Reaper's Dark Kiss by Ryssa Edwards Page A

arms was his life, his world.

Chapter Fifteen
    The short flight up five stories took Julian seconds. He landed lightly on the rooftop, Sky held close. Night Crypt—Manhattan’s sun hotel—was too far for him to reach on foot before dawn caught him outside. He was considering the shortest way across the city when Sky grabbed his arms, desperately not looking down. “How did you do that?” she asked.
    Sky had been so much a part of Julian’s life, he forgot sometimes how much he’d kept hidden. “I can fly.” The scent of fear came off her in waves. “You didn’t tell me you were scared of heights.”
    “You didn’t tell me you had fangs,” Sky said, darting her eyes around the roof. “We’re even.”
    “It’s late. Sunrise is in a few minutes.” He made his voice as smooth and reassuring as he could. “We have to fly from here.” Getting a secure grip on Sky, Julian said, “Don’t worry. If I drop you, I’ll bring you back as a Shade with kick-ass fangs.”
    “And I’ll sink them in low,” Sky said, tightening her arms around Julian.
    The beast in Julian purred low in his chest, its version of a laugh.
    Julian flew from rooftop to rooftop, barely seeing the canyons between, holding Sky’s warm weight close. By the time they landed on Night Crypt’s roof, the dawn was moments away. He set Sky down, found the hotel’s door, and set about dialing it open.
    “You’re kidding,” Sky said. “Your security is a lock any third-rate thief with wire clippers could open in under a minute?”
    “This isn’t what keeps mortals out of Night Crypt,” Julian said, dialing the combination lock right, then left, then right again. “Only a Shade could survive the way in.”
    He yanked the lock free, heaved the metal door upright, and gestured for Sky to come to him. “It’s a steep drop. Hold on to me.”
    “Yeah,” Sky said. “Anything. Just get us off this roof.”
    The fear in her hit Julian harder than burning sunlight against his bare skin. Instinctively he knew he should yield to his beast, the most primitive part of him, and let it speak its own kind of comfort. “It’s a long way down. It’s frightening,” he heard himself say. “But I’ll guard you in my world until the last sun rises in this one.”
    Something changed in Sky, as though he’d said what she’d waited her whole life to hear. She slipped into Julian’s open arms without question. He thought, I could get used to this. Then he stepped off the edge. He hovered a moment. “I’ll go as slow as I can.” Slim rays of sunlight caught him, burning slashes across his cheek. He hissed in pain, focused his thoughts on the trapdoor, and drew it shut without touching it.
    “What?” Sky said, holding tighter to him. “What’s wrong?”
    “Sunlight’s not my friend,” Julian said, executing a controlled fall down the shaft.
    Marek, damn him to the far ends of the deep worlds, had been right. Now that Sky knew what he was, Julian’s beast clawed at him harder than ever to take Sky, to protect her with his mark. The ache twisted through him like something out of a dream, too intense, too vivid to be real.
    “How far down is it?” Sky whispered into his ear.
    “A little longer,” Julian said, keeping their speed down. “Almost there.”
    Nearly half a minute later, the ground spiraled up to meet them like something out of a mortal’s nightmare. Julian absorbed the landing and set Sky on her feet. Two guards stood near the entrance. They scanned Sky, then acknowledged Julian with a nod before they fell back to positions farther down the entrance hall.
    There were no torches here. Shadow Worlders could almost see in the dark. Flickering torches below would be disorienting as they navigated the narrow way down.
    “Big crypt,” Sky said, looking around as if she could see. “Lots of night in here.”
    Harli was off to their left, barely visible, even to Julian’s eyes. “Az—” For Harli to slip like that, Marek had