They don’t stop me. None of them even try. My father looks like he wants to, but he says nothing as we walk to the front door. My grandmothers hug me. Then my mother, and in her embrace, I linger the longest. She kisses my hair, then cradles my face to look at me before she kisses my cheeks.
“We love you, Cassie,” she says, and I open my mouth to reply when she cuts me off. “You don’t need to say it back. You barely know us. But I promise we’ll make it up for the lost time when we see you again.”
My father hugs me tight, tight as the first time. “If those men do anything to upset you, I’ll haunt them for the rest of their lives,” he murmurs against my hair. I chuckle, pulling back. Dad’s eyes are misty as he smiles at me. “We’ll be right here when you come home.”
I shoot him one last smile, then turn away so they won’t see me crying like a child. Making my way to the shadows of the path, I repeat my steps up the hill. Looking over my shoulder, I see the four still standing on the porch. They wave me off,and I leave the village of my blood family, my mind drifting to the family I found with my mates.
CHAPTER5
CASSANDRA
My gaze darts everywhere, from the steps in the sand in front of me to the way ahead, searching for approaching reapers. The path is almost not a path at all. I’m just following footsteps, hoping this is the right way. Though I’ve just arrived, it was a long, windingtrek, and the scenery doesn’t have any waypoints. No vegetation, no buildings. Just a long stretch of nothing.
I chance a look behind me. The city in the distance is the only source of light, glinting against the darkness like a huge bonfire. Even when the Underworld is neutral and the Devil not inherently evil, I still don’t feel like getting to know him. Something tells me the stories aren’t an exaggeration.
Once out of the village, everything is dark. Maybe it’s a way of discouraging people from running away. If I wasn’t so desperate, I’d fear getting lost in this nothingness. Would someone come after me? Is that a thing? A rescue team for escaping spirits?
After what feels like half an eternity, I climb a small hill and see it. The hurricane. The colorful, glowing hurricane, whirling round and around the same spot. My goal. The portal back into the world of the living.
I have no idea what will happen then, but I don’t have the time for research. Maybe there’s a mage who knows more about it, but how am I going to find this person? What if they’re not a Shadow Mage, and I’d have to visit other villages, other cities in search of a person I don’t know?
No. There’s no other way. It would take forever,and by then, Kayn will have found my mates, tortured and killed them. He’s spent so long hunting Shadow Mages,I know he’ll go mad when he learns I’m dead.
Narrowing my gaze at the road ahead, I think of Kayn and the things he told me. Once upon a time, he wanted collaboration, not servitude. And his end goal wasn’t evil. He just wanted to protect his progeny, Donatello included.
We could have been on the same side. What went wrong?
I shake my head. No time to think about that. I can’t get distracted in a place like this.
As the hurricane grows bigger, the path grows wider. There are many footsteps on the sand now, diverging from the path, going different ways. Against the light created by the hurricane, I see silhouettes. They’re unmoving, and I hold my breath as I approach one. It’s a building. Or it was a building once. Now, there are only columns left behind, remnants of an old age. Of stories untold. I didn’t notice them on my way to the village, so I’m definitely off the path. Not that it matters. Not so long as I keep the hurricane within sight. I pass these dead buildings, then see movement up ahead.
Now that I’m this close to the portal, it’s expected I would find more people. It doesn’t stop my heart from skipping a beat. I halt in the path, closing my hands intofists.
This is it. The defining moment. I study the ruins next to the road then dart among them. I need to find a hiding spot, one where I’ll be able to see it when the reapers pass. There’s a wall, half-crumbled, next to a tall column. I don’t have the time to study the architecture, and it’s too dark to appreciate it, so I just duck behind it and wait. With batedbreath, I lean forward, squatting on the tips of my toes to monitor the road.
No sound now. If the reaper doesn’t hear me, and if he doesn’t look at the obvious trail I must have left behind, I’ll be safe. Shit. Should have thought of the trail. Maybe Mom could have lent me a broom. I could haveboth swipedthe trail clean and usedit as a weapon.
Too late now. The reaper approaches, an old woman following him. The reaper is a man this time, covered in a billowing black outfit. He’s taking the death theme seriously. The woman keeps her eyes on the ground, a wretched look on her face. I cross all my fingers as I watch the two pass me, air locked in my lungs.
Then the reaper stops. My heart almost escapes past my lips.
What? Why is he stopping? He’s not even looking at the ground. There’s no way he seesmy footprints. The woman stops with him, but she says nothing. There’s no way he…
I blink and he’s not there anymore. The woman stands on the path alone. I frown and watch the woman do the same thing. Her brow furrows as she looks from side to side, searching for him.
“Was this your attempt at hiding? How adorable,” a voice whispers against my ear. I jump up and whirl around. If I had a body, I would have had a heart attack. The reaper stands there, a foot from me, his white face making it look like his head is floating.
“I’m not hiding,” I blurt, taking a step back. He comes closer yet again. What’s up with his lack of personal space? “Why would I be hiding?”
He looks from side to side, a shit-eating grin on his face. “I don’t see your reaper. Are you lost, little lamb?”
The endearment makes me want to puke. If I had a stomach, puking might have helped. The sight would repulse him and that would give me time to run away.
“No, not lost. My reaper already showed me my house. I’m just taking a walk.”
He chuckles. “Rather far to take a walk.”
“I really love walks.”