The Halloween Collection (16 page)

“Come with me, my darling.”

He faced the small woman with white robes
and hair that shifted in the wind without disturbing the grass. His
hands clenched and released, but he’d left his sword on the hill.
She knelt beside the lifeless body of a woman, and he drew a sharp
breath.

“Mama,” he whispered.

The woman in white turned. One moment her
eyes were white then black then every color in between. In her hand
she held green gems. His gaze went from her to his mother, and he
dropped to his knees, tears blurring his vision.

“Mama.”

“I fear she’s dead-dead,” the small woman in
white said. “I’ve harvested her spirit already.” She held out the
gems and pointed at one. ”This one is hers.”

He reached for it numbly and held the
transparent emerald in his hand.

“She’s so small,” he said in a choked voice.
Tears streamed down his face, and he wiped snot from his nose. His
chest was so tight, he thought he’d suffocate.

“Your brother is over there.”

He followed her pointing finger with his
gaze. His little brother lay spread-eagled on his belly, his back
torn open down the middle. Gabriel wiped his face again and went to
his brother. He squatted to run his fingers through his brother’s
hair just as he had done yesterday morning.

“They’re never really gone forever,” the
woman said. She held out a hand to the boy’s ear. A tiny whirlwind
of green dust swirled free of his brother, danced around her hand
like smoke, and crystallized in her palm. She held it out to
him.

“Where do they go?” he asked.

“To the underworld, where I keep all the
souls. Your family will be together down there. There’s no more
pain once I take them from their weak mortal bodies,” she answered.
“One day, I’ll teach you.”

“Teach me what?” he asked and took his
brother’s soul. He closed his fist around what remained of his
mother and brother, protecting them as he had not been able to the
night before.

“How to gather a human soul once one is
dead-dead.” Her voice was cheerful, as if she plucked daisies in
the field and not the spirits of his family.

“What are you?”

“You spoke to me last night, Gabriel.”

“You know my name.”

“You knocked on my door and refused to come
in. I’m not accustomed to that, Gabriel,” she chided him
gently.

He stared at her and stood, ready to flee
the madwoman and take his mother and brother with him. She drew
nearer, and he caught her scent, like sunshine and grass. Her
rainbow eyes seemed to see right through him. At half his size, she
seemed delicate and small, but he felt the warm power that made the
air around her shimmer. He’d spoken to no one last night
except…

“Death,” he said at last, his voice barely a
whisper. “My father warned me about you.”

“And see where that got you?”

“Dead?”

“Yes and no. Because you refused to give me
your soul, I had to turn you into an Immortal. I don’t like leaving
mortals in the shadow world. Nothing good ever comes of that. I can
always make you dead-dead…” She raised her eyebrow in inquiry, but
he shook his head. “Very well. Come on.”

“Where are we going?”

“You’re mine now, Gabriel, and we have more
souls to gather.”

He looked down at the gems in his hand. Pain
and loss crippled him, and he doubled over to retch. Death placed a
cool hand on the back of his neck. His stomach settled.

“Come, young one,” she said, not unkindly.
”I have great plans for you.”

He watched her walk away and forced himself
to his feet. He faced the bodies of his mother and brother one last
time. Cold desolation lingered within him like a thick fog.

“I want to bury them,” he said.

“We have to gather the souls before
nightfall, or the demons will return for them.”

Such creatures would kill the innocent then
harvest their souls? He never knew such evil existed.

“I will kill them if they come!” he
vowed.

“Not this day. I saw you on the hill last
night. You did not even lift your sword,” Death said, bemused. “You
must learn to fight, and you must learn to bury your human
emotions. They make you weak, Gabriel, and I cannot have that.”

“I cannot help what I am!” he said, his face
hot with shame and anger at the reminder that he’d done nothing
when the demons attacked.

“You can, and you will. You will be known by
many names. Death dealer. Assassin.” She stooped to coax another
stream of green sand free from a fallen villager. “You will join
the others who bring me the souls of mortals and immortals.”

“I want to kill demons.”

“You will. Come with me, Gabriel. We’re
going home.”

What looked like the mouth of a cave
materialized in the air before her, and she stepped into it. He
gazed around once more while hot tears burned down his cheeks. He
wiped them away and squared his shoulders. His family died because
he was too afraid to act.

I will become the strongest and fastest and bravest.
I will avenge you mama, papa, I swear it.

His heart pounding, he followed Death to the
underworld.

* * *

1,000 years later

Gabriel lopped the head off the last demon
and stood ready to take on more. The demons, however, were done
playing his game, and those remaining disappeared. He stood knee
deep in demon body parts and straightened. He’d happened upon the
demons on his way to kill those on his list of souls to claim this
cold night.

He cleaned his sword methodically and
replaced it at his back. While he never passed up a chance to
behead a demon, he no longer burned to kill them or felt any sense
of satisfaction afterwards. He’d all but lost his human emotions
after a millennium, much to Death’s delight.

“I’ll take your head, assassin!”

He whipped around and saw the small form
dart from behind a tree nearby. The sword was larger than the boy
bearing it. The boy’s first strike came nowhere near him, and the
second almost reached him. He stepped away from three more strikes.
The boy paused, puffing with effort.

“Wait there, assassin. I must kill you,” he
ordered. Gabriel watched him run behind a tree. He normally killed
witnesses, human or otherwise, but hesitated, reminded of his
youngest brother, who was near the same age when he was killed.

Suddenly, the tree behind him exploded into
flames. He spun, sword in his hand. Another one exploded then a
third. Soon, all the trees nearby crackled with flames. Magic
hummed in the air around him.

“Boy, you should leave before the fire gets
you,” he called.

“I will not!” the boy shouted, poking his
head out from behind his tree.

“If you’re foolish enough to attack a
full-grown assassin, you’re foolish enough to burn yourself to
death.”

“I’m a demon. I can eat a full-grown
assassin!”

“I don’t know who told you this, but Death
has domain over mortals, Immortals, and all the Hell-beasts,” he
said and approached the child, whose arms were crossed and whose
grubby expression was fierce. The boy’s eyes were silver like a
wolf’s. Gabriel knelt in front of him. The raw, wild magic that
made the hair on his arms stand on end emanated from the boy. The
child was a half-breed demon, though Gabriel hadn’t met many
full-blooded demons with such raw power.

“Where is your mother?” he asked.

“I have none.”

“And your father?”

“I have none.”

“What are you doing here? Setting trees on
fire?” Gabriel studied him, his curiosity piqued by the little
demon boy.

The half-breed hesitated before saying, “I
was aiming for you.”

“I’ve killed men for less.”

“I’ve never killed anyone, but I’ll keep
trying.”

“You shouldn’t be out here alone,” Gabriel
said. He rose to leave. “Go home, boy, before I change my mind and
take your head.”

“I have no home, assassin.” Though the words
were brave, the tortured look that crossed the demon boy’s face
bade Gabriel linger. “Do you go to kill someone?”

“I do. I have three on my list,” Gabriel
replied.

“What list?”

“The list of souls Death has ordered me to
take to the underworld.”

“I can help you,” the demon boy offered. ”I
can burn their houses down.”

Gabriel wasn’t sure what to do with the
demon boy who was clearly a menace to the mortal world. The more he
thought, the more he wondered how the boy had gotten out of the
Immortal world in the first place. Demons were known for killing
half-breeds or tossing them into one of the bottomless seas in the
underworld. He’d never heard of a half-breed being stranded among
the humans.

Something about the brave, unkempt boy
glaring up at him disturbed him more than he liked. After years of
Death’s brutal efforts to banish his human weaknesses, he couldn’t
explain the instinct that urged him to take care of the boy.

“You can come with me,” he said at last.

“To hunt souls?”

“Yes, then to the Immortal world, where you
belong.”

“I came from there,” the boy said with a
frown. His eyes welled with tears.

“You cannot stay here in the mortal world.
They’ll kill you.”

The boy looked torn. Gabriel sheathed his
sword and walked away, puzzled as to why such a young creature with
so much power had been abandoned in the human world. Another tree
exploded, and he tensed without turning. He remembered his own
brother’s willful tantrums and refused to respond to the
half-breed.

“Wait!” the half breed said, running to
catch up to him. ”What are you called, assassin?”

“Gabriel.”

“Gabriel, I’m going with you.”

“Keep up. I do not have all night to fetch
the souls,” Gabriel said with a glance down at the boy whose head
barely reached above his waist. At close to seven feet tall and
wider than most trees, Gabriel was accustomed to seeing most full
grown men run when they saw him. Even demons hesitated before
attacking. The boy hadn’t been intimidated in the least by his
size. Occupied by the little demon, he didn’t notice his enemies
massing in the forest around them.

“What does Death—” The demon boy was
interrupted by shouts from the forest and a fiery volley of arrows.
Gabriel dropped to the ground, snatched the boy and rolled his
small body beneath his. He grunted as arrows pierced his back and
legs. He expected the boy to cry out in fear or pain at any moment
and heard the half-breed mumbling in agitation.

A sudden shockwave made Gabriel’s teeth
chatter as a burst of demon power rolled through him. Demons
roared, and more arrows fell. Gabriel hunched his shoulders,
expecting to feel the demons’ swords pierce his body. Quiet fell
instead. He waited a long moment then unfolded his body with some
difficulty. The number of arrows lodged in his back and legs made
it impossible for him to stand. The demon boy rose and surveyed the
damage.

“I did it,” he breathed, silver eyes glowing
like the moon. ”Gabriel, I did it!”

Gabriel craned his neck to look around. As
far as he could see on either side of the road, the forest had
disintegrated. Piles of ashes were all that remained of demons and
trees alike. Proud, the half-breed faced him, his smile fading.

“There are so many arrows.”

To his surprise, the demon boy carefully
gripped the shaft of an arrow in Gabriel’s calf and jerked it free.
It hurt worse coming out than it had going in, and Gabriel hissed
at the pain.

“Be still, assassin,” the boy said with a
level of self-command beyond his years.

“I thought you wanted me dead-dead,” Gabriel
grunted. “You prefer to kill me yourself?”

“No, Gabriel,” the boy said. ”I don’t want
to kill you now.”

Gabriel gritted his teeth as another arrow
was pulled free. He didn’t understand the demon boy. One minute, he
was the enemy. The next, the half breed tried to help him.

“You saved me. No one else cares if I live,
Gabriel.” The soft words were filled with unshed tears. Gabriel
twisted to see the boy, whose face was stormy with emotions. The
child met his gaze, and he felt the connection again. For reasons
he couldn’t explain, he wouldn’t leave the demon boy behind.

“Hurry, boy,” he said. ”We have souls to
claim and demons to hunt.”

“You won’t die-dead?”

“Not this night.”

“I’ll protect you if they come back.”

Gabriel raised an eyebrow as Death did when
he said something foolish to her. The half-breed was powerful yet
showed no capacity for control. He suspected the boy could kill him
accidentally with another of those bursts. The half breed was
quiet, concentrating on the arrows. Gabriel bore the pain in
silence.

“Done, Gabriel,” the half-breed said and sat
back, a frown on his face. Gabriel rolled with a grimace. His body
worked, but he hurt and was weaker than he preferred.

“What are you called?” he asked as he pushed
himself up.

“Rhyn.”

“Rhyn,” he echoed. ”Is that not demon for
flower?”

The boy’s eyes narrowed in response. Gabriel
snorted and limped onto the road.

“C’mon, boy. We have souls to fetch.”

“Do you think we’ll be friends for all
time?” Rhyn asked and fell into step beside him.

“Eternity’s a long time, Rhyn,” he said.

“Yes, but there are a lot of souls we can
hunt.”

“You’ll have to learn to fight like I do.
Rhyn,” he said suddenly and stopped to look down at the demon boy.
”You can’t come with me to the underworld. Death won’t allow
that.”

Rhyn gazed up at him, hurt in his eyes. The
boy belonged in the Immortal world. Gabriel’s thoughts went to the
Immortals he’d met when they bought death warrants from Death that
he carried out. Soon after taking him to the underworld, Death had
pushed him into a brutal series of assassinations to harden him
against human emotion. He’d wiped out entire cities at her command,
and killed children as young as Rhyn when paid by Immortals to do
so. He didn’t care for most of the Immortals, but there was one
who’d gone so far as to thank him for his service and buy him a new
dagger.