Unreap My Heart (The Reaper Series) by Kate Evangelista Read Free Book Online Page B

Balthazar is single-minded. He wants Death’s seat and he’ll do anything to get it.”
    Now Arianne frowned. “Then why didn’t he take it now? I mean, Death’s all weak. Isn’t it an easy win?”
    “You should know this about Balthazar: he has a sense of honor and he knows mercy. He thinks of this as a flaw, but I think it’s his redeeming quality. But don’t let that fool you. He’s the most dangerous thing you will face out there.” Tomas tilted his chin toward an unseen distance. Arianne assumed he referred to whatever lay beyond the Crossroads.
    “You know what they say, keep your enemies closer,” she joked, but Tomas didn’t laugh. His expression didn’t even change.
    “He’s dangerous, Arianne.”
    “Okay, I get it.”
    “I don’t think you do.” Tomas pointed at the knife. “Take that with you. It’s made of a special material that can kill Balthazar.”
    Arianne stared at the knife still in her hand.
    “That knife chooses its owner. You may think you picked it out, but in reality—”
    “It picked me,” Arianne finished for him. And she felt it, too. Something about holding the knife told her it wouldn’t leave her side, like it owned her as much as she owned it. Cool. “But I don’t know how to use a knife against someone.”
    “The pointy end goes into the bad guy.”
    She tilted her head and pursed her lips. “I know that. But if Balthazar is as dangerous as you think, then he’ll see me trying to stab him a mile away. I don’t think I could do it.”
    Truth: she didn’t know if she could bring herself to hurt someone else, no matter how bad they seemed. To her, Balthazar seemed more arrogant and annoying than dangerous. Sure, he’d scared her when he asked for a year of her life, but she figured he could have asked for something much worse. Losing all her memories of Niko, for example. And the whole losing her eyesight thing. A year didn’t seem so bad in comparison.
    “The knife is just for added protection.” Tomas walked to her side and tapped the knife. “Ultimately, I believe Balthazar will uphold his bargain and keep you safe to the best of his abilities. He’s dangerous, yes, but I think that works in your favor. He’ll do anything to keep you safe.” Then he looked Arianne in the eye. “But in case you need to protect yourself, the knife will just as easily kill other beings that stand in your way. There are few beings that it can’t kill, and I don’t think you will encounter those things on this journey.”
    “Why don’t I find that comforting?”
    Tomas put his hand on her shoulder and gave her a reassuring squeeze. “Arianne, you crossed into this world to save Niko. For love . Take strength in that. If it’s for love, there’s nothing much you can’t do.”
    She remembered the time when Niko first became her Chemistry lab partner. Before that, he’d never even known she existed. She’d been equally nervous and excited, and had ended up dripping hydrochloric acid on her hand. What a total spaz she’d been, and in some ways, she still did spazzy things. But she couldn’t deny what Tomas said. She’d walk through fire for Niko. They’d been through so much together already, and she wasn’t about to throw all of that away just because she didn’t know what would happen next.
    And that scared her witless.
    “I can do this,” she said, more for herself than for Tomas’s benefit.
    He nodded then scanned the tables. “Is there anything else you might need that isn’t here?”
    “A picture of the Redeemer?”
    “Alas, that I cannot give you. Redeemers are rare and difficult to find. But if there is someone who could find one it will be you.”
    “Because I’m human.”
    He followed the red thread coming from Arianne. “And because you’re still tethered to the human world.” He touched his fingertip to the center of her chest. “Trust in what your heart says. You’ll know who the Redeemer is when the time comes.”
    Her gaze dropped