Imperial ((Imperial) Web of Hearts and Souls) Read Online Free PDF

failed.
    “I decline.”
    Mazing let out a deep breath, obviously seeing this the same way I had. The Reaper only smiled vaguely.
    “I shall rephrase. I’m sending you away from my watch for a brief time.”
    I could not fathom why he would do such a thing. Was he trying to end Vade and his line singlehandedly? The thought enraged me for some forgotten reason.
    The aroma of mint was growing stronger, moving closer. Close enough to strike. “Is it my Creator that wishes this, or Vade himself?”
    The Reaper turned to face Mazing and me. “My child, by some measure the answer is one and the same.”
    He lost me there. “How long? How long is our reprieve?” He had to know that I was not leaving here without Mazing.
    “Your time is marked by the words you speak.”
    “Meaning?”
    He looked down, then to the threshold of my doorway. There, Rasp stood. There was no way he should be standing there. The power I used to send him away should have harshly landed him dimensions away from here, and weak as hell. That is, unless the Reaper had protected him.
    “I have been assured that my most cherished confidant will be protected. In exchange, I have also assured Vade that no harm would come from you.” With that, the Reaper touched my arm, sending a warm, tingling sensation through my soul. I knew that tingle was meant to take my will to bring harm to anyone in Vade’s line away, including Vade himself, but not even the Reaper could subdue a scorned woman.
    “You can’t be serious!” I seethed as Mazing held my arms back. She knew striking the Reaper was what my reflexes were aimed to do, that the act would have had horrible consequences. “You are going to send me away with his line, the line that basically has no care or compassion for me—and you took any power for me to defend myself away? What have I done to deserve this! How have I forsaken you in this manner?”
    “You have honored me,” the Reaper responded, “and for that I granted this desire.”
    “A desire of Vade’s, apparently. Boys club. Dead or alive. It’s a boys club.”
    His smile was subtle. “No man is whole without his adored. Therefore, the club you have manifested in your thoughts does not exist.”
    “Actions speak louder than words,” I bit out, throwing an evil glance at Rasp.
    “I bid you safe passage.” And with that, the Reaper vanished.
    I was now alone with my First, Mazing, and Vade’s First, Rasp. If I let this scorn in my soul rise and strike Rasp, I would not only have forsaken the safe haven the Reaper had given me for countless moons, but I would strike Vade. Creator help me, I still lacked the strength to do that, but I would be damned if anyone beyond me knew of such a flaw.
    Slowly, I sauntered toward Rasp. Before I could reach him, he bowed to one knee. He was so tall and so broad that he was only just below my line of sight.
    “I shall not bid you to rise unless you speak the truth to me,” I stated with the regal power I was meant to have.
    “I am bound to do no less,” Rasp said with the deep whisper he was known to have.
    “So if you were not bound, lies would come from you,” I pushed with an anger he had never deserved from me.
    His ice blue eyes looked at me from beneath his brow. “I would never wish to not be bound to a grace as beautiful as thee.”
    Oh, he knew how to melt my heart. Just how to oppose my wrath. “Speak the truth you are bound to. Has Vade’s line merged with Xavier’s?”
    “Has not,” Rasp said with a glacial tone, clearly trying to suppress the anger that was bred into him, “nor will ever, so say Vade himself.”
    “Why was your scent lingering with one of Xavier’s?”
    A sinful smile echoed on the corners of his perfectly shaped lips. “I struck him. But then I understood where he was going. I chose to let him live, knowing that he would lead me to you.” Seriousness returned to his image. “Time is of the essence.”
    “Do you honestly believe that your king could