Reaper Reborn

by Kel Carpenter

  I exhaled heavily. “There’s gotta be one, but I don’t know it, and while I don’t really care for Thana . . .”

  “You don’t want to kill her,” Tamsin finished for me.

  I nodded. “Does that make me a bad person? I mean—I wanted to kill James. I left Eli dead, but something in me butts against killing her. It’s like killing Shep. She was my twin once—or close to it—and clearly a lot has happened that’s made her this way. And who’s to say that Death doesn’t just want her out of the way so he can take me out too?”

  Tamsin sat up, her lithe brown arms draped across her legs.

  “It’s not an easy situation you’re in. I don’t envy you,” Tamsin started.

  “But?” I prompted, sensing it coming.

  She grinned. “But I think the only way you’re going to find out these answers is from Death or Thana herself. Maybe both, really. If there’s anything I know, it’s that there are more sides to the story. I can compel two people who saw the same thing to tell me the truth, and their narratives are almost always different because people’s perspectives are different.”

  I thought about that, and wondered—was there a way to talk to them both? I mean, Thana was convinced that one of the reapers was actually Death. The only one who would know for sure though was . . . the ghosts.

  As if I summoned him by thought alone, Shep appeared in front of me.

  “Graves is looking for you.”

  Ugh. Talk about difficult situations I’d rather avoid. I’d purposely talked about everything but him.

  “Not very hard,” I muttered, sitting up and swinging my legs over the side of the bed, sending crumpled plastic wrappers and a few bras tumbling to the floor.

  “What was that?” Tamsin asked.

  “Shep,” I said with a sigh.

  “Hey girl hey,” Shepard said to Tamsin, giving her a wave that resembled jazz hands.

  “She can’t see you, dumbass.”

  “Doesn’t mean I can’t be polite,” he retorted. “Do your job; act as my interpreter.”

  I rolled my eyes. “Shep is giving you the fingers.”

  “Hey!” Shep protested.

  “The fingers?” Tamsin asked, her nose scrunching in confusion.

  I mimed his stupid wiggling finger wave.

  Tamsin’s expression cleared, and she laughed. “God, I’ve missed you two buttheads going at each other. You guys were like . . . my favorite reality TV show.”

  “I’m so glad we entertain you,” I said dryly, my eyes drifting back to Shep. “Are you really just here to let me know Graves is on the prowl, or is there something else you wanted?”

  “Can’t a brother just want to check in on his sister when she’s not fucking his best friend?” Shep asked.

  I raised a brow. “Is that brother you?”

  Shep grinned at me. “I really was here to let you know about Graves. Silly me, I thought you might care that your boyfriend was looking for you. Guess there’s trouble in paradise already.” He paused and snapped his fingers. “But now that you mention it, maybe we could pencil in a time to take care of that body issue of mine.” He gave me a pointed look.

  I was groaning and shaking my head at his assessment of my relationship with Graves when the rest of what he said sunk in. “Hey! I want to try something.” I jumped to my feet and tried to grab my brother by the arm.

  Tingles raced through my body, but my hand passed through without making physical contact.

  I frowned.

  “Salem, as much as I love these one-woman shows you put on when you’re chatting up your ghost friends, what the hell are you doing now?” Tamsin asked.

  “Something Thana mentioned gave me an idea,” I said, staring hard at my twin and trying to will him back into existence. Nothing. I sighed. “I was hoping I might be able to use my power to help Shep manifest physically without needing a new body, but I don’t actually have a fucking clue how that works. I was hoping I could just sort of . . . pull him back into the land of the living. Guess I’m going to need to think on that more . . .” I added, mostly speaking to myself. Or ask Thana to help me. My lips dipped into a frown. I didn’t want to ask her for any favors right now. After the shit she pulled with Eli, she was even lower on the list of people I wanted to talk to than Graves was.

  Both Tamsin and Shepard started laughing at me.

  “What?” I snapped, jerking out of my thoughts.

  “Nothing, sweetie,” Tamsin said, pretending to wipe a tear from her eye. “You’re just real cute when you get all worked up. I think your tongue was even sticking out of your mouth for a second there.”

  “Fuck you, Tam,” I said, reaching for the first thing I could get my hand on and launched it at her. A garter belt landed on her head like some kind of sexual halo. I snickered. “That’s a good look for you.”

  Tamsin lifted her chin. “Not the first time I’ve had lingerie on my head. Won’t be the last.”

  “All hail Tamsin, Queen of the Sex Vampires.”

  “And don’t you forget it, bitch. That shit is official now.”

  We shared a grin at the reminder of her position on the Council. I’d been so busy unloading all my drama on her, we hadn’t gotten around to talking about any of that yet.

  “So where is your sex-on-a-stick reaper?” Tamsin asked.

  “What?” I asked, blinking at the sudden subject change.

  “You mentioned him while chatting with Shep, and you two have been practically joined at the hip, but he’s nowhere to be found, so what gives?”

  “He and I . . . things got complicated after Thana killed Eli. Shep’s here to let me know Graves is apparently looking for me. Although, I can’t imagine he’s looking very hard if he hasn’t tried here yet.” My voice soured toward the end.

  Shep shrugged. “Look, Squid, I have nothing better to do as long as I don’t have a body so I’m keeping an eye out on my best friend. He may be banging my asshole sister, but he’s still my friend—and currently one in some hot water after the shit the other one pulled.” He wrinkled his nose in disgust. One of the few physical reactions we both shared with things.

  “The other one?”

  “Bad Salem,” he responded, amusement leaching from his voice entirely.

  “You’re really not a fan of her,” I murmured.

  Something flashed in his eyes. “Talk to Graves. Make up. As much as I don’t like the idea of you two fucking, you could do a lot worse. You have, in fact.”

  My lips pressed together. I wasn’t in the mood to be lectured on my dating habits.

  “I’m aware.”

  Half his mouth curved up, but the smile didn’t meet his eyes. “Fix things there. You’re going to need his help.”

  “That all? Any other vague warnings you wanna throw my way?”

  “Yeah. Either find me a body, or figure out a way to bring me back. And soon; if you can manage to stop eating long enough to do it.”

  With that, he disappeared. I let out a sigh.

  “So,” Tamsin drawled. “I see not much has changed between you two.”

  “Got that much from a one-sided conversation?”

  “Yup,” she popped the p. “He’s right though, you know.”

  “What?”

  “About Graves. I don’t know what all happened, but that guy clearly cares about you—and I’ve never seen you this way with a guy, so I’d gamble a guess that you care an awful lot about him too.” She gave me a knowing look.

  “You got that much out of my responses? I didn’t even say his name—”

  “Your heart rate picks up when you talk about him. Your scent changes. Not to mention your other mojo that I don’t really have a way to explain since you’re not a succubus. Anyways—point is yes, I picked up enough to tell you that whatever happened there, kiss and make up. You got enough other shit going on to be fighting with him right now, and as much as I love catching up, being a Council member is fucking exhausting. I need a midnight snack and some shut-eye befo
re this meeting at the butt crack of dawn tomorrow.”

  I tried not to think about the fact that her ‘midnight snack’ was probably the half-naked dude she kicked out of her room when I showed up, and I focused on the truth of what she was saying.

  “You’re right.”

  “Of course I am.” She smiled sweetly.

  I snorted.

  “Oh, one last thing,” I said before going ghost on her. “You can’t tell the Council everything I’ve told you. If all the factions knew what I am—what I really am . . . Dom is worried that things would escalate into a real war. As it is, the shit with Gerard making an escape and Eli being dead is going to be a major problem. Act surprised when they tell you tomorrow.”

  Tamsin shrugged. “It won’t be a problem. Unlike you, I have no issues lying. If it keeps my best friend and people safe, it’s a win-win. You don’t have anything to worry about here.”

  My smile dropped the moment I turned ghostly and zipped across Farrow’s Square to reappear in the passenger seat of Graves’ car.

  It was dark inside. The engine was cut.

  In front of us, darkness filled the void.

  I recognized the spot as Widow’s Peak.

  The cliff named for the people that stepped off its rocky edge and took the four-hundred-foot plunge straight down. Graves sat in the driver’s seat, staring straight ahead. Dark circles lined his eyes. The strain of all that had happened was taking its toll.

  I pulled myself out of the spirit realm, and he didn’t even twitch.

  “I’ve been looking for you.”

  13

  Undone

  “That's the word on the street,” I said, matching his tone and staring straight ahead.

  “Gretel?” he guessed.

  “Shep,” I corrected. “I haven’t seen Gretel after the . . . incident.”

  He made a soft humming sound in his throat.

  Silence filled the space between us, and I shifted uncomfortably in my seat. Despite the fact that I had a tendency to annoy and frustrate Graves on a regular basis, this was the first time I actually felt guilty for upsetting him.

  “Look, I’m—”

  “Salem, I—”

  We broke off and looked at each other with bemused grins.

  “You first,” he offered.

  “I’m sorry things went down the way they did. Surprising you like that, and having Thana with me. I didn’t think—”

  “Clearly,” he said, but it was soft and laced with affection.

  “I’m trying to apologize, but if you want to crack jokes, I can be an asshole instead . . .”

  He gestured with a hand for me to continue.

  “Thana . . .” I started and broke off, blowing out a frustrated breath. “She showed me how to travel through the spirit realm—the place you and I pop in whenever we die. It’s super convenient, by the way. That’s how I managed—well, obviously you figured that part out,” I said, rambling now. “We weren’t spying on you and Randy because I’m a brat. I wanted to be there in case you needed backup, and it gave me a way to practice the whole spirit form thing. You were never even supposed to see me—us—but then Eli and the gun, and I just—”

  “Salem, it’s okay. I’m not upset about that.”

  “You’re not?”

  He shook his head.

  “So it’s the Eli thing? Look, I’m sorry. I didn’t know she would do something like that, and I would have brought him back, you know I would have, but he straight up told me—”

  “Salem, stop,” he said, interrupting my flow of words. “I get it. I don’t like it, but I get it.”

  “So if it’s not that either, what are you mad about?”

  Graves studied me, his eyes traveling over my face like a caress. “It’s Thana. I just don’t trust her or her motives. Granted, I don’t know her well, and maybe that’s part of it, but it just seems like every time she’s around shit hits the fan.”

  “I think that’s just our lives right now, Graves. Shit was a mess before she ever set foot in Farrow’s Square.”

  He sighed. “Yeah, maybe. Things are just really delicate right now, and what Thana did put a lot of people in jeopardy. It put you in jeopardy,” he said, reaching out and taking my hand.

  Heat raced through my body from where we were connected, sending little goosebumps up my arms.

  “I’m tougher than I look.”

  “You are,” he agreed. “I just don’t know how someone who insists they are on your side would willingly put you at risk like that. By just shooting Eli, she basically poured gasoline on a raging fire. She plays with people’s lives like they are no more than pieces on a chessboard. Including yours.”

  I couldn’t disagree with his assessment. Thana had been very clear about her feelings regarding mortals. Their lives held little value to her. But my gut was telling me she hadn’t been lying when she said she was trying to help.

  “She doesn’t agree with keeping what I am a secret,” I finally said.

  “It shouldn’t matter. If she truly has your back, she should respect your wishes, not try and talk you out of them. She should be trying to help you accomplish your goals, not make them blow up in your face.”

  We fell silent again, both of us knowing we weren’t going to solve the problem that was Thana right now. And even though things might not be totally resolved, I couldn’t help but feel better knowing that the reason he’d been upset was because he’d essentially been worried.

  “For what it’s worth, I am sorry.”

  “I know, me too,” he said, offering me a tired half-smile.

  “So does this mean we can get on to the kissing portion of the evening?” I asked with a not-so-subtle smile.

  “The what?” he asked with a laugh.

  “Tamsin told me we should just kiss and make up. It feels like we just checked one of those things off the list, which means . . .”

  He leaned into me, his lips crashing into mine, hard and heavy. We went from zero to a hundred in a second.

  I reached up, grasping the back of his neck as I twisted more to open myself up to him. Hands grabbed me by the waist.

  Our kiss broke as he started to lift me. I bent my leg at an odd angle, maneuvering it past the center console and dodging the steering wheel as he pulled me onto his lap. I straddled him at the same time one of his hands fell away. The seat drew back more at an angle.

  “That’s better,” I purred.

  Graves’ hands slid from my waist, past my hips, partway down my thighs.

  Warm fingers pressed into my flesh. His nails bit into my skin past my thin jeans as he widened my legs further, dragging my lower body over his.

  A breath hissed between my teeth.

  “For a guy that never dates, you sure know your way around the female body,” I groaned as he leaned up.

  Kisses peppered my jaw before trailing down my neck. His teeth toyed with the skin at the base of my neck, not really biting, but hot as fuck all the same. He sucked once, and my nipples tightened.

  I tried to widen my legs further and gain more friction, but the side of the door and center console stopped me.

  A growl slid between my lips and he chuckled against my skin.

  “Feeling needy, Salem?”

  “If you don’t work on finishing what you started, I’ll—”

  “What?” he asked, his voice was dark. Husky. “What exactly will you do, Salem?” One of the hands on my thighs curled inward. His thumb brushed up against the inside of my jeans. He slid his hand between us, slowly rubbing his palm up and down along the seam.

  “More,” I grunted, pressing into him.

  The other hand on my hip slid upward. It curved over my ass, trailed up my back, and came to rest at the base of my skull where my head met my neck. He threaded his fingers through my hair and pulled me toward him.

  Our lips met, and that fire he’d ignited turned into an all-out inferno. My skin was hot. My core ached. My head pounded with the most delicious hea
t.

  I parted my lips, and his twined with mine. His kiss not just consuming me, but devouring me whole.

  Shudders racked my body as the pleasure I sought evaded me. It was right there . . . but still too far.

  “More,” I moaned against his lips.

  He chuckled again, and my hands turned to fists as I pulled at his hair.

  “You never answered my question,” he murmured. “What will you do?”

  I pulled back just enough to meet his eyes.

  “Come undone,” I whispered.

  There was no amusement in his face now. Only desire.

  “I might like to see that,” he whispered back. His eyes trailed over my features, glowing an ethereal blue.

  I leaned forward, but instead of kissing him, I lowered my lips to his neck. My teeth trailed over his bare flesh, the scent of spearmint and aftershave calling to me.

  He groaned when I sucked on a patch of skin and didn’t stop.

  “In case you haven’t noticed, it’s going to be a tight fit trying this in the car.”

  I pulled harder on his hair, forcing him back against the seat. The release of my lips from his skin made a popping sound.

  “So we move outside the car,” I said, entirely undeterred.

  “For anyone that could drive by to see—”

  His reply broke off as I dropped one hand from his hair and maneuvered it between our bodies to run my fingers over the bulge in his jeans. He hardened at my touch. Graves’ breath turned ragged.

  “Unless you were planning on leaving us both high and dry, you got a better option?” I asked softly. Seductively. At least it was my best attempt at seductive.

  In response, one of his hands dropped away from me, flinging the car door open at the same time the other grasped my ass. He kicked a leg out of the door and twisted our bodies without breaking us apart, and then lifted me out of the car.

  My legs went to fully wrap around his waist.

  His other arm banded around my hips, pressing me firmly against him as he kicked the car door shut.