Guardians of the Boundary (Book 3 of The Conjurors Series)

Chapter 32

Valerie instinctively ducked and rolled, holding the Byway close to her body for protection. In one smooth move, she rose up to her feet, spinning around to meet Reaper's scythe with Pathos's blade.

She put every ounce of her force and magic into the blow, but Reaper's weapon didn't shatter, as others had when she'd hit them that hard. Maybe Pathos needed another infusion of light, or maybe Reaper's weapon was stronger than the others she'd encountered that day, but she knew in her gut that it was one weapon that even Pathos wouldn't be able to destroy. She'd have to disarm him instead.

It was only after a few minutes of fighting that Valerie realized that Reaper wasn't giving her his full attention. He kept her at bay as if she were an annoying gnat, but his focus seemed to be elsewhere. Even the Byway, which she'd shoved into her jacket, didn't hold his gaze.

Right before her world turned upside down, she understood who Reaper was interested in—Oberon. Valerie and her father stumbled as Reaper used his power to shift their perspectives. Up was suddenly down, and left was right. The effect was dizzying. Reaper grabbed Oberon in a headlock and raised an arm.

A portal appeared in the air and Reaper yanked Oberon through. Valerie leapt with every ounce of strength in her body and followed Reaper and Oberon through the portal. There was no way she was letting Reaper disappear with her father again. The last time that had happened, Oberon had been very lucky to escape.

The three tumbled into the throne room of the Black Castle. Valerie wasn't yet on her feet when Reaper attacked her father.

"I'm sorry it has to come to this, old friend," Reaper said, the fierce set of his features in sharp contrast to his mild words. "It's time for you to die, like your wife. Do you know she begged for her life before I killed her?"

"Lies. You may have killed her body, but her spirit was stronger than you are capable of comprehending. She'd die before she bowed down to you," Oberon spit out.

"And die she did," Reaper said. "Ready to join her?"

Oberon's face was thunderous as he dodged the first blow from Reaper's scythe.

Valerie tried to fight by her father's side, but Reaper kept reorienting the room. She would turn left only to find herself moving to the right and trip as she crashed into objects that appeared where she least expected them.

With the part of her mind that wasn't focused on orienting herself, she questioned why Reaper didn't use his magic to dissolve them both, like he'd done when he killed Midnight.

It was possible that his powers were weakened. The last time she'd been in this room, she'd activated a strange orb that was hidden behind one of the stones in the wall. Azra said it would dampen the powers of any Fractus within a certain radius.

But if Reaper's powers had deteriorated, Valerie couldn't tell from watching him wield his scythe, his lips compressed in determination. A trickle of sweat dripped down Valerie's back, and she couldn't stop the picture of herself as a hamster running in its wheel, getting nowhere.

Stopping her frantic attempts to move to her father's side, she forced herself to remain still. She breathed as Gideon had taught her, and reached out with her magic instead of her physical senses. With all of the speed she could muster, Valerie lashed out with Pathos.

She thrust upward, hitting Reaper's scythe squarely. Her blow caught him by surprise, and it slid up, almost out of Reaper's grasp. His blade came close to tearing her open in the process, but instead, it ripped her jacket and sliced through the delicate flower inside as if it were nothing.