With each cautionary tale, my anxiety grew. I’d never asked any of the Reapers why or how they had failed – it seemed insensitive. Now I was super glad I’d never asked, because I wasn’t sure I’d have made it this far if I had.

Leticia suddenly appeared among them, more solid than the rest, but still wavering. I took a few steps back—really, really not wanting to hear what she had to say—and was stopped by Mazarin’s hand on my arm.

“I chose love for my human mate over my duty as a Reaper,” she said, her gaze on the ground. He was my everything. And knew nothing of our world. I put off the reaping for as long as possible to stay with him, but when a dark wizards and witches moved into a neighboring town, I knew I had to take action. But my husband was suspicious, and began to follow me, so I held back for his sake. The other witches had summoned demons to possess humans and animals to do their bidding.”

I turned to Maz in alarm. “Demons?! Nobody told me about demons! Is she talking about the Unconsecrated?”

There was quiet murmuring among the others, and Maz shook her head ‘no.’

“You haven’t heard of them yet because it is mostly hidden knowledge – forbidden to be taught in schools, and you haven’t reached that point in your training here.”

My eyes flicked back and forth between Mazarin and Leticia, and my chest felt tight. I was more nervous than I had been moments before. I’d thought I was already at the end of my training. “Who are they if they’re not the Dark Ones?”

“Creatures of chaos and destruction that inhabit another realm, beyond this one, and apart from earth. They are generally content to stay in their own land, but throughout time, some powerful mages have been able to open portals to summon them to other planes.”

The disturbed look on Maz’s face increased my fear factor by a hundred. If she was afraid of them, what was I supposed to do if I ever came across one? And given that she’d said ‘that part of the training’ was still ahead, she must be expecting me to face off with one at some point.

“How common is that? Them being summoned, I mean,” I asked warily.

“Fortunately, not very common. It takes an extraordinary amount of energy to do so.”

Well, that’s a relief.

“But make no mistake, Sierra. It can happen,” Leticia said. Her face crumbled to an expression of despair. “My William was taken by one and due to my lack of practice, I had not the strength to expel the spirit, nor the courage of heart to kill him before he’d massacred the town and … me.”

“He killed you?!”

She nodded sadly, still not meeting my eyes. “And I let him, because I couldn’t bring myself to destroy him.”

Mazarin continued the story for her. “She died by his hand, not knowing what would become of her – whether she would have her magic and soul consumed by either the unconsecrated or the demon, or if she be sent here to this garden, or brought to some place in the underworld.”

“But of one thing, I was certain,” Leticia said, finally meeting my gaze with determined eyes, “I would not reach eternal peace. I didn’t deserve it.”

The fading spirits behind her shuffled and moaned softly. I wondered how they felt about Leticia’s story, about her. Were they sympathetic? Or maybe even resentful that she could still freely roam the afterlife, even if denied true peace?

“Do you understand now the Reaping of the Four?” Mazarin asked me sternly.

My brain went silent before a wave of nausea hit, and I clutched at my belly.

She nodded. “Love, Sierra, is the biggest danger to your mission right now. Love of family, friends, and mates.”

I shook my head, not wanting to hear it.

“Stop!” she commanded as my feet were backing away.

I froze, unable to move.

She rushed closer, face-to-face. “It is the greatest risk to your mission, but it can also be the fuel that gives you strength. But you cannot be selfish in your love! You must love all to even save the few.”

“What does that mean?”

“You are the last Reaper, Sierra. My power is nearly gone, and the others will give their all to you. We will weaken ourselves to strengthen you. But after that, my time will be done. You are all that’s left of us. You must do what we could not!”

Fury whipped through me. “Why? Why me? If any of you had done your jobs, we wouldn’t be here!” I shouted at Felicia and the rest before turning my rage on Mazarin. “And you! You most of all. How did you expect anybody to be able to do what you couldn’t do? You were supposed to be their leader!”

A spectral gust of icy wind grazed my face, its cold fingers stirring a chill of fear and regret in me.

Mazarin’s expression mirrored my dread. “I was once deceived by those who desired power above all else. I was blinded by love, just as you are now—arrogant, prideful, misguided. I have invested centuries into the Reapers that followed in my wake – brave souls prepared to sacrifice everything. Yes, we failed, and perhaps you will too. But at least we dared to try.”

With a sweeping gesture, she encompassed the spectral landscape around us. “The spirits you see here—they didn’t wait for an invitation; they willingly offered themselves up in sacrifice. Each one cleared the path for the Chosen One—the Prophesied One—You.”

“I never asked for any of this!”

“None of us ask for our destinies,” she said sharply, “but we choose how to react to them. We can volunteer to help or accept what destiny hurls at us and make the most out of it—or we can choose failure by not trying at all.”

Abruptly, her hand pressed against my forehead, and darkness swallowed me whole.

Panic-stricken screams jerked me upright. I clung onto June desperately. The blackness was so absolute that I couldn’t even see my own hand in front of my face—but I could hear the sounds of battle echoing around me.

“Mommy!”

Ethan’s voice cut through the chaos like a blade. Merlene’s cries followed suit.

“Mom? Ethan?” My voice echoed back at me from the void.

“Sierra save us!” Their pleas pierced through me like arrows.

“She can’t help you now—she’s dead.” That voice held my breath captive—Torin?

I forced myself to inhale and exhale, slowly. It wasn’t real, I told myself. This was just another one of Maz’s tests, designed to push me beyond my limits.

‘Turning on the lights would be a good start,’ I thought bitterly.

Torin materialized from the gloom, his eyes ink-black all the way across. His expression was pure hatred. Artemis followed closely behind; her lips curled into a savage snarl.

I tried to ignore them, dismiss them as the illusions they were. But then Torin struck me.

The blow was real. Searing pain radiated from the point of impact. Blood welled on my skin, trickling down my arm in a thin rivulet. I gasped at the sensation, the reality of it making my heart race.

“Torin!” I shouted over the cacophony of battle sounds echoing around us. “I can save you!”

His response was cold and unyielding. “Join us or die alongside your family.” He aimed the glowing tip of his wand at my little brother and before I could react, lashed out with a surge of magic that hit Ethan in the chest. His small body crumpled lifelessly to the ground.

“No!” The word tore itself from my throat as I lunged at Torin with my cleaver held high. In a moment suspended in time, I cut through him without conscious thought, driven by grief and rage. His body fell heavily to the ground as horror washed over me.

Artemis advanced towards me, her voice accusing and full of venom. “You’re a murderer! You’re responsible for Leo’s death! For Jae’s! For Leslie’s!”

I pleaded with her desperately as she charged at me, Torin’s blood still on hands. I tossed the cleaver aside, unable to take her life too. She fell upon me in her rage, strong hands wrapped around my throat. She was killing me, but I couldn’t bring myself to fight back. I was broken by what I’d done.