She sat up with a gasp, seeing nothing and fearing that the knock to her head had left her blind. But she squinted through her pain until she could focus past the darkness of the musty room she was in, the dimmest of everbeacons revealing damp walls covered in mold and a cluster of white stone coffins lined up beside each other, all cracked and crumbling.
Viri’s stomach clenched as she took in the crammed space, the moistness of the air telling her she was in an underground crypt, the lingering tingle of the wards indicating she was somewhere beneath the cathedral. But she spared only a second to get her bearings and note the staircase leading up to the only exit—a wooden door that was undoubtedly locked—before her attention was fully diverted by the person who had woken her.
Because it was Jessalyn.
“Thank the Elders you’re not dead,” the young girl whimpered, wrapping her arms around Viri’s neck. She was trembling violently, her grip so fierce it was bruising.
“Jessy,” Viri breathed, hugging her just as tightly. “Are you all right? Are you hurt?”
Jessalyn shook her head against Viri’s shoulder before easing back enough to show her puffy, tear-stained face. Her brown eyes were wide with fear, her sandy hair tangled, her clothes filthy, but aside from her messy appearance, she didn’t seem to have suffered any physical harm in the days since she’d been abducted.
“They don’t hurt us,” Jessalyn confirmed shakily. “The reapers—we only see them when they bring food and water. They haven’t even tried to siphon from us.”
Viri noticed then that there were other children in the room, peeking out nervously from behind the stone coffins and hiding in the shadowy corners, all in similar states of neglect.
“Have you come to save us?” Jessy asked tremulously. “Are we going home?”
“Yes,” Viri said firmly, unwilling to let on how dire their situation was. Her mind was spinning, largely from her head trauma, but also because she realized with a sinking feeling that no one had the slightest idea where she was. Reeve and Braedan would know something was wrong when she didn’t show up at Wynter’s lab, but they wouldn’t have the first clue how to find her. She needed to think, to come up with a plan, but, Elders, her head washurting.
Gritting her teeth against the thundering pain, Viri reachedinto her cloak and pulled out the last of the healing salve, slathering it against her swollen temple and moaning with relief as it began to work almost instantly. She did a quick inventory of what remained from Wynter’s supply, noting that the zingzest and morphenine had been used up during their lake encounter, and she’d lost the impedidust somewhere along the way—likely while fighting the tentacled beast—but she still had the scarlet powder that could nullify the heightened abilities of any reapers it touched, and she made sure it was secured within easy reach.
Patting her sides, Viri cursed as she realized her last two daggers had been confiscated. But at least she still had her fillium and the scarlet powder, both of which she decided she would use against whoever appeared next in the crypt, giving the kids a chance to make a run for it while she fought back any pursuers.
It wasn’t her strongest plan, but it was better than nothing, and she felt her confidence grow.
…Until she glanced at her forearm and saw that her fillium wasn’t actually there.
Her blood turned cold as she remembered she’d been holding it when she’d lost consciousness, which meant—
“Looking for this?”
Viri startled, her palm searing as she scrambled to her feet and whirled toward the staircase. The door had opened without her hearing it, and standing there, bathed in shadows, was an eerily familiar form.
The Reaper Lord.
“Hello, Viridia Solace,” he said in his deep voice, his bulky cloak covering him from head to toe, just like last time. The only difference was, he now held her fillium in his gloved hands.
Viri froze at the sight. It should have been impossible. Hewas areaper. The golden cord was most debilitating when touching skin directly, but it still worked over clothes, and unless the Reaper Lord had the same rare immunity as Viri and Reeve, then there was no way he should have been able to hold it without feeling its effects.
“I wish you could see the look on your face right now.” Dark amusement threaded his tone as he waved the weapon tauntingly. “If you’re wondering how I can touch this, it’s because it used to belong to me, and unlike people, magic is loyal. But it was stolen long ago, along with something even more precious. I swore I’d get revenge one day, so when I say I’m going to enjoy this, I mean that more than you can know.”
A prickle of ellixen was the only warning Viri had before her fillium rose magically into the air in front of the Reaper Lord, hovered like a thrashing, golden snake—
And exploded into dust.
“No!”Viri cried, watching in horror as the glittery specks floated gracefully to the filthy ground.
Her fillium—herparents’fillium—
“So satisfying,” the Reaper Lord crooned. “You have no idea how long I’ve wanted to do that.”
Viri stared at the gold dust in disbelief, her eyes burning at the sense of loss, ofgrief. Her weapon had saved her life countless times since she’d become a hunter, had saved her parents for many years before her. For it to now be destroyed…for the Reaper Lord to have had enough power to make a magical artifactshatter…
Trembles began to rack Viri’s frame, a heady combination of fury and fear. She motioned to the pale-faced Jessalyn to back away, and the young girl scurried over to a group of childrencowering behind one of the white coffins. Only when Jessy was safely out of the Reaper Lord’s firing line did Viri turn to face him head-on, her voice hard as she promised, “You’ll pay for that—along with everything else you’ve done.”
A lethal laugh. “Pay? I just did you a favor. Someone had to show you that you’re deluding yourself if you still believe you stand a chance at stopping me.” He cocked his hooded head to the side, the shadows moving with him. “Though I suppose I should also thank you.” His humor returned. “You’ve been so painfully predictable, you made my task almost too easy.”
Viri glared at him, denying him the satisfaction of asking what he meant.
