“He’s in the den!” Mara yelled.
We all raced to the next room. Chase threw his dagger and missed by an inch. The Reaper raised his hand, making a chair fly through the air at us. I ducked to the side, but the leg of the chair hit Mara in her stomach. She buckled and backed into Hunter, who supported her weight. Her breath was knocked out of her, but still she pointed ahead of her.
Following her gaze, I spotted the Reaper. With a quick load of my weapon, I fired. My arrow rocketed toward him just as he headed to the left. But he wasn’t quite fast enough; the arrow slashed his arm, tearing his cloak. A dark, thick substance oozed from the Reaper’s exposed leathery skin. The Reaper let out a ferocious roar, making the room shake violently.
He dodged the dagger Gavin threw, but Mara’s aim was better. Her dagger hit him in the shoulder, jerking him back toward the wall. At the same time, I readied another arrow, but couldn’t slide it into place because the floor shifted beneath our feet.
We all hit the ground. The floorboards were breaking apart, the crack of wood echoing through the house. Mara and I scuttled to the wall. With a grunt, Hunter grabbed Lilura and pulled her away just as the floorboard beneath her splintered upward.
I got to my feet, but Chase rushed to me and pushed me backward. Then the ground opened up under Chase.
There was a huge hole where the floor once was. He must have seen the floor breaking where I’d been and pushed me away so I wouldn’t fall through it. Grinding his teeth, Chase grasped at a floorboard, but it sliced his hand, and he slipped through the hole, plummeting to the basement with a scream. Gavin, on his hands and knees, was too late trying to reach him.
“Chase!” Hunter screamed.
The Reaper let out a maniacal laugh as he swept over us and dropped through the same hole Chase fell through. Chase’s screams filled the air again, along with a loud thump.
We all ran to the open floor, but the ground shook again and the floorboards fell into place again. Oh, no! Hunter rushed to the basement door, with all of us right behind him. He pulled at the handle, jerking it back and forth, but it wouldn’t budge. Mara pushed him aside and held her hands out. An electrical vibration filled the space as the door burst open.
As we all rushed down the stairs toward the basement, the house shook again. This time the stairs crumbled beneath our feet as if they were made of toothpicks. My foot went through a plank of wood, and I tumbled down the broken stairs.
It was all I could do to not impale myself with my crossbow. I couldn’t see the others until I hit the bottom and lifted my head. They had landed near me, covered in sawdust. Coughing and moaning, we clambered to our feet from the cold basement floor. Hunter helped Lilura up, who pushed him away with a scowl.
Something had caught my eye: a glint of glass. Quickly adjusting to the lighting, I pushed out a force of energy from my blood to light the gas lamps on a workbench. The light lit up Chase’s unmoving form. A gasp escaped my lips. He lay beside the boiler; blood soaked his head. Hunter rushed to his side and pulled him onto his lap, setting his shotgun beside him.
Kicking up a cold wind, the shadow swept behind us. Our group surveyed each other. Mara was empty-handed. Gavin held his last remaining dagger. I had two arrows left. We turned, ready to attack with what was left of our weapons.
“It’s fast,” Mara said.
Catching the Reaper’s movement, Gavin threw his dagger. The Reaper must have anticipated the throw, because he knocked it away before it hit him. When the Reaper stretched out his hand, a burst of energy knocked over one of the gas lamps, breaking the glass and putting out the flame. The room started to fill with smoke. More smoke than what would normally billow from an extinguished fire. The Reaper was manipulating the air so we couldn’t see.
I concentrated on the air. The buzzing filled my bones, and with a sweep of my hand, the air began to clear.
“There!” Mara grabbed my hand.
I reached for Gavin. Together, Mara and I concentrated on the Reaper. The white flame sparked up at our fingertips. I pushed out as much magic as I could until our Orbis grew between our fingers. The Reaper growled. The ground shook again, and then suddenly the workbench flew through the air—pitching over the last gas lamp—and hit Gavin in the chest. It knocked him to the ground, where he landed with a thud. The energy from our Orbis fizzled as I broke the connection and rushed to pull Gavin to his feet.
Something swung through the air and missed my head by a fraction of an inch. The toolbox from the corner floated, and the tools inside it were zipping across the room. As the Reaper flung tools at us, Lilura stepped forward and held her hands in the air. It looked like a wall of gas vapor formed between the Reaper and us. A force field. The weapons aimed our way hit the shield and evaporated on impact.
Hunter fell in place beside Lilura and pumped his shotgun. “Let’s trap this sucker.”
Lilura dropped the shield. Hunter shot to the left of the Reaper. The sound was like an airplane crash in my ears. The Reaper flew right to dodge the shot. Hunter quickly pumped and shot to the right of the Reaper; the Reaper flew left.
“I’ve got it cornered!”
Lilura rubbed her hands together and conjured up her blue shield. Casting an eerie glow on the walls, the globe surrounded the Reaper, trapping it inside. I’d seen her do this before, in the In-Between. It was a powerful shield, but I knew it would eventually dissolve and the Reaper would escape. The Reaper howled as he tried to break free, knocking into the walls of the shield.
“Now, girls!”
Mara and I joined hands. Gavin, bent over in pain, grasped my wrist. We concentrated and grew our Orbis until finally the electric fire was the size of a melon.
The Reaper was almost through the shield. It was flashing and shorting out. On my signal, Mara and I threw the Orbis. It sounded like an electric current zipping through the air. White fire with lightning crackling inside it made impact with the shield. Brilliant white light flashed through the basement, the impact of the Orbis hitting the Reaper deafening. We shielded our eyes until the light faded.
And then the sirens began. If the police were coming, our time was limited.
Waving the smoke out of our faces, we searched for any trace of the Reaper. A black, tar-like substance covered the ground where the Reaper once stood. Had we really done it?
I glanced over my shoulder, and my jaw dropped. Lilura was sprawled out on the floor. I’d forgotten that the Orbis would knock her out too.
We rushed to Lilura’s side, and Gavin propped her up.
“Is she all right?” Hunter asked. He held Chase in his arms.
Gavin felt her pulse. “She’s breathing. She’s okay.”
I felt a strange, cold breeze blow by me, and I could have sworn a shadow flew up the stairs. But that couldn’t be. We destroyed the Reaper. We watched it die.
I didn’t have time to consider what I thought I saw. The blare of the police sirens was getting louder. They would be here soon.
“We need to get out of here,” I said.
Gavin and I dragged Lilura up the stairs, and Hunter carried Chase. The dead weight slowed us down, but eventually we made it out the door. We detoured behind Rudy’s house to the side street where we’d parked the cars.
Once we reached Chase’s car, Hunter set him down in the front passenger seat. Chase groaned, and I blew out a breath. We slid Lilura in the back seat. She was still out cold, but alive.
I rushed next to Hunter, who was examining Chase. Mara and Gavin gathered behind me.
“You okay, bro?” Hunter asked as Chase blinked.
I couldn’t help but smile at the sight of Chase’s gray eyes. “Chase! We got it!”
Chase slowly shook his head. My smile disappeared.
“You got one,” Chase said, his voice raspy. “There were two of them.”
Chapter Sixteen
We had a long trip ahead of us. Luckily, I didn’t have to worry about Dad not letting us go. He thought Mara and I were joining Naomi on a trip to vis
it her grandmother. The road trip part was true. And I guessed if you counted Lilura as a grandmother, it wasn’t all a lie. But there was no way we could tell him where we were actually going. Massachusetts wasn’t exactly the next state over.
We gathered on the street in front of Lilura’s house and loaded up her car, which was as old as the pyramids and smelled like musty linens. It was a Nova from the sixties, complete with a bench seat up front. I’d seen it in the garage before, but apparently, Lilura hadn’t driven it for decades. She refused to travel long distances in anything else, though, so we were stuck with it.
Hunter strapped a huge backpack to his motorcycle. I wondered briefly if his shotgun was in it, or if he had some kind of contraption built onto his bike to conceal the weapon. Chase tucked my crossbow—secure in a black, triangular cloth case—into the trunk of Lilura’s car. It fit on top of our suitcases, Chase’s alchemy kit, and the case of daggers. The trunk was so big that there was still room for more.
“Who are these people again?” I asked Lilura.
She glanced at me, ready to speak, but had to release a round of crackling coughs before she could continue.
“Their name is Poulter. My connection—the old friend of mine I’ve been telling you about—has traced their lineage, and they are the direct blood descendents to the witch who originally agreed to the Reaper’s Rite.”
“She’s sure? Your friend?” I wrung my hands together.
“I made the mistake of doubting her before. Helene knows what she’s talking about. And she’s very good at what she does. That’s why we’re picking her up on the way.”
“So we’re just going to stroll up to the Poulters’ front door and—what? Say, ‘Hey, how’re you doing? By the way, I’m a Vila, and I’d really appreciate it if you’d tell me how to break the Reaper’s Rite your great, great, great, great grandmother is responsible for?’”
Lilura threw her handbag in the front passenger seat. “Perhaps a bit more eloquently, but basically, yes.”
“You think they’ll help us?”
“There’s only one way to find out.”
I pulled at the ends of my hair. “And I suppose you wouldn’t agree to call them first?”
She scoffed. “And scare them off? No chance.”
Clearing her throat, Lilura crouched down and bent her form into the car.
The distant sound of rolling luggage got closer. Naomi waved to me as she approached. She accessorized her shorts and tank top ensemble with a big pair of sunglasses. “Hey, guys. Hey, Chase. So where should I put my suitcase?”
I put a hand on her arm. “Naomi, are you sure I can’t talk you out of this? I feel bad dragging you into all this.”
She pushed her sunglasses up on top of her head. “You’re not dragging me. I’m coming. I could never let you face this without me. Maybe I could even pick up some magic tricks or something.”
“It’s dangerous.”
“So is leaving me here to accidentally run into your father. He’ll get the truth out of me, and then no one will be safe.”
I pouted. “Fine. I guess I can’t stop you.”
“No, you can’t.” Naomi gave me a quick kiss on the cheek then whispered in my ear. “If Chase drives, can I ride shotgun?”
Typical Naomi. I smirked and shoved at her.
“Um, big suitcase,” Chase said, grabbing the handle.
“It’s a loan from Danny.” Naomi leaned in for another whisper. “It’s lined with silk.”
Chase grunted as he lifted it into the trunk. “What’s in here? Couldn’t you cut it down to the necessities?”
“I did.”
“Are we ready to go?” Hunter asked. “I’d like to get there before the zombie apocalypse, if we could.”
Gavin held the back door open for me.
“Where do I sit?” Mara asked. “I can take the middle seat on the front bench.”
I grimaced. “Um, I think that seat’s reserved for Helene.”
Chase came forward and handed a wicker container to Lilura. “But first, it’s reserved for Sable.”
Sable popped her head out of the basket and meowed at us before Lilura set it on the seat next to her.
“Guess I’m in the back with the lovey-dovies.” With a shrug, Naomi ducked into the car.
Mara’s hands went right to her hips. “Well, that’s no fair. Naomi stole my seat.”
Hunter smiled, adjusting the helmet in his hands. “You can ride with me.”
Mara scoffed and studied the motorcycle. “I can’t ride that thing.”
“It’s not hard,” Hunter said. “I’ll be doing most of the work.”
Mara’s eyes narrowed at him. “You know that’s not what I meant, you idiot.”
“So what’s the problem, then?”
Mara opened her mouth to answer, but it took a moment before she said anything. “Well, for starters, I don’t have a helmet.”
Hunter walked over to the side of his motorcycle and unhooked the spare helmet. With the corner of his mouth turned up, he tossed it to Mara. “I always keep it around in case Chase wants to tag along.”
“It’s pink.”
“Yeah. Probably why he never rides with me.”
I bit back a laugh.
“You’re going to need to hold on to me. Tight. Wouldn’t want you falling off or anything.”
Mara turned the helmet around in her hands and sneered. “You’re just loving this, aren’t you?”
“Probably just as much as you are.”
“Fine. Let’s go.” Mara crammed the helmet on her head.
Hunter rubbed the back of his neck and chuckled. “Your wish; my command.”
Mara gave me a reassuring smile as I climbed into the backseat of Lilura’s car. Hunter’s motor growled when he started it, and before I could blink, he and Mara raced off.
At long last, we were off. I had to clutch my stomach to stop it from churning. Gavin took my hand and rubbed his thumb in a slow, soothing circle over my skin. Chase glanced at me in the rearview mirror. Were they thinking the same thing I was? We were off on an impossible mission: we needed to find out if there was a way to break the Reaper’s Rite for good.
How could we be sure the Poulter family would hear us out? Would they even bother to try to help us? Or would they shut their door in our faces? If this failed, I had no idea what our next step would be.
I cringed, imagining a life where I was doomed to fight and destroy Reaper after Reaper. Or worse, be destroyed by one.
***
After hours and hours of driving, we veered off the highway and entered a small town. The houses were quaint and spaced far away from each other, the fields between them filled with cows or sheep.
Lilura went into another coughing fit as Chase slowed the car to a proper speed. She’d been coughing a lot during this trip. I thought whatever illness she had a few weeks ago had passed, but now it sounded as if it was coming back.
When I was sure her hacking attack had ended, I leaned forward in the seat. “Tell me about Helene.”
She glanced at me over her shoulder for a second and then faced the windshield with a small groan. “We’ve known each other since we were in our thirties. Well, I was in my thirties, and she’d just turned twenty. Heavily gifted. Not only a Vila, but also a card reader. A fortune teller, some might say.”
“I think it’s nice you’ve kept in touch all these years,” Gavin said.
Chase glanced at us in the rearview mirror.
Lilura shifted in her seat. “Well, there was a period where we weren’t exactly speaking.”
“You got into a fight?” I asked.
Lilura shrugged. “We had a sort of…falling out.”
I opened my mouth to ask then shut it again. Maybe it was too personal for Lilura to share. Plus, it was none of my business.
Naomi leaned forward, her hands on the back of Chase’s seat. “I guess you’ve patched things up, though. Right? I mean, that’s what friends do.” She gave me a sm
all smile, probably remembering the temporary rift in our friendship the year before.
“This is the street.” Lilura pointed a crooked finger ahead and to the right. Sable jumped out of her basket and onto Lilura’s lap, pawing at the window.
Chase turned the car. High grass flanked the street. It had probably been years since a lawnmower touched it. We stopped at a little yellow house with white shutters. Something shiny glittered in each of the windows, and the mailbox looked like a Bedazzler had attacked it.
Lilura opened her door, and Sable sprang from the car. Lilura didn’t look worried; I guessed Sable was well-trained enough to come back to find us.
Lilura led us up the front walk, grunting as she hobbled. She punched the doorbell with her thumb. A short but big-chested Asian woman answered the door. She looked to be in her late forties. Not at all what I expected. She wore high-heels, tight leather pants, and a leopard-print top. Her earrings went down passed her chin, all glitter and gold. She had rings on every finger. And enough makeup to put a cosmetic line out of stock. As short as she was, she still had about an inch or two on Lilura.
“Lilura, darling. Meow.” Her voice was surprisingly high-pitched.
“Hello, Helene.”
“Why is she meowing?” Naomi whispered.
Lilura didn’t bother to lower her voice. “She believes she was a cat in her former life.”
“Well, you’ve brought a whole party with you, haven’t you?” Helene stood to the side, holding the door open for us. “Let’s get you all out of the heat. Nobody likes to sweat.”
Lilura motioned for us to follow her. The hallway we entered smelled heavily of floral perfume. Helene had decorated the walls with butterfly artwork and portraits of herself at various ages. We had to walk through a curtain of beads to get to her living room. The smell there was stronger, like the perfume department in a mall store. Colorful, asymmetrical shag rugs covered the floor, and oriental fans adorned the walls.
Helene entered the living room, paused in front of a mirror to check her hair, then pulled a can of hairspray out of a drawer to blast her coif with chemicals. She turned to us with a friendly smile, batting her heavily-mascaraed lashes. Lilura rolled her eyes.
My Tethered Soul: Volume 2 (Reaper's Rite) Page 15
