Total pages in book: 25
Estimated words: 23633 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 118(@200wpm)___ 95(@250wpm)___ 79(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 23633 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 118(@200wpm)___ 95(@250wpm)___ 79(@300wpm)
Heavy footsteps thud on the frosted stone floor. The thick damp air gets colder. My fingers stiffen as the frigid wintry blast surrounds me.
I don’t know where the humans came up with hell being hot. There’s no heat here. No warmth. Not while the Soul Collector is here.
My body tightens as he steps out of the shadows. I tilt my head back as I look up at him, trying to remain calm, trying to keep my wits about me.
Seeing the Soul Collector is always jarring. It’s always shocking.
This is the third time I’ve stood before him and with the wrathful look in his bright red demonic eyes, I can tell that it might be my last.
“Where is my soul?”
I swallow hard as I stare into his infuriated eyes, not flinching, not reacting.
My girl’s sweet soul is on the line and I’m not about to let her down by cowering in front of this demonic monster.
“Answer me!” he screams in outrage.
I grip my scythe and glare back at him.
Souls are usually terrified when they see us Grim Reapers approaching them, but we’re a delight compared to this beast. If they saw the Soul Collector approaching, they would never recover, they would never be the same.
I grit my teeth as I look him over. He must be thirty feet tall. Legs thicker and stronger than the oldest of oak trees. Hands that could crush a car like a man crushing an empty soda can. Long thin tail swishing through the air like a deadly snake. Long gray claws that could easily slice through metal, rock, me. Red skin thicker than the mightiest shield. Teeth sharper than the deadliest sword. Two curled horns protruding from his forehead that could turn the bravest warrior into a whimpering wreck.
But it’s his red glowing eyes that always gets me. The first time I saw them, back in 1874 on that dreadful night, I nearly had a heart attack.
Now, a century and a half later, the terror is still there, but the need to protect my sweet soul is stronger. I force down the fear and face him bravely.
For her.
“It is not your soul to have,” I say in a firm measured tone.
“They are all my souls to have,” he answers with a growl.
I feel the icy air piercing my skin. It chills my insides, but I don’t let it faze me.
“Not this one,” I say as I glare into his red eyes. “Not her.”
I can feel his anger intensifying. There’s a connection between the Soul Collector and this dark dank cave. It’s like the cave is furious as well. I can feel the rage emanating from the rocky walls.
“Tell me why I should not crush you for your disobedience,” he snarls. His huge hand closes into a fist and I know that he could easily snuff the life out of me. Before today, I wouldn’t have minded the blissful emptiness of non-existence, but now… knowing that my dear sweet soul is in the world… no. I can’t leave this existence. Not without seeing her again.
“Because,” I say with a swallow, “I am in love.”
The anger on his horrid face turns to amusement. He tilts his massive head as he watches me like a cat toying with a captured mouse.
“Reapers can’t feel love. They can’t feel anything.”
“I feel many things when I look at her,” I answer honestly. I close my eyes and picture the way she looked at me with those beautiful brown eyes. The tug I felt in my chest as she smiled sadly at me. The intense primal need to protect her. I can feel it growing within me, getting stronger with every moment that passes. If that’s not love, then I don’t know what is.
“I feel a kinship with her soul. When I saw her, when I touched her, I felt… I felt… Love. Peace. Yearning. Lust. My body stirred. My soul bloomed with life. I had to save her. I had to return her.”
“She was not yours to return,” he says with his red eyes glowing.
“She is all mine,” I say as I glare back at him. “All. Mine.”
He looks amused as he watches me. That look pisses me off.
“All souls belong to the Soul Collector.”
“You cannot have her,” I say boldly. “She is mine and I will never allow it.”
He steps forward and slams his giant fist beside me, shaking the ground at my feet. I stand tall and don’t flinch as the other fist comes thundering down on my other side, barely missing my shoulder.
I stare into his eyes as he lowers his face a foot from mine. The frigid cold is unbearable. It’s freezing me to the bone.
“You disobey the Soul Collector?”
“For love, yes.”
We stare at each other for a long frigid moment that stretches out for an eternity.
“Souls must be rendered,” he finally hisses. “Love or not, the plane of existence must be put into balance. The fate of life is larger than your love, Grim. It’s larger than everything. Even me.”