Shadow Reaper (Shadowlands Series) Read Free

heard the chanting.
    “Fuck!” Ryder clenched and pressed himself back against the wall.
    I did the same.
    The chanting grew louder, and then they appeared around the bend. Twelve hooded figures, their robes of the deepest crimson, threadbare in places but thick enough to withstand a few hundred washes.
    They were led by Mother Barbara. She inclined her head in our direction as she passed but didn’t falter in her chanting. The others followed, their eyes on the ground, hoods up to obscure their faces.
    We waited until they vanished around the corner, and then Ryder pushed off the wall.
    “Seriously!”
    “Ryder!” I was shocked by his increasingly hostile attitude toward the The Order of the Mother. She did, after all, save humanity by bringing us to Shelter, rescuing us from the Shadowlanders hungry for our flesh. Not Barbara, herself, but the real Mother; the robed figure that had appeared in the midst of the chaos and led those of us who would heed her to safety. Well, that’s what the stories said, of course, and there were plenty alive who could attest to their truth.
    Barbara, however, was special because the Mother had spoken to her, giving her the Word. It was the Word that ruled us. It was the Word we lived by.
    “Fucking bollocks if you ask me,” Ryder muttered.
    We passed the dining hall and walked up to the doors leading that opened to the steps that led to the Eye.
    I didn’t need to ask what he was on about. I knew he thought the Word was crap made up by the Mother to keep us locked in our little pocket of reality. Ryder believed that the Mother was one of them , and we were just cattle that had been rounded up for later consumption. Sometimes I wondered if he was right, if we were all gullible fools waiting to be picked off at the Shadowlander’s leisure.
    We climbed the metal staircase leading to the Eye. A short platform ended at a door, and we pushed through to find the others waiting.
    Bernadette rolled her eyes and tapped her wrist. She wasn’t wearing a watch, but she was the Anchor, the time keeper, so I guess it counted. She was already suited up and ready to go. A head taller than Ryder and pure muscle, Bernadette was a force to be reckoned with.
    Fred and George were buckling on their harnesses. Both were wiry, dark-haired, with brown eyes, and were often mistaken for siblings, much to George’s exasperation. Fred was the only person I knew that could piss George off without even trying.
    I quickly joined Ryder in grabbing mine and slipping it over my black, long sleeved T-shirt. I made sure the buckles were super tight. We hadn’t lost a Reaper yet, and I wasn’t about to be the first. I pulled out the earpiece tucked into the pocket and slipped it on. It contained a shortwave radio that allowed the team to stay in contact when we were over the Horizon. It didn’t help with communication to the Eye, though; when we were out there, we were alone.
    “You’re good to go,” Blake said from his position at the Eye.
    Screen upon screen of grainy footage from above lay before him. He scanned it all expertly, spotting trouble spots, threats . . . them .
    He looked tired. I wanted to give him a hug, but here, in the Eye, he was the boss. I could see the Horizon on more than one of those screens, shimmering and glorious, the only bright spot in this otherwise grey world. My body ached for it, and I shivered in anticipation of the crossing.
    Ryder shoved my gun into my hand. “It’s charged.”
    “Thanks.” I slipped it into the harness at my waist and hoped I didn’t have to use it. Ryder handed me a backpack.
    “What, are you her bitch now?” Fred said.
    Ryder shot him a lethal glare.
    Fred was a dick, plain and simple, but he was a damn good Reaper, which was the only reason I hadn’t knocked out his teeth yet. Although . . . did he really need his teeth to reap?
    I opened up my backpack to check on Baby. She was tucked up snugly in her holster. I’d found her on my first trip