Chapter 1
Hadley
Do you ever get the feeling that, at any moment, you could just turn into ash, and then you would die, only you’re already dead, so you’d just be a pile of ash? No, that hasn’t ever happened to you before? Weird, because that’s been my life for the last six hours.
When my skin started to peel because I refused to feed from Alex, Rhyland, Blaise, and Jaxon, I thought I’d have time to figure it out. Months? Weeks? Hell, at this point, I’d take a few days, but nope. Six hours have passed since my skin started to peel, and it’s increased so rapidly that my arms lack flesh and I am on fire. I’m itchy and hot. Worse, I have to wear a long-sleeved shirt to hide it from the reapers, and the fabric makes the burning ache ten times worse.
I’m attempting to play it cool, because if any of them discover what’s happening with me, they’ll freak the hell out and … well, I’m not sure what they’ll do, but I worry they might force me to feed from them. Sure, they’ve been nice to me, but if it comes down to the threat of me dying … or, dissolving anyway, since I’m already dead … Anyway, things might get a bit ugly.
“How many books are we going to look through?” Blaise gripes as he slams shut the thick, worn-covered book he’s spent the last hour reading. He tosses it onto the coffee table and rubs his eyes. “Because I’m starting to wonder if there’s no answer to what we’re looking for in them.” He lowers his hands from his eyes then yanks his fingers through his chin-length, pale blonde hair.
“Maybe,” Jaxon says. “Let’s just hope Rhyland can track down Indigo.”
He’s sitting on the sofa beside me, wisps of his inky black hair hanging in his eyes as he keeps his head tipped down, focused on reading the book in his hands. He has kicked off his boots, which is sort of a weird sight—seeing one of the reapers looking so casual. But we’re just lounging around in the living room, so no shoes are really required. I slipped mine off a long time ago, and I’m debating if I should go change into some pajamas, because the skirt I’m wearing is uncomfortable as hell.
The guys are still dressed in their normal attire, so I stay in mine in case we’re going somewhere later. We look ready to go out, minus mine and Jaxon’s lack of shoes, with Blaise sporting a short sleeve grey shirt, black pants, and thick boots, and Jaxon in his long-sleeved shirt and grey pants. Alex, who’s sitting beside me, is dressed in all-black from his fitted shirt to his jeans. His piercings are the only splash of color he’s rocking, and those are silver. With his dark hair, he looks like he could walk outside and blend in with the night … when it arrives, anyway.
And then there’s me in my black shirt, matching skirt, and knee-high socks. Before I discovered they were reapers, I used to joke that they looked like a gothic boy band. They still do, and shit, I probably look like they’re groupie.
Ugh … That makes me pull a face. But I try to remain focused on the book in front of me, the one that contains knowledge of cursed fire reapers and, hopefully, a cure to my current wilting state.
The guys are searching for more answers about how to break the connection spell they believe exists between my fake father and me. The spell allows my fake father to be able to detect my location, but I try not to think about that too deeply since it hurts inside my chest whenever I do—that there’s a possibility my father gave my location to Rider, the reaper who tried to get me to drink from him until Jaxon showed up and flew away with me. And then Blaise killed him. And yeah, I know the man I believed was my father for such a long time was a terrible person after my mother died, but there were some points in my life where he seemed like a good person … Or, well, whatever he is since the guys believe he might not be human.
And then there’s a chance that my sisters aren’t really my sisters.
Plus, my mom’s a ghost …
God, I have so many issues right now.
“I wish he’d at least send an update,” Blaise grumbles as he glances outside the French doors at the balcony.
Rhyland took off a while ago to go find Indigo, who I learned earlier is the higher undead witch that the guys know. And a higher undead witch is the only creature who can break the connection spell between my fake father and me, but these types of witches are challenging to track down, so that’s why the four of us are sitting here, attempting to find an alternative solution in one of these books. Or Alex, Blaise, and Jaxon are, anyway. I’m trying to learn more about cursed fire reapers, what I can do, and also if there’s a way around this whole issue with me having to feed off of them to survive.
So far, I’ve had no damn luck. Although, I did learn that if I get powerful enough, I can start things on fire, so there’s that.
Alex flips the page of the book he’s reading. “I’m sure he will soon.”
Blaise slumps back in the sofa. “You sure about that? Because he’s been gone for a while, long enough that maybe—”
“He’s fine,” Alex cuts him off. “It just takes a while to track her down. You know that.” He presses Blaise with a sharp look, and then Blaise’s gaze flicks to me.
I get the impression that they’re having some sort of secret conversation about me.
“I hate it when you guys do that,” I say with a heavy sigh. “It’s so annoying.”
“Do what?” Alex plays dumb.
“You know what,” I throw back at him, feeling a bit cranky. And itchy. And burn-y. I want to scratch the hell out of my arms, but then I’ll look suspicious as fuck.
I fix my attention back on the book before I can say anything else that might lead them to the truth hiding beneath the sleeves of my shirt.
Alex scoots closer to me, his minty scent engulfing my nostrils. He smells so delicious that I can’t help but discreetly breathe him in, resulting in me being more annoyed with myself.
Why do I have to like their smell so much? And why do they have to be so good-looking? The only thing I can latch on to that will make me continue to be less drawn to them is the fact that they’re annoying.
Kind of, anyway.
Okay, they’re not that bad.
Grr …
“Did you just growl?” Alex wonders, brushing strands of my long, wavy brown hair off my shoulder.
Did I? Shit, I meant to do that in my head.
“Yeah, so what?” I flip to the next page in the book. And, of course, it talks about how I need to feed off of other reapers to survive.
And once I do, I’ll belong to them.
And if what Rider said about me being the last cursed fire reaper is true, then when I feed off Alex, Rhyland, Blaise, and Jaxon, they’ll become the kings of darkness, and I’ll become the queen. While I’m not positive what the title means, I don’t want to be queen. Or belong to someone.
My lip twitches with irritation.
“I think our little daredevil might be hungry,” Alex remarks, skimming his finger along the side of my neck where my pulse would be if I weren’t dead.
The touch of his skin causes a shiver to course through my body. I hate that he has that effect on me, that a touch from him can make me shiver. It’s something I’m not used to—being touched. Sure, I hugged my sisters occasionally and, before my mom died, she would hug me, but that was a while ago. To be honest, even hugging my sisters lately has been a rare occurrence.