Unreap My Heart (The Reaper Series) (16 page)

“I don’t like it,” Balthazar finally said, his eyes flicking from shadow to shadow within the wood. “No matter how many ghouls are in these woods, it’s never this quiet.”

“Maybe they’re not in there?”

Balthazar raised an obnoxious eyebrow at Arianne. She shrugged it off. He approached the nearest Blood Tree and pointed at the braided trunk.

“Make a cut here.”

Arianne approached to stand beside him. “Why?”

“Just make the cut, Arianne.”

She pulled the blasted knife that seemed to tease him every time he stared at the blade out of its sheath and made the cut he’d asked for. Sap the rich red of blood oozed out. The tree shuddered as if in pain. Balthazar cupped his hands over the wound and collected as much sap as he could. Then he rubbed it on Arianne.

“Hey!” She danced away from him, wiping at the sap on her jacket.

“Shhh!” Balthazar froze and listened. Then in an angry whisper he said, “Keep it down. We can’t risk the ghouls hearing us.”

Arianne frowned, pulling her hand—now sticky with sap—away from her jacket. “Then what’s this for?”

Balthazar cupped more of the sap and began rubbing it all over himself. “This will mask our scent from the ghouls. If they can’t smell us the chances of them finding us decreases.”

“Eeww!” Arianne grimaced.

Typical girl.
Balthazar snorted. He prepared for another argument, but she proved him wrong once again by making another cut on the tree and rubbing the sap all over her body. Balthazar hated being wrong, and this little girl proved him wrong more and more often the longer they stayed together. He had to finish this mission before he lost his mind completely, or bruised his ego enough that he’d lose his will to challenge D for his seat.

They rubbed sap all over their bodies in silence, until Balthazar said, “Make sure to get it on your face too.” He demonstrated by rubbing some on his cheeks.

She grimaced, but didn’t complain. “Hair too?”

He grinned. “You’re learning.”

“It smells like pee.”

“Better pee than something else.”

“Oh don’t even go there. I’m pretending this is a mud mask. A really stinky mud mask.”

“Whatever gets you through the day, little girl.”

Arianne rubbed some into her hair and whimpered. “This is so disgusting. Please promise me there’s a bath at the end of this neck of the trip. I may not be in my body right now, but I still feel the need to stay clean.”

Balthazar barked a laugh. “When we get into Voyeur territory, the mansion will have amenities for a shower, or a bath if you prefer.”

“I know I’ve lasted this long without needing a shower.” Her nose crinkled. “But now I really, really need one.”

“Stop being such a girl.”

“Well, sor—ry!” She huffed. “For a pretty boy you’re so annoying.”

“Better annoying than whiny.”

Arianne opened her mouth to say something else, but a thought crossed her mind and she shut her mouth instead. Balthazar felt the curiosity in that thought. Damn the connection for not being any clearer.

Finished covering himself with sap, Balthazar checked Arianne. He twisted her right, then left, running his eyes over every part of her exposed to him.

Once satisfied their scent—which they shared now because of Granmare Baba—had been masked, he said, “Watch your step and try not to make a sound. Stay behind me at all times. Keep your eyes on my back the whole time. Ignore anything you hear and see. Move with me. Am I making myself clear?”

The determination on her face answered his question way before she said yes. Finally, maybe they were on the same page about this trip. He nodded at her once before he turned around and began their trek through the Ghoul Woods.

He was banking on the fact that Arianne knew enough about the woods that she’d listen to him. Ghouls weren’t the only residents of the Ghoul Woods. They were the most dangerous, but that didn’t make the rest of the inhabitants less deadly. He didn’t quite manifest his scythe, but he kept it close—a shadow by his side. He just had to wrap his hand around the staff and it would fully materialize.

Soon the gloom of the top-heavy trees surrounded them. Not a sound. Not even a bird chirped. It had been a while since Balthazar had been to the Ghoul Woods. It couldn’t have changed so much that the birds disappeared. He suspected the Voyeur had a hand in the silence. Expanding her territory didn’t mean anything good for the Underverse. Greed never did. She grabbed power. He couldn’t keep up with all the jostling for power in the Underverse from the Nethers. Granted, he’d had other things to worry about at the time. Now the bigger picture became clearer. Things shifted, changed. If he didn’t make his play for D’s seat soon, someone else would. He could feel it in his bones. Balthazar was D’s best bet for a successor to the Crossroads. Others would just take advantage of all that residual energy. He snorted. Well, he couldn’t promise there wouldn’t be any advantage-taking on his part, but he certainly had more self-control than the Voyeur—if he made comparisons.

About halfway through the woods the silence reached an unnerving peak. Balthazar almost exhaled in relief when he spotted the first ghoul patrol. He grabbed Arianne and pushed her into a hollow made by two entwining trees. She opened her mouth. He felt the question coming on, so he shoved his hand over her lips. Their softness shocked through him for a second. Her eyes grew wide then narrowed. He grinned. Anger sparked those blue eyes to life. And damn if he didn’t like it.

Pulling himself away from the useless—and potentially dangerous—thoughts, Balthazar raised his free forefinger to his lips in the universal sign for shut up. Only when Arianne’s breathing calmed and she nodded once did he drop his hand from her lips. He pointed at the nearing group of ghouls. She flicked her gaze at them and trembled. Balthazar screamed at her using his eyes, his lips in a tight line. If she so much as squeaked, not even their bargain would keep her safe from him.

Balthazar didn’t give thanks much, but when Arianne managed to keep her mouth shut despite her trembling as the ghouls passed them, he breathed a quiet thanks. He inched his way out of the tree and completely manifested his scythe. He swung it once and beheaded all five ghouls in one go. Their bodies slumped to the ground in soft thumps. He gestured for Arianne to leave the protection of the tree.

“That’s harsh,” she whispered when she reached his side.

“There’s more where that came from. Think of it as payback for the Ogre.”

“Thank you.”

Even through the blood red sap, the smile on her face charmed him unlike anything he’d seen—and he’d seen many things in his life, most of them despicable. He snorted and turned on his heel, resuming their journey.

To distract himself from Arianne’s smile, he considered the patrol they encountered. The first one this deep into the woods? He’d expected them half a mile in. Something had changed in the Ghoul Woods beyond his comprehension. He pushed down his curiosity. Now wasn’t the time to play detective. He had no power over what happened in these woods. He stuck to his goal. Get Arianne to the Voyeur. They still had half the woods to traverse to get there. He didn’t return his scythe to its shadow form, taking strength from its solid presence in his hand.

He was so caught up in his thoughts, Balthazar almost missed the yips coming from their left. Shit. Relying on instincts honed by countless battles, Balthazar repositioned himself into a defensive stance. He pushed Arianne directly behind him and raised his scythe just in time to block the first slash of claws. He pushed against the ghoul and slashed it in half before it could regain its footing. Three more jumped at him. A second patrol so close to the first? It baffled Balthazar enough that he almost didn’t block the combined attack. He forced himself to focus. He whipped his scythe in a wide arch and knocked the three advancing ghouls over like bowling pins. He made mincemeat out of them fast enough. He could manage them in groups of five. Piece of cake.

“One’s getting away.” Arianne pointed at the retreating ghoul.

Shit. He’d celebrated too soon. He took a step forward to pursue it then stopped. Too late. Ghouls moved fast. The thing likely ran to invite his buddies to the party. Instead of leaving Arianne, he whirled around to face her.

“How fast can you run?” he asked.

“Fast enough,” she said.

He doubted the truth in her statement. “We’re going to need to run. That guy’s spreading the word. You need to keep up. I can’t carry you because I have to cover our asses, do you get me?”

“Point in the direction we need to go.”

Balthazar tilted his head in confusion.

“Just do it,” Arianne commanded in a powerful voice he’d never thought her capable of.

He did as she’d asked. Arianne took off in that direction. He grinned and licked his lips. The girl continued to surprise him. He gave chase, making sure to keep her in the lead.

Chapter 18

LMAO

R
UNNING
T
HROUGH
T
HE
G
HOUL
W
OODS
, and trying her best not to trip, Arianne thought she’d been doing well at following Balthazar’s instructions. She’d let him take the lead when they entered the woods. Stayed directly behind him. She kept her eyes on the ground most of the time so she didn’t accidentally step on a branch. She even ignored how distracted he’d been. Balthazar completely missing the second ghoul patrol seemed like something that shouldn’t have happened. Now they were running for their lives—again. Arianne had a feeling this happened a lot in the Underverse.

She’d been doing well until she spotted the Nixies—fluffy pink, round creatures that lived in wooded areas all over the Underverse. No one knew much about them except that they barely showed themselves. Some help Granmare Baba’s information was. Couldn’t she have given Arianne the comprehensive version? She muttered her hate for the witch again. The Nixies laughed—their voices the tiniest things.

Arianne ignored them until they started calling her name.

“Ari, Ari, Ari.”

Shut up, shut up, shut up,
she thought and kept running. Somewhere in the distance the distinct yipping of the ghouls reached her ears. She couldn’t be sure which direction they came from because sound traveled weirdly in the woods. Her lungs burned, but she kept running. Balthazar hadn’t said anything since she’d sprinted in the direction he pointed to, but she felt him close behind her. Once in a while he pushed her forward. She knew he could go faster and that she slowed him down. She tried to pick up her pace. The blood in her thighs magically transformed to acid. She may not need food or drink in the Underverse, but she sure as hell still got tired. She’d never really been a fan of gym in school. Now she cursed that fact, hearing her gym teacher lecturing her about the importance of exercise.

“Ari, Ari, Ari,”
the Nixies called.

Arianne glanced at a group of them floating to her right.

“Keep going,” Balthazar growled behind her.

She grunted. Her braid bounced painfully against her back—a
thump, thump, thump
that almost matched her heartbeat. The yips sounded closer now too.

The Nixies started again. “
Ari, Ari, Ari, we can help. We can help.”

“What?” Arianne said around the burning that moved from her lungs to her throat now. She couldn’t keep running any longer.

“We can help you.”

“Arianne, don’t listen to them,” Balthazar said.

“You can hear them too?”

“Over here. Over here.”

The group Arianne saw gestured for them to come nearer. It seemed like no matter how far Arianne ran the Nixies managed to follow. When she took her eyes off where she was going to look at them, she spotted the first group of ghouls too. An army of claws and teeth. Balthazar wouldn’t have a hope of holding them off and keeping Arianne safe at the same time. She had her knife, but against a battalion of ghouls, it might as well be a toothpick.

“I’m making an executive decision,” she said to Balthazar over her shoulder.

“Arianne, don’t!”

But she didn’t listen to him. She veered toward the Nixies. They beckoned her with their tiny hands. When she reached them, a hole opened up and some of them jumped in. Arianne skidded to a stop. Balthazar slammed into her. He grabbed her arms for support and by some miracle kept them both from falling into the hole.

“Inside, inside. Quick!”
the remaining Nixies said at the same time.

“No!” Balthazar said.

Arianne turned her head so she could see around Balthazar. A wave of ghouls crashed their way. She could make out the drool streaming out from between their lips. Without thinking, she turned in Balthazar’s arms. She grabbed his jacket and kicked off the ground until they both fell back into the black void. The remaining Nixies leapt after them. Arianne saw the light from where they’d jumped from snap shut. A ghoul stuck its arm in at the wrong time, and the closing hole cut it off. Arianne closed her eyes and pulled Balthazar closer. She felt his arms wrap around her as they plummeted toward whatever.