CITY OF THE DAMNED

DARKLY DEVOTED 

Book 5

Chapter 1

ON THE NIGHT, I MADE MY BARGAIN WITH HIM, I chased the Reaper to the edge of a cavern north of Manna City. I needed to find out who he was, but he had disappeared. My soul belonged to this creature of the night called the Reaper, but for days, he melted into the darkness, only to reappear out of the corner of my eyes whenever I ventured out of hiding. After we made our deal, I moved far from everyone I knew. I was afraid that if I told anyone about my deal with him, the Reaper would claim their lives as well.

Then, when he didn't reappear right away, it slowly dawned on me that he was waiting. He wanted me to make a move first, to misstep, to lead him somewhere he had no business being.

For that reason, the only man I spoke to in the past few days was the current acting leader of Qarnik, Calmen Jin.

Mr. Jin and I had never met in person, but until now, we didn't have a reason to communicate with each other. Qarnik is an organization that is sympathetic to the Reaper. They believe that there is a place for everything in creation, including a being that, as the stories say, torments and eats human souls.

Although my family always had ties to Qarnik (thus why we were never very beloved in Manna City), I never felt much allegiance to them. I called Mr. Jin and left him a message that I had met with the Reaper in person and that he should arrange a meeting in person if he wanted more information.

I did this because I knew this was my best chance of luring the Reaper out of hiding. The last thing he would want was for me to meet with Mr. Jin and to make him sympathetic to my plight. Or perhaps, worse yet, Mr. Jin would offer one of his followers as a sacrifice to the Reaper instead. Maybe Jin possessed a pretty virginal daughter who wouldn't mind descending to the world of the dead as the Reaper's special guest.

God knows, a middle-aged woman like me wasn't the best candidate for the Reaper to have picked to waste his time on.

It was no surprise to me that Mr. Jin accepted. He said he would immediately send a plane to fly me to the island of Xisidus. I had never been to their lair before. I knew that it was past Greenland over the continental plates. It would take me far from Manna City, and for that reason, I knew the Reaper would try to stop me from leaving. He wanted me here, not in some hidden corner of the world where I would be far from the action.

That night, after the sun had set over the wreckage of our home city, the Reaper appeared just outside my window. I wasn't living in Manna City at the time, but rather in a cottage far north of the city, just outside my father's castle. It was where the servants lived, back when we had servants.

Now, no one lived here. No one was left to bother me.

The Reaper spoke the first words he had said to me since the day we made the deal to exchange my son Orion's life for my soul, "You will not contact Calmen Jin again."

I had heard his voice before. It was deep and husky, like black volcanic rocks scraping against one another. Yet, this time, I didn't hear his voice with my ears; rather, the sounds reverberated inside my mind.

He didn't need to open his mouth to speak to me anymore. He could slip in and out of my head to convey his message. Perhaps, he exercised this talent because I sold my soul to him, or maybe because I had invited him in. Either way, he only confirmed what I already knew — my thoughts were not my own anymore. He was listening. Nothing was a secret to him anymore.

"Why? How will you stop me?" I retorted out loud in the general direction of his shadowy figure. He was standing barely a couple feet away, outside, just beyond the old wilted oak tree that had died in the last Blight Rain. "Will you tie my wrists to my ankles? Rip the tongue from my mouth?"

The Reaper didn't reply. Instead, he seemed to glower at me. The message was conveyed even though I could barely make out his face with all the shadows that wrapped around his bulky, overly-masculine form.

I leaned back into my armchair and parted my knees in his general direction. I placed my wrists above my head as though I were wearing invisible handcuffs.

"Come on now, tie me up. I'm yours."

The Reaper didn't reply. After some time, my face grew tired of smirking at him lustfully. My arms were tired of being held up where he could see them. I relaxed into a more businesslike pose.

I knew what the Reaper wanted. He didn't have to say it. He didn't want me or the attention of Mr. Jin.

What the Reaper wanted was my husband.

He wanted me to let those thoughts slip into my mind. He wanted to know where Blake was and what he was planning. Even a memory or two of some intimate moment that revealed some vulnerable but critical detail in taking down my dearly departed husband was all the Reaper wanted.

"He's dead," I finally whispered into the night. "You are wasting your time here with me. There's no grand plan to figure out, no deception to unravel. Kill me if you must, but my life is all I have left to give."

"No," the Reaper hissed. I could hear the anger brewing under his every breath. "You have much more to offer, Melody. Death will not come so easily to you."

I chuckled even though his words unnerved me. I wasn't afraid to die, but it was slowly dawning on me that he would use me as bait. It was true; I could simply bash my head into the nearest wall and take my own life. Then, I would be useless to him. Even though he might own my soul, he clearly meant to use my possible death as a bargaining chip with my husband. If I died, he might go after Orion or Sebastian. No, I needed to keep the target on my back to assure him that I was the best possible choice if he wanted to find out where my husband had gone.

After all these years of hoarding my secrets from those around me, some with the ability to read my mind, I was good at keeping my thoughts close to my heart.

"Then we'll arrange a trade. A secret for a secret. First of all — what is your name?"

"Nerazu," the Reaper replied. "You may call me Grismal."

Grismal Nerazu was his name. Oh good, we were on a first-name basis now. It was progress.

"Your turn."

"Stop communicating with Calmen Jin," Grismal replied with an air of finality. "That is all."

"That's it?" I demanded and stood up in rage. "You keep me prisoner here and refuse to let me communicate with anyone in the outside world. What do you want from me?"

"You do not have to remain here, Melody," Grismal replied almost with a strangely cheeky tone to his harsh rock-like voice. "You chose to cut yourself off from the world."

"Wait," I shouted before the demonic man disappeared again. "My husband is dead. You'll have to wait a long time if you're hoping to use me against him. However, if it's secrets that you want, we can come to a deal. I know plenty of things about the Levanti. What do you want to know?"

"Your husband is not dead," Grismal replied in a matter-of-fact tone. "We can drop this discussion until you are ready to speak the truth."

"How do you know he's not dead?"

"Because all those who have been infected by the Black Waters pass through my doors before they enter the afterlife," Grismal hissed. "He has disappeared off the face of this earth, but he has not appeared in my domain. And, you are hardly playing the part of the grieving widow, Melody."

"If it's his soul that is missing, I can help you find it," I chirped in my most helpful, non-deceptive tone. "Also, I've grieved enough for Blake for many lifetimes. I am now only trying to save my own soul and that of my sons."

"How will you help me find his soul?" Grismal asked mockingly. "Do you think I am a fool?"

Yes, I was hoping that you were.

I tried to keep the sarcastic thoughts from my mind. I could sense the darkness embodied inside this man. If I pushed him too far, Grismal might decide I wasn't worth keeping alive.

"You can use me to find him. He and I shared a bond for many years. Our souls were linked, and I'm sure there are echoes of his soul still within me. But you know all this."

"Yes," Grismal replied as though he was contemplating my offer. "And you would cooperate with this task?"

"Yes, if it means freeing my soul," I offered, hopefully. "I would happily help you find him."

I didn't think Grismal believed me. But, a deal was made.