Destined to the Reaper (The Shadow Realms #2)

Chapter 5

Pharos

M y soul paced restlessly in the slimy cage that was Cornelius’s vessel. As repulsive as it had felt over the centuries of captivity, it now made me beyond nauseous. Thanks to Kali, the recent taste of freedom I enjoyed, and the intoxicating sweetness of her soul only exacerbated the foulness of my host.

I visited my bride three times already. A couple more visits should suffice to allow for a smooth transfer into my own vessel. With All Hallows quickly approaching, the timing could not have been more perfect. Over those three days, the veil between the mortal world and the Shadow Realms significantly thinned. If we performed the ritual then, it would be easier for the shriveled husk of my body to fully regenerate. Plenty of wandering souls would abound for me to feed on, not to mention the fiendish creatures that haunted the crypt where my vessel lay in stasis.

That thought immediately unnerved me.

Once back in my body, I would be nearly unkillable, even in my weakened state. The same could not be said of my female. She did not grasp just how deadly the crypt was for a human, even one with the respectable arcane powers she possessed. I had to convince her to give me her soul. It was the only way to guarantee she would survive the journey there.

The powerful longing—not to say rabid hunger—that struck me at the thought of owning her soul left me reeling. I ached to possess all of her… but consensually. I needed her to want to belong to me. It didn’t make much sense. Granted, she possessed one of the most beautiful souls I’d ever seen or touched. If I had a physical body right now, just remembering how she felt wrapped around me would have wrested a moan out of me.

Blast it to Hell! I was obsessed with her.

And tonight, I will have her again…

I felt hot and cold all at once at that prospect. I hated this ethereal form that kept me from getting the full experience of mating with her. And yet, the pleasure she gave me far exceeded anything I ever felt before. How much greater would it be in my true body? How much more intense could our coupling be? Would she even allow it, once I was back to my old self?

Kali genuinely seemed to enjoy sex with me, despite her initial outrage and reluctance when I brought it up. After that first time, she appeared eager when I visited her the second and third times. While her orgasms had been undeniable—I’d made certain of it—I couldn’t say if she would have welcomed my attentions again if not to ensure the success of her mission to destroy Cornelius.

She probably would not.

That thought stung. In fact, it cut me deep. Once I was back in my own vessel, Kali would have no more use for me. She would have what she wanted: me out and Cornelius vulnerable. A deep anger fueled by a potent sense of loss reared its head as I tried to make peace with the fact that my time with her was quickly coming to an end. Was I truly falling hard for her, or was it just an instinctive reaction to finally experiencing pleasure, hope, and gratitude after centuries of despair?

“Why are you so damn restless?” Cornelius mentally hissed at me.

I clamped down on the instant panic his sudden intrusion stirred within me. I needed to do a better job of reining myself in not to tip him off. Since Kali first called me, I had been alternating through bouts of euphoria and depression. Such extremes were bound to draw his attention to me, which was the last thing I wanted.

I reverted to my best defense and diversion tactics: snark.

“Why do you think?” I telepathically replied with contempt. “I’m bored with your pathetic projects. I’m tired of constantly being exposed to that decomposing stench you enjoy wallowing in. That trash you call a construct will not work.”

“Then tell me how to fix it,” he hissed aloud, drawing Meri’s attention.

He waved his hand dismissively to tell her never mind while emitting an angry grunt. Confused, she nonetheless kept her peace and resumed sewing the partially decayed limb of whatever strange creature it had been harvested from onto Cornelius’s latest project.

I chuckled with disbelief laced with disdain. “Like fuck I will. The only entertainment I still get to enjoy is seeing you fail repeatedly,” I said maliciously. “The Gods know you’ve been doing a lot of that lately. By the way, how is Ronika faring these days?”

“Silence!” he snapped, remembering this time to do it mentally.

Naturally, I ignored his command and further poked at the wound, distracting him from his original inquiry into my unusual behavior.

“It must sting to have been so soundly defeated by a little human. She succeeded in less than a month where you pathetically failed for decades. Not only did she thwart your efforts of appropriating her lands, but she also claimed the Wraith for herself, and acquired an insane amount of new powers you could only dream of.”

“I said silence!” he shouted angrily.

With his huge ego, narcissism, an endless sense of entitlement, he couldn’t bear the slightest hint of ridicule. He was so incredibly thin-skinned, he was easily manipulated once you knew which buttons to push.

“I still remember that tantrum you threw after she publicly humiliated you,” I continued mercilessly. “And then, you had to give up the Wraith’s tail! You’re so pathetic. And now you can’t even raise a lousy construct.”

Cornelius slammed his fist on the operating table upon which he was assembling the latest construct. Meri yelped and took a couple of wary steps back in fear.

“Ronika didn’t beat me!” Cornelius mentally snapped, ignoring his apprentice. “She cheated and somehow sold her soul. You better than anyone can see that she’s no longer mortal!”

“She cheated!” I echoed in a mocking fashion with a whiny tone. “That’s always the go-to excuse of sore losers. She didn’t cheat, she outsmarted you. And even as undead as she now is, you don’t have the power to control her. For all your boasting, you truly are a lousy necromancer.”

Cornelius fisted his hands as he leaned on the operating table, staring angrily ahead without seeing. Meri was still keeping her distance, the look on her face clearly indicating she was considering bolting out of there—which would be a wise decision.

“A lousy necromancer that beat you, didn’t I?” he snarled. “So what does that make you?”

If I had a body, I would have shrugged. Unlike him, these types of jabs didn’t affect me.

“You didn’t beat me, but I’ll concede that you tricked me. In a fair fight, I would obliterate you. Keeping me trapped here doesn’t make me entirely helpless or under your control. You like to play with rot? Here, I’m feeling generous today,” I said in a malevolent tone.

Invoking my death aura, I caused the various body parts he and Meri had been stitching together to start rotting and decaying. In seconds, heavy necrosis spread throughout the limbs, making them darken and the stitches fall out.

“STOP!” Cornelius shouted aloud.

“It’s not me!” Meri exclaimed, panicked. “I didn’t—”

“GET OUT!” the necromancer yelled at her before mentally ordering me to stop again.

She didn’t have to be told twice and bolted out of the room, nearly stumbling in her haste.

I burst out laughing and expanded my aura, damaging even more of the precious organs he had painstakingly acquired over the past few weeks. Cornelius ran out of the laboratory to limit the damage. Some of those organs or body parts were insanely rare and exotic. Replacing them would be extremely costly and time-consuming.

Even as he ran up the stairs, Cornelius tried to push me down into the psychic void that I usually faded into when wishing to isolate myself from his foulness. Normally, I happily sought its refuge. But today, I resisted both to spite him and to help enable the plan that had sparked in my mind a few moments ago.

“Stand down, you wretch!” Cornelius hissed as he once again tried to cast me down.

“That’s not very nice, Necromancer. I’m not feeling the love,” I said tauntingly. “But I won’t impose my presence where it is not wanted. Be warned that if I leave, you will not see me again for a long time.”

“Just go!” Cornelius snapped.

“Gladly!” I replied with a mocking laughter.

This could not have played out better. I faded happily, thrilled that he so easily took the bait. In truth, I couldn’t have lasted at this little game much longer. Personally using my magic instead of him channeling it through his own power quickly drained me. Since I’d given so much of myself to Kali already, I tired even faster. I needed to tread carefully not to tip my hand.

But right now, all that mattered to me was that I would soon see my bride again.

Thanks to the bond now established with her hosting parts of me, I would normally simply send her a psychic nudge that would indicate it was time for her to run to the fairy ring and draw the portal. This time I went directly to her.

It was a bit of a reckless move, but it would still be hours before she would even attempt to open the portal. Beyond the fact that I couldn’t contain my impatience to see her again, I didn’t want to waste any time with her. We had a few matters to discuss, as well as prepare our incursion into the crypt.

Using the thin link connecting us, I teleported my consciousness to her. It always felt like falling through a void before the world materialized again around me. Most mortals wouldn’t see my ethereal form as I appeared in what looked like Kali’s necromancer workshop. People with psychic abilities might get a glimpse of a ghostly silhouette, while those who dabbled in the arcane would feel a sudden surge of otherworldly energy before they altered their vision to see what had triggered that reaction.

Leaning over a large counter, Kali was waving her hand in front of a shallow cut in her palm and drawing out little drops of blood. They hovered in front of her. With another gesture, she stretched them into needle like darts, then congealed them so they would be preserved and ready to use at a whim. She’d been halfway through the process when she felt me arrive.

Her head jerked up, her face taking on an alarmed expression as she immediately raised her hands in a defensive stance ready to cast an offensive spell on the intruder.

She froze when she saw me. Shock gave way to disbelief and confusion as she altered her vision to see me more clearly.

“Pharos?! What…? How are you here?!” she exclaimed.

“We’re bonded,” I replied dismissively, feeling the intense strain of that excessive use of power. “Cast the circle. This is draining me too quickly.”

To my relief, Kali didn’t hesitate and burst into action. The swiftness with which she created the portal after only drawing it a few times over the recent days impressed me. As soon as she finished, I glided in, an intense sense of relief washing over me as its stabilizing power took over for me. Instead of the pale apparition I had been, I solidified again at no cost to me.

“Blood Magic?” I asked with curiosity while gesturing with my chin at the pouch filled with blood darts on the counter.

She glanced at it over her shoulder before looking back at me. “Yes. I specialize in Blood and Bone Magic.”

I raised an eyebrow. “Not Soul or Flesh Magic? Necromancers usually focus on those two first.”

She shrugged. “I don’t want to make zombies or steal someone else’s freedom by enslaving their souls.”

I gave her an indulgent smile. “You can use those types of magic for far more than creating zombies. Combined with Blood or Bone Magic, they can grant you far greater powers and allow you to cast extremely useful spells.”

“I know but…”

“But?” I insisted when her voice trailed off.

“I am learning the basics of Flesh Magic,” she conceded reluctantly. “But I really don’t want anything to have to do with Soul Magic. I’ve seen the way most of those who practice it start abusing it. As time goes by, they stop seeing those to whom those souls belonged to as people. They only see them as tools to enhance their own power. I’ve seen the devastation it has caused.”

“Then you will always be weak,” I said sternly. “Soul Magic would be of great help to you in the crypt.”

She shrugged again, her beautiful face taking on a defensive expression. “I am preparing for our mission in the crypt. I’ve read everything available about it.”

I burst out laughing. She scrunched her face, stung by my instinctive reaction. I didn’t mean to embarrass or mock her, but she was being truly delusional about what trials awaited her… awaited us.

“Kali, going in will be easy. Coming back out will be a completely different story. Whatever you may be reading about Hemdell can never prepare you enough for what you will face,” I cautioned in a reasonable tone.

“Okay, but I will have you on the way out,” she said in a self-evident tone. “Between our joint forces—”

“I cannot help you,” I said in a tone that brooked no argument.

She recoiled, shock and a hint of betrayal sparkling in her obsidian eyes. “Why not? Why wouldn’t you want to help me after I’ve freed you?”

“It has nothing to do with what I want,” I countered. “Beings like me are bound by many rules. As a Reaper, I cannot simply go around killing creatures and people who happened to be inconvenient. I can only kill or harm when the target poses a direct threat.”

“And they will do exactly that!” Kali exclaimed, visibly baffled that it wasn’t obvious to me.

“They will threaten you , not me ,” I corrected in a gentle tone. “Very few creatures, even the mindless ones, mess with Death. They give us a wide berth. Once I walk again, even in a weakened state after so many centuries of stasis, they will know they cannot stand against me. But they will come after you. A threat to you isn’t one to me. Intervening would impact Fate’s plans for you. We are not allowed to tamper with the Wheel or the Thread of Life.”

She stared at me in disbelief. “So you’re just going to stand by and watch me possibly get overwhelmed and die?”

“I will not be able to help you, Kali. And I do mean not able . Intervening will cause me debilitating pain that will make me unable to actually assist you. It is not by choice. There is one way around it, but you will not consent.”

Right on cue, Kali’s face closed off, and she crossed her arms over her chest in a disgruntled fashion.

“Let me guess. You will help me if I give you my soul,” she ground through her teeth.

“Yes,” I replied in a factual fashion.

“That’s too steep a price. As you said yourself, I’ll never consent to it.”

“I don’t want you to die, Kali,” I said in a suddenly pleading tone as I moved forward to the edge of the circle.

“Then don’t reap me!” she exclaimed.

I shook my head with an apologetic expression. “If your body dies, and I don’t reap you, your soul will linger and start to decay.”

“Decay?!” she echoed, baffled. “Wouldn’t I automatically go into limbo until a Reaper comes for me?”

I shook my head again. “You need one of us to get you into Erebus to begin with. It is but the entrance hall to the various areas of the afterlife a soul can be taken to, based on its unique circumstances. You need a Reaper to crossover. And then the Ferryman will take you to your final destination. If you are not reaped, you will linger in the mortal plane and decay.”

“Like the wandering souls?” she asked with a shudder.

I nodded. “Most of the souls that haunt the crypt and other similar damned places belong to those who were prevented from crossing over by a curse, or who foolishly refused to be escorted. Then you have those who doomed themselves by committing heinous enough acts to be punished by being left behind, but not necessarily enough to be thrown into the darkest pits of Hell and eternal damnation. For them, decaying is a greater mercy.”

She swallowed hard, her wheels spinning as she reflected on the matter. “All right. But I have not led a bad life. If you don’t reap me, wouldn’t another Reaper come for me?”

I hesitated, suddenly feeling embarrassed, then shook my head. “No other would come for you as you are marked.”

“Marked? What does that even mean? Did Cornelius—?”

“No,” I interrupted, shifting uneasily as I carefully chose my words. “None would come because I have claimed you. Your soul is mine to reap.”

“What?! You’ve taken my soul?!”

“No!” I exclaimed, raising both my palms in an appeasing gesture. “Your soul is entirely yours. Neither I nor anyone else have any claim on it but you. I only get to be the one who will escort you to the other side when your time comes.”

Although all tension bled out of her shoulders, she continued to stare at me with confusion and a hint of suspicion.

“Okay, but why?”

“Because I like your soul,” I admitted sheepishly, feeling insanely self-conscious.

Her jaw dropped, and her eyes widened. Although stunned, Kali also seemed flattered. That reaction prompted my mouth to just run away.

“I like the way it feels around me, its mesmerizing shimmer, its enthralling melody so soothing and comforting, and its divine taste.”

“Its taste?!”

As I was speaking, Kali had been gradually softening, her peach skin taking on a rosier tinge in response to those flattering comments. But that last one had her instantly horrified and wary.

I smiled, both amused and embarrassed to make this revelation. “Reapers can feed in several ways. Draining the lifeforce of a fallen’s remains or lesser souls are common methods. But we normally feed off the energy emanating from people’s souls. The stronger the emotions, the more energy they generate.”

“Like a succubus?!”

I hesitated. “Partially. Feeding from emotions does not drain the target, contrary to the way a succubus does it. As you will recall, I pledged not to harm you in any way. The energy that you produce is the sweetest thing I have ever tasted. It is quite addictive. It’s a good thing too, as it helps give me enough energy to fool Cornelius in not noticing that my soul is thinner from sharing parts of it with you.”

“I see,” Kali said, rubbing her nape uneasily.

She didn’t quite know how she felt about it all. I couldn’t blame her. And yet, my stupid mouth ran away with me again.

“Give me your soul, Kali,” I said in a pressing tone. “Not only will I protect you, but I will make you long-lived.”

She opened her mouth with a frown upon hearing the first sentence, likely to shut me down in no uncertain term. However, my second comment piqued her curiosity.

“Long-lived? Not immortal?”

I smiled and shook my head. “Only the Gods and the Ancients are immortal.”

“What about you?”

My smile broadened. “As I am neither a God nor an Ancient, I am indeed mortal, but long-lived. Other Reapers and I can be killed. It is just extremely hard. My body regenerates fully in little time, even if it was completely burnt or destroyed beyond recognition. I could do the same for you.”

Her eyes widened ever-so-slightly at that. It was a little underhanded to dangle such a carrot before her. Who in their right mind wouldn’t want such an ability? It struck me how shameless I was willing to become if it convinced her to give me her soul. The need to own her was driving me insane.

“But you would own my soul permanently,” Kali said at last. “So as enticing as this all is, it remains a hard pass for me.”

“If you die in the crypt—and you will —all of this will have been in vain. Cornelius will win,” I snapped.

She lifted her chin defiantly. “I had a reasonable life, and I should therefore have a decent afterlife. At least, you will be free. As much as I would love to kill Cornelius myself, I take comfort in knowing that you will see that he is properly punished for what he did to you.”

I pinched my lips, unable to argue with her logic, but not yet willing to drop it, despite knowing she was still not ready to cave in on this… if ever.

“And what of your brother?” I challenged, another wave of guilt surging through me at this low blow—honest though it was. “Even if I kill Cornelius after you have passed, it will not free your brother. Jasper’s soul is decaying. Soon, he will be a mindless ghoul. Someone needs to perform a ritual to free him.”

“And you can’t do it?!” she exclaimed.

I shook my head with an apologetic look. “I cannot interfere in the lives of mortals other than to reap them. You will have done all of this in vain if you do not survive the crypt, unless you find someone else to take care of your brother once you’re gone.”

“Is this some kind of trick to force my hand into giving you what you want?” Kali asked, narrowing her eyes at me. “I mean, if I give you my soul, and you become my owner, won’t it also preclude me from intervening in the lives of mortals?”

“No, silly woman. I will own your soul, but you will still be human with all the same rights and none of my restrictions. I will simply make you long-lived and near immortal.”

“So you won’t stop me from doing anything I want but that you may disagree with?” Kali insisted.

“Why would I? If I disagree, I will try to reason with you. But if you insist, then it is your choice to make. I am not your master.”

“But you could be, if you so choose,” she countered.

“If I so choose, yes, I could be,” I said with a shrug.

She gaped at me as if I were a creature that should not exist. “Wow! You could have lied instead of admitting to my worst fears!” Kali exclaimed.

I frowned. “Is that what you would want? For me to lie to you, ply you with pretty untruths to wrest what I want from you through deception?”

She pinched her lips and gave me a ‘Don’t be silly’ look. “Of course not. But you didn’t have to be so blunt about it.”

“There will always be nothing but honesty between us, however unpleasant the truth may be,” I said in an imperious tone.

“Fine. But this soul giving business is still a no go for me. I’ll figure out another way to get out of the crypt in one piece,” she said stubbornly.

I clenched my teeth. As much as I understood her reluctance, it still felt like a personal affront and rejection.

“You will be my bride, Kali. And you will freely give me your soul,” I said in a slightly menacing tone.

“I am not your bride,” she said with the same mulish expression she always took every time she rejected my claim.

That pissed me off.

Flicking my hand, I invoked the kinetic powers of Flesh Magic to draw her to me. Kali gasped as she glided into the circle and all but collided with me. Despite her surprise, she didn’t resist or try to fight me off when I leaned down and crushed her lips in a brutal kiss.

I all but tore off the dark, short sleeved dress she’d been wearing. I could feel her displeasure upon hearing the ripping sound of the fabric. Yet, her tongue battled with mine with the same furious passion. There was no tenderness or gentle foreplay in our coupling. It was raw, brutal, filled with frustration, mutual anger, fear, and desperation.

As I pounded into her, surrounded by the mesmerizing beauty of her aura, shining even brighter from the tempest of conflicting emotions warring inside her, I gorged on its potent and intoxicating energy.

As she writhed beneath me, her inner walls contracting around my cock, I once more cursed that wretched ethereal form that cheated me out of the full contact I craved with my female. I would be damned before I allowed her light to go out because of her stubbornness. Whatever the cost, she would give her soul to me.

Kali was mine.