A Reaper Made (21 page)

I stared at him, boggled. When I said nothing, he scoffed.
 

“God, you are brand new.”
 

That miffed me enough to snap out of it. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
 

He rolled his eyes. “You obviously weren’t that bright when you were human, either.”
 

“You don’t have to be a jerk,” I said crossly. “Maybe we talk this out.”
 

He snorted, his purple witch eyes flashing at me. “I didn’t figure you for the kumbaya type.”
 

“You keep saying things about power and glory, but I know you aren’t happy about having to work with demons to get it,” I said.
 

He shifted his feet, growing uncomfortable for the first time. “Dark magic has a price.”
 

“But what if you could turn it around? Save the Reapers and Allison?”
 

“And then what?” he asked. “I go back to being the half-witch no one takes seriously?”
 

“At least you’d have a girlfriend,” I said, hoping Allison hadn’t texted him a breakup message yet.
 

“I’ve come too far, Reaper.”
 

“It’s not too late. I know you love Ally—“

“It’s not enough,” he said. “I’ve gone too far, done too many things to back out now. He’d never allow it. I’m dead if I don’t comply.”
 

Feeling sure “he” was Alistair, I tried another approach. “Surely you know you’re endangering your own soul by screwing around with black magic?”
 

Brady’s face reddened. “Don’t worry about my soul. Worry about the ones in Moloch’s lair.”
 

That looming threat nearly took my breath away; those souls cried out to me to be saved. I just barely stopped myself from pleading with him.
 

“Brady, please. We could go in there and take down Alistair together.”
 

“I’ve got a better idea,” Brady said, flexing his fingers. “Maybe you won’t go with me willingly. But I’d bet every spell I know that you’ll do what it takes to save her.”
 

“No,” I half-whispered, “you wouldn’t, you love her.”
 

Brady snarled. “Check your facts - Alistair’s promised me everything I’ve ever wanted.”
 

“But at what cost?” I nearly shouted.

“
You’re
doing this to her, involving her soul.” Brady’s face hardened. “One you could avoid if you’d just go with me. He’s targeted her now because of you. I don’t like it either, but Alistair knows you won’t come with me willingly. ”

“That’s one thing you can be damn sure of.”
 

“Don’t make me involve her.” It was almost a plea.

“I can’t let you endanger souls and Fate,” I said.

His breath came out ragged. “Know that you did this to her. This is the only way you’ll cooperate.”
 

Before I could respond, he gave me a little wave and disappeared. Horrified, I pictured Allison’s dorm room, appearing in a whirlwind. I arrived just in time to see Allison’s terrified face, Brady clutching her. She let out a yelp of fear before Brady clamped a hand over her mouth.
 

“Don’t hurt her,” I warned him. Regret shone in his eyes.
 

“It’s too late. You forced my hand.” Before I could question him, he blinked out of sight with my sister.
 

CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT

I moved so fast to Tessa’s that I stumbled when I arrived. Thankfully I managed to catch myself on the armchair instead of the television. Tessa and Tully appeared to be deep in conversation, their faces surprised at my sudden arrival.
 

“Problem,” I said, wide-eyed and panicked. “Huge problem, we’ve got one.”
 

I explained everything, wincing at Tully’s terrible, disappointed expression. His lips thinned when I revealed Allison knew the truth. I hoped he didn’t hold it against me too much; we were under a pretty tight schedule and needed to act fast.
 

“We have to hurry,” I finished.
 

Tully and Tessa traded looks. Tessa got up and went into the back, presumably to get a few vital spells. She returned, gathering her materials.
 

“I might be able to get around Brady’s spell, but then we’ve got to make our way through that underground maze,” Tessa said. I noticed she’d changed into rubber galoshes to traipse through the damp tunnels.
 

“Then we get there however you and Tully showed up last time,” I said.
 

Tully gave me a puzzled glance. “Child, you know how I found you. Through our connection.”
 

The one time he’d tried to explain “our connection” I’d snorted so loud Tully refused to explain any further. I’d thought he was giving me grief for asking too many questions. “That’s a real thing?”
 

His eyes closed briefly, as though regaining composure, before answering me. “I am your maker; part of my soul is with you. I can tell when you are in danger.”
 

“Reapers must be special that way, huh?”
 

“It’s rare, but when they have a relationship as close as you and I do, yes.” He saw my questioning glance. “That type of relationship I had with Alistair…I promised myself if I ever took on a Made, I would never let them experience it the way I had. I didn’t want you to stumble along the path as I had to.”
 

My face softened. “You were forced.”
 

“I suppose it helps that you are special.”
 

“Aw, you’re just saying that ‘cause some Oracle from Jersey thinks I’m the Chosen One.”
 

A bark of laughter left him and I froze, unable to believe my ears. Tully had never laughed at my jokes. He stiffened, but it was too late as I grinned at him. Sure, a demon wanted to kick my ass and I would probably get my soul reaped by an elder gone mad, but I sure was glad to have Tully with me.
 

His posture straightened as he got a hold of himself. “Regardless, a stronger connection with a Made and their maker will help in situations like this one.”
 

I snapped back into action. “Well, then let’s go to wherever my fear was and save her!”
 

He paused and I couldn’t understand why he was being so hesitant. Dread pooled in my stomach; I swallowed hard, worried. I couldn’t be told to stop now, not here, when my sister’s soul hung in the balance. Alistair could reap me for all I cared, so long as Allison lived a long, happy life. I tried one last time.
 

“We have to follow them! Let’s go!” I yanked at Tully’s thin white shirt, tugged him along a few steps before he stopped me.
 

“Child, when I felt your fear, we found you because Tessa performed a spell to put us where you were; we did not know your location.”

“And Brady had a designated breach for our landing spot,” Tessa added.
 

My heart sank. “And we escaped because you had an exit potion ready.”
 

They nodded and I stared at the wall, tried to remember everything I could about Alistair’s creepy underground lair.
 

“Oh god, is he going to take her back there?” I didn’t even realize I’d spoken.
 

“Demons have an appetite for human hearts,” Tully said. When I shot him a dirty look, he grimaced. “In any case, the witch cast extensive magic on the place.”
 

“Magic against Reapers,” Tessa reminded him. “Brady’s clever, keeping me and anyone else from discovering his magic.”
 

“He’s smart. I don’t think we should be surprised if they reinforced their walls against witchcraft after our escape,” I said.
 

Tessa gnawed on her bottom lip. “Even if we got into the tunnels, we’d have to find the right path. It’s like a maze down there.”
 

I froze, her words playing over in my ears. “Tunnels.”
 

The witch raised a brow. “What about them?”
 

My eyes raised to meet hers. “No,
tunnels
.”
 

“Just because you emphasize it doesn’t mean I understand any more than before,” she replied. She crossed her slender arms over her chest.
 

“The entrance that we need is where he found me, in the room behind the red door. That’s our starting point.”
 

Realization dawned on Tessa. “They’re under the campus. I can work with that.”
 

She quickly put together powders and miscellaneous items I didn’t understand. I talked as she worked.
 

“Yeah, and Allison said Brady dared their friends to go in. I bet he was testing out the magic or something.”
 

“More like saving Moloch a snack,” Tessa muttered. She grimaced in apology when I glared at her.
 

“There’s one thing I just don’t get,” I said.
 

Tessa filled a vial, nodding with satisfaction. She corked it and zipped her bag, the insides gently clinking. “What’s that?”
 

“Brady loves Allison. At least, the human side,” I added quickly at Tessa’s quirked brow.
 

“He is headed down a terrible path, one that has no room for love,” Tully said behind me, using his patient, “talking to a soul” voice. The placating tone deserved a glare.
 

“How do you know that? You don’t know how he talked about her. He let you two into the underground lair, knowing it’d mean our escape. He obviously hates Moloch and the idea of working with demons.”

“Then why’d he take Allison down there? He’s putting her directly into danger,” Tessa said. My mouth opened and closed, no answers coming out.
 

“He has already made his choice simply by staying down there with Alistair,” Tully said. “He is hellbent on power; Alistair is the only way he gets what he wants.”
 

“He told me it was too late, that Alistair has too great a hold on him. We could break that hold, prove that we could save him,” I tried again. When he remained silent, I huffed, dropping it.
 

Tessa’s pursed lips clued me in to her skepticism. Thankfully, she remained quiet and sketched out her travel symbols, the scrawls of chalk now recognizable. “We walked right in last time thanks to Brady, but I don’t know if we’ll arrive inside the tunnels.”
 

“They will have prepared for that after our last visit,” Tully added.
 

 
“Spell’s ready, are we?” Tessa asked.
 

With no time to waste, I nodded and grabbed each of their arms. Tessa threw down her recently made vial; purple smoke billowed as it took us to our desired location: my sister.
 

CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE

Tessa’s spell brought us back to the room with the red door, at the stone wall between us and the tunnels. Tessa brought out another vial and smashed it on the floor, whispering one of her incantations. Pressing her hand against the stone, her hand slowly pushed through; she continued forward, eventually moving her entire body through Brady’s magicked wall. Tully and I gripped either of her shoulders and her spell allowed us passage with her entry. Once through, we stood at the bottom of an unfamiliar, dank stairway. Nearly pitch black, no lights flickered on these walls; we weren’t close to where they held Ally and those souls.
 

“This is as far as we go with that spell,” Tessa whispered. “What now?”
 

“We can’t split up, it’s too risky,” I said urgently to Tully.
 

He nodded. “We will have to take a chance and pick a direction.”
 

“This is where my idea comes in.” I grimaced at Tully before I dropped my bomb. “I didn’t want to tell you this, but sometimes I wouldn’t make it to the souls before they left their bodies. Also, a few of them like to wander off when I’m not looking.”
 

Some souls took their sweet time crossing over; they’d want to look at every little thing and I would get bored and distracted by the activity around us. I’d look away from them for one second to appreciate Mrs. Ruth’s handsome grandson and then their scattered thoughts would pop them somewhere else. They’d be in a completely different hallway and I’d have to chase after them. So I’d learned how to make it easier on myself.
 

Tessa looked at the ground, shoulders shaking beneath her dark hair as she quietly laughed. The lines in Tully’s forehead creased with his prominent scowl. I hurried on to explain.
 

“Anywho, I can try and call the souls, bring them to me. I know they’re not my souls, but they might hear my call and come anyway. It’s happened before.” Ignoring his raised eyebrow, I babbled on with the plan. “They can take us back to Alistair and my sister.”
 

“We have not discussed those methods.”
 

“Yeah, I know, but you mentioned it once, so I figured it out.” I didn’t remind him he’d actually been saying he doubted my ability to learn such a skill.
 

Surprise came across Tully then, followed by the smallest flicker of pride. He nodded once. “Yes, that is a fine plan.”
 

I didn’t bother hiding a satisfied smile. Closing my eyes, I let my own magic run, my very being reaching out to the nearby souls in these tunnels. One of them was bound to answer me. They weren’t so constrained to the handprints that they couldn’t roam in these tunnels a little. Their own terror more than likely kept them in that tiny space. Souls had more free reign than expected. They’d feel my presence and one could come find out what I wanted.
 

A full ten seconds went by before Tessa spoke. “Um, do you need to call them again or what?”
 

“They have to figure it out. The fear keeps them by their Reapers, plus Brady might have some magic barriers up. I bet none of them have ventured past the doorway. Plus they’ll have to disappear without being noticed by Alistair or Brady.”