Reaper (Dragon Prophecies Book 1)

by Hickory Mack

  “All of that is contained in here?” Elsie pondered in awe. She’d never seen most of what the spirit described.

  “The ruby holds the staff’s soul, but I cannot wake it,” Wren lamented.

  “I don’t know what that means.”

  Wren walked over to her, placing her hand atop Elsie’s. “This staff has a spirit. She has a true form. The form Sanaia would use to cast the greatest, most important spells in history. The last time she used the staff, it was damaged, but its spirit is still in there. You have to wake her up.”

  “How am I supposed to be able to do that?” Elsie asked.

  “Work with her. Sanaia used to talk to the staff. No more leaving it on your bracelet. Carry the staff with you instead.” Wren thought about it for a moment. “Make it an extension of yourself.”

  Elsie nodded, knowing damn well that she hadn’t been practicing with the staff as she should have. It was kind of starting to feel like the whole damned universe was conspiring against her mission to lead a life of lazy comfort.

  She spun the spear in a slow circle. The balance was different than what she preferred, with extra weight toward the pointy end. Elsie imagined what she wanted, and the weapon smoothed out, the weight distributing itself more evenly. Her version of a spear was far more utilitarian than Wren’s. She was used to creating weapons quickly, with little attention to detail. Apparently, the spirit disapproved.

  “Think of the staff as a beautiful, strong woman. She has the power to change the world, the grace and intricacy to sway the hardest of hearts, and the strength to slay the strongest foes. However, at her heart, she wants to be admired. In fact, she adores the attention. Use what you know is inside of her to create something stunning,” Wren said.

  “How do you know how the staff feels?” Elsie asked, raising an eyebrow.

  “I already told you that I helped make her. And it was always how Sanaia referred to her,” Wren replied.

  “Did you spend a lot of time with Sanaia?” Elsie questioned.

  “I did. We inhabited the same forest, and she would often come to visit the spirit’s houses to learn from us. I’ve never met another like her. So thirsty for knowledge. For a time, I considered her one of my closest friends. Then the Dragons came, and when it was time to choose sides, she chose theirs.” Wren sighed. “My siblings and I were very unpopular for a time.”

  The more time she spent with the spirit, the more of her past Elsie was piecing together. The original owner of this staff had learned from the elemental children of Mokiko, but she’d betrayed them. She held the spear in both hands, looking at the regret in Wren’s eyes.

  “Would you have acted differently if you knew then what you know now?” Elsie asked. Wren took a long time to answer, eventually shaking her head.

  “I can’t answer that honestly,” she finally said. “I would like to think that with the proper knowledge, I would have stood against my mother and my siblings. I am one of the core elements, the four who rule over the elements drawn from the Earth herself. It makes me one of the strongest. I might have been able to influence some of the others.”

  Wren licked her lips and smiled.

  “However, fighting with my mother and siblings instead of against them was a far more pleasing prospect. Back then, we were the basis for divinity. All the gods and goddesses of the world stemmed from us, the original ten. As strong as I was, the Dragons had the potential to become stronger, and we were afraid of them,” she admitted.

  Elsie stayed quiet, just listening, letting Wren speak without interruption.

  “In the end, we are the ones who fulfilled the prophecy. The Dragons gained the strength to overcome us because we gave them our powers. Most of us made our peace with them then since it was the smart thing to do. But a raksha named Raven betrayed them. I don’t know what the fuck he did, but it kicked off a war that made the humans’ nuclear holocaust look like child’s play. In the end, the Dragons used the entire solar system to take their favorite races with them and disappeared.” Wren gave a bitter laugh.

  “I would like to see them again and apologize, even if I cannot be forgiven,” she finished. Elsie adjusted her grip on the staff in her hands. She could be the one to make that happen for her.

  Closing her eyes, Elsie mapped out a new weapon in her mind. She wanted to create something beautiful, but Wren’s regret weighed heavily on her, so she mixed them together. Without opening her eyes, she grabbed the spear with her left hand, feeling it transform, then pulled a sword out of its sheath.

  A long black katana, with veins of dark iron making it look like wood grain. The hilt was topped with the crown of a silver tree. Its trunk was the hilt itself, and the roots snaked out over the blade. Etched into the top of the blade in silver was a single word in the ancient language. Grief. It was dramatic and dark, but elegant and refined, possibly the most beautiful weapon she’d ever managed to bring out of the staff.

  Elsie slid through a series of movements, both offensive and defensive. Before long, Wren walked a circle around her, her hands behind her back.

  “Stronger forward motion,” she muttered, and Elsie immediately repeated a move meant to quickly and efficiently disarm her opponent. “Better.”

  They continued for almost three hours, far more than either of them had intended. By the time they finished, Elsie was covered in sweat and her body was sore, but in a good way. As her muscles were forced to remember what they were capable of, she would gain strength from this.

  “You did well,” Wren praised. “You take and implement corrections easily, and though you’re out of practice, it wasn’t too sloppy.”

  Elsie grinned at her. “Maybe we can spar with live steel sometime,” she suggested, but Wren just laughed at her.

  “Not any time soon, I think.” The spirit sauntered up to her and gave her a lingering kiss. “You have only trained in one of the three disciplines I asked you to train in. Do not forget to practice the other two. And drink water.”

  “Ask questions, practice manipulating time, learn an entirely new magic without guidance, drink water.” Elsie checked them all off on her fingers as she spoke. “Am I missing anything?”

  “Make sure you eat, sleep, and take your elixir,” Wren added seriously.

  “Yes, ma’am,” Elsie agreed, taking another kiss when Wren would have pulled away. She allowed it, but she frowned after looking up at the sun.

  “You’ll already have been gone for ten hours in their time. You’d better get back,” she sighed.

  “I’m jealous,” Elsie admitted. “This ordeal is going to go by so much more quickly for you than it will for me.”

  “How would you like me to make it up to you?” Wren asked.

  “Spar with me,” Elsie said immediately. Wren rolled her eyes and tugged on the chain, summoning Frost.

  “You don’t know what you’re asking for.”

  “For fun, then. It doesn’t have to be a competition,” Elsie pushed.

  “I’ll think about it,” Wren promised, and Elsie snatched one more kiss, pressing the length of her body along her lover’s. Wren wrapped an arm around her waist, holding the reaper tight. “If you don’t leave now, we’ll end up on the ground again, and I’m not going to make it quick this time.”

  “Did that sound like an actual threat to you?” Elsie snorted. “From where I’m standing, it sounded like an invitation.”

  Wren playfully slapped her ass, and Elsie laughed at her. She stepped away, the katana becoming a scythe. It was the same classic shape, but the elegant moodiness stayed. Elsie grinned. The staff was lighter in her hands than ever before, easier to handle. Wren was right; she loved to be beautiful.

  “I’ll be back soon,” she called to Wren, joining Frost and Frida in front of the gate. The spirit waved and vanished into the trees.

  “What were you two up to?” she asked, wrinkling her nose. Frost was soaking wet, and he reeked. “You smell like a swamp! Did you get sprayed by a skunk?”

  He g
runted and shook his coat out, spraying her with the offending stink. “Fuck, Frost! You asshole!” she squealed, and he sneezed at her in amusement. For her part, Frida had stuck to his shoulders like glue. She looked completely nonplussed, her fur and feathers completely dry. “I’m going to spray you down with a hose as soon as we get back,” Elsie warned, opening the gate.

  She had to open the whole damned thing whenever she wanted to come and go. She’d have to fix that. Elsie walked through with the demon at her side, glaring at the few people who happened to be close enough to wrinkle their noses at the smell. Stupid wolf. She closed the gate and turned to the first person she saw.

  “You!” she called, startling the guy into dropping the box of canned foods he was carrying. It echoed through the room with a clatter as cans rolled everywhere. Everyone in the surrounding area went dead silent.

  “Y-yes?” he stammered, his eyes on Frost.

  “Where’s the pressure washer?” Frost tensed, his front paws splayed with his claws out, like he was about to spring away at any second. Elsie pointed a finger at him and growled. “Don’t even think about it.”

  Frida chirped from his shoulders, and it was like she’d fired the shot to start a race. Frost leapt to the side, dislodging the cat, then took off across the huge space, toppling crates and setting off alarms on a few of the vehicles. The alebrije gracefully glided to the floor, the fur on her back standing on end as she hissed in the wolf’s general direction.

  “Um, ma’am?” the stammering soldier piped up.

  “What?” Elsie snapped as he pointed in the direction opposite to where Frost had just bolted.

  “It’s that way.”

  She nodded curtly. Where else would it be? She walked away, muttering a prayer to Santisima. “Mother, save your demon from me.”

  Chapter 24

  Elsie turned off the hose, panting from the exertion. She was soaked from head to toe, her clothes clinging to her while her boots squelched with every step she took. Water fell from Frost’s fur in rivulets as he glared at Elsie with all he had. She threw just as much animosity back at him. Empty bottles of soap and cleanser littered the ground. She’d been so fixated on washing the stench off the wolf, she’d all but forgotten the fact that there were people. Everywhere.

  “First Commander Chantraine?” Thomas said, drawing her attention. She turned too quickly, and water from the hood of her robe splattered across his face. He blinked heavily and wiped it away with one hand.

  “What is it?” she asked, keeping the embarrassment off her face. There were two new men with Thomas, and they studiously looked away from her as though trying not to laugh. One of them took her by surprise. A native Mexican man, he was tall, though built smaller than Thomas and the other guy. Even without expanding her senses, Elsie could feel that he had a lot of magic. She wondered if he was a brujo or just another witch.

  “These two are going to be a part of your security team. They’ll keep you safe on the trip,” Thomas informed her. He gestured at the larger of the two men, an imposing guy with way too many muscles and a fair amount of fire magic. “This is Cody Fairbanks. He’s an assassin.”

  Cody held his hand out in greeting, but Elsie shook her head at him. “No touching,” she said simply.

  “This one is Macías Cross,” he said next, pronouncing it mah-see-us. “He’s a witch.”

  Macías didn’t offer his hand, but he did give her a one-sided smirk and a tilt of his head. His long black hair was back in a braid, and like her, he was one of very few not in a uniform.

  “It’s Cross,” the witch clarified.

  “How are you planning to have them spy on me all day if there are only two of them?” Elsie questioned. “Do they take orders? Like, can I send them out for food delivery?”

  “They are only a part of your team,” Thomas answered in an exaggeratedly patient voice. “Cross has volunteered to take responsibility for your safety.”

  “Fine. I need a shower, a meal, and a nap. Then I want to speak with someone who has knowledge of the plan to catch the fucking kitsune. If I hear the word classified one more time, I’m going to lose it,” she warned. She grabbed the scythe from where she’d leaned it against a wall and looked to her two new guards. “Lead the way, guys. Where’s my suite?”

  Fairbanks looked confused, but Cross was definitely amused. His dark eyes lingered on her, and he motioned toward the door with a nod. “This way,” he said, turning to show her the way.

  “Come on, Frida. Frost,” Elsie commanded, covering her mouth with her hand when the wolf shook his fur out yet again, covering Thomas. She walked past him without daring to look at his face. There was no need. She could feel the indignation and anger targeted at her back as she walked away.

  “Do you always make such a spectacle?” Cross asked, not looking back. He waited patiently when Elsie paused to take her squeaking boots off, continuing forward when she straightened up to pad across the floor barefoot.

  She shrugged, drawing even with him. “More so lately than usual.” He had to be even taller than Saint, and while he wasn’t as bulky as Fairbanks, he was more heavily muscled than Saint as well. “Why are you with the hunters? You stand out too much; it’s obvious you aren’t one of them.”

  “No, I’m not one of them. However, the answer to that question is classified,” he said with a completely straight face. This one clearly had a death wish. The bastard wasn’t even looking at her, leaving himself wide open. After a moment, it didn’t matter. Frost’s muzzle came between them, and soon the wolf’s body separated them, his shoulder even with Elsie’s.

  “Your demon is territorial,” Cross remarked.

  “He doesn’t trust anyone,” Elsie said.

  “Smart.”

  They entered an elevator, and while Fairbanks made a face at the idea of traveling in such cramped quarters with Frost, Cross refused to make space. The wolf brushed against him, but he didn’t move or make room. When the elevator opened, he strode down the hall, stopping at a door a few corridors over.

  “This is your suite,” he said, opening the door with a keycard. “Wait here.”

  He didn’t wait for her permission, just walked inside and inspected every room, checking for intruders. When he decided it was clear, he returned and handed her the card. “This one is yours. I have one as well. No one else on the team does,” he told her.

  Elsie chewed on her lip, wondering why she was okay with that even though she’d clearly stated no one should have access to her personal space. She glared at Cross as if it was somehow his fault.

  “Fine. Whatever you bring me to eat, I want mashed potatoes. The wolf needs to eat as well,” she said. “No animal bits for either of us.”

  “Is, uh, is it okay to give him demon flesh?” Fairbanks questioned. Elsie glared at him. She didn’t want to think about where they were getting the bodies from.

  “No.”

  Frost pressed his disapproval into her mind, but she didn’t give in. She’d explain it to him when the security team was gone.

  “What are we supposed to feed him?” Cross asked, amused yet again.

  “Whatever you give me. But give him more of it. A lot more.”

  “Yes, ma’am,” Fairbanks said.

  “Don’t forget to feed my cat. She likes fish. Bring a litter box, too. Have the food here in half an hour so I have time to shower,” Elsie ordered. Using the keycard, she opened the door, walked through, and shut it in their faces. Frida sauntered around, looking for the best things to sharpen her claws on and the softest places to curl up and sleep.

  Elsie looked around, begrudgingly admitting that she was impressed. It was a lot bigger than the room she’d shared with Saint for all those years. It was brighter, with nicer furnishings, and carpeting, which she was dripping all over. There was even paint on the walls, a calming green. She had a living room and a bedroom with an actual full-sized bed instead of a cot. She even had a bathroom of her own. A huge improvement over what she’d expect
ed.

  “Can you manage not to destroy our living arrangements while I shower?” Elsie asked blandly. Frost huffed at her and went straight to the bed to roll around. Clear retaliation for the public hosing she’d subjected him to. “Awesome. I wonder if the security boys change linens.”

  She went into the bathroom and stripped out of her soaked cloak and clothes while the water heated. With a sigh, she undid her hair. Wren had done it so beautifully, she hated taking it down.

  Hanging up her clothes to dry, she found a towel and set it aside before climbing under the showerhead. Everything had happened too damned fast over the past couple of days. Her head was still reeling from suddenly having Saint back in her life only to be immediately separated from him. Then everything with Wren, finding out the spirit was her mate and having to come here… It was too much.

  She wanted to hole up with Saint and Wren somewhere and never come back out. They were what was most important to her, but she could barely feel her bond with Saint on the other side of the gate. And she couldn’t feel Wren at all.

  Elsie’s shoulders slumped, and she let out a sigh. There was no end in sight. This trip up north was bound to be insane, and she hadn’t let on about it, but she was scared. She couldn’t wrap her head around them wanting her to subdue a kitsune, and her anxiety was at peak performance, throwing every possible death scenario at her while she waited to find out what those idiots had planned. Not to mention Cornick and Grant weren’t taking her words of caution seriously.

  She had every confidence Wren would keep her safe if something went wrong, but it still didn’t feel right. Elsie closed her eyes, trying to shut her mind up, but it was already doing its best to make her feel like shit for participating in this.