained me, Commander?” She laughed at him. “You shouldn’t have armed Callum with as much information as you did. Wasn’t it in my records? I was vehemently against his promotion, but someone smarter than me clearly thought differently. He told me just how desperate you are to get someone to open that gate for you.”

  Silence.

  “Aww, maybe next time you’ll listen to your betters,” she chided. “I’m in Colony One, Nest Salvation. Send your people with the eight vials and a signed and witnessed copy of that statement. If they come with those items, I will accompany them to wherever I’m needed.”

  There was a long pause, and Elsie thought of a last-minute request. “Oh, and Cornick!”

  “Yeah?”

  “Give this Shepherd guy a raise.” She tossed him a wink. “The captain of history's first nest should be able to sit in a plush chair and wear smart clothes, don’t you agree? You assholes really need to treat your people better.”

  “We’ll look into it. We’ll have a squad assembled and en route in the next hour,” Cornick replied. “I so look forward to seeing you again, Miss Chantraine.”

  Elsie took off the headset and set it on the desk, then looked over at Shepherd. “It’s going to take them a day or two to arrive. Does the offer of staying in your safe house still stand?” she asked.

  “I’m sorry, First Field Commander, but the safe house is strictly reserved for those seeking sanctuary. However, we do have an extra bunk room in the hunters’ lodge that we can make available to you. There are two sets of bunks and chests for your belongings. You will also be invited to join us for our meals,” Shepherd said.

  It would have to do. Elsie stood, and Wren materialized beside her, looking as though she’d been there the entire time. “We accept your gracious accommodations,” the spirit said with a slight smile.

  “Wonderful.” Shepherd stood and gestured toward the doorway. “If you will follow me, I’ll show you to your room.”

  Chapter 19

  The room wasn’t anything like the officer’s room Elsie had spent her life in when she’d belonged to the hunters. She’d expected something small and impersonal, with starched blankets and hard single mattresses on concrete floors. What she found was a lot more welcoming.

  This place had been created in the days before comfort and aesthetics were sacrificed for efficiency and a tight budget. The floor was hardwood, the walls painted a soft gray, and there was even a large window, letting an abundance of light through. It was easily three times bigger than any bunk room she’d seen before. The beds themselves were soft and roomy, with hand stitched quilts covering each mattress.

  “I know it’s not much,” Shepherd apologized. “We rarely have guests from other nests, and I can’t remember a time we’ve ever had an officer visit since we aren’t the colony’s hunters’ nest. Our facilities are not considered a priority.”

  “There’s no reason to apologize,” Elsie said sincerely. “At the compound, we’d have been grateful for rooms even half as comfortable as these.”

  “I’ll let you get settled then,” he said, closing the door behind him. He’d already gone over the meal schedule and shown them where to wash their laundry on the way over.

  Elsie dropped her bag to the floor and set Frida down before sitting on the edge of one of the beds with a sigh. It had been easier than she’d thought to step back into her role. The power she’d held in her position had certainly made her life more difficult, but she’d forgotten the privileges it provided. Shepherd would have been well within his right to arrest her for the deaths of those hunters, but her rank had intimidated him too deeply for him to act.

  She flopped over onto her back and rubbed her face before sitting back up and looking at Wren. “What did you do?”

  “What do you mean?” she asked innocently, sitting across from her on the opposite bunk. Elsie gave her a dirty look.

  “I know you left while I was negotiating with Cornick and Grant. What were you up to?” she questioned, but Wren just smiled and shrugged.

  “I’d rather not admit to anything while in one of their buildings. Hunters are sneaky little beasties. They could have listening devices in here,” the spirit said. Elsie snorted. It was possible, but unlikely. She looked around the room, admitting to herself that all the extra decorating, such as the railing for the window curtains and the painting on the far wall, could certainly obscure such devices.

  “I won’t ask, then,” Elsie allowed. Wren frowned at her tone.

  “You are still in a bad mood?” she asked.

  “Of course I am.”

  “You’ll see him again soon,” Wren cajoled. “He’ll do his best to return as quickly as possible.”

  “I wish you’d tell me what you told him.” Elsie touched her chest. The bond was still raw and throbbing, healing and rebuilding itself. Every minute that passed left her with the sensation that something was wrong, that he was supposed to be here with her, and that she needed to go find him. Their bond was not pleased with their abrupt change in status then sudden separation.

  Wren stood and crossed the room, then crawled over Elsie’s knees, dropping herself into the reaper’s lap. She wound her hands around her shoulders and gave her a mischievous smile.

  “I gave him a deadline and a reason to be back by then.”

  “When is the deadline?” Elsie questioned, looking into Wren’s beautiful face.

  “The equinox,” Wren said without hesitation.

  “What happens then?”

  “Everything changes between us.” Wren smiled. “My claim over you will become tangible. So, if he wants the chance to claim you first, he needs to be back by then. Think of it as a friendly competition.”

  “Back up and explain what you’re talking about,” Elsie insisted. “What does the equinox have to do with us?”

  “It has very little to do with you and everything to do with me,” Wren laughed. She leaned forward and dropped a kiss on Elsie’s lips. “I can claim you as loudly and often as I’d like, but until that day, the magic will not accept the claim. On that day, you will be mine.”

  Elsie’s brows drew together in confusion. “I don’t understand. Wren, please, stop with the secrets. The equinox is what? A month from now? Don’t make me wait that long to know what the fuck you’re talking about.”

  “I’m concerned that if I reveal everything now, it might be too soon,” Wren said. “I was worried anyway, but after hearing how you react to uncertainty in your relationships, I don’t want to frighten you away.”

  Elsie frowned. The spirit was talking about how she’d been too frightened to return to Saint even though she’d so badly wanted to. It stung to admit it to herself, but Wren had a reasonable concern.

  “I’ve lived for a very long time, reaper. You are not the first I have come across with the potential; you are the third. The others could not handle the pressure of uniting with someone of my age and power. They left me,” Wren admitted. “Losing them was painful, and I do not wish to go through it again with you. You are mine, reaper.”

  Elsie stroked Wren’s hair then drew her in for another long lingering kiss. “I won’t leave you, Wren. I may not understand everything, and I don’t know why I’m drawn to you,
especially after reforging the mating bond with Saint, but I’m not going to let you go.”

  “You will have a second mating bond with me,” Wren told her, and Elsie’s eyes widened. “The day of the equinox.”

  “But that’s not possible.”

  “It is not possible now. It will not be possible right up until the very moment of the light and dark meeting as equals. When the darkness wins the battle and begins to bring us into winter, then it will be possible,” Wren said.

  Elsie could feel her brain buzzing, trying to work out how the hell it could happen. The ancient magic simply didn’t unite couples of the same gender, and she’d never heard of anyone successfully forcing a bond that didn’t exist into creation. If she had the chance to properly bond with Wren, she’d take it.

  “I’ll trust you know what you’re talking about because I want you to be right. But I want to know why you think the magic will give us a bond that day. I don’t want to be disappointed if you’re giving me false hope,” Elsie said.

  Wren bit her lip and nodded with a sigh. She closed her eyes and shifted her shape, taking on the form of a man who looked nothing like herself. There was also no resemblance to the form she’d taken when she’d stolen Saint’s image. This man was muscular and bulky and had an intense look on his face.

  “Everything about this body is male,” Wren said in a tight voice. Elsie waited, not understanding where Wren was going with this. The spirit touched her face and kissed her. It was rough and demanding, and it felt strange to accept a kiss from what looked like a stranger, but Elsie reminded herself that this was still Wren. The frustration on the spirit’s face was palpable.

  “A body is not enough to make a bond form. Inside this body, I’m still female. And I will be for every spring and every summer for all of eternity.” Wren frowned, changing back to the body Elsie recognized as her own. “After the equinox, I can remain in this body if it pleases you, but on the inside, I will be male. Every autumn and every winter, for all of eternity.”

  A loud buzzing assailed Elsie’s ears as a memory danced just out of reach. She knew this lore. At some point in her childhood, Stolas had told her who Wren was; she just had to remember.