I stepped up to the big iron gates and raised my chin at the hooded guard.
“No soul?” he pushed his hood off, revealing a head full of dark curly hair, then pulled open the gates.
“No,” I said, breezing through. “Balthazar wishes to see me.”
His brows furrowed together and he nodded, as if he were sending me to my second funeral. Under normal circumstances, Balthazar would call a reaper in for a one-on-one meeting only if something had gone awry. Usually these meetings ended in punishment. These weren’t normal circumstances, though. No, if this turned out the way it was supposed to, I was getting a reward at the end of this journey. I could only hope that he was calling me in to tell me we were at the end.
I skirted past each hollow soul with ease, ducking under the shelter of shadow shapes to go unseen.
As long as I didn’t make eye contact with any of them, I wouldn’t have to feel guilty for sending some of them here. There were too many children. Some souls were already approaching their ten-year mark. You could see the decay setting in. The madness was driving their transition into shadows. I couldn’t stand it.
Someone grabbed me and I flinched. Thin white fingers dug into my arm with a desperation I couldn’t fathom. A young girl emerged from the hemlock-shaped shadow and gazed up at me with dark eyes and feathery blond curls that she kept tucked behind her ears. The blackness had already eaten away the whites of her eyes, and whatever color they used to have.
“Y-you’re a Heaven’s reaper?” Her voice was all static.
I nodded, slowly.
“Help me,” she whispered. Her eyes darted around. “Please. You could take me across. I don’t belong here.”
Pain blossomed inside my chest. I wanted to. I would have given anything to take her hand and lead her home. But her chances of getting through those gates weren’t any better than mine. I looked down at the black spidery veins creating a road map up her arms and down her neck. No. Her chances were even worse. The darkness had already taken hold. She was beyond help.
“I’m so sorry,” I whispered, squeezing her hand.
Her eyes widened. “No! Please!”
“Anaya, dear.” A voice boomed from ahead. I jerked my hand away from the girl and turned around.
The mist parted and revealed Balthazar, a light among the dreary darkness. He motioned for me to follow him. I fell into step behind him, my chest constricting with fear as he led me up the marble steps to the Great Hall. I’d never been inside. Few had, and the few that had never emerged. Balthazar lifted his hand and two mirrored doors swung open to allow us entrance.
Inside, the walls and floors were glass. Thousands of images flashed across their surface. Humans.
Each in their last moments of life, in the cold grip of death. One by one the life left their eyes, and they were replaced by a new face. A new death. Balthazar cleared his throat, snatching my attention away from the images. He nodded and I followed him into an office. It was glass in there as well, with stars glowing behind every surface. Balthazar sank down in an oversize iron chair and settled his palms on a clear, shimmering table.
“How is the boy?” he asked.
“Fine,” I said, standing ramrod straight, trying to calm my nerves. It wasn’t easy to turn away from
Cash’s soul. Which is why I hated this place so much. It was much easier to pretend that it all didn’t exist. “I’ve done as you’ve asked. He hasn’t been touched. The shadow demons are contained, but I need to know something. Can they hurt him in the state he’s in? I need to know what the dangers are here. I need to know what I’m dealing with.”
Balthazar’s gaze swept over me, scrutinizing, as if he were searching me for something. He finally leaned forward, clasping his hands together against the glass. “He’s rare, Anaya. The closer he gets to death, the more they are going to want him, for more reasons than one. If his soul gets close enough to the surface I suppose they could do some damage, but I doubt they will. He’s too valuable.”
“Why?” I asked. “What is he?”
Balthazar sighed, exasperated. “I don’t have time to answer questions that don’t concern you. Do you or do you not have this under control, Anaya?”
A droplet of fear trickled down my spine. A warning. “Yes.”
“I can always count on you to do as you’re told.” Balthazar smiled, but it didn’t reach his eyes. “It’s a great comfort to me.”
I almost laughed. Almost. He said it like it was a choice. None of us were fooled. This was no democracy he was running.
“Can you tell me how much longer?”
“In a hurry?” He raised a brow.
“No, I mean how much longer until I can bring the boy in,” I said. “I’m eager to see Tarik.”
I was also eager to end this poor boy’s torture and give him the everlasting peace he deserved, but I didn’t say that. I was ready for this sick experiment of Balthazar’s to end.
“I know it seems cruel to you, but it is a process that is necessary for him to become what he has always been meant to be. And we can’t rush that process now that it’s started. What I wanted to know has been proven. But I can’t end a life and neither can you. This is a waiting game now. A game you are going to have to win. His body is expired. He will perish. In the meantime, you need to gain his trust. I need this situation to stay free of complications. Can I count on you for that?”
I nodded and twisted the hem of my dress in my hands. “Of course. But wouldn’t it be easier if you just told me what you wanted him for?”
Balthazar looked off into the horizon outside the one enormous window that dominated one wall.
The clouds parted at his command, and the frozen sunset set the fog on fire with an orange burst of color.
“Do you know what I don’t need, Anaya?” He raised an expectant brow. “I don’t need one of my most valued reapers in possession of knowledge that could very well get her dragged to the underworld for interrogation, then tossed aside as a chew toy for the demons of Hell. As your keeper, your commander, I am telling you to trust me. All will be revealed when the dangers have passed, but as of now, you are better off being kept in the dark. Do you understand?”
I simply nodded as I clutched my scythe. Fear washed through me, dousing my heat.
“Good.” He looked up and rubbed his chin. “Also, I thought I should warn you.”
“About what?” I stepped forward. The fog swam circles around my calves, leaving an icy imprint on my skin where my ankles were submerged. “There’s not a problem with my transition, is there? You promised when I was finished, that my debt would be paid. That I could cross.” I forced my lips to close around the rest of my words when he narrowed his gaze on me.
“A complication has arisen,” he said calmly. “Nothing to do with your… transition. It’s just something that’s going to make your job a little more difficult.”
I stepped back. How could this possibly get any more difficult?
“What is it?”
Balthazar sighed. “Another death, of course.”
He slid a gold tablet across the table toward me. His ledger. No one ever saw this ledger. And he was offering it to me like it was a boon. My eyes flitted up to meet his for assurance and he nodded for me to read. Letting my fingers rest a breath away from the tablet I began to drink in the words. Name after name. Death after death. I was just about to pull away when the familiar name made me stop. My fingers shook as I pulled them away and looked at Balthazar.
“No,” I said.
“Do I need to remind you how much I dislike that word?”
“But it’s not fair. It’s—”
Balthazar shot up from his chair and leaned across the table. His palms pressed into the glass. Frost began to crackle across the surface.