“Got left hanging?” he asked. “Mommy kick the bucket before she could tell you what you were? I imagine that must have been a bitch to handle growing up. You were a menace to your adoptive family, weren’t you?”
I had the urge to kick him in the side of his smug face, but I kept my feet firmly planted on the floor so that we didn’t go veering off the road and into a tree. If I could stealthily unbuckle his seatbelt before hitting him, then maybe going off the road would work in my favor.
Not at this speed, though. We would both pay the price if we came to a sudden stop. I would have to distract him even more so that he let off the gas first.
Distantly, I wondered where Maddox was. Would he be able to find us? Surely, he’d figured out that his friend—oh god, were they even friends? Had Bastien lied? There was a chance that Maddox didn’t know him at all!
Wait, Maddox had deduced that the killer was someone from the station. That meant that the two of them did, in fact, know each other. I hoped that meant that Maddox would know where this man was going to take me.
I knew. Bastien didn’t have to tell me.
All the dreams made sense. They weren’t symbolic. They’d been a warning.
Bastien was going to take me to his family cemetery.
“You’re the strongest Reaper I’ve come across yet,” Bastien said. “I wouldn’t be able to stop you without the power I took from the others. That’s why I saved you for last. The day I watched you raise a field of fully formed animals, I knew I’d have to grab at least one more Reaper before I came for you.”
“I…didn’t know. I don’t really have a frame of reference. You’re the only other Reaper I’ve met alive.” I paused. “Does something happen to us once we cross over? I’ve never met the ghost of a Reaper.”
His laugh was bold and full bodied, like we were two friends having a good conversation rather than kidnapper and kidnapped. I clenched my fist around the ceiling handle until my knuckles turned a bloodless white.
“Missy, what do you think Reaper means? Are you daft? That’s all right. It’s cute when women are a little slow. That means you’re easy to live with. You’re not one of those gals who spend all their time griping over shit that doesn’t matter to men.”
I would put my foot through his face before the day was out. My anger made me crave shifter strength. There was nothing I could do in this situation on my own. Bastien had already proven that he’d amassed more power just to be stronger than me.
If I could physically fight back, then I’d have the upper hand. Shifter healing would help once I drove Bastien off the road, because I knew that if I made it to the cemetery, I wasn’t going to walk out alive.
“You don’t have to worry about what happens to our kind after we die, honey. You’re going to take a long nap in my soul-cage, so I can use your power and the time you have left to avoid my own death.” He jerked the wheel, taking a curve sharply.
I slid into the door and felt my heart stutter as two wheels lifted from the ground for a slit second. The wheels slammed back down and sent a shudder through me.
Bastien’s lips curled into an angry snarl. “When I die, fate will turn me into its servant until the end of time. I didn’t sign up for any of that bullshit.”
“Servant?”
“Where do you think we go when we die?” His gaze slid sideways to give me an incredulous look. Then his expression softened. “Ah, I forgot. You’re not the brightest bulb. You see, we live only so that we die. Kind of sad, isn’t it? We got handed a fat load that we never wanted. Bunch of shit, if you ask me.”
He wasn’t answering my question. His constant complaining grated on my nerves. I bit the inside of my cheek to keep silent until I realized I might actually bite through my cheek with the way he was driving.
That left my jaw unhinged, and a bit of Vi came out of me.
“You really are a selfish sack of shit. You know that? You really think that your life is worth more than those that you’ve killed. I’ll have you know, I’ve seen the apocalypse, and I’ve met Archangels. You’re nothing but a worthless speck on this big, blue planet.”
Ness would have been proud of me.
At least, I thought so until Bastien lashed out. With a massive hand, he shoved my head into the passenger window. I heard a dull crack, but I didn’t think it was the glass. Head spinning, pain running from my skull to my spine, I slumped in my seat.
Maddox, please come help me. I can’t get out of this on my own.
Bastien laughed. “You’ve really gotten yourself into some interesting situations. Too bad you can’t tell me about them once you’re dead. As much as I’d like to hear your stories, I can’t afford to let you breathe too much longer. A power like yours needs to be snuffed and stolen sooner rather than later. I hope you understand.”
He…wasafraidof me?
It was my turn to laugh. If that was the case, then I dove deep and dredged everything I could from deep within myself. The darkness that held my arcana seemed infinite. It was a great void, a place where souls went to fade away. And it was all mine.
I let it pour out of me and spread ahead of us. The arcana moved faster than the car. As it spread, I felt every dead thing under the ground for miles ahead.
Head spinning from the rush of power, I laughed. Bastien realized what I was doing. He palmed the side of my head again. I stiffened, but he was stronger than me. My head hit the door, not the window, this time. The plastic of the door softened the blow.