Page 94 of Reaper's Quest

Hightail it back home to my momma?

What the…wait…Strong enough?

I glanced down at myself and stared at the blood seeping through my thin clothing, realization blinking into place. I wore some sort of sweat-soaked night shift. My bare feet felt like blocks of ice, and goose bumps covered my exposed calves.

Why had neither the atmosphere, nor my attire, not registered before?

Because…

My heart ricocheted in my chest as my ribs fought to restrict my breath. My systems failed to operate at full capacity. I’d been injured, and rather severely. I was… I was somewhere…not here. Somewhere else. Dying or slowly healing or becoming a partly dead thing, I didn’t know.

Maybe it was already too late for me. The Killian said hehad stayed my collection, but he could have lied. And if he didn’t collect my soul, did that mean I would continue on in one of those states similar to Earl?

If I were currently laid up in a bed somewhere, then what was this experience unfolding before me? Was it real or part of the cursed state I was becoming?

A sensation brushed the top of my hand as it had before, but again, I saw nothing there.

I refocused on the scene in front of me. Real or not, something inside of my core burned to save the girl.

“The Killian said?—”

“You met the Killian?” She stepped back, and delicious surprise colored her face. “Well, well. You must be worse off than I thought. Maybe you’re not a concern after all.”

My skin heated. Her opinion was unacceptable, and if she thought she could push me out of the way, then I would make her regret the easy dismissal.

Although, the fact that she wanted me out of the way and the reason behind that desire… Definitely something worthy of further consideration.

Maybe, just maybe, I now looked at the source of the citadel’s issues and the century-long curse. And perhaps that source feared I had the ability to put things right once more. Quite possibly the reason why she wanted to scare me out of Veritas.

Whatever the reason, I wouldn’t run so easily.

“Who are you?” I asked.

She hummed. “Who I am is unimportant, but if you feel the need to call me something, you may call me Watcher. I have been here alongtime, and I have seen a great many things.”

She had unknowingly presented a challenge, and I would prove the irritating female?Watcher?wrong in every possible way. If working with the Killian might assure success, then so be it.

Watcher stood. Crossed her arms. Thrust out her hip. “If the Killian has extended you a deal, beware. He’ll use you, take all your attributes for his own, then grind you to dust and use you to fertilize the land.”

Okay. That mental image is a bit over the top.

Anger flashed through my core, blistering across my spine and burning in my skull. “Don’t pretend that the words you’re attempting to feed me are for my betterment.”

I didn’t believe for half a second that thisWatcherwould truly lift a pinky to help me.

Free the chains. Use them to reap this oppressor’s soul.

The words whispered through my mind, along with a spider-walked shiver along my spine, and even though I had no idea where the thought came from, I complied and focused on the child’s binds?willed them to unwind.

Albeit I was unsure why I even tried. I didn’t possess any telekinesis abilities.

The chains didn’t move.

Watcher tilted her head and strode two steps closer, puzzlement followed by surprise coloring her expression. “Hellfire anger. I wouldn’t have imagined it so, but in this moment, I can see the resemblance.”

“To whom?” I matched her stance, squaring my shoulders.

Desire burned through me to storm forward and punch the wicked harpy, but I held my ground.