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"Then I’ll tell theo away, too," I tell him

"That won’t work on theravely as he slinks farther into the shadows "The Ana as ure, sprouting wings and shrinking into a raven He circles around ht sky

My body aches to fly aith hiht, but I know I can’t

Asherdown on the ground beside hi to touch him

His shirt is torn from his cuts and bruises cover his beautiful pale chest His black hair is disheveled, his lip is split open, and his striking wings are crooked, the feathers scarce

"I’m fine," he assures me with a weak smile as he sits up

"Does it… does it hurt?"

His eyes unite withcould hurt at this moment You just sent him away"

"I’ve sent him away before" I brush stray feathers from his ar his warmth "But he came back"

"I know" His hand finds my hip and he pullsback until I completely surrender to him--they all will"

"What did you do to the at his bare shoulders "The other Reapers--the Anamotti Detective Crammer or whoever she is?"

"She’s a Reaper--all the Anaether to elih it’s forbidden to touch them And I took care of them, for the moment, but they’ll be back"

I note his hands onif he’s allowed to touch me "You mean, until they make me losefrom mine "That’s the point of all this, yes We are all cursed to this world until you do"

My knees sink to the ground "Cursed?"

"Our curse to this world," he explains "It’s our punishels of Death and the Grim Reapers are bound to the Earth by the existence of the Griel that can free one of us back to our hoels supposed to create balance, so no one can steal souls?"

"They are, but they will break the balance The Reapers have been working to weed out every Gri And that one is the one that will have to pass the test If they can live their life enduring the Reaper and Angel blood, then the Angels of Death will gain back their power over the souls and be freed froive in to the insanity of the Reapers, then the Reapers gain control over the souls"

"But I thought Reapers collected the evil souls and Angels collected the innocent?" I ask,hi his fingers for my cheek, like he wants to touch me, but then he withdraws his hand back "But the rules were broken and a bet was made Nohoever wins, wins all the souls"

"But if Reapers could collect any soul," I glance at the tombstones, "then it would be bad"

"It would probably be worse than you can even ihtens

"Howhis answer "How els still roam the Earth?"

"I’m not exactly sure There used to be a lot, but the Reapers have been singling theer they exist, the scarcer the Griht, still refusing to touch me with his hands "And the Reapers must kno there are, because over the last couple years, they’ve been really deterh they’re not supposed to"

"That’s what I don’t get," I say, gently touching a cut on his cheek "If they’re not supposed to, then why doesn’t someone stop them?"