The Deserter (The Assassin Series Book #3)

Chapter 6

Since I was not the one driving, we were able to travel through the night while I slept. Of course, I didn't want to fall asleep in front of Ciel. It was wrong for a servant to do such a thing, so I fell in and out of sleep, always waking myself up.

The hairs on the back of my neck bristled when I felt something out of place. The carriage halted to a stop. "The Reapers are coming. They're surrounding us," I told them, grabbing my scythe. I leaped out of the carriage and told Ciel, "My lord, please stay in here. I do not wish for you to get hurt."

He huffed, "Fine. Make it quick." I closed the carriage door and rushed to Sebastian's side.

"There are only three. We should be able to handle them," Sebastian told me. I nodded, my scythe ready to strike at any given moment. I had no idea what type of confrontation it would be. Would they be civil? Would they be looking for a fight?

I took a deep breath when I heard their footsteps. The first person I saw was Ronald, then Grell, and lastly William. I frowned. I hadn't been expecting any of them. I thought it was going to be people from the Division we were in.

William said, "We aren't looking for a fight. All we want is to speak with you." I noticed they didn't have their scythes and lowered mine.

"There's nothing to speak about. As a Deserter, all unnecessary contact with Reapers is forbidden," I reminded them, pushing my glasses up on the bridge of my nose.

"This isn't unnecessary. You broke rule twenty-one of the Code of Reapers, thus activating Section 13 part b and c," William argued.

I glared, "Deserters do not have to abide by the rules as long as they show no harm for others or themselves. I am not in danger, so I have not broken anything."

Grell intervened, "I'm afraid that is not what was decided among the Main Branch."

I paused for a second before stating, "It says in rule forty-three that all Reapers being suspected of crime deserves to be there for the ruling and a clear explanation for the accusation. You can't rule that without me there, and I have not received a proper explanation."

Grell pointed out, "Because you resigned and are no longer a true Reaper, you were not needed there for the ruling or to represent yourself." I frowned.

"You have fallen in love with our mortal enemy, a demon, specifically, Sebastian Michaelis. You have broken the twenty-first rule," Will told me.

"State the dangers," I demanded.

"The harm of you helping him collect souls, him eating your own, potentially killing you, using you to kill other Reapers... the list goes on," he answered.

"I would never hurt Willow," Sebastian told them. I smiled at him, but I felt Will's heated gaze on me.

I repeated, "As I said before, there is nothing to talk about. Please, move out of our way."

Ronald told me, "Willow, please. We all miss you."

I sneered, "If you bunch hadn't been such jerks and let me be with Sebastian, I wouldn't have left."

"We can't allow that to happen, Willow," Will said. "Either you leave Sebastian and return to headquarters, or you stay here and we hunt you down."

I quickly swung my scythe at him, but he caught it, anticipating my actions. He glared at me from behind his glasses. I growled, "Leave now."

He let go of my scythe and nodded, "Since you have chosen your path, we will. The next time you see us, it will not be on good terms." He turned his back on me.

I scoffed, "Are you saying this one was?"

He looked over his shoulder and answered, "I'm saying it will be worse and less civilized. Have a good night." He disappeared into the trees, Grell and Ronald in his wake. I leaned against my scythe, sighing.

"Are you sure about this?" Sebastian asked, wrapping his arm around my waist.

"Of course, I am!" I exclaimed, answering a bit too quickly. He raised an eyebrow at me. I sighed once more. "I'm sure about my decision to be with you, but... when it comes to the near future events, I can't say that I am. I'm not sure what is about to happen." I looked at him. "I will never admit to being scared, but I must say that this worries me immensely."

"You were confident a few days ago."

"I didn't know I had broken a rule a few days ago," I argued. "Enough talk. It's best we keep moving. We don't know when our next roadblock will be."

He agreed, "Very well." He realized me and climbed back on the coach while I sat back in the carriage. I laughed a little when I saw that Ciel had gotten so tired of waiting for us that he fell asleep.

I decided resting myself wouldn't be such a horrible idea. It didn't take too long, and, well, let's just say my dreams weren't that great.