The Blunt Reaper

Despite the pain in her skull, Mara almost smiled. "The Bastion we already need to visit."

"Yes."

"The one managed by the woman who hates you."

"Vice manager."

"Important distinction?"

"The actual manager only dislikes me."

Mara leaned back against the wall. "What did you do?"

"Nothing."

"The ferryman laughed when you mentioned her."

"He has a poor sense of humor."

"You said parts of the Bastion were destroyed."

"The important parts survived."

"That did not answer the question then, and it doesn’t answer it now."

Rook placed the wrapped fragment upon the table, well beyond Mara’s reach from the bed. He then lifted the fallen chair and returned it to its place.

She watched him straighten it. "Why does the vice manager hate you?"

"She’s unreasonable."

"What happened?"

"An Abomination entered the Bastion during my previous visit."

Mara stared at him. "You brought an Abomination inside?"

"It followed me."

"That sounds like bringing it."

"It was several streets behind me."

"Following you."

"At a distance."

"Rook."

"I didn’t invite it."

She rubbed her temple as another pulse of pain passed through her head. "What kind of Abomination?"

"Third Rank."

"And no one noticed a Third Rank walking toward the gate?"

"It wasn’t walking by then."

"What was it doing?"

"Rolling."

Mara lowered her hand. "Why was it rolling?"

"I had removed most of its legs."

She waited for him to continue.

Rook looked toward the broken lock on the door as though deciding whether repairing it would be easier than finishing the explanation.

"You fought it outside the Bastion," Mara said.

"Yes."

"You removed its legs."

"Most of them."

"Then it rolled after you."

"It was more of a controlled fall."

"Controlled by whom?"

"The slope."

Mara closed her eyes briefly. "How did it reach the vice manager’s office?"

"It followed the main road."

"Without legs?"

"It grew some back."

"Of course it did. What happened when it reached the office?"

"I stopped it."

"Then why does she hate you?"

Rook looked away. "Her office was involved. Since it was in the way."

"Involved how?"

"Structurally."

"Rook."

"Three walls needed replacing."

Mara stared at him. "You destroyed three walls?"

"The Abomination destroyed two. I merely introduced it to the third."

"Why?"

"It was supporting the floor above us."

"That does not explain why you destroyed it."

"The floor was heavier than the Abomination."

She imagined the rest. "You collapsed an upper storey onto it."

"It worked."

"Inside her office."

"Mostly."

"What happened to the office?"

"It became part of the ground floor."

"Wasn’t it already on the ground floor? As in the way?"

"More of the building joined it."

Mara pressed both hands over her face. Her head hurt too much for laughter, but a quiet sound escaped her despite the effort to suppress it.

Rook frowned. "You wanted the explanation."

"I did. I’m beginning to understand why she hates you."

"She overreacted."

"You brought a Third Rank into her Bastion and collapsed her office on top of it."

"It followed me, and the office was poorly constructed. It needed a paint job, I did her a favor."

Mara lowered her hands.

One question remained, and the answer was already waiting in the large dark Brand covering his arm.

"Did you at least try and kill it?"

Rook looked at her.

Mara immediately understood. "Ah, I forgot you can’t, so, It got back up."

"Eventually."

"Inside her office."

"What remained of it."

Her laughter became painful enough that she stopped and pressed one hand against her temple again. "How long did that take?"

"Long enough for me to leave."

"You ran away."

"I departed before the situation became unnecessarily emotional. She tends to be overly dramatic."

"She tried to kill you."

"Several times."

"And now we need her Remembrancer."

"The Remembrancer doesn’t belong to her."

"But they work inside her Bastion."

"Yes."

"Possibly inside the building you damaged."

Rook’s expression suggested he had only just considered that problem.

Mara smiled. "This journey is improving already."

A hard knock struck what remained of the door.

Rook’s hand immediately moved toward the scythe, but the ferryman’s voice came from the corridor.

"The third channel is filling."

The amusement left Mara.

Rook opened the door. The old man stood outside with his coat fastened and the metal end of his pole wrapped in cloth once more.

"How long?" Rook asked.

"Water is halfway through the station. Current should open soon."

Mara reached for her boot.

The headache surged when she bent forward, forcing her to stop until the room steadied. Rook noticed but offered no assistance. He waited until she could continue, watching closely enough that she knew he would intervene if she fell.

"I got you a new pair of boots, yours... well the one, is useless." He handed her new ones he had pulled from somewhere her headache didn’t allow her to think how.

Once her boots were fastened, he retrieved the fragment from the table.

"Keep it wrapped."

Mara held out her hand. "I will."

"Don’t sleep beside it."

"Fine."

"Don’t look into it."

"I said fine."

He placed the cloth bundle in her palm but did not release it. "Promise."

Mara met his eyes. The lingering memories made the request considerably less irritating than it might have been an hour earlier.

"I promise I won’t enter it again until we find the Remembrancer."

Rook released the fragment.

She secured it inside her coat and fastened the pocket.

"And if it begins whispering," he said, "don’t answer."

Mara paused. "Can it do that?"

Rook stepped into the corridor. "Now you’ll stay awake wondering."

"You’re an asshole."

"You screamed me out of a perfectly good sleep."

The ferryman had already started toward the stairs. "If you two miss this current, I’m leaving you on the island."

Rook secured the coffin against his back and followed.

Mara took one final look at the room. The overturned washbasin remained against the wall, and the blue lantern still burned upon the sill. For a few brief hours, the space had been the first safe place she found in the Underworld.

Now the path toward Yama’s Gate had opened.

She left the room and hurried after them.

Below, travelers were abandoning unfinished meals and rushing toward the docks. Ferrymen carried poles, lanterns and coils of rope through the streets while workers untied boats from their moorings.

Dark water had filled the channels crossing the island.

Every stream flowed east.

Beyond the sheltered inlet, the Red Tide had begun to move.

[Author’s Note]

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