Pursing my lips and trying to hide my disappointment, I try to find a way to let him down easy, because I have no idea how to recognize ‘her’ based on only a skeleton.
He must see my hesitation.“Like calls to like... How we drew you here.” The silvery wisps he stole start to rise from the water, growing and intertwining with my own.“You will recognize her… are only two of you.”Even the fragments of his words are growing fainter now.
“Two what?” I ask, now thoroughly confused. His hand almost slips free, and I grab it, needing his answer. “Do you mean she’s another Creator? Because I’m sorry to break it to you, but I’m the first Reaper to be born in thousands of years.”
Hades said as much when I visited him in the Underworld, and I doubt the literal god made a mistake.
“Correct,”he answers in a whisper.
My heart sinks. I don’t think there is a single helpful bone in Lilanthara’s body. There’s no way the other Creator is going to help them.
“She… was born second,”he adds, and then his hand releases mine.
I’m left gaping at the water as he retreats into the main well.
Second.
She was born second.
There’s another Reaper.
Hope flares in my chest. Someone else might be out there freeing spirits. That means Hades might be freesoon. It fizzles out quickly when I remember how sketchy everyone has been acting over the missing souls.
Whatever is going on, it reeks of Need’s corruption.
Sighing, I stand and turn toward the skeletons (my next robbery victims?). The two on each side are larger than the one in the center, and their arms are wrapped around each other. A pang of sadness hits me as I realize they died holding each other.
Edging forward, I examine the skeleton in the center more closely. Her clothes have long since decomposed, but my eyes catch on something metallic over her arm – a bracelet.
Not seeing any other obvious trinkets, I gingerly try to pull it off, cringing when the hand falls to the ground.
Oh fuck.
“I’m so sorry,” I whisper, even though I know there’s nobody home.
I make a mental note not to tell the other Reaper that I accidentally desecrated her remains.
The bracelet is a simple, thin silver band. There aren’t any markings on it, and since I don’t see a better way to sneak it past Leon, I tug it over my hand. I refuse to look at my finger stump when I do so.
It still aches.
The bracelet settles on my arm, and I shriek as it immediatelyfusesinto my skin. I try to claw at my arm, even though there’s no pain.
It disappears, but I can feel it, just under the surface. It’s burrowed inside of me like some kind of parasitic beetle from a horror movie.
Nope. Absolutely not!
I grab for my hidden knife, ready to cut it out, only to pause when some of my silver threads start to crawl up my arm, as if drawn to the metal. A moment later, the bracelet becomes visible once more.
Not hesitating, I tear it off. The metal hits the ground with a dull thunk. Breathing heavily, I stare at it warily for a few minutes, expecting it to crawl away.
When nothing happens, I start to feel a bit silly.
Okay, so maybe it isn’t a parasitic piece of jewelry.
Flexing my now free arm, I reassure myself I’m okay before picking it up again. After a shuddering inhale, I put it back on, this time ready when it fuses into my skin.
On a hunch, I direct more of my Reaper power into it, because, quite frankly, if I’m going to be wearing this, I’d at least like to know what it does.
