Free Shadows in the Silence by Courtney Allison Moulton

their breaths billowing in the cold air. They danced, fearful, and made slow rumbling noises and spun in the trail. Their hooves kicked up snow and they looked around themselves, wild-eyed and terror-stricken. I pulled hard on the reins to keep Peewee from taking off beneath me, but she, Savvy, and Star were ready to bolt any second.
    “What’s the matter with them?” I shouted to Cadan, who was having as much trouble as I was in controlling his horse.
    “They smell demonic reaper,” he replied, eerily calm.
    “They just now noticed you?”
    He shook his head, one hand holding the reins, the other stroking Savvy’s neck. “No, not me. The horses know me. It’ssomeone else. I can smell them too.”
    My gaze grew hard as I surveyed the surrounding trees. “They must be after us or Antares. There’s no way we can take care of this on horseback. They’re going nuts.”
    “Let’s dismount and tie them up,” Cadan suggested and hopped off Savvy.
    I followed his lead and helped tie the horses to sturdy branches. They still seemed frightened as we trudged away, but the sooner we intercepted whatever reapers were out here with us, the sooner the horses would calm down and we could continue up the mountain.
    I felt a power surge not far from us and when I glanced at Cadan, he signaled to me that he had felt it too. I called my swords and let my own energy buzz, knowing the demonic reapers would sense it the way a shark smells blood and come straight for me. I was right.
    The first reaper zipped through the trees on my right. The second was a blur many yards away and Cadan took off after it. Something heavy slammed into me, knocking me into the trunk of a tree. Clawed hands grappled for me and I blindly swung a sword. A grunt from my attacker assured me that I’d struck flesh and he paused just long enough for me to refocus. I slashed again, this time with flawless precision. The reaper’s flaming head hit the snow, rolled, and crumbled to ash with the rest of his body.
    “Cadan?” I called, hoping he’d dispatched the other reaper just as easily.
    Smothered whimpers told me otherwise. “Over here,” came his reply.
    I followed his voice to find him standing over a struggling body lying in a pool of blood in the snow, skewered by his long, thin sword. The female demonic reaper, whose arms had been chopped off at the elbow, looked like she’d been out in the woods for a while. Her skin was dirty and her hair was tangled and matted. Her clothes were torn and stank something foul.
    “Look,” Cadan said, beaming. “I found a new friend. She was just about to tell me what she’s doing all the way up here.”
    Her eyes, bright red balls of fire, fixed on my face. “Preliator!”
    “Excellent guess,” Cadan said, and kicked her in the belly. I heard a crack and she writhed and howled.
    “I didn’t even think to keep one alive for questioning,” I said, and crouched by the fallen reaper’s side. “Smart move. So, new friend, what brings you round these parts?”
    She snapped her jaws at me before shrinking away and cackling. “Looking for an angel, but we found the wrong one.”
    “That hurts,” I said, frowning. “Really. My heart. It’s broken.”
    “Are you after Antares?” Cadan demanded.
    Her stumps for arms leaked blood gently, as if she were almost out of it. “Merodach sent us for the Cardinal Lord. Wemust’ve been close since we ran into you, Preliator.”
    “Sammael wants all of the Grigori dead, doesn’t he?” My tone had grown serious, all the humor gone from me.
    She wheezed in pain, closing her eyes. “How should I know? I’m only looking for the beast.”
    “Are there others looking for the rest of the Grigori?”
    She snarled up at me. “We will purge this world of all divine things.”
    “I’m taking that as a yes,” I said, and turned my gaze to Cadan. “Let’s take care of her and get going. We’ve got to find Antares before someone else does.”
    I stood and turned my