Unreap My Heart (The Reaper Series) (6 page)

For a human, she had a pretty good stare.

“What do you want?” she said with only a slight quiver in her voice.

He reached out and took a lock of her hair between his fingers. She didn’t flinch or pull away. Tomas growled, but Balthazar ignored the old Reaper. There was nothing he could do if he wanted his Master free of Brianne’s Bitterness.

Balthazar twirled the red lock between his fingers and said, “For my protection and help, I ask for a year out of your life.”

She gasped. Yes, she should be afraid now. He wouldn’t have it any other way because he got a kick out of people being afraid of him. Plus, her fear would keep her safe from what they were to face out there. He waited.

“Balthazar, you ask a steep price,” D said.

He looked at the being he once served without letting go of Arianne’s hair and bared his teeth. “I only ask one year. She looks young and healthy. One year means nothing in the span of her human lifetime. Most take a year for granted. It’s a good bargain for bringing her back alive.”

“And in one piece?” she asked, bringing his attention back to her.

He shook his head. “That is all up to you, little girl. I can keep you safe, but I cannot account for acts of stupidity. If you don’t listen to me, for instance.”

“I’ll listen.”

“I admire your indignation, but you’ll have to prove your word.” He pulled on the lock of hair. “And, just so you know, I trust no one.”

She didn’t even yelp at the tug. He’d put enough force into it to let her know he was serious. She merely stared up at him with those blue eyes, the black dot at the center dilating slightly.

“Arianne,” D said. She turned to him. “I wish I could tell you not to take Balthazar’s bargain. I know I am asking much from you, but he is right. For his protection and resources, it is a bargain you must make. I cannot pay it for you.”

She returned her intelligent eyes to Balthazar and held his gaze without blinking. She licked her lips then swallowed. Only a quick dart of the tip of her tongue wet her bottom lip, but Balthazar caught it without completely breaking eye contact. He knew her response even before she voiced it.

“A year of my life.” She shrugged. “The price for keeping me safe and helping me find the Redeemer?”

Balthazar nodded once.

“All right.”

“Say it,” he said the same way she had with D.

Again her tongue darted across her lower lip. She swiped away the sweat dotting her upper lip before she said, “For your protection and help in finding the Redeemer, I give you a year of my life.”

“Done!”

The word echoed around the room. A sense of finality settled on everyone’s shoulders. Balthazar dropped his hold on Arianne’s hair and shifted his gaze to Tomas.

“We should get going. I want to take advantage of the few hours in the day I have left to get as far away from here as possible.”

Arianne looked at her robes. “Can I change my clothes first? I don’t exactly want to run around bare-assed and with no shoes.”

For the second time that day, Balthazar laughed. Tomas led her out of D’s office without a word and he followed. But before he reached the double doors, he looked back.

“Are you sure about this?” he asked D.

D breathed in until his shoulders stopped drooping. He sat back as if he didn’t have a dagger sticking out of his chest and said, “Is it the best situation? No. But it’s all I’ve got to work with.”

“Death painted into a corner.”

“Protect that girl, Balthazar. She is an innocent in all of this.”

“Why does she want Nikolas to gain his humanity?”

“She believes they are in love.”

The absurdity of D’s words hit Balthazar square in the gut. He would have doubled over if he didn’t find the reason pathetic. Thankfully, he managed to keep the laughter in his head.

“Love? Nikolas?”

D nodded then turned thoughtful. “You know that he forced the Fade?”

Yet another ludicrous idea. “Nikolas? Reaper of Georgia allowing the Fade? I’ve been gone too long. I really should take your place, D. You’re losing your edge. A thousand years ago you wouldn’t have allowed such a thing.”

“Maybe I am getting too old for this.”

From the lack of wrinkles on D’s face, Balthazar doubted that. But he did understand the impulse. Sometimes the job could wear on you. It was a testament to D’s increasing weakness that he’d admit to Balthazar what sounded like a desire for replacement.

“You’ll regret you said that to me, D,” Balthazar said before he turned on his heel and followed after Tomas and Arianne. The double doors closed behind him and the darkness returned. The cloak would protect its master. But for how long?

Chapter 6

POV

I
N
T
HE
R
OOM
with no furniture other than the bed, mirror, and painting, Tomas snapped his fingers and several tables appeared. A table with clothes. A table with supplies. And a table with weapons.

Arianne moved toward the clothes first and picked out soft leather pants. Her dad told her once that leather didn’t need washing as much as jeans did. Plus she’d always wanted to get a pair but they stayed out of the price range of her allowance. Now seemed like as good a time as any. Then the voice of her mother in her head said,
Light layers. You never know how cold or how hot it will be where you’re going.
It was a memory from a vacation they took before her sister, Carrie, got really sick and had to stay at the hospital twenty-four seven. Arianne’s heart twisted. How long had she been gone? It felt like weeks, and she missed her parents something fierce.

She picked out several tops and a badass looking jacket. “Aren’t my parents going to start looking for—” She stopped herself. The word “us” almost came out. That word led to thoughts about Ben. When she could finally go back to her world, her best friend wouldn’t be there with her. She pushed away the oncoming grief. She’d mourn him, she promised herself, but not now. “—me.”

Arianne looked up at Tomas just in time to see him shake his head. “Time moves differently here. You don’t have to worry about that.”

“What about my body?”

“Niko’s Caretaker will watch over it.”

Arianne briefly imagined the crotchety ghost butler hovering over her still form. She liked Sickleton. When Niko had faded before her eyes, it was Sickleton who’d helped her bring him to the basement filled with souls. She shuddered at the memory of almost losing Niko. Arianne refocused half her attention back on Tomas. No point in dwelling on what had already come to pass.

From the set of his jaw and the tightness of the muscles in his neck, Arianne suspected Tomas was holding something back. Well, he’d either tell her or she’d have to live with not knowing. The one thing he got right? She had other things to worry about. She channeled her inner Girl Scout and stuffed a pair of jeans into a backpack along with several shirts and sweaters. A couple of pairs of underwear followed. She may not be in her actual body, but she wouldn’t allow herself to travel feeling all icky. If she could—or if Balthazar would let her—she’d wash her underwear, if not her clothes.

“What can you tell me about the Redeemer?” she asked. “How will I know when I’ve found him or her?” She had a hard time thinking of the Redeemer as an it.

“How did you know how to bargain with the Master like that?” Tomas asked back.

Arianne paused before she reached for a pair of socks. She answered Tomas’s question without looking back at him.

“There was a whole summer when Ben and I watched nothing but
Dealing with the Devil
reruns.” Her chest ached at saying Ben’s name. It still didn’t feel like he was gone, like he was just wandering around somewhere doing something and she’d see him at the bus stop in the morning.

Tomas chuckled, relaxing a little for the first time since they entered the room. “I used to watch that show. They got so many things wrong, but the whole being specific part was right.”

She shrugged. “I figured if I wanted something out of Death, I should be as specific as possible. Hell, if it weren’t for being able to see the dead for years, I’d be freaking out right now. But after meeting Niko”—a twist of worry hit her chest this time instead of an ache—“there’s nothing I wouldn’t believe.”

“Vampires, werewolves, fairies. Those aren’t true.”

“Aw man! I was hoping those were real too.” She shook her head and smiled.

“Well…the romantic ones that sparkle in the sun aren’t. But yes, there are what you might call vampires in the Underverse.” Tomas smiled back briefly before his face turned serious. “You shouldn’t have given Balthazar what he wanted.”

Arianne zipped up the backpack and moved to the weapons table. She picked up a knife which was in a sheath with a strap. She couldn’t be a hundred percent sure why she picked it out from the rest. The strap seemed too small for her waist. She glanced at her thigh. Ah. But did she really need a knife? The thought of what she’d given Balthazar for her protection made her knees go weak.

“Just what does giving him a year of my life mean?”

“With Balthazar, it can mean anything.”

Arianne swallowed. “Can you give me an idea here?”

Tomas rolled his eyes to the ceiling and sighed. “Best case scenario, he’ll take a year at the end of your life.”

“Like if I’m supposed to die at eighty, he’ll kill me at seventy-nine.”

“Something like that.”

“Doesn’t seem so bad.”

“But he can also keep you for a year, make you his slave.”

Her heart jumped to her throat and beat there. “He can’t really do that, can he?”

“Balthazar isn’t exactly a humanitarian. Like the Master, he always does things for a reason. The reason why he’s here is because he wants to challenge Death for his seat.”

“He can do that?”

Tomas’s frown spread all over his face. “The position of Death is a very powerful one. Imagine having power over all living things. It’s an intoxicating position and many covet it. The Master has held the post longer than anyone else. And just as Lucifer challenged God for his seat in heaven, so did Balthazar challenge Death. The first time he did, he lost and was banished to the Nethers the way Lucifer was banished to Hell. But unlike Lucifer, who is content to rule over his kingdom of fire, Balthazar is single-minded. He wants Death’s seat and he’ll do anything to get it.”

Now Arianne frowned. “Then why didn’t he take it now? I mean, Death’s all weak. Isn’t it an easy win?”

“You should know this about Balthazar: he has a sense of honor and he knows mercy. He thinks of this as a flaw, but I think it’s his redeeming quality. But don’t let that fool you. He’s the most dangerous thing you will face out there.” Tomas tilted his chin toward an unseen distance. Arianne assumed he referred to whatever lay beyond the Crossroads.

“You know what they say, keep your enemies closer,” she joked, but Tomas didn’t laugh. His expression didn’t even change.

“He’s dangerous, Arianne.”

“Okay, I get it.”

“I don’t think you do.” Tomas pointed at the knife. “Take that with you. It’s made of a special material that can kill Balthazar.”

Arianne stared at the knife still in her hand.

“That knife chooses its owner. You may think you picked it out, but in reality—”

“It picked me,” Arianne finished for him. And she felt it, too. Something about holding the knife told her it wouldn’t leave her side, like it owned her as much as she owned it. Cool. “But I don’t know how to use a knife against someone.”

“The pointy end goes into the bad guy.”

She tilted her head and pursed her lips. “I know that. But if Balthazar is as dangerous as you think, then he’ll see me trying to stab him a mile away. I don’t think I could do it.”

Truth: she didn’t know if she could bring herself to hurt someone else, no matter how bad they seemed. To her, Balthazar seemed more arrogant and annoying than dangerous. Sure, he’d scared her when he asked for a year of her life, but she figured he could have asked for something much worse. Losing all her memories of Niko, for example. And the whole losing her eyesight thing. A year didn’t seem so bad in comparison.

“The knife is just for added protection.” Tomas walked to her side and tapped the knife. “Ultimately, I believe Balthazar will uphold his bargain and keep you safe to the best of his abilities. He’s dangerous, yes, but I think that works in your favor. He’ll do anything to keep you safe.” Then he looked Arianne in the eye. “But in case you need to protect yourself, the knife will just as easily kill other beings that stand in your way. There are few beings that it can’t kill, and I don’t think you will encounter those things on this journey.”

“Why don’t I find that comforting?”

Tomas put his hand on her shoulder and gave her a reassuring squeeze. “Arianne, you crossed into this world to save Niko. For
love
. Take strength in that. If it’s for love, there’s nothing much you can’t do.”