“Does it matter?” I sighed. “What’s the worst that can happen to you, as opposed to what can happen to our friends and family if one of the affected fae dies before the Hermessi reach the five million they need? There’s nothing but death and misery in store for us. Will it be the same for you?”
She didn’t answer, but I knew it was a clear no. If there was one thing I’d learned about Reapers, it was the fact that they were practically obsessed with obeying the rules. Few were as flexible as Seeley. Kelara had potential, but it wasn’t going to be easy—that much I knew. Still, I could break her. I had to, before it was too late.
Crane was hanging by a thread. Despite our efforts, he simply couldn’t pull himself out of the slump. He could barely speak, his gaze always low as the last link on his life-chain slowly faded. Nothing we said had worked, and, if he lacked the will to live, regardless of the reason, then there wasn’t much hope left for him.
“I can’t do it, Vesta,” Kelara said.
“Are all Reapers this spineless?” Ben asked sharply.
She shot him a cold glare. “Mind your words, buddy.”
“Or what? You can’t do anything to hurt me… no more than I already am,” he replied.
“I’m sorry it turned out this way for you, but—” Kelara was interrupted by a scream from across the hall. She stilled, then swiftly turned around and vanished. A second later, she reappeared on the other side, closer to the source of the scream.
“What just happened?” I asked, my voice barely a whisper.
“Whatever it is, I doubt it bodes well for us,” Ben said. “I think we both know what happened, though.”
We walked forward as far from our bodies as we could. We weren’t the only ones interested. Grace, Vita, Caia, Lucas, and Kailyn joined us as we tested the lengths of our life-chains in order to get a better look.
About fifty crystal casings away, Crane stood, motionless and pale. He held his chest, but his life-chain had fallen to the floor, the last link blackened, no longer able to connect the soul to the body. The scream had come from him, I realized. His mouth was wide open, his face frozen in an expression of grief and horror. As hopeless as he’d been, he probably hadn’t understood the extent of the damage that dying would do to him.
A black spot remained on his chest. He touched it with trembling fingers and yelped from the pain it caused him. “It hurts… It hurts so much…”
Kelara was right next to him, staring at his chest. Malleus and Sidyan had joined her, equally concerned. They exchanged words, but none of us could hear them. “He died,” I said.
Arwen heard the endless beep of his vitals monitoring system and rushed across the room. Upon reaching him, she gasped. Pressing her palms against the glass casing that had been protecting his body, she made it pop open, like a casket. Like an actual casket. Oh, man…
“I don’t think she should touch him,” Ben murmured, suddenly alarmed.
Crane’s body was glowing amber, still, but the intensity was stronger. Without a soul in it, the flesh had become a conduit for the Hermessi, and Arwen knew that. Why was she touching him, then?
“She’s trying to resuscitate him,” Grace said.
Indeed, Arwen was applying rhythmic pressure with both hands against Crane’s chest, trying to get his heart beating again. Mona ran over, downright horrified. “Arwen, no! Get away from him!” she shouted.
“I can help him!” Arwen replied. “I can still help him!”
“No…” Mona grabbed her by the waist and forcibly pulled her away.
The crystal casing was still open. Crane’s soul watched helplessly as his body was overcome with violent convulsions. “What the hell is happening?!” he screamed, as his Reaper and Kelara held him back. Malleus and Sidyan jumped in to help.
I didn’t even notice that Rudolph was still with us, on this side of the sanctuary, until he spoke to my left. “He’s dead.”
All eyes, of spirits and living helpers alike, were on Crane’s body. Its glow shifted from soft orange to a sharp blue, the surface rippling as if it had been turned into water. A Crane-shaped blob of water that shone like a sapphire. The epitome of terrifyingly weird.
“His body is open to the Hermessi, and one of them just went in, trying it on,” Rudolph added.
“That’s just sick and disgusting,” I croaked.
“It’s sad, but inevitable, I’m afraid.” He sighed, his lips crooked with what looked like genuine disappointment.
The glow expanded from Crane’s body. My pulse quickened as I watched the light grow brighter until it pulsed. With every flicker, invisible energy was released in physical waves. It knocked a struggling Arwen down, and Mona fell with her.
Gasps erupted from the crowd of spirits as the pulses grew in frequency, smacking into every physical barrier around Crane’s body. The crystal casings were toppled, falling to the sides like dominoes. The bodies inside slumped against the charmed shells, helpless against the laws of physics.
The energy ripples got stronger, and no one in the world of the living seemed to be able to do anything about it. Mona and Arwen were still down, repeatedly hit by the ripples and unable to get back up. Bruises bloomed on their faces. Blood trickled from their noses.
Other GASP agents tried to get closer, but the pulses continued their aggressive attack. Kailani teleported herself next to Crane’s body in a bid to work her Word magic and seal his casing back, but the blue glow flashed bright enough to temporarily blind us all. I heard Kailani’s grunt as she, too, hit the floor, her temple bleeding.
“Somebody needs to do something!” I shouted. “This can’t be right! They’re all going to die!”
The Reapers looked nervous. They definitely hadn’t known this would happen. They threw wary glances around, silently challenging one another to get involved. The fae spirits beckoned them as well, tugging their arms and desperately pleading for some kind of help.
Kailani tried to get up, but the pulses knocked her back down, mercilessly. The air ripples reached our side of the sanctuary, bumping into our crystal casings. They all shuddered at every hit, threatening to fall over.
“Dammit, you can’t let the Hermessi win here! Death doesn’t want them to have this!” I bawled, tears stinging my eyes. I felt the rivers tumbling down my cheeks, wet and hot and echoing my grief and desperation. “You have to do something.”
Caia was quick to hold me, keeping her arms tight around my torso. Light burst golden between us, healing another link on our life-chains. Sometimes it didn’t work, but this time, it had. We’d bought ourselves another day, at least, on top of what we’d already gotten back since we’d been revealed to each other. Still, it didn’t do anything to calm me. I was watching the Hermessi force their way into one of the fae bodies, and it made me so angry, so helpless…
“Dammit!” Kelara snarled and took out her scythe.
Her lips moved as she walked over to Crane’s body, unaffected by the brutal ripples of energy. The handle of her scythe extended, and she scratched a circle around the crystal casing. Mona and Arwen were the first to see her, their eyes bulging and their mouths gaping.
“Who… Who are you?” Kailani mouthed, gawking at Kelara.
It didn’t take long for them to recognize the apparel and the scythe. Mona’s lips moved slowly. “Reaper…”
