Reapers -- The First Familiar (Reapers Chronicles Book II)

8 - Distractions

I didn’t let Amyr’s hands go. I couldn’t get my eyes off him either for fear that he would disappear. There were so many things I wanted to hear from him. But there was more to tell.

Out of the blue, he gave me a bear hug. His arms were welcoming, gently wrapped around my waist, comforting as I felt my feet lift a little off the ground. When he finally set me down, he leaned down to look at me. His lucid brown eyes replicated nothing of his body’s suffering. They were warm, full of hope like he was ready to take on anything in his way and whoop it up while he was doing it.

“I missed you too, Noob,” he said, letting out a suppressed laugh.

“I never said I missed you,” I half-heartedly retorted, looking away.

Smiling playfully, he raised both his dark eyebrows, giving me a look that said Really? “Oh yeah? But your face is practically saying all that I need to hear.”

“So not!” I hissed, feeling warmth creep up to my face. “Yeah, well. Maybe a little.”

Behind us, the rosebushes rustled then parted. It was Millie who mindlessly trampled on the plants as she nonchalantly headed to us. She didn’t seem alarmed at all that Amyr was here. If she was happy about it, I couldn’t tell either. Automatically, I let go of Amyr and searched the ground for something to stare at.

With one courteous nod, Millie turned directly to Amyr. “Has the attack commenced?”

“A few minutes ago,” he replied with a wild look about his eyes. “The explosives your boss gave us rock! The best I’d seen in a hundred years.”

“The explosion…” I muttered, remembering the giant plumes of smoke from the castle’s towers. I must look really confused when I shifted my gaze between the two of them because Amyr started explaining before I even had the chance to ask.

“It’s a diversion,” Amyr said to me with a playful grin. “While Cairo’s pals were out to get you on the other side, Mei sneaked in to the castle to plant the bombs. We detonated them right at the exact minute Millie said you’d be coming. There’s so much going on in the castle they didn’t even bother sending troops here to capture you two.” Then, he gave Millie a pat on the head. “With my boss and your boss working together, no one—not even big Daddy Reaper—can stop us.”

Millie cleared her throat, seemingly uneasy. “No one must know of Master Hector’s involvement in this. Remember his condition. If anyone asked—“

“Yeah, yeah. We stole it from him. Against his will, yadah-yadah,” he shrugged, grabbing my hand. “Let’s go. Mei’s dying to see you.”

In next to no time, he was already towing me deeper into the woods. All I could do was stare stupidly at our held hands, noticing the scars and calluses on his palms. I could not imagine how many blows he had to catch with those hands in order to stay alive. Still, he didn’t say a word about it, didn’t blame me even. He let out a heavy sigh as he led the way, a ponderous silence filling the next couple of minutes.

“I knew you’d come back,” he said without facing me, his voice merely a whisper. Although I couldn’t see his face, I knew he wasn’t smiling this time. “I just knew you would. But I kept praying you won’t. It’s hell out here.”

I kept my eyes fixed on the ground, avoiding rocks and roots jutting out from the earth. The trail slowly went uphill where the willows were colossal, each of their trunks the size of a small truck. Gnarled twisted roots the size of my arms protruded from the ground, making it hard not to trip. That was when I spotted a big crooked boulder near a hollow tree with a curtain of roots looking as if it was hiding something inside. Vincent and I hid there last winter as we waited for Rosario.