Page 34 of Reaper's Quest

“Oh, and…” he continued. “Best to let me lead since I’m the one who knows where we’re going.”

“You’reoh sohelpful,” I muttered.

Raven tossed me a scowl. If words had accompanied her glower, they would have likely told me to shut up—probably in a less kind way.

Aoes ignored me. “The route comes in handy. Helped me get to you all without Fen becoming wise to our actions.”

“Who else knows about this little passage of yours?” Aldine asked.

“As far as I know, no one,” Aoes replied. “And there’s a fair chance this secret will someday die with me.”

Because a secret such as this is too good to share. I ground my teeth and stared daggers at the center of Aoes’s back.What’s your angle?

“Should Ieverdie,” he added at a mumble.

My nose flared.He knows. Of course, how could he not?

Aoes knew something beyond wrong governed here, and yet he stayed. Would immortality in the absence of reapers keep him in such a place?

Although, if true, and he knew what we were, he wouldn’t likely help us get inside the citadel walls.

Raven glanced over her shoulder at me, and based on herraised eyebrow, Aoes’s comment hadn’t been lost on her either.

Where the bridge met the citadel’s outer limit, the stone wall lining the dried moat, we climbed onto a higher ledge running along the border. Aoes dragged his fingers across the rocky surface of the wall. Midway beneath the width of the bridge, his hand slipped out of sight, into deep shadow.

“Here we go,” he said under his breath, then he spun to face us. “You know, you’re not the first of your kind to visit, and I doubt you’ll be the last, but I do hope you make more progress than the previous representatives from your establishment.”

Progress. The word conjured images of the experiments Ubel had performed on the caged winged creature.

Had he been trying to find a way to return the creatures to their once humanoid shape? And if so, had he ever succeeded?

Raven grabbed Aoes’s wrist, halting him from slipping farther into the shadows that had enveloped his wall-pressed hand. I tightened my glare on the two’s shared connection.

“Who or what exactly do you think we are?” she asked.

He glanced over us before his attention returned to Raven, his eyes warming with a humored twinkle. “I had assumed you were Bogart’s latest henchmen, but maybe you’re the competition? Looking to get in on the monster-making magic?”

Bogart. Why does that name sound familiar?

Was the individual involved with Ubel? The two of them working to either help or profit from the citadel’s monstrous situation? And if so, was my uncle Mortifieraware of the fact…somehow using me and this task against his brother, my sperm donor?

“What are you saying?” Aldine asked.

“I think my words were quite clear. If you don’t understand, then I must be wrong.” Aoes smirked and turned away.

He pulled a key from his pocket and disengaged a lock hidden in the darkness. With a click, a wooden door swung open, and Aoes stepped into the chamber beyond.

A flaming torch on the wall spread a dim light within the dark, narrow tunnel. After we all funneled inside, Aoes closed the door, grabbed the torch, and once more led the way. I brought up the rear, and Aldine’s wide shoulders blocked much of the passage, keeping a fair amount of light from brightening the path for me. Or for Raven.

A warm draft whispered along the dry path. Air trapped between the stone walls hung thicker and (curiously) smelled of death, despite the fact that none of the citadel citizens had been reaped in over a century.

Aoes kept a swift pace, never once glancing back to verify any of his guests still followed. Although, the sound of our footfalls probably provided proof enough that we continued to remain close.

“ThisBogartindividual aside, can you explain what you mean by others of our kind?” Aldine pressed as we made our way along the straight line of the tunnel.

Aoes shrugged. “Fen told me about a few who showed up, attempted to cross the bridge, and?—”

“Were turned into flying creatures.” My thoughts once again swirled around the trapped creature in Ubel’s laboratory all those many years ago.