“Yes. What Luz has is rare,” he answers Thea before addressing the council. “We actually discussed the idea of a bond.”
Sam interrupts and his voice immediately commands attention from everyone. “Ever since we formed a friendship with her, we can each feel her on some level. When she came back to the city, we all felt it. And when the pain of all the reaper marks hit?” He trails off and they all let out a shudder. My jaw drops at the revelation.
If not for how busy they’d been trying to keep the realm together I’d have been hurt at the fact they didn’t tell me. Apparently my face gives me away and I catch a pointed look Mason throws to Sam. Sam turns toward me with a frown then immediately looks chastised.
“Unity on her rune could be the way she has brought a new kind of team together?” A random councilor interjects, causing a new discussion on my rune markings. “Or the bond between the Master Reapers and her. It doesn’t translate the same with Thea, correct?”
“Correct,” Thea agrees. “We’re close and a team, but I can’t feel her like that.” I nod in agreement.
“Councilors, please,” the head councilor calls out, bringing silence to the room again. “My vote is that we let the girls look into the missing souls and reapers. They have proven far more effective than we are. No more reaping for you both until this is solved, the other reapers can step up a bit. Think of this as your new job,” he explains.
“How do we keep them safe?” a councilman questions. I’m a bit shocked that Sam doesn’t give him a standing ovation.
“One of us three will be going with them daily. We can rotate and prepare our highest ranking reapers to fill in at our gates,” Mason informs them more than suggests. There are loud arguments, but the head councilor puts it to a vote. Only one protests against the idea in the end, the others caving under Sam’s intense glare. The man has a gift for intimidation, it seems.
“Meeting adjourned. I’d like to speak with this group alone please. Councilman Brent, please stay for a moment?” The Head Councilor calls out, bringing order back to the room. The others are not happy about being dismissed and I barely hold back an eyeroll at their childish behavior.
“Councilman Brent is our historian. He can give you access to the library. I just want to say that this is not going to be an easy job. Please be careful and prepare before going out. I’m going to have our tech send over the list of missing reapers and souls, including locations. If you need any other help, your Master Reapers can contact us,” he finishes with a sigh. “This is big and I am grateful you have the ability to take this on with us. Together maybe we can stop this before it turns into pure chaos.”
“Thank you for taking us seriously,” I offer. “We’re happy to help.”
“This way,” Councilman Brent says, before turning and stalking off. I have to walk twice as fast to keep up with his long gait. He leads us down the hall into another large room.
My nose wrinkles in distaste as I look around their so-called library. It’s just as bright and airy as the rest of the building. The seats are white and look uncomfortable and stiff. There are a few sparse tables littering the room, and the walls are lined with perfectly tidy bookshelves. Nothing is out of place, hut honestly it’s not even welcoming.
“This is not a library,” Thea’s voice echoes my distaste perfectly.
“Leave it as you find it,” the councilman orders with an offended look on his face. Apparently we hurt his feelings. He stalks off without any further offers of assistance and I shrug. These men are far too easily upset.
“Way to upset our helper,” Liam snorts.
“In my defense, libraries are supposed to be cluttered and comfy, not cold and bright like this clinical excuse for a library,” I say in exasperation. Thea nods her head vigorously in agreement and the others laugh at us.
“Our life was so boring before you two,” Sam says fondly, walking up to the first shelf. He starts browsing and we all follow his lead.
“You’re welcome,” I respond to his statement as I flip through a book about the veil. Which is unsurprisingly limited, seeing as how most reapers can’t travel through the veil freely.
“I have your list,” Arianna says sweetly as she walks into the room. Her tone has me whirling around in shock. Until I realize she’s handing it to Liam. She turns and throws me her usual glare as she walks out.There she is.
Liam can’t hide his laughter as he brings me the list. I playfully shove him away, which of course makes him laugh harder.
“Why haven’t you given her a chance?” I ask him curiously. My words are genuine, even if it hurts to even say them. They’ve mentioned the bond now and I’m still holding onto hope he’ll choose me, that they all will, but I need to hear it from them.
“I don’t want her, I want you,” he says bluntly. My mouth falls open in shock and my chest tightens. Warmth blooms in me at the realization that he is officially choosing me.
A choking sound across the room has us turning in time to see Mason standing up and leaving.
“Fuck,” Liam curses and hurries off after Mason. Sam frowns and follows them out.
“Well that went awkward really fast,” Thea says with wide eyes.
I wince, knowing now that sharing isn’t an option for them like I’d hoped.
What do I do now?
ChapterTwelve
Mason