Chapter 16 · Midnight Collection

The reaper's gone. Ink's gone with him.

Aiden's still kneeling on the cafe floor. His hands are shaking. The black feather Ink left behind is already turning to ash between his fingers.

Leah's on her feet. The tracker on her wrist isn't burning anymore but the numbers are still counting down. Fourteen minutes. Thirteen.

"Get up," she says.

He doesn't move.

"Aiden. Get up."

He looks at her. His eyes are wrong. Not reaper-empty like before. Worse. Human.

"I killed him," Aiden says. His voice cracks. "I let him trade himself and I didn't stop it."

"You didn't kill anyone. He chose."

"He chose because I fucked up three hundred years ago and he's been cleaning up after me ever since." Aiden's hands curl into fists. The ash spills through his fingers. "He was my familiar. My responsibility. And I just—I just let him go."

Leah grabs his collar and hauls him upright. He's heavier than she expected. Dead weight.

"You don't get to fall apart," she says. "Not yet."

"Why not? It's over. You got what you wanted. Ink paid your debt. You're off the list."

"Am I?" She shoves her wrist in his face. The tracker's still lit.