Excerpt

Chapter One

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For twelve years, I’ve been wandering through dreams, marking humans for the underworld when they eventually pass. It’s grunt work in the Reaper hierarchy. I was tired and wanted to move up, earn a scythe, and reap the marked souls. Unfortunately, only the Reapers who have found their soul mates earn their scythe. I haven’t found mine yet, and I was beginning to doubt that I would ever find one.

 

Like I do every night, I find myself in the dream forest. It connects me to human dreams. I wander from dream to dream, judging the human soul. If souls don’t go to the underworld, they go heavenward, marked by the White Reaper.

 

The first dream I wandered through belonged to a swimmer dreaming of making it to the Olympics. I left him for the White Reaper. If something changes in his status over the years, such as if he becomes addicted to painkillers, the mark can be changed. The next dream was of a sixteen-year-old who was dreaming of being part of a motorcycle club. Him, I marked. There’s nothing wrong with being part of an MC. I have a friend who is the leader of one, but this kid’s intentions for joining one are impure, making him perfect for the underworld.

 

In the next dream, I walked into a wedding. I stood to the side, watching, waiting for the dream's owner to appear. When the bride came down the aisle, all I could do was stare. She was stunning. Her brown hair cascaded over her shoulders in gentle waves, and she glowed. I could see a faint golden aura around her.

 

She stood at the front, facing her groom. The officiant’s words were garbled as if this woman couldn’t dream of the proper words to be said. I was so transfixed with her beauty that I didn’t notice right away that she was staring at me from over the groom’s shoulder. It was unnerving. No one should be able to see me in their dreams. Something wasn’t right. She picked up her skirt and started running toward me. I turned and walked back to the dream forest. She shouldn’t be able to follow me there. It’s Reaper's domain.

 

“Hello?”

 

A female voice echoed around the forest. I turned back in the direction I had just come from. A flash of white running through the dark forest caught my attention.

 

“Impossible.” I mumbled.

 

I surrounded her — at least my cloak did. These cloaks are a great way to move around quickly. There’s a mystical quality to them, letting me merge with shadows and move from shadow to shadow like smoke. Because of its mystic quality, it has a bit of a mind of its own in how it floats around me. My cloak manifested in front of her, and I shot a hand out to grip her around the neck and slammed her into a tree trunk.

 

“Who are you?” I demanded.

 

“Skylar Foxx.” She clawed at my hand. “Who are you?”

 

“Why are you here?”

 

“Who are you?” She asked again.

 

I squeezed her neck lightly, warning her that I was in control of this situation, not her. “Who sent you?”

 

“Who are you?” Skylar’s gorgeous sage green eyes hardened, unperturbed by my warning. “Wait, sent me? You’re the wedding crasher.”

 

“You don’t know.” I whispered, stepping back.

 

This woman has no idea that she’s dreaming. At first, I thought she was a conduit for another Reaper. It’s rare, even more so now than it was a couple of decades ago, but Reapers used to use humans to hunt down other Reapers. Reapers can’t be killed while in a dream, but they can die in reality, the real world outside of the dream. A Reaper desperate enough to find their soul mate will do anything, including taking out any competition.

 

The term soul mate is misleading. This person may be able to provide a scythe to only one Reaper, but that Reaper has to earn their love and connect at a soul-deep level. The fewer Reapers in need of a soul mate, the higher the chance of finding one.

 

“You have no idea what you’ve gotten yourself into.” I told her.

 

“Then explain it to me.” Skylar demanded.

 

I studied her, absorbed by her beauty. Her golden aura seemed to reach me through my cloak. I itched to touch her, running my fingers over her cheek and drawing her in close, but I kept my distance.

 

“You’re dreaming.” I told her, hoping it’d get her to leave.

 

She crossed her arms with a skeptical scowl. “I’m dreaming?”

 

“You got it, Doll face.”

 

I cringed. That word didn’t suit her. The brief look of disgust on her face told me she didn’t like it either.

 

“Why would I dream of a cloaked figure?” She shook her head. “Never mind. Where am I exactly?”

 

“Somewhere you shouldn’t be. Go home.” I turned.

 

“Wait a minute.” She reached out to stop me from leaving.

 

“Don’t!” I snapped.

 

My quick movement to brush off Skylar’s touch had her stumbling back. Her dress caught under her foot, and she fell back. I reached out to stop her fall. My cloak shot out and wrapped around her. My cloak and her aura merged. I knew at that moment. Skylar Foxx is a soul mate. The one fated to help any Reaper rise in the Reaper hierarchy. I held her close, relief at finding a soul mate but also terror. If she’s not in the same city as me, I’ll never be able to claim her, and some other Reaper can potentially sweep in and take her from me. I can’t let that happen.

 

“Go home, Cherry Pie.” I whispered in her ear.

 

No sooner had I said those words that she vanished from my arms. I instantly missed her warmth.

 

“Heli.”

 

I summoned my hellcat familiar. The large feline emerged from my cloak’s smoke. Its three tails flicked behind its body. I reached out and scratched under his chin. He purred in satisfaction. He’s a vicious beast when danger is near but a kitten when his guard is down.

 

“Find Skylar Foxx. If she’s in the area, protect her.” I ordered. “She’s a soul mate.”

 

Heli licked my hand with his sandpaper-like tongue before leaving the dream forest. If Skylar is in my city of Richham, I’ll have to figure out how to insert myself into her life. This could be the only opportunity I’ll have to earn a scythe.

 

I returned to the living world. I do not doubt that Heli will find Skylar, but I need to do what I can to find her myself. Padding over to my desk from the comfort of the leather chair in front of my home office fireplace, I opened my laptop. Taking a breath, I opened a search engine and searched for Skylar Foxx.

 

“Nothing.” I scrolled through the search engine and the image search. “Absolutely nothing.”

 

That’s impossible. I leaned back. In this day and age, no one isn’t on the internet somewhere. Either she gave me a false name, or there’s a reason why I can’t find her online. Heli will find her. I can count on that. This only makes me more curious as to who Skylar is.