Chapter 13: Portrait of a Reaper

All the warmth seemed to leave the room at once. “Who is he?” Vix asked softly.

Caine almost did not seem to hear her for a moment. Then he let out a sigh. It came out uneven, shaky. “I don’t know. Not who he really is. But nearly every single one of my deaths has been at his hands.”

“What?” Vix gasped, horrified. “You mean he just keeps hunting you down and killing you? Why? What does he want?”

“He never says. But it never takes him more than two months to track me down. He’s cunning as a fox, ruthless, and deadly proficient with nearly every weapon imaginable. And he never gives up. Never.”

Caine was still looking out the window. The shadows in his eyes seemed to be growing larger as he talked, swallowing him. "The only thing I can imagine is that he's insane. Deranged. Obsessed with killing me. I don't know if I'll ever understand why, though. Maybe he just can't stand the idea of another unkillable man."

"Unkillable?" Vix repeated, floored.