Reapers - Thirteen Brothers

XXXXII - The Hunt

I shot a glance at Vincent's direction as if to say Help! His face darkened, struggling to keep a straight face as he placed my hand on Alexis' outstretched forearm. I felt my stomach clenching at the thought that I had to endure being thrown from one Reaper's hand to another. This would be a long, terrifying night.

The whole room was as quiet as a graveyard when we walked toward the spotlight. Archie began playing the piano after we did the traditional opening gestures.

Alexis gently closed his hand around mine, intently looking me in the eyes like he was trying to solve a super complicated puzzle. His face was hard to read but it was harder not to stare. With him so close, I wanted to shrink. Disappear. No one else tried to dance with us, though at the back of my head, the sharp glares were like nails being thrust into my head.

"Can I ask you something?" I started bravely despite the ramming in my chest.

"No," he replied reflectively, leaning closer.

Well, that was unexpected. The back of my ears felt like they were burning in shame. Normally, I wouldn't have minded. I almost cringed away from Alexis when I caught a glance of Vincent sitting alone in our table gulping wine straight from the bottle. I focused my energy on hiding my disappointment. How could he be drinking like that at a time like this?

"No. Max, didn't tell anyone else but me," he continued with a distant gaze again. "But whoever sold that scroll to him may have an idea who's sabotaging the Gates in your area."

"You mean The Riddle of Chasms?" I remembered that silver scroll Max gave to Vlad several days ago—the one he used to reopen the dysfunctional Gates in Centralia.

He nodded thoughtfully, his listless eyes intense. "Yes. That one. Whoever dared to intrude into your territory used some really powerful spells, didn't he? Those spells can only be from the same scroll because there's only one that exists in earth and all of the other realms."

"Meaning that scroll had been in the intruder's possession before Max handed it to us."

"Exactly." For the first time, he smiled. His eyes came to life, reflecting the color of his suit so that now they were an ageless deep blue color.

I caught myself gawking at him. Blinking out of the daze, I gently shook my head and tried to focus on the situation he had presented me. "But Max wouldn't tell us who sold it to him."

"He won't," he agreed, slowing down his steps as his enigmatic eyes inconspicuously shifted left and right, ever changing as they caught the light. With the gap between his brows creasing as if having an internal argument, Alexis bent lower to whisper to me. "But I might."

"Why on earth would you do that?" I had unintentionally sounded dubious.

Looking down, he suddenly stopped dancing and shrugged. "Because I feel like it. And I've just decided to be on your side. Don't ask me why because I have no idea."

Broodingly, he tilted his head before taking my hand to lead me back to my cabal's table but before we could even take a step, someone was already standing behind me. It was Pierre giving me a smile as he held out a hand. Just as he was heading back to his brother, Alexis pulled me closer and whispered, "It's one of those three standing behind the cloaked old man."

I gave him a grateful nod then trained my eyes on the enemy who was staring right at me—Death—and his familiars. Sharifa, an old man and a fair-haired boy. One of them knew who the intruder was. I was about to head back to Vladimir to give him the details when I realized I had left Pierre hanging. With a rueful smile, I bowed and took his hand.