It’s bullshit though. I’m terrified.
Chapter 3
It takes me roughly ten minutes—I know from watching the clock on the wall—to escape the magical rope and map out the small room. It’s magically protected, a fancy prison in some sense, but it’s nothing against my power. The gold painted walls and literal silver floors shine brightly from the glaring sun outside the high-rise building. I walk to the window, staring down at the city of demons and Protectors. Ten high-rise buildings surround the one we are in, the royal house, and outside of that are fields full of houses and streets. The city was once just home to the Protectors, but in the war, it was destroyed and then rebuilt under Queen Evelina’s rule. Demons, who once were nothing but the scum of the magic world, are now equals to Protectors. They even marry, have half breed children, and live happy lives in this city.
Good for them.
It’s a far cry from the place I was brought up in or the place my mother came from. I remember her stories and songs. The ones she was allowed to tell me as a kid. I remember her telling me about the world outside of our little farm. She told me about how the reaper lands are connected to all over the world, running on the ley lines of the world.
The ley lines are pure magic, the magic the world runs on without realising, and the reapers literally feed off it. I’m sure this whole city lies on one. I could tell if I were closer to the ground and dug my hands into the soil.
I miss my mother’s stories, I miss her.
I sense his energy, his magic presence, before he steps into the room and moves to stand near the other wall. “Your power is strong, incredible really. Do you want to explain how a kid like you has that kind of power?”
“Not especially,” I mutter.
“I figured as much,” he sourly replies, and I tighten my control on my magic as he walks across the room and stops at my side. “My name is Alun Riverlite, and I am here to help you.”
“You’re a leader. One of the Reaper Clan leaders called the Cherished Five, who work directly with the queen of the reapers,” I say, knowing I’m right without him needing to tell me. I was warned about these reapers, the most powerful of my kind and the most evil. They look kind, almost normal, but what they do in their cities, who they enslave and feed off, means their souls are as dead as my parents.”
“I was, but not anymore,” he replies, and that makes me pause. “I chose my mate and my children instead of my clan leadership. These days, I travel the world making alliances for the reapers and caring for my family. I never expected to see someone like you, here of all places.”
“A runaway, you mean?” I enquire, but he keeps his face blank.
“Who did you run away from?” he asks instead of answering.
“Everyone,” I reply somewhat truthfully. “And what I found was worse. Salt looks like sugar to a kid. And I was a hungry kid who would take whatever I could.”
“Tell me your story. I vow to help you, Daesyn,” he tells me, and I arch an eyebrow. What does he want? “In exchange for a favour. I could give you a new identity, a new life in the Reaper Realm. We could make a deal that works for us both, and no one would ever have to know you are still alive.”
“So you have researched my family name already, it seems,” I reply with a cold laugh.
“Yes.” He pauses, and I finally look at his face in the glass reflection. Sadness and pity reflect in his eyes, and I almost, almost, want to ask for his help.
But I won’t do that. I look after myself. I don’t let anyone else in but a certain monkey. “The Heartlocke family ran the Heartlocke clan for thousands of years, until just under nineteen years ago. They were all murdered, all of them, by an unknown. Did you survive? How old are you? Who was your mother?”
“My mother and I survived. We lived with humans for a long time. Are you happy now?” I lie. I can’t tell him who my mother was or where I actually lived for all those years. If I do, he might just kill me now and feed on my power.
“Who was your father?” he asks me. “I know there were two adult sons. I am guessing Kriffin Heartlocke just purely because the other son was said to be a recluse.”
“Just because you guessed my father, doesn’t mean you get to ask me for more answers,” I snap.
“Fair enough. I cannot expect you to trust me this early on,” he replies. “For now, you will return with me. I have a small house and land outside the city where no one would see you, and I will explain the deal we will make at the house with my mate and daughters present. And a guest.”
“I’m not going with you,” I tell him. “And if you try to make me, I will kill you and escape.”
“You tried to kill the Queen of the Protectors and demons. Publicly,” he reminds me of my failed attempt. “Evie is a beloved queen, and half the city, if not all of it, are calling for your head. You cannot leave here unless you come with me, and this world will not be safe for you.”
“I can look after myself,” I growl.
“It’s clear you can,” he muses, agreeing with a calculating look in his eyes. “But being away from your kind is a punishment worse than death. Your powers are incredible, but I sense you are not using even an inch of your true abilities. The way your power attacks everyone near you tells me you don’t have control, and one day you will lose what power you have if you do not use it regularly and train. With what I have planned, you will have a chance to learn your powers as you train. With my plan, you will be free and safe in the Reaper Realm for the rest of your life.”
For a second, I smile, thinking about going to the reaper world and being a normal person for a moment. Then my boss’s face flashes into my mind, reminding me that it’s not possible.
I’m never going to be normal. I’m never going to be free. Before Alun can say another word, I slam enough energy into his chest to knock out an elephant, and he goes flying through the glass, smashing it into pieces as my magic takes out the magical barrier at the same time. Well, that worked much better than I thought. My power flickers around my skin, looking like a purple shadow of energy that is out of control.
He was right about that. And in some ways, it is. But I like being out of control.
I walk to the edge of the building just as a small monkey lands on my shoulder, curling his tail around my neck, and I turn my head to glare at him. My magic never hurts Mossy, and I don’t know exactly why, but I’m glad of it.
“I could have used some help back there,” I point out.
Mossy grins. “I was busy. They have good food here. Did you see?”
“You’re such an asshole for a monkey, you know that?”
“You’re going to make me cry. A tiny, cute monkey like myself crying would be so horrible,” he overdramatically replies as the door slams open behind us.
“You’re an asshole, and you only cry when you watch Game of Thrones because you love the dragons,” I mutter as the room fills with people. “Spoiler alert—”
“Not fair, you know my weakness,” he whines, cutting me off.
“Did you just throw him out of the window?” Evie asks around a laugh from close by. I step forward to the gap in the window, calculating how much this is going to hurt when I jump as the wind blows my waist-length black hair around my shoulders. “And where did you get a monkey from? And why is he blue?”