Reaper's Blood (The Grimm Brotherhood Book 1)

by Kel Carpenter

  I gaped. Not a bad case?

  Watching Laura manipulate the man before her, crooning and whispering things only he could hear, I suddenly understood why it was an executable offense. These women were capable of taking away someone’s free will.

  A shudder worked its way down my body. I had thought I understood what Tamsin was. It’d seemed straightforward enough, but seeing the evidence of what succubi could do . . . she really was a monster. A beautiful one, but no less dangerous because of it.

  “Annnnnd that just proves my point,” Tamsin said as we watched the poor sucker follow Laura back into her room in a daze. Giving me a gentle shove, she pushed me back into her room and shut the door.

  Maybe Tamsin was right. I really didn’t have a clue about this new world I was a part of. “Alright,” I sighed. “So what do you want me to do? Call Graves and invite him over here for dinner or something?”

  Tamsin’s eyes went wide. “God no. Don’t invite him here. Jesus. Were you listening to anything I said?”

  “So where, then? Where can a succubus and two reapers go without raising any suspicion?”

  “Your house,” Tamsin said immediately. “The sooner, the better. You should probably call Esme and tell her you’re having company for dinner. And text your man and tell him the plan.”

  “I, uh . . . I didn’t get his number.”

  Tamsin rolled her eyes. “Okay, I’ll work on that. You go take a shower. I’ll leave something out for you to wear.” She was already moving—a one-woman tornado—as she started pulling things out of her closet. I was making my way to the door when she called me back. “Salem?”

  “Yeah?”

  “I’m really glad I didn’t lose you too. Even if you are a dirty soul-stealer now.” I could hear the throb of pain in her voice and knew she meant it, insult aside.

  “Back at you, sex vampire,” I said, chest getting tight.

  She threw a purple thong at my face, ruining the moment. “Now get out of here. You smell like you got it on in a barn. I would know.”

  7

  Liar, Liar, Pants on Fire

  “What do you mean he still hasn’t responded?” I sighed, running a hand through my clean hair. I stretched my shoulder, not caring for how tight the T-shirt of Tamsin’s was on my body. We were both pretty thin, but I had five inches on her, and it showed in the form of the shirt not covering my pale ass stomach. At least it was early September and I wouldn’t freeze my ass off in clothes a size too small.

  “Well, I texted him once Tanya’s friend’s brother’s cousin gave me his number. I was just asking him to meet up, and he hasn’t responded. I’m wondering if something is going down at the Grimm house today. I know they have a frat party like every other night, but this is weird—no one ignores me.” She flipped her long, dark hair over one shoulder and then picked at her nails.

  “Okay, how about this—I’ll swing by the Grimm house to get him.” I paused to pull my phone out of my back pocket. Using the tip of my thumb, I bent one corner of the case back and grabbed my credit card, thanking my lucky stars that I kept the important cards in my phone case and not in a wallet like a normal person. “You’re going to go to the nearest store and get me a bunch of clothes and shit and put it in a suitcase—then meet Graves and me at my place, where I’m going to pretend that I got rid of my beautiful BMW for some stupid reason and act like I didn’t just lose all my favorite shit in a car accident. Sound good?”

  She took one look at the credit card and asked, “Do I have a spending limit or—”

  “Just be reasonable. I don’t need Louis Vuitton purses or Jimmy Choo pumps. I need clothes that look somewhat normal and fit me, and a sturdy pair of Docs.” I pointedly looked down my body and then lifted an eyebrow in her direction.

  She took my card and nodded once. “Got it. Anything else?”

  “Nope. Let’s do this.”

  She opened her bedroom door, and we let ourselves out the back, avoiding interacting with the other succubi. While they seemed like perfectly nice people, I also just got a front-row seat to a leather-clad dominatrix trying to un-brainwash some rando from thinking he was her sex slave.

  I shuddered to think what they might do to me if they knew what I really was, and then I decided that was a problem I’d worry about if we ever came to it. Right now they thought I was Tamsin’s weird hobo friend that ate a lot, which suited me just fine. It wasn’t that far off, actually.

  Outside, Tamsin hopped in her Porsche with one last sarcastic salute, and then it was just me standing on the sidewalk of a school I didn’t even go to. I tried to hook my thumbs in my pockets as I started walking toward the Gamma Rho house, but the itty-bitty booty shorts were closer to underwear than anything else.

  Giving up on that, I walked up the hill breathing just a little heavier than before, and I stopped at the bottom of the stairs. I stared at the two-story brick house, awkwardly tugging my shirt down, but it only flashed more cleavage. As a result, I was ninety percent sure I looked like a hooker, but considering I was heading into a frat house, maybe that was a good thing.

  I climbed the stairs and stood in front of black double doors. There was an old Victorian-style door knocker, but I wasn’t sure if anyone would actually hear it, so I opted for the doorbell off to the side instead.

  I could still hear the electronic chiming when the door opened, and a guy built like a lumberjack stared down at me. His eyes immediately dropped to my chest. Score one for the cleavage.

  “Can I help you?” he asked, not bothering to meet my eyes.

  “Hi, I’m Shep’s sister. I’m here to see Graves.”

  That caught his attention. His eyes moved up my body, making me feel like I needed my third shower in less than twenty-four hours. “You’re Salem?” He smirked, leaning against the door. “What you need Graves for?”

  There was a scuffle behind him, and the perv looked back, giving me time to twist and poke myself in the eye with the corner of my nail. Tears immediately welled, and I spun back just as he did.

  “He’s”—I sniffled—“helping me . . . with . . . my brother’s things.” The tears were openly streaming, and the linebacker was clearly uncomfortable. I gave a mental eye roll. So predictable. One thing all macho guys had in common was their inability to handle a crying girl.

  “I’ll, uh, just go get him for you. Graves!” he shouted into the house. “Get your ass down here and deal with this.”

  I had to work hard to keep my sad girl act going as a flicker of anger ignited within me. What did the asshole mean, ‘deal with this?’ He was only the second reaper I’d met, and so far, I was not impressed with my species. Hopefully, the others wouldn’t be quite so douchey.

  I couldn’t help but notice he didn’t welcome me into the house either. The guy was probably afraid all my girl cooties would infect his super-macho frat house. Jerk. So I was still standing on the porch when Graves came down the stairs.

  “Salem?” Graves asked, looking equal parts furious and concerned as he rushed to the door. “I’ve got this, Samuel,” he said under his breath, pushing the other guy out of the way and stepping outside with me. “Is everything okay?”

  As soon as the door shut behind him, I started to rub my eyes. “I poked myself in the fucking eye and it hurts.”

  “What the—why the hell would you do that?” he said.

  “Because I needed to cry so that the lumberjack that answered the door wouldn’t ask me more questions about why I needed to see you. I don’t know how to cry on command. Why are we even still talking about this?” I ran a hand through my shoulder-length hair. “Why were you ignoring my texts?”

  “Your texts?” he trailed off, and then his blue eyes flared wide. “That was you?”

  Uh-oh. I knew I shouldn’t have let Tamsin be the one to talk to him. “Well, I mean. It was Tamsin on behalf of me.”

  Graves pulled his phone out, clicking something on the screen and holding it out for me to read. “Would you have responded i
f you got that?”

  My eyes dropped to the little gray bubbles that read:

  Yo, Graves, wanna fuck?

  You should really tap this . . . at my place . . . tonight.

  I’m thirsty for your scythe. You feel me?

  I only made it halfway down the screen when I’d seen enough to understand. I scrubbed a hand through my hair. “Okay, I’m just going to start by saying that you’re a fucking idiot if you thought that was me. Thirsty for your scythe? Really? Now, onto point two—”

  “Are you really doing this right now?” Graves demanded, grabbing me by the arm and pulling me down the stairs.

  “Doing what?” I asked, shrugging him off with relative ease. “Tracking your ass down after you left me to climb out your window because you didn’t want your mom to know I slept over?” I gave him a pointed look, and he lowered his head a fraction. “Which, by the way, you owe me for.”

  “You know, while it was nice of you to help cover for me in the moment, reminding me that I owe you isn’t how you convince people to do things for you, Salem,” he said. “Also, I’m not talking about that. I’m referring to you trying to defend the slew of texts I got an hour ago that sound ridiculous. If I wasn’t looking at you right now, I’d think you were high when you sent these.”

  “If you’d let me finish I would have told you my best friend is apparently a succubus and more than a little horny, and she’s the one that texted you; not me. Now, as for the whole ‘nice’ thing. You wanna know what’s not nice?” I asked, not giving him a chance to respond. “A girl telling you she died, you tell her she’s a mythical monster, and then disappearing when your mommy comes home. I need to figure out what the fuck I need to be doing right now so that I can find my brother’s killer. Werewolf or not.” I poked him in the chest, and Graves took a step back to catch himself. Both his hands came up to grab my arm, warm fingers touching my skin.

  “You said a lot of things I want to respond to, but we’re going to start with the obvious,” Graves said, lowering his voice. “Who did you tell? It’s been twelve hours since we had that whole conversation about how Grimms aren’t very popular.” His face somehow went from being very punchable and far away, to only inches from mine.

  I opened and closed my mouth, throat suddenly dry. “You left me at your place with no instructions. I called my best friend and because I’m not a liar I told her the truth when she asked what happened. But don’t worry, she’s a succubus—”

  “Yeah, I got that part. They get in trouble at least once a semester for fucking with the humans on campus. Not exactly a great species to tell this sort of secret to when their entire house spreads lies like chlamydia.”

  Okay, he was back to being punchable again.

  “Tamsin is like my sister. She wouldn’t say anything that would put me in danger.”

  “Oh yeah?” he asked, and I sensed the asshole comment coming from a mile away. “When did she tell you she was a succubus? Because as of last night you were telling me that you knew nothing about this world. So who’s the liar here?”

  “You’re a massive dick, you know that?”

  Graves’ eyes narrowed, and he leaned a little closer. “I might be a dick, but right now, I’m the only person you know who can actually help keep you alive. You need to remember who your allies are, Salem. You can’t just go around—”

  “I’m not just anything. She is my best friend, who I’ve known since I was eleven, by the way. You are barely more than a stranger to me, so excuse me if out of the two of you, my trust is on team Tamsin. Maybe she lied by omission, but she did it because she had to. As soon as she knew she could, she told me everything.”

  He made a noise that sounded suspiciously like a growl. He looked away, a vein pulsing hard in his neck. “If you don’t trust me, then why are you here?”

  “I’ve been trying to tell you that,” I said, beyond exasperated. “Tamsin wants the three of us to get together tonight at my place to talk through what I need to know and what my next steps should be to keep me safe. You guys may not think much of each other, but you both seem to agree that I am about one breath away from getting myself killed . . . again. I’d like to avoid that if possible.”

  Graves looked back at me, his eyes hard. “Fine.”

  “Fine? Really?” I was a little shocked he’d actually agreed. I thought for sure I was going to have to bribe him.

  “Yes, Salem. Really. Despite what you think, I’m not going out of my way to be an asshole here. All I’ve been trying to do since I found you yesterday—”

  “I’m not a stray puppy, Graves.”

  His eyes went frosty, but he continued to speak over me “—is to get you as up to speed as I can and keep you safe. This is new territory. For both of us,” he added, lowering his voice as if he just remembered there was a house full of reapers a few feet away. “We need to work out a training schedule, and there’s still a lot I haven’t had a chance to tell you.”

  I let out a little groan, my brain already overloaded with everything him and Tamsin had dumped on me. “You guys and your secrets. You know, none of this would be an issue if everybody just told the truth from the beginning.”

  Graves snorted. “No one really wants to hear the truth all the time.”

  “I do,” I said.

  “Oh yeah? You’d really be okay with me telling you that in those clothes you look like you’re about to audition for a porno?”

  My mouth fell open.

  “Exactly,” Graves said, noting my reaction. “Just because something is true doesn’t mean it should be shared.”

  I crossed my arms, aware that it only pushed my boobs higher up. “If I kick you in the nuts, it’s because you deserve it. There. That’s true and necessary.”

  Graves ignored my dig. “So what time is our little gathering?” He couldn’t have said it any more condescending if he’d tried.

  “As soon as all three of us are at my house. I kinda told her you and I would meet her there since I don’t have a car anymore.” I flashed him a sarcastic smile as he groaned.

  “Okay, fine. I’m going to go inside—by myself—to tell the guys I’m heading out to help you deal with whatever it is you told them you needed me for.”

  “Shouldn’t I come with?” I asked. “Just to sell it?”

  “No,” he answered quickly. “Because you suck at lying. So once that’s done, we’re going to head back to my place.”

  “Your place?” I repeated. “What for?”

  The look he gave me was not amused in the slightest; still, he answered. “I might have a solution to your car problem.”

  8

  Pass the Mic

  For as annoying as my new mentor was, he sure had a great ass. As soon as we’d pulled up to his house, he’d jumped out and strode over to a detached white garage to press some kind of hidden button. I’d been a little slower, enjoying the view as I climbed out the passenger side. A girl had to find the silver lining where she could.

  I’d just reached his side when one of three garage doors was fully open. Graves’ garage was easily the size of a house in its own right. It was more than a garage. It was like an auto shop. Two cars could have fit in the space revealed by the door, but there was only one with a cloth tarp draped over it. In the bay next to it, another car was covered. I could see a part of my wrecked BMW peeking from beneath its shroud.

  Before I could say anything, Graves stepped inside and gave the first canvas a tug, revealing a 1967 Chevy Impala. Black, of course.

  My breath left me in one low whoosh. I recognized that car. Hell, eighty percent of the population probably did. But I knew it for a different reason. It was my twin’s dream car.

  “Shep and I were fixing it up together,” Graves said as I moved to stand beside the Impala, my hand hovering over the shiny paint. “We were waiting for a part to come in, and it did right before he died. I installed it right before the funeral. He never got to see her all finished, but . . .” Graves trailed off, cl
early uncomfortable.

  “I’m glad Shep finally got around to it,” I said. “He’d been talking about it since we were kids.”

  Graves let out a humorless laugh. “Yeah, he was pretty into the idea of being the real-life version of Supernatural.”

  “Sounds like something he’d say,” I said, shaking my head.

  “Anyway,” Graves said, “the car’s yours if you want it.”

  My answer was immediate. “Hell yeah, I want it.” Not only was the car badass, but it would be a way for me to feel close to my twin. Graves couldn’t begin to understand how much that meant to me, and I was not about to tell him. Some things were too personal to share.

  He moved to the wall and lifted a keyring off a small hook, holding them out to me on one finger. I let my fingers softly trail along the car as I moved around the back and caught a glimpse at the license plate. BAAAAAA.

  I stopped dead, a snort escaping. “I cannot believe you allowed him to put that on his license plate.”

  Graves’ lips twitched up in a smile. “You give me too much credit. There was no talking Shep out of anything once his mind was set. You two are a lot alike in some ways.”

  I narrowed my eyes at the jab. Closing the distance between us, I snatched the keys from his outstretched finger. “Just try to keep up.” I smirked, opening the door and sliding into the driver’s seat.

  “Uh, Salem? You destroyed one car already, maybe go a little easier on this one?” He quirked a brow.

  I rolled my eyes. “See you at my place,” I said over my shoulder as I climbed in the car. The smooth leather interior brought me back to better memories I had to keep at bay for the moment. I closed the door and strapped myself in. One twist of the key and the engine roared to life. I allowed myself one second to caress the steering wheel and enjoy the feeling of all that horsepower vibrating around me before I threw her into reverse, only pausing to roll the window down and yell, “Eat my dust!”