Grim Life: A reaper's tale (Reaper Files Book 2)

by Nicky Graves

  Ranger smiled. “Ah, to be young and naïve.”

  “I might be young and naïve,” I said, “but maybe that’s an asset. You both know how things work and act accordingly. I don’t. I have the element of surprise on my side.”

  “She has a point,” Ranger said. “No one would expect her to show up at a clan.”

  “And a second later they’d rip her to shreds,” Lawson said.

  “We’re wasting time,” I said.

  “I agree with Riley. Let’s go and find out what we are dealing with,” Ranger said.

  “Fine,” Lawson said, and then he looked at me. “But if at any point I tell you to leave, you have to shift to your pod immediately.” I was about to argue when he shook his head. “Your promise on this or none of us will go.”

  “Okay,” I said. “I promise.”

  He studied me to make sure I would keep my word. He must have thought I would, because he gave a nod. But the thing was, I lied. If he thought I was going to abandon him and Ranger due to a bit of trouble, he was mistaken.

  17

  When we reached the sweltering streets of Miami, I wondered why a vampire would want to live in one of the sunniest cities. But the throngs of people that pushed past us on the sidewalk made it apparent. Lots of food here.

  Lawson glanced down an alley.

  “Are they down there?” I asked.

  “I don’t think so,” he said. “I can’t sense death there.”

  “Like when your stomach turns inside out?” I asked.

  He shook his head. “No. This is different. Once you’ve been a reaper for a few years, your body starts sensing areas where there have been many deaths. War zones especially. If there is a clan of vampires in the area, I should be able to find them.”

  “Unless they’re like Vance,” I said.

  “What do you mean?” Lawson asked.

  “He buys blood.”

  Lawson looked thoughtful for a moment before shaking his head. “He might buy some, but don’t forget he’s tried to bite you before. He’s an animal and will always revert back to his ways. They’re all animals. Death will surround them.”

  Ranger and I followed Lawson down the street. He stopped quite a few times only to keep walking. Beads of sweat began to form on my brow. I used my shirt to wipe them away.

  It wasn’t until we reached a bridge overlooking a river that he smiled. Did we find them?

  “Down there,” he said as he looked over the side of the bridge. “The river washes away evidence, but many people died down there.”

  We watched for a moment, but since it was daylight, it wasn’t like vampires were out in the bright Miami sun. Ranger descended down to the polluted riverbank.

  “I don’t see anything,” he said as he disappeared from view when he walked under the bridge. Lawson and I followed him down to the river.

  “There are footprints,” Ranger said. “They end here.”

  We all stared at a manhole cover that had been hidden in the shadows of the bridge.

  “Why would there be a cover down here?” I asked.

  “There wouldn’t be,” Lawson said. “This is the entrance.”

  “I was hoping for a door,” I said.

  Lawson bent down to pull it up. We all gazed down at the dark hole that didn’t seem to have a bottom.

  “Any sign of danger, shift back to the dead zone,” Lawson said. “That goes for everyone.”

  “They can’t shift with us?” I asked.

  “No. Vampires need a portal,” Ranger said.

  “Ready?” Lawson asked me.

  When I nodded, Lawson jumped through, followed by Ranger. I couldn't see them, which meant it was a long way down. I was going to break a leg for sure.

  “Hurry,” Lawson said.

  I knew if I didn’t jump now, they would leave me behind. They weren’t happy about bringing me here to begin with.

  With no small amount of fear, I jumped awkwardly. Twisting, I hurdled headfirst toward the ground. Ranger snatched the back of my shirt before I face-planted. He dragged me up to my feet.

  “Thanks,” I whispered.

  Pausing for a moment to let my eyes adjust to the darkness, Ranger was already on the move and pulling me through a tunnel. I stumbled on every rock on the path.

  “Careful,” Lawson whispered.

  “I can’t see anything,” I said.

  They halted about a quarter of a mile later after I was sure my toes had hit every rock in existence.

  “Are we here?” I whispered.

  “Yeah. I can smell them,” Ranger said.

  “Why can everybody smell everybody except me?” I asked. “And how do we get closer without them smelling us?”

  “We don’t,” Ranger said.

  “We just need to get in there and figure out the clan location. That way we can shift directly to their home if we need to come back,” Lawson said.

  “Most of them should be asleep right now, so we’ll have a bit of time before we attract attention,” Ranger said.

  A creaking sound caught my attention. “What was that?”

  “I’m opening the door,” Ranger said. “Shh!”

  I pressed my lips closed. I didn’t want them to regret bringing me.

  A hand took mine to walk me forward. Ranger.

  We crept through a doorway, and I felt the difference in the flooring. Whatever wooden planks we were walking on now had to be rotten. With each step, I worried my foot would punch through.

  Ranger stopped and I didn’t. I ran smack into the back of him. I didn’t dare whisper an apology.

  He opened another door, this time shedding a small bit of light. My eyes adjusted quickly, and I could see we were in a small room, but it didn’t look used. And it smelled musty.

  After a brief moment to get their bearings, Ranger and Lawson forged ahead to a staircase. I followed but kept looking behind me. I didn’t know if it was just because we were in vampire territory, or if it was because the place creeped me out, but I felt as though we were being watched.

  Ranger headed up the stairs first. He listened at the door and then waved us up after he opened it.

  I glanced behind me again. My creep radar had the fine hairs on my arms standing at attention.

  Ranger pushed through the door, and Lawson followed. I was on their heels, not wanting to stay below a moment longer.

  A little bit of light invaded through tiny holes in the covered windows. From what I could tell, we were in a living room that was crammed with furniture. Three couches lined the three main walls, with four chairs crammed in between. A huge circular ottoman sat in the middle.

  It looked like a college party house.

  “Where would they keep the stone?” I asked.

  “I doubt it would be kept on the main floor,” Lawson whispered, his body so close to mine I felt the heat of him. “If it’s Juliette’s, she’ll keep it close to her.”

  It sounded like he knew Juliette. I wanted to ask, but now was not the time.

  “She’s probably sleeping,” Ranger said.

  Ranger crept to a staircase set at the entryway. He began climbing the stairs, stopping when a board squeaked under his weight. He glanced back. “There are a ton of vamps here,” he whispered. “I can smell them.”

  Lawson leaned to me and said, “Wait here.” He then shifted to the top of the stairs and slowly opened the first door and then closed it. I shifted to stand next to him as he opened the second door. Before Lawson closed it again I saw multiple beds stacked on each other like bunk beds on steroids. Rows of them.

  Five doors on the landing meant five possible bedrooms unless one was a bathroom. Were all the bedrooms filled with beds?

  It wasn’t until Lawson opened the fourth door that I knew we had found something significant. This was the only room that had one king-size bed with a headboard so tall that it nearly reached the ceiling. Shadows of three figures lay intertwined on the bed. The sheets were twisted between them, exposing so many bo
dy parts that I was thankful it was dark.

  Ranger and Lawson looked at each other, silently communicating something. After that they began combing through the room, searching for the stone.

  Would Treble be able to sense where Wiltone the Red was hidden?

  And what would Wiltone the Red be like? Would red be angry? I really hoped it wouldn’t be a murderous sort. If I couldn’t handle Treble, how would I handle one that wanted to kill?

  Maybe this was a bad idea. But even as I thought that, the other part of my brain reasoned that if I was going up against Azrael, I’d need a murderous ally.

  I began my search as well, keeping my eye on the vampires who were within blood-sucking range.

  My gaze swept along the nightstand that had . . . adult toys. Gross. I doubted they’d keep the stone among those things. And if it was there, I wasn’t touching it.

  I was about to turn away and look elsewhere when I stopped. Treble had stirred. Did he sense Wiltone, or was it something else? Maybe he didn’t like the sight of the tangled vampires. I glanced at the vampires lying in the bed even though my brain was telling me to look away. And then I noticed one of them looked familiar. Really familiar.

  Vance.

  18

  How did Vance get here? Maybe through a dead-zone portal. I didn’t wonder why he was here. That was obvious. My gaze should have stayed on his face, but it ended up perusing his shadowed frame.

  “Like what you see?”

  My gaze flashed back to his face. He was awake and looking at me as though he found it amusing I had been gawking at him.

  He slowly stood from the bed. The small part of the sheet that was wrapped around him fell away. Before I could step back, Lawson tugged me out of the way and stood in front of Vance with a scowl on his face.

  “I should have known little bite wouldn’t stray too far from her guard dog,” Vance said.

  “What are you doing here?” Lawson barely contained his whisper.

  “I thought that was obvious,” Vance said. “The question is, what are you doing here?” Vance looked at me with heat in his gaze. “Unless you’re here for the same reason I am.”

  Lawson didn’t say anything at first, which made Vance grin. “You always did like vanilla better, didn’t you, Lawson?”

  The other two vampires on the bed began to stir. I glanced nervously at Ranger, who stood to the side, looking on with a cautious gaze.

  A woman with shockingly bright-red hair sat up. Wiping the sleep from her eyes, she looked at the three of us but her gaze stopped on me. “You smell different,” she said with a sleepy voice. She crawled toward me. Even though she was naked and sleepy, I knew instinctively that she was not someone to mess with. And if I had to guess, this was Juliette. Queen of this vampire slum.

  “She’s a reaper,” Vance said. “I bit her before, and I don’t suggest it.”

  “Why not?” she asked, coming to stand next to Vance, her body molding to his.

  I suddenly became quite aware that my body was a lot more straight and narrow than her voluptuous curves. She smiled seductively at me when she caught me staring.

  But it wasn’t just because she had an unbelievable body that I was staring. It was because of her necklace. A blood-red crystal hung on a chain around her neck.

  Before I could do anything or say anything, the door flung open and more vampires infiltrated the room. Lawson grabbed me just as I was about to snatch the necklace. But instead of getting the necklace, my hand touched Vance, bringing him with us as Lawson shifted back to his pod.

  “What the hell?” Vance said when we arrived in the pod.

  “How did you follow us?” Lawson snapped.

  “I accidentally touched him,” I said.

  “From the way you were staring at me, I hardly think it was an accident,” Vance said.

  I wanted to pound the smugness out of his voice.

  Lawson glared at Vance. “Why were you there?”

  “Again, it was rather obvious,” Vance said.

  “But with Juliette Villes?” Lawson asked as though the name was foul.

  “When Juliette invites you to come, you come,” Vance said with a suggestive gleam in his eye. He looked at me. “She seemed into you. Maybe she’ll invite you as well.”

  I grimaced.

  Vance stepped closer, crowding my space with his nakedness. “Just give me a few minutes to change your mind.”

  Lawson pushed Vance away from me.

  “Interesting,” Vance said, his gaze targeting Lawson. “You want Riley? You better do something about it before I do.”

  Lawson pushed at Vance again, but he didn’t budge. It wasn’t until Ranger stepped forward that Vance backed up a step.

  “I’ll go,” Vance said. “But give me clothes.”

  Both Ranger and Lawson slammed Vance through the wall and out of the pod.

  Ranger scowled. “Hate that guy.”

  “That makes two of us,” Lawson said.

  I wouldn’t say I hated Vance. He was devious and sometimes brutal. He had turned on me a few times, yet he’d saved my butt too. So, I was more in the wary category.

  “So now what?” Ranger asked.

  “I don’t know,” Lawson said. “The element of surprise is gone. They’ll be ready for us next time. And I’m not sure where they would keep the stone. It could be in a concealed safe somewhere.”

  “It’s not,” I said. “Juliette is wearing it as a necklace.”

  They both looked at me.

  “You saw it on her?” Ranger asked.

  “I tried to grab it, but Lawson shifted me too quickly, which is why I accidentally touched Vance.”

  “I’m going back,” Lawson said. “I’ll take it before she has time to register that I’m there.”

  “Wear gloves,” Ranger said. “You don’t want to accidentally use it.”

  Lawson dug through a closet and found a pair of leather gloves. He slipped them on and then shifted.

  Ranger and I waited for a minute before I grew worried.

  “Shouldn’t he be back by now?” I asked.

  “Time is slower here,” Ranger said.

  I guess that might explain it. But when five minutes elapsed, I knew something was wrong.

  “We shouldn’t have let him go on his own,” I said. “What if they’ve already sucked him dry?”

  “Then he’ll recover.”

  “I’m going to find him.”

  “No. I’ll go.”

  Ranger shifted, but I wasn’t about to wait. I shifted a second after Ranger and we both arrived at the bedroom only to find Juliette and Lawson kissing. Like full-on, make-out kissing with flailing tongues and roaming hands. His shirt was off and her naked body was pressed against him.

  “Wasn’t expecting this,” Ranger said.

  “Ditto,” I muttered.

  “Well, he’s got her distracted,” Ranger said. “Why don’t you go and grab the necklace?”

  “You grab it. I don’t want to get stuck in all that.”

  Ranger frowned but then slowly stepped toward the slobbery pair. When he was close enough, he reached for the necklace. Juliette turned to him and grabbed his hand.

  I was sure he’d pull away, but maybe it was a guy thing and he thought that since he was here, he might as well play as well. Either way, he didn’t back off and he didn’t take the necklace.

  Juliette resumed kissing Lawson while Ranger couldn’t seem to keep his hands to himself.

  How did we go from wanting to escape the vampire lair to now staying for an after party?

  The irritation and jealousy that flared inside of me had me wanting to do something reckless, but I needed to keep a level head. I was the one who would have to get the necklace now that the two brave men had been felled by boobs.

  We were going to have a serious chat after this.

  I crept up to the trio and tried to unclasp the necklace but there were too many bodies in my way. Maybe if I just broke it off her neck . . .
<
br />   I grasped the fine gold chain and was about to yank when my hand grazed along her neck. Passion. I felt it come through me in a tidal wave. It was no wonder Lawson and Ranger couldn’t keep their hands or tongues to themselves. This stone was not murderous. It was passionate.

  I snatched the necklace from Juliette and held the stone. It immediately began bonding with me. As it turned to liquid, it seeped into my skin.

  When I had bonded with Treble, Lawson had had to cut my hand before Treble would bond with me. Wiltone was different.

  The trio stopped in mid grope as if flummoxed. They looked at each other and then at me.

  “What happened?” Ranger asked.

  “Where’s my shirt?” Lawson asked.

  “Time to go,” I said, shifting back to Lawson’s pod. Now that I had the stone, I had another problem. I was . . . well, there was no delicate way to put it. I was horny.

  “Treble,” I said. “You need to suppress Wiltone or I’m going to end up kissing every man and woman that I come across.”

  Treble emerged along with a woman. While I was expecting the blue-smoke figure, I wasn’t expecting the one who looked like a goddess with fiery red hair.

  “Wiltone?” I questioned.

  “In the flesh.” She grinned.

  In the flesh was an understatement. Wiltone wore a tiny skirt and a top that had a plunging neckline.

  “Why aren’t you in smoke form like Treble?” I asked.

  “We take whatever form we want,” she said. “Now, where are those two handsome men I was playing with?”

  It was then that Lawson and Ranger appeared, still looking muddled. At least Lawson had found his shirt.

  Wiltone’s expressive eyes lit up as she hurried over to them.

  “Who is this?” Ranger asked, stepping away.

  “Wiltone the Red,” I said. “Seems her power is passion.”

  Lawson let go of a large sigh. “Thank god. No wonder Juliette had that effect on me. I thought I’d lost my mind for a moment.”

  Wiltone grinned as she wrapped her long, wavy red hair around her finger. “It was fun. Want to do it again?”

  “Nasty! Nasty, Wiltone,” Treble blustered.

  “Oh, shut up, Treble,” she droned.