is walking home. I think I recall teasing Axton about something.” His brow furrowed, and his eyes got a faraway look to them. “Then, lots of pain.”
Axton nodded. “They snuck up behind us, in their soul form. One became corporeal, darted in front of us, and stabbed through you. And before you ask, no, I don’t know what they used, and no, I couldn’t find the weapon after the fight was over. Didn’t see that Reaper, either, so I’m guessing that he left after he escaped my hold.”
I perked up. We’d talked a little about what happened, but at the time, I couldn’t concentrate on anything except my worry for Kian.
“If you saw him again, would you know him?” I asked.
Axton jerked his chin down, a scowl darkening his face. My fingers tapped absently at my bottom lip. Maybe we can do something with that. Not sure how we’d find him to begin with, but he could lead us to whoever is organizing this war against us.
I flinched a little at that thought. It was a war, one we were losing. My eyes drifted back to Kian, and I shivered.
“So, it was just the one?” Kian asked, then glared at his mug before taking another sip.
“Not even close,” Trace laughed. “Maybe you got taken out by a single Reaper, but the rest of us were stuck with a whole fuck ton of the bitterds.”
“Bastards,” I corrected. Earth phrases were becoming popular, another tactic to make Reapers interested in joining the quest to clear the planet.
“Yeah, bastards. Whatever word you want to use, they have way more help than we’d initially thought,” Trace said.
“Wait. Where did you come from?” Kian asked, his brows drawing together as his eyes darted from Axton to Trace to Grace.
“We were at the little eatery on the corner when Zella,” Trace ground his teeth and jerked his chin in my direction. “She felt something happen to you, so I tossed her over my shoulder, tapped into the Finding, and raced to your rescue. You’re welcome.”
Kian looked back at Trace and held his gaze. The air thickened, swirling around us but only sinking into the two of them. Finally, Kian nodded and Trace just shrugged.
Axton shifted in his seat and cleared his throat before continuing the story. “When they arrived, I’d already decided that we were dead. I was merely hoping to take a few of them with us.” A feral grin curved his lips. “Then Trace showed up in his Demon form, and they practically pissed themselves. Grace came to check on you, and—”
Trace cut in, a twinkle in his eyes shining as he lifted his chin and puffed his chest out. “And Zella began dropping them like they were nothing but a piece of paper in her hand.” He mimed crumpling up a sheet of paper, then turned his hand palm down and splayed his fingers.
Kian’s head twisted, so he could search my face. I allowed him to study it, unsure what he thought he would find there. If it was guilt he wanted, he would be disappointed. I didn’t feel pride, either. Honestly, I remained ambivalent about the whole thing. They’d tried to kill Kian. No, they had killed Kian, so I refused to harbor any regret or shame over my actions. It was nothing to be prideful about, either, because I had taken their lives easily. In the end, it was merely a task, same as putting on my boots or washing my dishes after I used them, something necessary but utterly mundane.
As he turned back to the others, his eyes remained on me until they couldn’t any longer. He shifted in place, wincing when he leaned to his right. My gaze shot to Grace, and I found her already staring at his stomach where his wound had been.
“So, that’s how Axton is alive, but how am I? I think…,” he trailed off, and his breathing sped up. My heart skipped a beat, lurching while he cleared his throat. “I think I should be dead. Something tells me I did die, so how am I here?”
“Grace,” I said quietly.
Kian glanced at me, then watched Grace, who still stared at his gut. She didn’t seem interested in telling her portion of the story, so I took over.
“We got there a few seconds too late. When she tried to heal you, your wounds were too severe to be corrected before your anchor withered. Grace,” I hesitated, tasting my words before I used them. None seemed