Page 4 of Reaper’s Curse

The two males turned and exited the room. Leaving the young servant the only thing standing between me and the open door.

The servant warily watched the two withdraw, then she met my gaze. A slight tremor raced over her features as if she could sense the truth of my nature.

Reaper. Death collector. Servant to the underworld.

A rather tired servant to the underworld. I rubbed a tiny circle to the space beside my eye. I’d been dragging for…pretty much…the entire day, and my body ached something awful.

“If you would,” the servant girl said with a slight bow.

The show of respect tore a snort from me.

She clenched her hands together. “I have come to show you to your room.”

I double blinked, my shoulders relaxing. “My room?”

“Y-yes. I…” she stammered. “You are to stay, as the queen’s guest, here in the palace. Are you not?”

My eyebrows arched. I supposed the queen could interpret part of the agreement as me moving into the palace…for the time being. So doing would make matters easier for her to keep abreast of my movements. The closeness would also simplify my access to the royal records, while at the same time make connecting with Aldine and Chace all the more difficult.

I clenched my teeth, silencing any thoughtless response.

The royal prince, Winter, breezed into the room, moving with ease past the servant and heading straight for me. His snow-favored skin made him a tall vision of sculptured alabaster, blessed with hair of spun pearl. His sky-blue eyes were sharp, and his strong shoulders and chest hinted at a royal who spent a fair amount of time engaged in physical activities.

He flashed me a gentle smile that instantly eased a fraction of my tension. Since I had arrived in the Citadel of Veritas, Winter had played the part of my white knight; bringing laughter into my otherwise bleak days, saving me from afflicting specters, tending to my trigger-happy-palace-guard inflicted wounds, and providing me this opportunity to find success in my tasked reap.

“You can go,” he said to the servant girl, barely sparing her a glance. “I’ve got this.”

“Of course, Your Highness.” The servant bowed low, far lower than she had for me, and without a glance in her direction, he gave a wave of dismissal, excusing her from his presence.

She scurried from the room, right past Valen, who lingered in the hall.

The royal healer extracted the scroll from his jacket and waved the agreement, reminding me of what the queen expected of me where the prince was concerned. I merely narrowed a glare in his direction rather than chance a spoken retort.

Winter, with his back to the doorway, was none the wiser as he took my palm in his own and placed a gentle kiss upon the back of my hand. The unadulterated joy in his expression could have set a thousand or more souls ablaze. His eyes shone like opals and gems of clear cobalt.

All his physical attributes were a yin to my yang. Totally opposite and totally enthralling.

I couldn’t recall the last time I’d set my gaze on anything more stunning. Had I ever?

An image of Chace flared at the back of my mind. A memory of him standing before me, bare-chested and damp from a bath. Or his lips wrapped around my finger. I shook the imagery away, even as I sucked back a large breath to center myself.

Coreaper, I reminded myself.

Winter, on the other hand, was a living work of art, and I wanted to grab hold of the emotional beauty his face beheld…everything it represented…and never let it go.

Instead, I set a crooked grin on my lips. “And why are you in such high spirits?”

His smile brightened in a way that defied nature. “I am told you’ll be staying with us. Here, in my very home.”

I fought the sigh threatening to seize my chest. Winter’s joy over my new accommodations could be enough to reverse the queen’s thoughts on the subject. The proximity would make the task of pushing, and keeping, the prince away far more difficult. A thought I filed away for later potential use.

“And…” Winter continued. “I don’t care to brag, but I have arranged for some princess-worthy accommodations.”

I took a slight step back, shaking my head and slipping my hands from his grip. “You didn’t need to do that.”

What I really wanted to say was that I shouldn’t be lodging so far from the rest of my team. But the queen’s thoughts about my coreapers were perfectly clear, and they would not be invited to stay under the palace roof.

Winter recaptured my fingers and raised our intertwined hands to his heart. “Grandmother says you are to stay at the castle. That you’ll be working with Valen. He is to be your palace liaison. And I have seen to it that your rooms are situated to handle all your anticipated needs.”