by J. L. Weil
I went into a trance, lured by the magic of the ink. Even the aged paper seemed to have unworldly properties calling to my blood. The divine held the pen in the air for me to take. I stared at the slim writing utensil with curiosity and apprehension. In my fingers, white tendrils curled down around it. The cool metal throbbed under my grasp. Such a small, frail thing, yet it packed so much power.
And I understood. Once I signed my name, I was bound by the power residing in the ink to uphold my promise. I lifted my other hand and ran my fingers down the paper. I wondered where I could get my paws on some, curious what would happen if I sketched on it. I had a hunch it would be enchanting—a masterpiece this world had never seen…and never would.
The divine cleared his throat again. “Time is of the essence, Your Highness. I will have your signature.”
I choked. Highness? I’d only just been inducted into this supreme position and they were already putting me on a pedestal.
I’d had enough of the nicknames. “Piper. My name is Piper.”
The divine looked confused, and Zane’s lips twitched.
Good grief, this was a disaster. I rubbed my arms, wearing a thoughtful expression. My feet felt like lead as I shifted my weight, a tightness in my stomach. I glared down at the contract, my name jumping off the page in multiple locations.
Could I really do this, be a reaper, leave my world behind? I wasn’t a warrior like Zane. I was a brainiac like Zoe. I certainly had the power, but could I control it, wield it like Rose had?
As much as a part of me thought I was nothing special, I knew it wasn’t true. I was the White Raven. I was the key to preventing a war. I was Zane’s perfect half. And I was more than I thought I was. All I had to do was sign the contract.
“I’m ready,” I whispered. With an unsteady grip, my hand swept over the paper, and magic trembled in the air. A surprising heat transmitted down my arm. I looked at Zane for reassurance.
He closed his eyes, and I swear he let out a whoosh of relief. When they opened, the blues of his irises were like snowstorms, windy and frosty. I knew he would do whatever it took to protect me.
I turned to Zander, casting him a helpless glance. “I’m sorry.” Time froze, and Zander’s expression went blank. Nothing showed on his face or in his eyes. “I can’t pretend.”
There was a chorus of gasps from the elders, and the room seemed to close in around me. A chill shot through my stomach. I had not planned this, but now that I’d made the decision, I didn’t know what to do next. My blurry gaze met Zane’s, begging him to get me the hell out of here. Pronto. We were about two seconds away from chaos erupting like an active volcano.
He reached me in two long strides. “Let’s go, princess.”
Panicked, I stared at him. He slipped a hand under my elbow, and his touch offered instant comfort. I’d missed that feeling.
The elders were whispering and talking among themselves. Any minute I expected something awful to happen. I hated when I was right. As Zane and I turned to bolt, shit hit the fan—a hallow shit-fest to be exact.
Chapter 26
The doors and the windows blew up, shattering glass into the air. I shielded my face as shards of crystal rained down, pinging off the ground. A great sense of foreboding took root and rapidly spread inside me.
What. The. Holy. Hell?
All six foot plus of Zane came to an abrupt stop. Surprise and something darker flickered over his face as he stared at me. “It doesn’t look like we’re leaving just yet.”
You don’t say. It was hard to find an exit when they were all being blocked by pissed off souls. I could smell death—not zombie rotting flesh, but a sharp coldness that stole my breath. The air in the room seemed to drop well below freezing as the oxygen from my lungs puffed in a cloud in front of my face.
If I were a vengeful spirit hell-bent on getting my soul back, this would definitely be the soiree to crash. The oldest and most powerful reapers were in attendance, moi included. Of course, I wasn’t tooting my own horn. I only had a few souls under my belt, yet I had a huge target on my back.
Realistically, I’d be lucky to make it out of here alive. The odds should have been stacked against me, but having Zane at my side upped the ante. He never let me down. Not when it mattered most.
The battle between reapers and hallows had begun.
If I stayed stationary in this spot, I was a goner, dead meat. The elders’ faces held a different type of shock as the room piled with iridescent assholes. Zane sprung to my left, tossing a spirit into the wall, away from me. Adrenaline pumped through him, and I absorbed some of his energy.
I can do this.
This was no game, no drill practice. This was life and death. I wasn’t just fighting spirits; I was fighting to save those I loved. I will succeed.
There was no other option.
I closed my eyes and tuned out every ounce of fear and skepticism. It wasn’t easy, but nothing worth fighting for was. My determination allowed nothing else. I pulled forth the light from my core and experienced a rush of strength. A chill danced through my blood.
The light encompassed me, and in my hands I wielded the white glowing double daggers. Twirling them once in my hand, I got a feel of them and prepped myself for the fight of my life.
Zane raised an eyebrow. “New trick?”
I tilted my head to the side. “You were gone a while.” The weapons were virtually weightless in my grasp, and for a girl who disliked the gym almost as much as she did her veggies, the lightness was a godsend.
The darkness surrounding Zane thickened and stretched out, creeping over the floor and seeping into the walls. Shadows rose up around him. A hallow rushed toward Zane from the left, and with a flick of his wrist, the darkness slammed the ghost, nailing him in the chest.
As the hallows continued to pour into the room, flying in from every crack, nook, and cranny, I noticed there was someone missing. Heath, the overlord of the Red Hawks—Crash’s father was not with the others. My eyes did a quick scan and I caught sight of him walking to the door, away from the fight. Interesting tidbit, the hallows seem to ignore him. The bastard just left, leaving the rest of us to deal with the chaos.
Something overcame me. The apprehension and dread I normally felt when the dead came calling fizzled. I was actually looking forward to the rough and tumble of a good fight. Anticipation, that was what I was feeling.
Leaping into action, I crisscrossed my arms, and with a downward swipe, I parted them, slicing into hallows on my left and my right. Because the blades were an extension of me—of my power—the hallows exploded on contact, a burst of light and then nothing. Wispy clouds of their essence wafted in the air toward me, before being consumed by my blades.
“Not bad, princess. You’re getting good,” Zane said, already engaged with another foe.
“I’m going to give you a run for your money,” I replied and went low, tag teaming a hallow as I swiped my weapon over the back of his knees. Zane and I worked well together. Too well, but it was no surprise. There was an impulse to take his hand and merge our souls, stronger than it had ever been.
I spun to my next target and caught a glimpse of Zoe. I didn’t know where she’d come from, but she and Zach were a welcome addition. She was wrestling with a spirit twice her size, but nothing she couldn’t handle, which she proved when he erupted. “Zoe!” I yelled. “Parker.”
Her eyes met mine for a split second before she disappeared. Parker was in the house unprotected. If these things were crawling through the windows, it was only a matter of time until they stumbled upon Parker or he fumbled into one of them. Heaven only knew where he stashed the knife I’d given him to hide in his room, but I felt confident Zoe would keep him safe.
Hallows formed all around me in the brief moment I called to Zoe. Too many for me to keep track of. Too many for me to fight. Their faces were a blur to me, unimportant. All that mattered was the threat they posed.
I reached forward, and a whitish light burst
from me, throwing the hallow back on his ass. Energy poured out of me like an overflowing stream. Buh-bye. I spun around, slamming the fine point of my left blade into the nearest hallow’s belly. The cathedral-like room lit up in sporadic flashes, one right after the other.
Roarke was a beast. I’d never seen him fight before, but I could see why his children were such formidable forces. In the time I managed to take out two hallows, Death had taken out seven.
I lost sight of Zane, but from the corner of my eye, I spied Zander, fighting fiercely. Grayish gunk covered his arms and he was riddled with scratches, but still he fought. To kill the souls who would destroy us. We were outnumbered, even with Death, the overlords, and the elders.
“I’m going Dateline on your ass.” I twisted to my side and kicked out my leg, catching a hallow in the face. There was a satisfying crunching sound followed by a burst of light.
Zander chuckled. “Little Piper packs quite a punch.”
I rolled my eyes, but kept fighting. My body wasn’t a hundred percent sure how long it could keep going at this pace. Already my muscles were singing and the power inside me was draining. As I fought, I kept thinking how the weasel Heath had conveniently slipped away, unscathed. How the hallows had turned a blind eye toward the reaper. It made me leery. I couldn’t stop thinking he was somehow involved in this attack.
There was the whole mess of me killing his daughter. If anyone had the motive to sic angry spirits on me, it would be Heath.
I watched, deflated at the madness ensuing around me in my own house. Zach backhanded a ghastly guy in front of him. Brock, a Blue Sparrow, whaled on two hallows at the same time, punching one and kicking the other. He grinned, enjoying the kill a little too much for my liking. The divine blocked a punch to the head, only to deliver one of his own.
Someone grabbed me by the hair and flung me across the room. No clue how, but I managed to roll through the fall, recovering with only minor aches. The daggers of light had extinguished during the tumble. Regardless, I was pretty impressed with myself, but it didn’t last long. As I straightened up, I tripped over a fallen body and heard the hiss of a hallow. I arched out of the way as he came at me, but not quickly enough. The coldness from the hallow’s touch seeped through the silky material of my dress, traveling up my arms as his grip tightened on my wrist. It was a different kind of chill, nothing like what I felt with Zane and his shadows. This grabbed ahold of me and seared my flesh.
I fell backward, panting, trying not to panic. White-gold light spread over my body, but I couldn’t get the daggers to reappear. They remained at bay.
Dammit.
Now was not the time to have performance issues.
I did what I always did when I found myself in trouble. “Zane!”
His eyes swept through the room until they landed on mine. Worry contorted his features.
I twisted to the side and kicked out blindly. Somehow, I managed to connect with a hallow’s face. Not wasting the precious second given to me, I scrambled to my feet and headed toward Zane. The only problem was there were at least seven spirits standing in my way.
Beyond the hallows closing in on me, I saw Zane battling his way to me. Anger built up inside him with each punch he threw. The darkness surrounding him was larger than I’d ever seen, almost reaching me. “Don’t touch her!” he shouted.
A hand snatched my ankle, knocking me to the ground. I went down fast and hard. My forehead banged against the floor, sending a spike of pain through my head. I yelped.
Guess they weren’t in the listening mood.
Even though I knew I was outnumbered, it didn’t stop me from trying to find a hole, some way to get me to Zane, because together, I knew we could obliterate every foe in the house. Maybe the hallows knew it too. They were doing a damn good job keeping us separated.
I saw an opening, and I went for it, my teeth gritting against the pain. I should have known it was too good to be true. A hand grabbed me by the arm. I tried to shout, but the ice that filled my veins robbed me of speech. Coldness licked over me and my back bowed. There was a loud cracking of sound, like thunder.
“Piper, my sweet little girl,” someone said behind me.
Immobilized, I thought my ears were playing tricks on me. It couldn’t be. It wasn’t possible. But if there was one thing I’d learned, anything was possible in this world.
Chapter 27
Squinting against the bright light filling the room, I turned around and blinked. The air went still in my lungs. He was as tall as I remembered, but his skin possessed a grayish-white cast, and his eyes were bloodshot. I blinked, and his body flickered in and out with his moments, like one of those scary horror films Parker and I binge watched on Halloween. Except this wasn’t a movie. It was a nightmare.
My nightmare.
I shook my head back and forth, taking a step back. I couldn’t believe it. Not possible. It felt as if I’d traveled back to the day I found out my mom had died, when my world had collapsed.
Oh God. He was dead.
My dad was dead. He was a hallow.
“Dad?” I whispered.
“It’s me, pipsqueak.” He’d always had sort of a weak quality to his voice when he’d been alive. Now it was spooky with an undertone of rage that made me think of savage storms.
I cast him a desperate look. “You can’t be dead. You can’t. TJ needs you.”
He outstretched a hand, palm upward. “We can be together again. A family.”
There had been a time when I would have gladly gone with him. Death would have been a welcome relief from the pain. The chance to see Mom again, but I’d already been given that chance. And what I had here was far better than what he offered. “You know I can’t. I don’t belong where you’re going.”
His eyes flinched as he attempted to cage his annoyance. “Of course you can. This life isn’t for you. Your mother didn’t want this for you. Neither of us did.”
“Interesting. Have you talked to Mom recently?”
Dad smiled, but it was cold and empty. “This isn’t you. Don’t you see it? Already you’ve changed.”
“What about you? You’re not exactly the father I remember. You’re dead,” I pointed out. “You lied to me.” Tears burned my eyes. He’s not really my dad, I told myself. And if I was honest with myself, he’d never really been my father, not even in the sense a father should. His death didn’t matter. Not now.
Confusion marked his expression, but only for a second. “I’m still your father.”
I shook my head. “No. You’re not. You’re TJ’s father, but you’ve never been mine. You’re a ghost who needs to be sent to the afterlife.” I realized I was his unfinished business. “Where’s TJ?” I demanded, fear flooding me, remembering I’d sent TJ to be under his care.
Lips curled into a mutated snarl. There he was. The hostile nature of a hallow. Seeing the burn in his eyes made it real. “He’s safe…for now. But it is only a matter of time before he will meet a fate as fatal as mine. It’s inevitable. Everyone close to you… Well, I don’t think I have to spell it out for you. The proof is in front of you.”
His body was simply a shell for the restless and malevolent hallow he’d turned into. Finding out your father was dead by seeing his spirit was cruel. I didn’t have time to mourn his loss. The expression on his face was clear. He definitely wasn’t here to offer a hand. “If you’ve hurt him—”
He lunged, a pale white-blue blur across the room. Wow. I hadn’t seen that coming.
I barely leaped out of the way. What an un-fatherly-like move. It was blowing my mind, seeing my harmless dad become a ruthless a-hole. I needed to get over it really quick and think of him not as my father, but as a nameless hallow. Seeing him come at me triggered a response to fight. It kicked in and became about survival. He was trying to kill me, after all.
My first obstacle was getting him to sit still for two minutes. Then I might be able to send his soul to the other side, but someone was not cooperating. He popped and
flashed from one part of the room to another in nothing but blinks, making it hard to get a mark on him. However, he didn’t have a problem shooting a rapid succession of whizzing light.
I had no idea how I managed to avoid getting hit. My inner Matrix came out as my body bent in maneuvers that would put a gymnast to shame. And then Zane was suddenly in front of me, blocking the path between my dead dad and me. Dad barred his teeth and rushed at Zane. OMG. I watched horrified as the edges of his body distorted.
The two of them engaged in combat, and it looked like each was intent on killing the other, but there was something Zane had that my dad didn’t. Experience. Zane was faster, deadlier, and even more cold-blooded.
Zane ducked a savage blow and flung a stream of shadows. They encompassed my dad, coiling his legs and snaking up his torso. No matter how vigorously Dad attacked, he was no match for Zane’s onslaught. Just when I thought Zane had the upper hand, Dad managed to spin out from the darkness. He whirled from one attack to the next.
It was clear when Zane pulled his blade of shadows, he was done with the games. Rushing up from the side, he raised the sword, rotating it in the air. Dad smiled and charged, not in the least bit intimidated by the daunting force of Zane. What a fool.
I searched inside myself for a spark of hope, but only found dread. This was what needed to be done, but it didn’t make it any easier. I was thankful it was Zane driving home the killing blow and not me. He saved me the pain and anguish of having to obliterate my own father.
Zane’s blade of darkness ripped up and sliced cleanly through my dad’s stomach. The ghost of my father split in half before Zane yanked the sword free, and without warning, the hallow of my father shattered in a burst of light.
Poof. Just like that, he was gone.
For good.
Because of me. Because of who I was.
