“I’m not here to be judged by you, vampire,” the World Crusher shot back, the humor briefly fading from her beautiful face. I immediately feared for my husband’s safety. There was something about her voice that made every word sound like a threat. “I am free now. That’s all that matters. I need not explain myself to you. I need not win over any of you. I am free, and I shall go.”
“Wait, go where?” I managed, a sense of urgency coming over me.
The World Crusher gave me a sad smile. “I don’t want any of this. I just want to go back to who I used to be before my anger wiped out an entire realm. I want freedom and peace and quiet, that’s all.” She glided down the rubble pile, her diamond dress capturing the sunlight as she moved. “Don’t let her get away with any of this…”
She meant Death. And I didn’t have an answer.
“Don’t let her get away with it,” she insisted. “All this nonsense, it could have been avoided. Death must be held accountable, Unending. I don’t want to be the one to do it. You’ve seen it all. You’ve seen the truth. You know what she did. You understand how many terrible secrets she has kept…”
“What secrets?” I asked deliberately. “You’ve been locked in here for a long time. What secrets are you talking about?” It couldn’t be the soul fae or Thezin. The World Crusher had not been present for any of it. My undead synapses flared as certain connections were made, but the shock of this entire scene made it very difficult for me to put anything together.
“Just don’t let her get away with this,” the World Crusher repeated. A moment later, as the morning winds rose and the white dust settled, she was gone.
The Ghoul Reapers cheered and clapped, wishing her the best as the consequences of my actions began to scream in the back of my head. I was helpless. I had failed. Tristan held my hand, and I wanted nothing more than to lose myself in his embrace, maybe even pretend that none of this had happened. “We have to do something,” he whispered.
“You’re funny,” Eneas chuckled. “There is nothing you can do. The World Crusher is free, and so are we. I suggest you head out as well and find yourselves a place to hide. Death will be pissed!”
That wasn’t an option for me. Death would always find me if she wanted. This time, I’d kept her at bay with what I’d thought were white lies. But this whole affair had resulted in the release of the World Crusher. I’d have to tell Death about it eventually. “Good grief.” I shuddered and rubbed my face as if waking up from a nightmare. “I can’t believe this…”
“Believe it,” Eneas retorted, then waved us both goodbye.
He vanished, and so did the other Ghoul Reapers, Hadras included. They’d taken him with them, so he might heal elsewhere, a free being. Suddenly, Tristan and I were the only two souls left on Biriane. Silence weighed heavily on us both as we tried to come to terms with what had happened. Death had not been an idiot. She’d made me into a key for the seal because she’d thought I would never set foot in this place. Had it not been for Anunit, I probably would’ve never learned about Biriane or the World Crusher.
Death had thought this through carefully. However, she underestimated one very spiteful Reaper. I wondered what she would do once I told her the World Crusher was free again. Anunit was mediocre compared to me, but the World Crusher was a powder keg of atomic power. And she had one hell of a grudge against Death. Funny how a determined little Reaper could tip the balance of the universe itself.
“I take it you didn’t see this coming,” Anunit’s voice cut through the sky as she materialized beside me. Hot fury took over, and I brought my scythe up to her throat with enough speed to make her freeze.
“You knew,” I said, gritting my teeth.
Anunit was still, her hands up in a faint defensive gesture. Tristan moved around cautiously, measuring her from head to toe. “You look different,” he said, and he was absolutely right. Anunit had put on a new Reaper uniform, a catsuit that was half white and half black, the fabric so thin it seemed as though she had been glazed with it.
“I do look different,” the Reaper replied, long hair made of gold cascading down her back. “And no, I had no idea about any of it. I just… I knew the World Crusher could communicate through that book, and I figured she’d tell you how to break the seal.”
I pressed the blade of my scythe into her skin. Another millimeter, and I’d cut her. “That’s a load of crap.”
“No, it isn’t, I swear!” she replied, terrified. “She never talked to me directly! She only talked to the Ghoul Reapers, and they’re the ones who suggested I bring you over. I didn’t know how to break the seal!”
“Didn’t the Ghoul Reapers give you any reason why they wanted her here?” Tristan asked. He wasn’t ready to trust her, either. Not after what had just happened. We’d been blindsided, and this was a hard shame to come back from because we felt used. We felt like fools.
“I wanted the World Crusher free, don’t get me wrong,” Anunit said. “But I also wanted you to be the one to make that decision because, well, you always thought you were the first. This had to mean something to you.”
I moved closer, the blade demanding Reaper flesh. “Why did you want the World Crusher free, Anunit?”
“Because she deserved it. An eternity inside that stupid book? Come on. She never threatened anyone, she never torched an
