aside, I decided to take advantage of this.
I teleported myself over to where he stood.
“Looking for me?” I asked, smiling, from behind him.
He turned around, eyes wide with shock. “How’d you do that?”
“Ah, so you can see me again,” I observed, glancing down. Indeed, I was visible again. Up to this point, I could turn invisible with the scythe, but teleporting myself canceled that out. Okay. Good to know.
He moved back and was most likely about to vanish again. My hand shot out as I brought the scythe’s blade up to his throat. “You should stay for a while,” I retorted. “We need to talk.”
“You shouldn’t have that,” he said, glowering at my scythe.
“Finders keepers,” I said. “What’s going on here? Why did the ghosts disappear? Did you have something to do with this?”
He sneered. “My colleagues were right. You’re not as dumb as you look.”
“Again with the rudeness. What is wrong with you people?” I groaned, rolling my eyes. “I simply asked you a question. Why do you feel the need to insult me?”
“Because that scythe doesn’t belong to you, and it’s an insult to all of us that you get to strut around with it!” he spat.
Oh, I’d hit a nerve. “Its owner tried to kill us so he could turn into a ghoul. I think it’s fair that we keep it. Now, tell me, where are we?”
“I’m not here to answer your questions.”
“You should, though. I’m the one holding a blade to your throat.”
“You can’t kill me with it.”
I cocked my head to the side. It was time to take a gamble, since the thought had already begun worming its way through my head since I’d managed to turn invisible. “Are you sure about that? So far, this nifty little thing has helped me vanish, like you. And I’m not a Reaper. Doesn’t that concern you? Doesn’t that mean that I might be able to do more with it?”
He didn’t answer straightaway, but I could almost feel him itching to get as far away from me as possible. There was fear mingling with the stars in his eyes—an indigo night sky reflected between those eyelids, as eerie as Yamani’s and the guy who killed him.
“You give yourself a little too much credit,” he said.
“Why is it so hard to answer a simple question?” I replied.
He narrowed his eyes at me. “You know, I heard all about you. Word travels fast among my people. I just can’t, for the life of me, understand why Seeley didn’t take the scythe away from you after he was done with Yamani.”
I smirked. “We were busy getting away from the Hermessi. See? I answered your question. Try answering one of mine, and you’ll see how well we get along.”
He clicked his teeth in annoyance. “Yes.”
“Yes what?” I asked.
“I’m the reason why the spirits are vanishing. It’s temporary, though. I’m just trying to herd them all back in one place,” he said.
I wanted to commend him for giving me a straight answer, but I decided to go with a follow-up, first. He clearly wouldn’t tell me where we were, but I thought I’d bombard him with location-adjacent questions until he let something useful slip.
“Herding them? They’re not cattle. Why are you… herding them?”
“Because it’s a cleanup operation!” he yelped as my scythe’s blade got dangerously closer to his skin. He was definitely and undeniably afraid of it. Of me. “I’ve got a cranky boss, and she’s making a mess, and I’m having to clean up.”
The wheels squealed in my head. “Your boss. Death.”
“Yes.”
“Is she here?” I asked.
“No.”
I persisted. “How’d she make this so-called mess, then?”
“You’re not safe here, you know,” he answered. I had a feeling he was trying to change the subject.
“Where are we, exactly?”
A twig snapped somewhere to my right. Instinctively, I gave the source of that noise a brief glance. It was enough to lose sight of the Reaper for a split second, and it helped him, for he vanished again. “Dammit!” I snarled.
A strange-looking deer had distracted me. It froze, its big black eyes fixed on me, its large ears flicking nervously. It didn’t seem to care much for my dismay. It chewed a bunch of leaves, one hoof elevated and ready to take another step.
Raphael made his way down the stream, joined by Lumi, Eira, and Amelia. They rushed to reach me. I took a deep breath and let it out slowly. The Reaper was gone, and I hadn’t made any strides in figuring out where we were.