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

18 - Killing Three Birds with a Stone

“Found anything?” I asked Byron Flynn.

He sniffed the air and looked left and right before lifting his gaze to me. “Not at the moment. Nevertheless, I am in no doubt that Master Vincent has been here. His scent is all over the place.”

“You’ve been saying that for the past two hours, Elemental,” Grigori groaned, rolling his eyeballs as he slumped on top of a rock.

When Luci volunteered to be my forest tour guide, we couldn’t stop him from assigning himself as the girl’s unofficial bodyguard. I didn’t complain. The more the merrier. Especially when you’re about to enter a monster infested forest. We could use more muscle and I meant that literally.

Wrinkling his nose, Byron Flynn bared his teeth at Grigori like he used to when he was still a gigantic dog. Old habits die hard, indeed. A moment later, he shook his head and turned his back on us. He appeared rather perplexed at his sudden reaction.

“Finding the master ought to be effortless if only I was still in my previous form.” Byron Flynn’s voice was surprisingly calm. Or at least, he was trying. “This new form requires a bit of getting used to. Now my senses seem too… human. Forgive my lack of skill. I know I am but an Elemental but I do have a name.”

That seemed to have shut Grigori up.

I heaved a sigh, holding onto the tree trunk while standing on my toes. The branch I was standing on creaked. No matter how much I craned my neck, the treetops still blocked my view. All I could see was the sun, slowly disappearing behind the cliffs that protruded like sky scrapers. That was a bad sign.

I would have to climb higher if I wanted to see something. It was no biggie if I still had my immortal powers. Now all I had was girl power and it didn’t include extreme tree-climbing abilities.

Carefully, I climbed down the branch and let myself slide down the trunk. The bark scraped against my palms but I was used to tiny scratches. It was the slow healing I wasn’t used to anymore.

I cursed under my breath, wiping down the blood on my clothes. “He must be here somewhere.”

“We’ve been looking for hours,” Grigori said, taking off his leather boots. “And it’s almost sundown. We can’t keep looking until dark.”

“Why?” I forced a smirk. If I had to dare him so that we could keep looking, I would. “You afraid of the dark, big guy?”

He stopped picking the pebbles from inside his boot, lifting his cold stare at me. “I’m not afraid of the dark. It’s what’s in it that I am afraid of, Little Miss. Remember that while you’re in Halja, you don’t heal quick. To cut the long story short, you can die. Now, if you have a death wish, by all means, keep searching.”

That was unexpected. I totally thought he would take my bait.

Wordlessly, I forged ahead. I carried on, scanning as far as my eyes could reach. Vincent was strong. There was no argument against that. But I was beginning to get scared. And having four heads wasn’t better than one. So far, all we had done was walk aimlessly and sniff and whine about all this being pointless. Honestly, they weren’t helping.

“Aramis,” Luci called, running after me. “Where are you going?”

I didn’t stop. I didn’t even look at her. For some reason, her presence irritated me in a way I couldn’t explain. “I’ll keep on looking. You guys go home if you want to.”

She finally caught up and matched my pace. “But we can’t leave you here. It’s dangerous.” The concern was thick in her voice.

Finally, I halted. I faced her unblinkingly. “Do I look like I care?”