The Blunt Reaper

Rook stopped.

"You could still reach me," Voss continued. "You might even kill me before the others drag you down. She would already be dead by then."

"Death doesn't last here."

"No, but the memory she loses might."

Mara slowly raised one hand. A small glass bottle rested between her fingers.

Rook's expression changed, and Voss's did as well.

The bottle contained a pale liquid that appeared almost clear beneath the blue lantern light. Dark specks drifted within it, moving against the slight tilt of the glass as if drawn toward something beyond the field. Mara's thumb was already hooked beneath the stopper.

"Do it," she said. "Fuck around and find out."

The pressure around her throat stopped increasing.

Voss stared at the bottle. "Where did you get that?"

"His coffin."

Rook's eyes narrowed. "You stole Abomination lure from my coffin?"

"I borrowed it."

"Good girl." Rook grinned.

For a fleeting second mara's face blushed.

Voss's grip shifted against her throat. "Put it down."

Mara held the bottle farther from her body. "That would break it."

Several nearby Reapers backed away. One of them swore beneath his breath, while another looked toward the dark streets beyond the lanterns as though expecting movement to begin immediately.

Voss's voice lost its amusement. "Do you have any idea what you're holding?"

"Something every Abomination in the city wants."

"Every Abomination close enough to sense it," Rook corrected.

Mara glanced at him. "You're not helping."

"I'm slightly annoyed."

"You can be annoyed later."

"Fair, keep him tensed."

Voss tightened his hold upon her shoulder, but the tension around her neck remained unchanged. "You'll be dead before the first one reaches us."

"Probably."

"Then this is a poor threat."

"I already figured your ability. Tension, what happened you got killed in an elevator shaft? or got wrecked by a high tension wire? the moment you use that ability, my hand would squeeze the bottle until it breaks. If you do anything else, I'll slam this thing into the ground.." Mara lowered the bottle until it hung directly above the broken stone. "It falls, the glass breaks, and everything inside spills across the ground."

"Hah, I didn't even need to explain his ability, good eyes." Rook smiled. Which for some reason felt extremely creepy to the reapers around him.

Voss looked at her fingers as she loosened them slightly.

The bottle slipped less than an inch before she caught it again, causing several Reapers to move farther away.

"Careful!" one shouted.

Mara smiled despite the pain in her throat. "He understands."

Voss's attention flicked toward the ruined buildings surrounding the field. The Fourth Rank had claimed this territory and driven most lesser creatures away, but its death had left the eastern district open. Once the lure spread, every Abomination close enough to sense it would begin moving toward them.

The lanterns would not hide the Reapers, and the walls would only trap them.

Voss lowered his voice. "It will take time for enough of them to arrive."

"You could kill me before then," Mara agreed.

"Easily."

"Then you'll be trapped in a dead city with him."

She nodded toward Rook.

He stood among the Last Watch with a knife in one hand, and the one handed scythe in the other. The coffin secured across his back, ready for battle. Blood covered his coat, and the cuts across his face had not yet finished closing. He said nothing because he did not need to.

Mara continued. "A very pissed-off him, every surviving Abomination in the Eighty-Sixth, and however many of your people remain after he reaches you."

Voss looked at Rook.

Rook lifted the knife slightly. "She's right you know. As much as I want you to snap her neck since we're no longer bound by contract."

Mara frowned. "That isn't helping either."

"It sounded convincing."

"You sounded eager."

"I'm still annoyed about the bottle you stole."

"Borrrrrowed!"

Voss's grip remained around Mara's throat, but she felt some of the unnatural pressure begin to fade. He could kill her. She had no doubt of that. He could tighten every muscle in her neck until bone broke, then try to catch the vial before it struck the ground.

He would have less than a second.

If he failed, he would gain nothing from Mara and lose the Last Watch, the city and possibly every memory fragment he had collected there. If he succeeded, Rook would reach him.

Neither outcome gave him what he wanted.

"You sneaky little bitch," Voss muttered.

Mara raised the bottle slightly. "The fragments."

"The sphere is dangerous."

"So am I, apparently."

"I haven't separated anything."

"Then I'll figure something out, or do it myself."

"Only I can do that."

"There may be others who can, who knows."

"There may be no one else."

"Then I'll come back and ask nicely."

Voss released a quiet breath through his nose. "You took a bottle capable of condemning an entire district because you suspected I might betray you."

"I suspected you would betray me."

"That distinction matters to you?"

"Very much."

Rook looked at Voss. "She met you less than an hour ago and already planned for this. I'd be offended if it wasn't so funny."

"Shut up."

"The sphere."

Voss remained still for several seconds before the pressure around Mara's throat disappeared completely. His hand, however, did not leave her.

"Order your people to back away," Mara said.

"You are not in a position to give orders."

She pushed her thumb farther beneath the stopper.

Voss's voice hardened. "Back away."

The Last Watch obeyed immediately. Weapons lowered as the Reapers retreated toward the edges of the lantern-lit field. None sheathed their blades, but they created an open path between Mara and Rook.

"The sphere," she repeated.

Voss held it out where she could see it. Darkness shifted beneath the crystalline surface, pressing against the side facing Rook.

"You understand that breaking this is different from breaking your little bottle."

"I understand that you're stalling."

"If you mishandle it, you may lose more than whatever memories are trapped inside."

"I'll be careful."

"You struck a bargain with someone you knew intended to rob you, then threatened to drown an entire city in Abominations."

"Very carefully."

Voss cursed and placed the sphere in her raised hand.

"It's like I met an insufferable clone of you, Rook, you know. Why the hell did you bring her here?"

"Beats me, she wanted to visit Yama. And I'm forced to tag along."

"She isn't bound by contract, how about we get rid of her."

"Nah, I still like you less."

Mara closed her fingers around the memory fragment without releasing the lure. The crystalline surface felt cold at first, then unexpectedly warm. Something moved within it, pressing lightly against her palm before turning toward Rook again.

Voss felt her tense.

"This is why I didn't want you to have it, it'll eat you alive."

"I'll deal with it."

"Damn annoying bitch."

"Let go of me."

His fingers remained beneath her jaw.

"The moment I release you, you move toward Rook."

"That was the agreement."

"The agreement ended when you revealed the bottle."

"Then we can find out what happens when I open it."

"Tsk..." he clicked his tongue and let go.

Visit and read more novel to help us update chapter quickly. Thank you so much!