Reaper Society

Chapter 23: Śūra

It feels like it takes forever for the luxor to dry on my face, and resist the urge to rub at it doesn't fade when it finally does. Asher keeps an eye on me though, grabbing my wrists whenever I absently reach up to swipe at the uncomfortably warm feeling on my skin. At first, it's accidental, but the more he does it, the more I keep faking that I'm going for the protective stuff just to spite him. After the fifth time, Asher narrows his red eyes at me and I give him a smirk.

"Behave, or I'll punish you." Asher rasps at me, leaning down so our faces are almost level. It feels more and more like an empty threat when he says it, and I can't help but poke at that.

"Promise?" I quip back, batting my eyelashes at him. He lets out a growl before getting back out of my face and watching me silently.

We're all walking towards the main area, the Śūra out around our group in clusters. The other thirteen of us, the main part of the casting group, hover in the center with Lady Ire taking up the rear.

I've started to get nervous about this plan, worried we're going to have to face down more than whatever it is we're expecting to see. The intel about the area had been spotty when Nikki and Viv talked about it earlier. All they knew was that there were lots of sightings of the possessed beasts hanging out around the Hellgate. Not how many were in the area specifically or how they're getting there, just that they spotted too many for us to just go in by ourselves.

Lady Ire's forces of Śūra should be plenty of manpower to take care of any threat, she's confidently assured us before we left the outer edges. Now, we've been walking for what feels like forever, and still haven't come across a single creature. Possessed or not. There's no birds, no insects, nothing. And the fact that Asher's hovering at my side like a shadow isn't making me feel any better.

Every Reaper has at least one weapon drawn, and not all of them use knives like I've been seeing. Some have guns, chains, and other, much weirder, weapons. I even spot a Reaper with dark blue eyes carrying a long pole with a curved blade - like the one I've seen before in human depictions of Death. I tuck away my questions for later, hoping I'll get to see a 'later, and try to stay vigilant.

It's not hard. From where we're advancing from, I can easily spot our destination in the distance. The land is dry and flat, showcasing nothing but the lone warehouse in the middle of the area and nothing else. It has me feeling twitchy, knowing there's supposed to be some sort of possessed something out here. The reports can't be wrong. And if they're not, this could very-well be some sort of trap. Or maybe the creatures got the hell out of here when they sensed us? If they can 'sense' us.

Whatever it is, something keeps whispering in the back of my head that this is bad. My natural wariness is beyond it's usual paranoia and verging on sprinting-to-the-finish just to get this over with. It's a constant force that's slowly driving me insane. That's why I keep pestering Asher. Each time his skin touches mine, some of the building pressure in me lulls.

I try not to think about why that is. 'Don't look a gift-horse in the mouth' and all, but I allow myself to take comfort in his presence. Stange that I'd even feel comforted by him, knowing what he once was and having been scared shitless for more than a few weeks by horrible nightmares of being tortured by one of his kind. I try not to think about that either. I do, however, allow myself to wonder if the Reapers offer therapy.

Something shifts out of the corner of my eyes. A shadow just a little too large to be 'normal'. I turn to look, but there's nothing out of the ordinary there. Just parts of the team I'm a part of and the outer ring of Reapers. I keep up the pace with everyone else, but my eyes are now scanning the area with everyone else rather than being fixed on the lone building in the distance.