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“This is Sumner. Sumner, I’d like you to meet our Alpha.” He brushes against her again, like a puppy excited his owner came home.
“Oh, yes. I’ve heard a bit about you.” She holds out her hand for me to shake. “Please, call me Navah.”
CHAPTER NINETEEN
SUMNER
Liya sits behind me on the bed, running her long fingers through my hair. It’s kind of nice. Relaxing. If I’m not careful, I bet I could fall asleep with her doing this.
Her friend Vera is here too. The very same Vera who got me the job at Four Cauldrons. It was almost surreal seeing her again, as she was literally one of the first people I’d met in Fall Haven.
The three of us are piled in the same room and winding down for the night.
Silver curtains sway with the outside breeze coming in. The cold air makes me think of something Rhenn had said the night I sat with him by the fire. It’s something that stuck with me, but I never planned on asking him. Now, I look at Liya. “What’s the Land of Shadows?”
She shrugs. “It’s where the Reaper lives.”
“Reaper?”
“The King of Shadows,” Vera answers. “Just be glad he doesn’t know about you.”
“Me? Why?”
The girls look between each other. It’s Liya who responds. “He has a certain…distaste for your kind.”
“You mean human?”
“Human, yes. More than that though. It’s impurity he despises. If it were up to him, there would be no humans. No mixed orders. He finds hate in those considered unworthy, and through stealing their shadows, he grows stronger.”
“Stealing their shadows?”
“Their souls. Their life. He feeds on the fear of his victim’s nightmares, draining them until they are nothing. Once marked, you’re his, and there’s no escaping.”
A shiver runs down my spine. “That’s horrifying.” How has no one ever thought to mention this to me!
Liya places her hand on my knee, giving me a soft smile. “He’s not scouring the land looking for you. A Reaper is more than just a wicked soul snatcher. He’s the guardian of death, allowing those who pass on to cross over. I imagine something like that keeps him rather busy. Just don’t go looking for trouble, and it shouldn’t find you.”
“She lives with trouble,” Vera mutters, earning her a light elbowing from the girl at her side.
“Oh, are you going to the dance?” Liya asks, changing the subject.
“Dance?”
“The Witches Centennial. Despite its name, they put it on every year. At its core, it’s an event for all orders to come together to commemorate how far we have come as a once broken world. In more recent years, it’s an all-night lavish affair with nods to our historical growth in the form of loud music and maybe a toast or two.”
“Basically, it’s a bad ass queen’s ball with delicious food,” Vera translates.
“Oh, definitely not. That sounds way too ritzy for me.”
Liya drops my hair, smacking her hands against her thighs. “You have to go. Everyone goes.”
“Yeah, and we pretty much go as a group, so you won’t be alone.”
“I’m really not big on social events.” I try to talk my way out of it.
“Please, Sumner, it’ll be so worth it. Besides, this is the year, I feel it! And I need all my girls there looking their absolute best!” She falls to the bed, tossing her hand over her chest. “Imagine! The Witches Centennial, it couldn’t be more perfect.”
“Year for what?” I ask, laughing at the dramatic display she’s putting on.
