The Reaper (Book 3 of the Vanessa Solomon Series)

Chapter 15

            I can't explain how good it felt to release all of that anger, resentment, and betrayal onto Kamar. Once I opened that door and lost all sight of understanding and sympathy, the power within me grew stronger. I had only swung my scythe once before my body was pummeled into the ground and I let out a loud wordless scream. I couldn't believe it came from my own throat because it didn't even sound like me. I flipped over onto my back to see who was on top of me and was looking up at Damarius in his demon form. He felt my anger too and let out a low growl. In that moment I didn't know whether to push him off or fight him too. 

"Get off of me. He deserves what's coming to him," I said as my demonic black and white eyes stared into his yellow ones.

We will deal with my brother later, but right now we must focus on Warden. 

I was so angry I couldn't even reply to him with thoughts. No, I had to say everything out loud. 

"He killed my best friend, all just to get me tied to you! It was going to be me or Olive to live this fucking life!" My words were bitter and filled with hurt, and I couldn't get rid of that demonic hiss at the base of every word.

"Did you know about this?" I managed to say before he responded again. "Have you been lying to me too?"

His yellow eyes stared into mine and I could tell that he felt betrayed too, but there was something else in there. He still cared for his brother after everything he had done. He didn't stop me from fighting to focus on Warden. He was stopping me from killing his brother.

"Get off of me." I said through gritted teeth, but he was hesitant. His demonic form was over 11 feet tall, all black fur with a long tail and wings. His hands were now claws and his back legs were much stronger. His face reminded me of a wolf with its long snout, but he was able to stand up on his back legs or walk on all fours. 

"Looks like the reaper will be joining me in my battle for the throne," Warden let out a chuckle, but no one else laughed. Damarius slowly moved off of me and I came to my feet.

"May I continue?" He said, looking at me with a smile. I hated him just for finding humor in something so serious. But I stayed where I was as I glanced at Kamar still standing in the center. My scythe had torn through his abdomen and spilled blood all on the floor, but it was already healed because of the triune. It pissed me off even more that I was healing his wounds without my consent.

"The second step on his list to form the Triune was to kill the reigning king, which he just so happened to do fairly easily. Another King that was not an Archdemon. Why did The Council allow this? One of the many questions I have for them but will never be answered for obvious reasons. That leads me to the third step."

          Everyone in the room was being very quiet but I couldn't help but notice Rowen looking at me. I didn't try to hide my awareness of it and turned my head directly at him to make eye contact. Even from this distance I could see that his eyes were a light grey, matching nicely with his hair. He didn't squirm beneath my glare and gave me a calm stare back. What the fuck did he want?

"The third step to his plan was to murder all Council members and consume their power. But because there were so many of them, the power would have overwhelmed him. So he split the power between Damarius and Vanessa, creating the Triune. I must say, Kamar is a successful demon who always had a plan. But now that his concubine knows his secrets, what will happen to the Triune? Will you continue to force her to stay with you out of fake love?" Warden said as he stepped closer to Kamar. I had seen the sincerity in Kamar's eyes when he said he loved me. There was never a doubt in my mind that he had been lying, or was he just that damn good and I was naive?