My Tethered Soul: Volume 2 (Reaper's Rite) (24 page)

I traveled out in the direction of the pond. The fog swirled around me, blocking my view of the cobblestone path. A figure caught my eye in the haze, but once my eyes adjusted, I realized it was a statue. I slowed. The pond was near, and if I wasn’t careful, I might fall into it.

I moved my bare feet, one in front of the other, feeling the space in front of me.

Zadie.

I grabbed an arrow and swung it into the crossbow. With my weapon at the ready, I took a shuddered breath. Was it coming from behind me? I turned, searching. An owl hooted. I veered to the left. Leaves rustled. I swung to the right.

Then movement.

I aimed, squeezing my lips together and steadying my breath.

A figure moved beyond the fog, but I couldn’t get a clear view. It moved closer, and my throat closed in terror.

Zadie.

I pulled the trigger.

“Watch out!”

The figure—and another—had dropped in the fog and landed in a thump.

Oh, no.

My legs were jelly as I raced forward. What had I done? Why had I shot the arrow? Fog jumped away from me as I approached the two figures on the ground.

Chase pushed himself to his feet. I dropped my crossbow, my quivering hand flying to my mouth. Gavin grunted, sprawled out face down by Chase’s feet.

“Oh my God! Gavin!” I crouched down and pulled at him.

He moaned, turning over on the ground. He clutched his arm, his fingers glistening with blood. The arrow had slashed him.

“I’m sorry. I’m so sorry.” Tears flowed down my cheeks. “I thought you were the Reaper.”

Teeth gnashed together, Gavin shook his head. “It’s just a scratch. Chase pushed me out of the way. Otherwise, it would have been worse. But he knocked the air out of me. I’ll be okay in a minute.”

“We better get him inside and tend to that wound.” Chase bent down and helped Gavin up.

The three of us made our way back to the house. I glanced over my shoulder at the foggy grounds, wondering when this would all stop.

Guilt ripped at my insides. Gavin hadn’t come down for breakfast. Or for the hour following. A part of me was relieved—I wasn’t sure what I would say to him—but the other part of me was desperate to find out if he was okay. Though it was just a surface wound, it was still my fault that he was hurt. And I knew it could have been much worse.

He assured me everything was fine the million times I apologized. Logically, I knew he understood that I thought I’d shot at a Reaper. But in my heart, it was no excuse, and I wouldn’t blame him for hating me. Still, though it would crush my heart to the size of a speck of dust, I would gladly take Gavin alive and hating me over him dead at my hands.

Mrs. Poulter sat across from me at the table in the gazebo, flanked by Diana and Helene. It was a gorgeous, sunny day. Birds called out their summer songs, and rabbits chased each other on the manicured lawn. In the distance, ducks swam around in the pond, dipping their heads under water and shaking their feathers dry. Sable sat at the water’s edge, tail twitching as she watched them.

There were two people missing from the table: Gavin and Lilura.

And, of course, Mr. Poulter, who apparently wanted nothing to do with his wife’s guests.

Paxton and Hunter had their sleeves rolled up, lounging in their chairs with sunglasses planted on their faces. To my left, Chase slouched forward on the table, his eyes sunken in from lack of sleep. I wondered how long he stayed up tending to Gavin’s wound. Erina sat between Mara and me, worry creasing her forehead.

“I’m sorry,” I said when I felt Mrs. Poulter’s eyes on me. I’d been saying it so much lately that the words felt too familiar on my tongue.

Erina put a hand on my arm. “It’s not your fault, Zadie.”

Diana scoffed. “Yes, it is. A Reaper wouldn’t come near here if a Vila wasn’t in the house. And we have four.”

“But it didn’t come inside.” I realized how stupid it sounded after I said it.

“Actually, it probably didn’t even get onto the property.” Mrs. Poulter straightened one of the rings on her fingers. “Not only is the house protected by charms, but the land is as well.”

“But it called me. I heard it. It sounded like it was right outside my window.”

Paxton’s jaw jutted out as he looked up from the text he was writing on his phone. “I doubt a Reaper would be able to penetrate our defenses so quickly. But Mom’s got the staff surrounding the property with an extra border of rock salt. Just in case.”

I tilted my head. “Rock salt?”

“It helps keep the evil out.” Diana rolled her eyes.

“Rock salt.” Helene laughed, waving one of her oriental fans at herself. “That may work on demons, but it’s not going to keep a Reaper out. You can’t stop death. He’ll break through your charms, eventually.”

Mara and I exchanged a look. We’d been dodging death for months. But was Helene right? Would the Reaper eventually get to us?

Mrs. Poulter folded her hands on the table. “There is a spell we could teach you. It weakens the power of an attacker.”

Hunter nodded. “That would come in handy.”

“The Devitalizing Spell?” Diana leaned forward. “Mother, do you really think they have the skill to pull that off?”

Helene slapped her fan on the table. “Don’t be a skeptic; they’re so annoying.” She turned to me and winked. “Show them what you can do, darling.”

My brow creased.

Helene whipped her fan open, ventilating herself with it. “It’s such a warm day. We could probably do with a little cooling off. What do you think?”

I smirked, suddenly knowing what to do. Rubbing my fingers together, I called on my powers. My skin tingled, and my bones buzzed.

A cool breeze blew through the gazebo, tugging at everyone’s hair.

“That’s it?” Diana laughed.

“Hush,” Helene said. “She’s not done yet.”

I closed my eyes and concentrated, pulling out the energy from my core and pushing it out of my body. An electric shiver traveled over my skin. When I opened my eyes, Helene was grinning.

The flurries were slow and sparse at first, but as my vibration intensified, huge, fluffy snowflakes drifted down around us.

“Oh my God.” Erina smiled. “It’s snowing!”

Mara covered her smile with her hand, twisting in her chair to watch the white flakes fall. Paxton and Hunter jumped up from their chairs and sprinted from the gazebo to catch snowflakes on their tongues. Diana scowled and let out a growl-like sigh.

Helene giggled. “How about we learn that spell now?”

“I don’t think we should teach them,” Diana said to her mother.

Mrs. Poulter pressed her fingers to her temples. “Diana, do calm down.”

“No. We don’t know them that well. What if they have something else in mind and turn against us? If we teach them the spell, they could use it on us.”

Chase glared at her. “On you, maybe. Not the rest.”

She narrowed her eyes at him.

Helene primped her hair. “I assure you, darling, we have no ulterior motives. Our only enemy here is a Reaper.”

“Well, I’ll have no part of it.” Diana stood, kicking her chair back. “So when this ends in disaster, don’t blame me.”

A swift ball of white smacked Diana on the side of the head. She gasped as icy snow dripped from her hair. Holding his hands in the air in a victory stance, Paxton burst into laughter. Hunter high-fived him. Next to me, Erina pressed her lips together to keep from laughing. Diana snarled at her brother and stomped away toward the house.

“Nothing like theatrics to start the day.” Mrs. Poulter placed her delicate hands on her lap. “Let’s get started on the spell.”

***

My pride swelled silently as the last of my arrows zoomed into the target Chase set up. As soon as it hit, two daggers followed, each a centimeter to the left and right of the arrow. Mara’s aim was much better now than it had been a month ago.

I rubbed my shoulder. We had practiced for almost two hours, and my muscles screamed for mercy.

“I think I’m done for now.” I wanted to go look for Gavin. I still hadn’t seen him since the night before. And worry was punching me in the gut.

“All right,” Chase said. “But leave the crossbow. I think Mara should get the feel for it.”

I blinked, hesitating. “Really?”

“Yeah. It’s something Lilura and I have been discussing.”

“Oh.” I glanced at Mara. She shrugged as if it was the first she’d heard about it. With a half smile, I handed her the crossbow. “Okay. Have fun.”

I left Chase and Mara with a slight pinch in my stomach, and set out to find Gavin.

It was a long hike from the grounds of the Poulter estate back to the house. I spent half the walk wondering how Gavin was doing, and the other half worrying about Lilura. Could she really be dying? Surely there had to be something Chase could do. Or a doctor.

I walked into the house and headed toward the living room. Maybe Gavin was resting in there. The sound of Helene’s giggle greeted me. I found her kneeling on the floor in front of a coffee table, shuffling playing cards. Naomi sat across from her, grinning ear to ear.

“Meow, darling.” Helene batted her lashes at me.

“Have you seen Gavin?” I tucked a strand of hair behind my ear.

“He went out,” Helene said.

“Out?”

“Outside. To get some fresh air or something. Said he’d be back soon.”

“Oh.” I pouted, wondering where he had gone. It was probably best if I waited for him in the living room instead of wandering around looking for him. I dropped down on the couch behind Helene where Sable napped. “What are you doing?”

“Helene’s reading my cards.” Naomi practically bounced with excitement.

“Really?” Curiosity got the best of me. I hopped off the couch and kneeled down next to Helene.

“This is you,” Helene said to Naomi. She placed the queen of diamonds in the center of the table. She then held the rest of the deck out toward Naomi. “Make a wish and pull out three cards.”

I subtly raised a brow at Naomi, but she ignored my look and rubbed her hands together before pinching out three cards at random from the deck.

Helene took the three cards and placed them face up in a row close to Naomi. “Ooh, lots of red cards. That’s good.”

Naomi beamed at me.

Between the queen of diamonds in the center of the table and the three cards next to Naomi, Helene placed six cards, split into pairs. “This represents events happening in your life right now.”

Naomi’s eyes darted back and forth over the cards. “Do you see a guy in there anywhere?”

“More than one, sweetie.”

“Score!”

“That means there are men in your life. But this jack of diamonds could represent a friend, a brother, or a lover.”

Naomi’s face fell. She hoped it meant a soon-to-be-boyfriend, but the jack could very well have represented Danny or Nate.

Helene set a pair of cards to the left of the queen and another pair to the right. She pursed her red-stained lips and continued to lay the cards out in an intricate pattern. At long last, she took a deep breath and glanced at Naomi.

“You’re a very honorable friend.”

“You bet your ass, I am.”

I had to laugh.

Naomi narrowed her eyes at me. “What?”

I shook my head. “You’re right, you’re right. You’re a very honorable friend.”

Helene tapped the queen of hearts. “This is Zadie. She’s very close to you. This nine of spades next to her means she’s dealing with a very serious problem right now. But we know that already.”

“That’s so freaky that that shows up.”

Helene shrugged. “This card here means you’re going to receive a message, probably from your mother. She’s thinking about you and wondering if you’re all right. And someone is going to send you a package soon. It might be waiting for you at home. This king here, next to the ten of hearts, means true love will be in your future.”

“Wow.” Naomi rubbed her hands together. “Except the part about Zadie, it’s looking pretty good.”

Helene rested her finger on the ten of spades. Her lips were pressed into a straight line.

“What?” Naomi’s smile faded. “What does that mean?”

“I’m not going to lie to you: it’s not good. But the meaning can be deciphered in a few ways. Either you or someone close to you will become very sick, fall into a hopeless situation, find themselves in grave danger, or… die.”

I swallowed. Given the circumstances, any of those things could happen. And soon. I reached for Naomi’s hand and gave it a squeeze.

“If there was a red card beside it, like the ace of hearts, then it would mean hope. The situation could resolve in a positive way. But this upside down ace of clubs doesn’t bode well.”

Naomi pouted. “Well, that just sucks.”

“This card here means you have a trip ahead of you.” Helene offered Naomi a smile. “It’s a spontaneous trip.”

Movement by the den entrance made me turn my head. Gavin walked in, his damp hair glistening in the light. I jumped to my feet and ran over to him. To my relief, he entwined his fingers with mine.

“Where have you been?” I had the urge to get as close to him as possible.

He smirked. “Did you miss me or something?”

“If I’m breathing and you’re not there, I miss you.”

His eyes searched my face as he gave my fingers a squeeze. “I slept for awhile. Whatever Chase gave me for the pain really knocked me out. When I got up, I went for a run. I needed to burn off some energy, clear my head. Just came down from a shower.”

I hoped what he had to clear his head of didn’t have anything to do with me slicing his arm with an arrow. The way he stroked my hand with his thumb gave me a slight sense of ease.

“Are you okay?” My eyes went to his arm: his shirtsleeve shadowed the bandage covering the wound.

“As much as it pains me to admit this, Chase took good care of me.”

He looked so sure, I didn’t ask the question that had been lingering in my head. When the Reaper knife cut me the year before, Lilura had to suck the poison out. Was the same poison present in the scythe? Did the arrowhead—tipped with scythe metal—infuse poison into Gavin’s arm? Clearly Chase would have treated the wound as so. But I couldn’t bring myself to ask. I had to trust that Chase knew what he was doing when he patched up my boyfriend.