“Daesyn Heartlocke,” I honestly answer, since knowing my name won’t mean anything to her.
“Daesyn, why did you try to kill me? Who paid you?” she asks, picking up another piece of bacon and nibbling on it. “Are you an assassin? Do you work for some group?”
“I can’t answer those questions,” I tell her, and an invisible magical mark on my elbow starts burning even at the thought of telling her.
“Can’t or won’t?” she enquires.
I grit my teeth, feeling the magic pushing against my soul. Against my magic. “Can’t.”
The queen eyes me and clicks her tongue. “Fair enough. I will find out myself either way.” The room is filled with an awkward pause as she no doubt tries to think of a question she can ask me. “You’re a reaper, right?”
“Yes and no,” I answer.
“What is the no?”
“My father was a reaper, and my mother was what reapers hunt, lock up, turn into slaves and never tell a soul about. Don’t you know the answer, Queen Evelina?”
Of course she doesn’t have a clue. The rest of the world has no clue what the reapers hide in their world and why no one is allowed to go there.
“Careful, kid,” Evelina replies around a smirk when it’s clear she has no idea what I’m talking about. So her ear into the reaper world isn’t telling her shit. “I’m on your side, believe it or not. I made my mind up, and I like you. You remind me of myself at your age. Full of questions, lies and anger.”
“I’m not like you,” I snap, and she only laughs.
“Look, you don’t have to tell me anything, Daesyn,” she says as she slides off the table and crosses her arms. She walks to the doorway and pauses, looking back. “I don’t have any power over the reapers, and I owe them a debt for the war. They helped me and asked for nothing in return. Now they want me to look the other way and let them take you. Give me a reason to say no.”
I want to tell her a reason, I really do, but my secrets stick on my tongue like gum on my shoe. “I can’t.”
“Then good luck. They promised me they won’t hurt or kill you,” she softly tells me. “And I will be checking in on you. When you fuck up, which you will, my door is open as long as you don’t have a knife in your hand.”
“It’s not personal. They have—” I gasp as pain shoots through my core, and I grit my teeth through the pain. The magic bond is so strong, so powerful, I couldn’t fight it even if I wanted to. The queen leaves the room as annoying tears fall down my cheeks and I try to pretend I’m not scared.
It’s bullshit though. I’m terrified.
Chapter 3
It takes me roughly ten minutes—I know from watching the clock on the wall—to escape the magical rope and map out the small room. It’s magically protected, a fancy prison in some sense, but it’s nothing against my power. The gold painted walls and literal silver floors shine brightly from the glaring sun outside the high-rise building. I walk to the window, staring down at the city of demons and Protectors. Ten high-rise buildings surround the one we are in, the royal house, and outside of that are fields full of houses and streets. The city was once just home to the Protectors, but in the war, it was destroyed and then rebuilt under Queen Evelina’s rule. Demons, who once were nothing but the scum of the magic world, are now equals to Protectors. They even marry, have half breed children, and live happy lives in this city.
Good for them.
It’s a far cry from the place I was brought up in or the place my mother came from. I remember her stories and songs. The ones she was allowed to tell me as a kid. I remember her telling me about the world outside of our little farm. She told me about how the reaper lands are connected to all over the world, running on the ley lines of the world.
The ley lines are pure magic, the magic the world runs on without realising, and the reapers literally feed off it. I’m sure this whole city lies on one. I could tell if I were closer to the ground and dug my hands into the soil.
I miss my mother’s stories, I miss her.
I sense his energy, his magic presence, before he steps into the room and moves to stand near the other wall. “Your power is strong, incredible really. Do you want to explain how a kid like you has that kind of power?”
“Not especially,” I mutter.
“I figured as much,” he sourly replies, and I tighten my control on my magic as he walks across the room and stops at my side. “My name is Alun Riverlite, and I am here to help you.”
“You’re a leader. One of the Reaper Clan leaders called the Cherished Five, who work directly with the queen of the reapers,” I say, knowing I’m right without him needing to tell me. I was warned about these reapers, the most powerful of my kind and the most evil. They look kind, almost normal, but what they do in their cities, who they enslave and feed off, means their souls are as dead as my parents.”
“I was, but not anymore,” he replies, and that makes me pause. “I chose my mate and my children instead of my clan leadership. These days, I travel the world making alliances for the reapers and caring for my family. I never expected to see someone like you, here of all places.”
“A runaway, you mean?” I enquire, but he keeps his face blank.
“Who did you run away from?” he asks instead of answering.
“Everyone,” I reply somewhat truthfully. “And what I found was worse. Salt looks like sugar to a kid. And I was a hungry kid who would take whatever I could.”
“Tell me your story. I vow to help you, Daesyn,” he tells me, and I arch an eyebrow. What does he want? “In exchange for a favour. I could give you a new identity, a new life in the Reaper Realm. We could make a deal that works for us both, and no one would ever have to know you are still alive.”
“So you have researched my family name already, it seems,” I reply with a cold laugh.
“Yes.” He pauses, and I finally look at his face in the glass reflection. Sadness and pity reflect in his eyes, and I almost, almost, want to ask for his help.
But I won’t do that. I look after myself. I don’t let anyone else in but a certain monkey. “The Heartlocke family ran the Heartlocke clan for thousands of years, until just under nineteen years ago. They were all murdered, all of them, by an unknown. Did you survive? How old are you? Who was your mother?”
“My mother and I survived. We lived with humans for a long time. Are you happy now?” I lie. I can’t tell him who my mother was or where I actually lived for all those years. If I do, he might just kill me now and feed on my power.
“Who was your father?” he asks me. “I know there were two adult sons. I am guessing Kriffin Heartlocke just purely because the other son was said to be a recluse.”
“Just because you guessed my father, doesn’t mean you get to ask me for more answers,” I snap.
“Fair enough. I cannot expect you to trust me this early on,” he replies. “For now, you will return with me. I have a small house and land outside the city where no one would see you, and I will explain the deal we will make at the house with my mate and daughters present. And a guest.”
