Chapter 14: Chapter 14
“They’re definitely gone,” Raven said, her voice cutting through Nat’s thoughts like a heated blade through a block of ice. “Where they’ve gone, we can’t say for sure, but we expect it’s likely to their village.”
“I would think that would be easy enough to establish.” He had his back to her, so rolling his eyes would lose its effect. That didn’t stop him from doing it anyway. “Check the airlines, Raven.”
“Right. Anything else?”
Rather than turn and address her, he dismissed her with a wave of his hand and listened for her footsteps to echo down the hall.
It had been weeks since his failed attempt to take Rune in the woods, and since then he’d had nothing but time: time to reflect, time to regroup, time to regret. He’d been so close, and yet he still wasn’t sure exactly what it was that betrayed him. How had she seen past his defenses to realize he wasn’t Kyle, the person he’d portrayed in order to gain her trust? She shouldn’t have been powerful enough to deduce his actual identity, not until he had brought her to the portal anyhow. And by then, it would’ve been too late. Yet, she had discovered who he was in time to escape. How she’d managed to wield her powers in such a way as to practically knock him senseless was another mystery still.
Clearly, Rune was much stronger than any that had come before her. Once she had completed her training, she would be nearly unstoppable, and regardless of the fact that the Keepers were already outnumbered nearly ten to one, many of the Reapers who occupied the realm of humanity refused to do his father, Azrael’s, bidding. Those who would do as they were asked could only make their way through the portals so quickly. These things took time, something Nat was beginning to realize he was running out of.
There was no question he needed to seek the wisdom of his father, but doing so would mean admitting his defeat, which Nat hadn’t quite come to terms with himself.
He brushed his hand through his unruly dark hair, noticing more strands stuck to his black gloves than usual. What sort of a Reaper allowed the actions of the Keepers to affect them to such a degree that their hair began to fall out? He needed to get a handle on this situation and quickly.
It had helped that Zu was able to convince the Keepers that Nat had taken his cohorts elsewhere once they’d failed to get the girl. It had drawn Cutter and his little band of troublesome elves away from Reaper’s Hollow, which would allow Nat some time to come up with a strategy without harassment. In the meantime, his Reapers would travel further distances to collect the unmarked so as not to give up their location, a minor inconvenience. Nat needed to do something to gain Rune’s attention again—but what?
He gazed out the faux window, watching a raid upon a medieval village. The invaders were Reapers, of course, and they pillaged the fleeing peasants, trampling them in the streets, mutilating their corpses. It was delightful to watch, even if the entire scene was a figment of his imagination. The thought that it could be true was enough to lighten his spirits. He especially liked when the Reapers tormented the children, although he couldn’t see their pathetic little faces without being reminded that Rune had been a school teacher. It seemed everything circled back to her. He was drawn to her like a moth to a blowtorch. If he couldn’t come up with another way to lure her back in soon, he’d travel to his father’s realm, seeking assistance. For now, he’d let the tears of the children calm his nerves. There had to be something that would get her attention, let her know the importance of choosing her father’s side over her mother’s, but what could it be?
A little boy attempted to run into the nearby woods when a Reaper grabbed hold of his arm. As the child began to shriek, Nat couldn’t help but laugh. “It really is too bad this isn’t the way it works and that none of this is real. Oh, that it were….”
Ru had only slept in a hotel a handful of nights in her entire life, and as she’d entered her room in Jackson, Wyoming, she’d remembered that the last time she’d been in such a place, she’d started a small fire with the cheap hairdryer in the bathroom. Her mother had been furious, claiming she could’ve burned down the entire building and killed hundreds of people. Ru had let her hair air dry for the next four or five years.
The bed was a little hard for her taste, but Ru was pretty sure that wasn’t the only reason she had struggled to sleep. Her mind was still racing when her alarm went off, and she felt like she’d only gotten an hour or so of sleep. She hoped the people of Los Angeles didn’t judge a Keeper by her cover because she’d likely show up with bags under her eyes.
She showered and got ready for the day, packing the few items she’d needed back into her suitcase as Piper watched curiously from the pillow on the bed. “Don’t worry, kitty,” she said, zipping her suitcase. “I won’t leave you here. I’ve gotta go to breakfast, and then we’ll head out.” She took a few steps over to the bed and dropped down on the mattress, rubbing Piper reassuringly. A few purrs let her know Piper trusted her judgment. Ru topped off her food before she headed downstairs to meet the others for breakfast.
It was clear from the conversation around her that the others were attempting to ease her nervousness. They told stories about how much fun they’d had growing up in Los Angeles, and Ru listened intently, smiling and laughing when appropriate, but she couldn’t help but feel like even more of an outsider as they chatted. The place they were discussing is where she was meant to be, where she should’ve been, but she’d missed out on all of that. How different would her life have been if only her mother would’ve kept her? Or, at the very least, left her with her grandmother to raise? Then, she, too, would’ve grown up knowing what she was and wouldn’t have spent so many years of her life thinking she was a jinx because of powers she couldn’t have possibly understood.