Darkness Splintered

would become one of the lost ones – a ghost forever trapped on the astral planes, never to move on and be reborn. Tears stung my eyes even as fury rolled through me. Damn it, no! Jak shouldn’t have to pay such a price for helping me. None of my friends should. It wasn’t fucking fair when I was doing the best that I could to find the damn keys.

I drew in a shuddery breath. Anger and grief could wait. There was a killer to hunt first.

Help Jak, I said. Don’t let him die without a soul guide, Azriel.

You know I cannot interfere…

I don’t care who you have to contact or what favors you have to pull in, I cut in fiercely. Please don’t let him become one of the lost ones.

I ran for the foyer. The light burning down Amaya’s sides made it easier to see the various cubicles, desks, and chairs, but it did little to rip the shadows away from the vampire. Nor could I detect his scent.

Burn brighter, I told Amaya. I need to see the bastard.

Fire erupted from her sides, filling the large room with her fierce light. On the opposite side of the room, far closer to the foyer doors than I was, a shadow found form. The vampire was long and lean, with dark hair and pale skin. Not someone I knew, I thought with relief. Not Markel Sanchez, who was one of the Cazadors assigned to follow me astrally. I’d only met him a couple of times, but I had a suspicion that – as far as Cazadors went – he was probably one of the more ethical ones. Not that being ethical would have prevented him from killing Jak had Hunter ordered it. From the little he’d said, even the Cazadors feared incurring Hunter’s wrath.

“Stop,” I shouted, “or you’re fucking dead.”

He made a short, sharp noise that sounded a hell of a lot like a laugh – even if a derisive one – and did the exact opposite, crashing through the doors and out into the foyer. I swore and sprinted after him. I hit the half- closed doors a second later, thrusting them back with such force that the top hinges tore free. Glass shattered, glittering with lilac fire as it fell all around me.

The vamp hadn’t stopped to call the elevators, but was instead racing for the fire exit. I had a bad feeling that if he made it there, he’d escape. And that meant I had one option, and very little time.

Don’t kill him, Amaya. I drew her back and threw her, as hard as I could. She flew like an arrow – albeit a flaming one – and thudded into the vampire’s back, her dark blade disappearing into his body, until only her hilt protruded from his flesh. The vampire made a gargled sound, then his legs went out from underneath him and he fell face-first onto the carpet.

I slowed and approached him cautiously. Lilac fire burned where shadowed steel met flesh, but blood crept out from underneath the flames, an ever-growing pool that stained his pristine white shirt. His face, which had borne the brunt of his fall, was also bloody, although I couldn’t see just how badly he’d been smashed up given he was still lying facedown. And I wasn’t about to go closer or move him, even if he did look dead. Looking dead was something vampires could do extremely well.

Dead not, Amaya said. Arrange can.

We need to question him first. I hesitated. Can he move, or do you have him pinned?

Move not.

Good. Keep it that way. I paused. Azriel, how is Jak?

He only has a few minutes left, Risa. Hurry if you wish to say good-bye.

I scrubbed a hand across stinging eyes, then spun and raced back into the main room. Blue flame flickered in the darkness, Azriel’s sword providing enough light to guide me through the office maze, just as Amaya had.

It wasn’t until I was near that I realized Azriel wasn’t alone. Standing several feet away from Jak’s prone body was a white-haired, white-winged female figure. A reaper waiting for Jak’s soul to rise. But her form surprised me. Reapers tended to wear the image of someone the soul was most likely to trust, as it made the transition easier. That this reaper had taken on the appearance of an angel meant either Jak was more of a traditionalist than I’d ever figured or that he simply didn’t have anyone in his life he ultimately trusted. And that was, in very many ways, sad.

I dropped to my knees beside him. Jak’s dark features were pale and etched with pain, his body shuddering and bleeding and… bile rose as my gaze stopped at his stomach. Blood, intestines, and god-knows what else spilled from his stomach, despite his best efforts to stop them.

I briefly closed my eyes, fighting for the strength to remain calm. To not storm back to that vampire and rip his fucking heart out.

I placed one hand over Jak’s, and tried to ignore the warm blood that oozed over my fingertips. “Jak? Can you hear me?”

His eyes fluttered open. In the dark depths of his gaze, the awareness of death gleamed.

“Risa,” he said, voice so soft and hoarse I had to lean close to hear him. “I think you were right about that vampire.”

I brushed the sweaty hair from his forehead. “In what way?”

“Security didn’t stop the bastard.”

“No.” I swallowed heavily as tears tracked unchecked down my cheeks. “I’m so sorry, Jak. This is my fault —”

“No, it’s not. I wanted to be here, I wanted the story. My decision, not yours. I could have walked away.”

Yes, he could have. But I’d known that he wouldn’t, not once he had the scent of a good story in his nostrils.

He reached up and caught one of the tears on his fingertips. “You’ve cried enough tears over me, Risa. I don’t deserve these any more than I deserved your love —” He hesitated, his face twisting, his breath becoming little more than short, shuddering gasps for air.

A sob tore up my throat. I bit my lip, and somehow held it back. “The ambulance is coming, Jak. Just hold on.”

It would be too late. I knew it, he knew it, but I didn’t know what else to say. So I squeezed his hand lightly, watching as his breath became more and more labored, and his life poured over our twined fingers to soak into the carpet underneath him.

“God,” he somehow croaked, “this is a bitch. The story of a lifetime in my grasp and I’ll never —”

The rest of his words were cut off by a gasp. Then his eyes rolled back in his head and his breathing stopped.

The sob tore free. “Good-bye, Jak.” I kissed his warm lips gently. “I hope both love and the story of the century find you in your next life.”

My tears splashed across his face as I sat back and, just for a moment, it looked like he was also crying. Gossamer tendrils began to rise from his body. His soul, ascending. The winged reaper reached out one hand. Jak’s soul moved toward her, and together they moved on.

I briefly closed my eyes and swiped at the tears with my nonbloody hand. While I wanted to do nothing more than bawl like a baby, now was not the time. I took a deep, shuddery breath, and said, “Who was the reaper?”

“My sister.” Azriel’s voice was without emotion, but his surprise echoed through me. Surprise, and something else. Something that was close to regret. “I did not think anyone would answer – especially not someone from my family.”

“Why not?” My gaze met his. “It is you who caused the estrangement, not them.”

“It was mutual, Risa. My decision to seek revenge for my friend’s death brought shame on them.” He shrugged, as if it didn’t matter, even though – from the little he’d told me – families were a big part of a reaper’s life. And yet I knew he didn’t regret either his decision or his subsequent actions. But it was those actions that had made him Mijai – it was his punishment for breaking reaper rules and taking a life before its time.

And now, because he’d shared his life force with me, he would remain a Mijai for all eternity, until death overtook him.