Spark X

  “Really? That’s … well, sad.”

  “Why is it sad to know what I want?” He reclines against the brick wall and stretches his legs out. “In my opinion, I’m one of the lucky ones.”

  “Knowing you’re evil isn’t lucky,” I tell him. “It’s sad.”

  “Who said I’m evil? You just make that assumption based on what you’ve heard about Reapers.”

  “I have Reaper blood inside me,” I hiss. “I know it’s evil.”

  “How do you figure?” He elevates his brows in speculation. “You haven’t done anything that constitutes being evil. In my opinion, you could be the perfect balance. A little bit of good, but just enough bad to make life interesting.” He strides toward me with determination burning fiercely in his eyes.

  I trip backward to get away from him, but he backs me into a wall. As my back brushes the brick, he places a hand on each side of me, pinning me between his arms.

  “You and I aren’t as different as you want to believe.” His eyes glimmer in the lights from the street. “We both have good and bad in us.”

  “You don’t have any good in you.” I angle my chin back to meet his gaze.

  “Do you really think that?” he asks, seeming hurt. “After I warned you about your father’s death then hid his soul in the Shadow Realm until I could figure out a way to free him?”

  “I still don’t know why you did that,” I mumble. “It could be for your own gain.”

  He glares at me as he pushes back from the wall, giving me breathing room. “Think whatever you want about me, about good and evil. Clearly, there’s no changing your mind.”

  “Cameron, I’m sorry. You’re right. You have done stuff to help me.” I feel a twinge of guilt because he really does seem hurt.

  He shrugs me off then strides out of the alley and onto the crowded sidewalk.

  “Where are you going?” I call out, pushing my way through the people, jogging to keep up with him.

  “Cameron, wait!” I yell as I get jostled from all sides by the clusterfuck of people, trying to keep my eyes on him. The top of his blonde head slips farther and farther away until I lose track of him completely.

  “Shit.” I stop in the middle of the throng and glance over my shoulder at the hotel we landed on.

  I don’t know where Cameron is heading, but he said Asher was supposed to meet us in front of the building. I should stay here and wait since my only other option is to roam New York City, looking for a pissed off Reaper.

  Deciding to stay put, I turn around and make my way back to the hotel. I wait in front of the rotating glass door entrance with my eyes trained on the sidewalk, hoping upon hope that I don’t end up crossing paths with a Reaper. I still don’t know how high of a chance it is running into one while I’m here. Just how many people out there are secretly death like Cameron?

  “You look lost,” a short guy with thick brown hair and glasses says as he strolls up beside me.

  “I’m just waiting for someone,” I reply as casually as I can.

  His gaze travels from the door to the sidewalk then lands back on me. “A boyfriend?”

  “Yeah,” I lie without missing a beat.

  See, Cameron, I’m not as bad of a liar as you say.

  I’d be giddy about the fact that I proved Cameron wrong, except the guy is giving me the creeps.

  “Lucky guy.” He blatantly checks me out, giving a low whistle of approval. “To have such a powerful creature as his own.”

  Without thinking, I lift my foot and kick him in the shin.

  He grunts, hunching over to rub his legs. “You little—”

  I sprint through the crowd, hoping to get sucked into the sea of bodies. But five steps in and I’m yanked back by my shirt. I swing my arm around, fist flying, but the guy—a Reaper—only laughs.

  His grin drips with wickedness as he grazes a finger up my spine. “Your skin’s so soft.”

  Blood on his hands. So much blood I can hardly breathe. I’m drowning in blood. Knives. Pain. Fire. Pain. Falling. Pain. Dying. Dying. Dying. How many heartbeats can I steal?

  “I’m so sorry,” I sob, kneeling down on the ground, my hands gripping the silver handle of a knife.

  Asher lies in front of me, his eyes open and full of love. “It’s okay. I understand.”

  Ravens scurry from the trees, and the wind gusts through my hair.

  “I didn’t mean to do it.” Tears slip down my eyes as I raise the knife above my head. “I don’t want to be this way anymore. I messed up, and now you have to pay for it.”

  “I understand.” Asher smiles up at me then reaches up to cup my cheek.

  Sobbing, I plunge the knife downward into his chest.

  I jerk back to reality, my eyes soaked by tears. The guy in front of me has to be a Reaper since only they can create such a heavy sense of death.

  Why did I see myself killing Asher? Why did I tell him he had to pay with his life because I messed up? For the sacrifice? It didn’t feel like that was the reason. It felt like I was killing him just to kill him.

  “See anything good?” the Reaper whispers hotly in my ear, sounding as though he knows exactly what I saw.

  I wrench my body, attempting to escape, but he stabs his fingernails into my flesh.

  “A feisty one, I like it.”

  “I’ll show you feisty.” I use an uppercut, my knuckles colliding with his jaw.

  He cries out in pain, and people stop to stare as I run down the sidewalk in the direction Cameron vanished. My heart pumps rapidly inside my chest. I can feel the evil swimming under my skin, begging me to go back to the Reaper, begging me to feed the hunger of darkness within me.

  Black lines form on my arms as blood flows over the towering buildings around me in a wave.

  “No, I won’t become this.” I shake my head and concentrate on running.

  One foot in front of the other. Fight it, Ember. Fight it.

  I don’t know how long I run, but by the time I come to a halt, I’m panting, my pulse is racing, and my vision has returned to normal.

  I hunch over near a street sign and brace my hands on my legs to catch my breath.

  “Why did you stop following me?” Cameron says from right beside me.

  I turn my head and glare at him. “You ditched me.” I stand up straight, wiping the sweat from my brow. “I tried to keep up, but it was pretty clear you wanted to get away from me.”

  His face reddens with anger as he snatches hold of my arm. “Do you know how dangerous it is for you to be out here?”

  “Obviously,” I snap, bending my arm in a lame attempt to slip from his grasp. “Since I’m pretty sure I just ran into a Reaper.

  Panic blazes in his eyes as he skims the people around us. Then, strengthening his hold on me, he drags me back down the sidewalk and into a nearby alley.

  “You can’t wander off alone,” he growls. “Ever. Got that?” He releases my arm. “Now what exactly happened with the Reaper? Did he say anything to you? And what did he look like?”

  I give him a quick recap with my brief encounter with the creeper, omitting the death omen I saw. The last thing I need is to tell Cameron that I envisioned myself killing Asher. He’d be all over that, tormenting me and using it to his own benefit.

  “What do you think?” I ask after I finish telling him what happened. “Do you think maybe he was part of the Anamotti?”

  Cameron rubs his jawline. “My bet is no, considering he didn’t really do anything. If it were the Anamotti, they would have probably thrown you into the Shadow Realm and sent you straight to Altarius.”

  I shiver at his unsettling words. “What do we do now?”

  “You stay by me at all times,” he presses, his eyes burning with rage again. “No more running off.”

  “I already told you I didn’t run away on purpose,” I tell him more calmly this time. “You were just walking so fast, and I knew Asher was coming, so I backtracked to the hotel.”

  He roughly jerks his fingers
through his blonde hair. “I thought you were right behind me. When I realized you were gone, I…” His eyes soften, but then he quickly shakes the look off. “Well, that doesn’t really matter, does it?”

  I shrug yet swallow the lump in my throat. In a sick, twisted way, it does matter. “I guess not.”

  He leans against the wall with his attention fixed on the crowd, and I sit down on the ground, pull my legs up to my chest, and gaze up at the stars. We remain quiet, lost in our own heads, until Asher rounds the corner of the building. His clothes are ruffled, his black hair is a tousled mess, and bags circle his eyes, yet he still looks as beautiful as ever.

  He glances from me to Cameron, and then his brows knit. “Everything okay?”

  The sight of him sends my pulse soaring with want and fear. Now that I’ve seen an omen of me killing him, I’m even more terrified of what I’ll become and what I’ll choose to do.

  “Everything’s fine.” I bend my legs and push to my feet, brushing the dirt off the back of my pants. “We were just waiting for you, but… Wait, how did you know where we were?”

  “Well, I landed at the hotel”—he shoots a glare in Cameron’s direction—“but when you weren’t there, I used that to track you down.” His finger sketches the feather bracelet on my wrist.

  I cover the bracelet with my hand, remembering what Cameron told me about it and realizing it doesn’t really bother me at all.

  Asher inches toward me, his gaze sweeping up and down my body, inspecting every inch of me. “I was freaking out when you weren’t where we were supposed to meet.” He tucks a strand of my hair behind my ear. “Are you okay?”

  Nodding, I instinctually circle my arms around him. “I missed you.” The truth burns at the back of my throat.

  I care so much about him. How could I ever hurt him? Am I that bad of a person?

  His arms fold around me, and he buries his face into my hair. “I missed you, too.”

  “How tragically poetic,” Cameron comments with disdain. “Now, can we please get this over with? I have other stuff in my life that doesn’t require watching the two of you swoon over each other.”

  Asher brushes his lips across my cheek before pulling way and threading his fingers through mine. “Where exactly are we going?” he asks Cameron. “You never did say exactly where our uncle is, only that he was here in the city.”

  “That’s because you’re going to hate the place we’re going.” Without explaining, Cameron strolls out of the alley and for the curb.

  With a raise of his hand, he flags down a taxi and opens the door. We pile into the backseat with me in the middle, and then Cameron gives the cab driver the address of where to take us.

  Asher shoots a dirty look at Cameron. “No fucking way. She can’t go there.”

  “She can wait outside.” Cameron keeps his voice low as he stares out the window. “But I wouldn’t recommend it. We already ran into one Reaper while we were flying here, and Ember ran into one near the entrance of the hotel. I think the one at the hotel was a fluke, but I’m worried the one in the sky flew off and warned the Anamotti we were on the move.”

  “How would they know where we were headed?” I ask. “We were only halfway here when we ran into it.”

  Cameron shrugs as he relaxes back in the seat. “The Reapers have eyes everywhere.”

  I eye him over suspiciously. “Funny they found us so quickly. I wonder how that is.”

  Cameron’s eyes lower to slits. “Are you accusing me of something?”

  I give a shrug. “It does seem highly suspicious.”

  “Oh, yes, highly suspicious.” His voice drips with sarcasm. “You finally leave the protection of Asher’s mind after being hidden for three weeks, and huge, big shock, the Reapers come looking for you.” He rolls his eyes. “Didn’t you ever consider that, during those three weeks, they were looking for you?”

  I suddenly feel very stupid. “Fine, I’m sorry.”

  His brow cocks. “Did you just apologize to me?”

  I shrug, sitting back in the seat. “I guess so.”

  He muses. “Interesting.”

  “Don’t look too much in to it,” I tell him, wishing Asher wasn’t here to witness one of my less than stellar moments.

  “Regardless of why the hell the Reapers know Ember’s here,” Asher says, leaning over me and keeping his voice quiet, “they’re still here, which is why we shouldn’t be taking her to the place we’re heading now”.

  “Where exactly are we headed?”

  Asher’s eyes fasten with mine. “A place filled solely with Reapers.”

  My eyes widen. “What?”

  “It’s where our lovely uncle is at the moment,” Cameron responds coolly. “Otherwise, I wouldn’t even go there myself, since I don’t play well with others.”

  “Can’t we just wait until he comes out?” I ask, hopeful.

  “He won’t be coming out anytime soon,” Cameron explains, “not with the condition he’s in.”

  “What kind of condition are we talking about?” I wonder, because they’re both being vague as hell.

  The two of them trade a wary glance then Cameron says, “She’s going to find out eventually, so we might as well tell her now.”

  Asher frees a stressed breath. “Not all Reapers are on the right side. You understand that, right?” he asks me.

  I give a sidelong glance in Cameron’s direction. “Yeah, I guess.”

  “Well, the place we’re going is kind of like a rebellion for Reapers who don’t want to be part of the Grim or the Anamotti, the ones who don’t follow specific orders to collect souls,” Asher explains lowly.

  “Not all Reapers collect souls?” I whisper in disbelief.

  “No, but since they’re dead, they do need souls to thrive, and that’s where this kind of place comes into play.” He turns toward me and brings his leg onto the seat. “The place is called Toxic Soul.”

  “A name that’s pretty fitting, since most of the humans who go there to offer their souls have toxic ones,” Cameron adds, observing my reaction.

  “Wait. Humans go there to offer their souls?” I whisper, horrified. “Why would they do that?”

  “Why not? You’ve seen what your little drinking of our life can do to us.” He gives a glance at Asher before scooting closer to me. “It’s almost as good as sex.” He inhales deeply, as if sniffing the scent of me, and I hover back, bumping into Asher with my back. “Don’t pretend it doesn’t affect you the same way. I’ve seen it in your eyes. You secretly love the taste of life and death.”

  I wish I could lie, but I know my voice would reveal the truth. “What exactly goes on in this place?”

  “Lots and lots of sex,” Cameron purrs, leaning in even more. When my eyes snap wide, he chuckles. “I’m just kidding.” He sweeps a finger up my neckline and wets his lips. “Relax. It’s just going to be a normal place with a few Reapers here and there, stealing tastes of souls.”

  “But they aren’t going to want to steal my soul, right?” I ask, needing to be sure.

  Before the book was erased, I read about the power of a Grim Angel’s soul. It’s powerful enough to free all the souls from possession, which is what I’m hoping I’ll learn how to do after we get the words back on the pages.

  “They won’t lay a finger on you, not when I’m there with you.” A proud smile spans across Cameron’s face. “My family has a lot of power in these kinds of places, considering we were one of the first to rebel against Altarius.”

  I rotate in the seat toward Asher. “Is he telling the truth?”

  Asher begrudgingly nods. “Oddly enough, yes.”

  “But aren’t they technically your family, too, considering you share the same bloodlines?” I ask.

  Asher shakes his head. “They’re not really his family, just people who took him under their wing.”

  “They’re more my family than you or our mother will ever be,” Cameron snaps as the cab slows to a stop in front of the curb.

&n
bsp; The street and sidewalk is less hectic in this area, but the desolation makes me feel that much edgier.

  “You made your choice of being a Reaper, and losing your family is one of the many consequences.” Asher reaches for the door handle.

  “Like your choice has been any easier,” Cameron retorts. “Tell me, how are things going with the Angels? Oh, yeah, you wouldn’t know, since they’ve pretty much shunned you from the day you were born.”

  “I still stand by my choice. Sometimes making the right choice is the hardest one.” Asher’s eyes lock with mine as he pushes open the door.