I’m on borrowed time.
Time that’s running out faster since she came along. Since she made me feel. I have no right to feel. I need to stop. I need to fucking stop wanting shit I can’t have.
Another face fills my vision. Gailan. My soulmate. My best friend. He died because of me. I was meant to be with him, but I chose to lose myself between creamy thighs, and while I was rutting the night away, my soulmate was murdered.
My fault.
My curse is fitting. Fuck to live, Mal. Fuck, but never connect.
I deserve the curse, and I don’t deserve her.
Chapter Twenty-Eight
I finished tying my hair into a knot at the base of my skull and strapped on my comm. Uriel hadn’t been in touch about the book yet, and that bugged me. We had no idea what the Dread wanted, but here we were, headed in to break up a meeting and hopefully eliminate a Hive. Except Dread didn’t go down easy. Only beheading one with a scythe could kill it dead. A regular reaper could only hope to slow it down. Tonight, the killing would be up to me and the guys. The reapers were there to keep the Dread busy until we got to them.
“Are you okay?” Cora asked from her cross-legged spot on my bed.
For a moment I’d forgotten she was there. “I’m good.”
My comm beeped with a message from Mal. They were ready to leave.
“Any news on the DNA test results?” Cora asked.
“The results should come back today. That’s what Conah said earlier.” I zipped up my boots and headed for my bedroom door.
“Fee, wait.” Cora gripped my arm. “What if a Loup sees you, senses you while you’re out there?”
“Gah, Cor. Don’t. I’m shitting myself as is. But I’ve been out there several times and engaged with Loups, I’ll be fine. The guys are probably wrong anyway.” My reasoning made me feel a whole lot better. “I certainly don’t feel wolfy.”
Cora frowned. “Babe, I have a bad feeling about tonight.”
My stomach churned. “It will be fine. We each have a team of reapers with us. Trained, kick-ass reapers.”
“But you have no idea how many Dread will be at this meeting.”
She had a point. “We’ll be fine. Conah will scope it out before we go in.”
“I want to come.”
I stared at her. “What? No.”
She shook her head. “Fuck you, Fee, I don’t need your permission. I’m coming. I can be helpful. Besides, the Dread can’t hurt me. I’m a tulpa.”
It was the first time she’d called herself that. “We don’t know enough to know whether they could hurt you. I mean, you’re solid now. You eat. You could be killed. We don’t know.”
“Yeah, and you could definitely be killed. Look”—she cupped my shoulders—“I swear I’ll hang back when the action kicks off. But I can scout for you guys. I can teleport just like Conah.”
She had a point. Again. But the thought of her anywhere near danger made my stomach hurt. “Don’t you have a shift at the tavern tonight?”
“I’ll call in. This is more important.”
She had that stubborn look on her face. I never won when she got that look. “Fine, but you hang back when the fighting starts.”
“Pfft, I’m not stupid.”
“I know you’re not, but we can all do stupid shit in the heat of the moment.”
My comm beeped again.
“Fuck. It’s time.”
* * *
We congregated on the south side of the industrial estate. Barbed wire ringed the ten-acre estate. No Entry signs were wired to the fence, but there was a clear hole cut into it. I spotted cigarette butts and empty beer bottles on the inside. There was even a small burned-out fire. The estate was probably home to the homeless, a place for teens to hang out and get wrecked, and now the Dread were congregating somewhere on this piece of land.
Azazel, Mal, Conah, and I were accompanied by nineteen reapers—our respective teams for this region—and a tulpa. We huddled low outside the fencing, and I snuck a look at the other reapers. They all looked dangerous. Good. They were seasoned in their field of work. Mal’s, in particular, were used to danger as they went after the malignant. Azazel’s team dealt with the friction amongst the outliers, and Conah’s reapers were responsible for keeping the outer sectors of Necro safe, while mine dealt with inner Necro. This, alongside the regular collection of human souls, meant these demons were always busy, always ready for the next job, and right now, the steel in their eyes told me they were more than ready for this adventure.
Impatient boots shuffled on the gravel, and then Conah’s voice cut through the air, low and urgent.
“Cora and I will go in and locate the Dread,” he said.
He hadn’t been jumping for joy about Cora coming with us, but he couldn’t argue that she might be helpful. The estate was huge, and two teleporters were better than one.
“Once we have a location, I’ll message Azazel the coordinates and the details on how many Dread I see.” He looked to Cora. “If you find them first, then message me.”
She looked down at the comm he’d fitted her with. “Yeah, I got it.”
“You have location tracker on?” he asked.
“Yes.”
“Okay, let’s go.”
He and Cora winked out, leaving us to wait.
Azazel crouched to my right, his huge frame dwarfing mine. His silver hair stood out against his black reaper threads, but he’d pulled on a beanie to camouflage better. It looked good on him, accentuated his bone structure and his carefully chiseled lips that looked so stern right now. It was hard to believe that when he smiled, his whole face lit up, and those fucking dimples. Hell, if I hadn’t seen it firsthand …
I ducked my head because I was totally ogling him right now. Across from me, Mal snorted softly. I looked up, and he arched a brow and made a kissy face.
Fucker.
He must have caught me drinking in Azazel, but now my gaze was on Mal’s mouth, and the memory of his lips on mine had heat crawling up over my collarbones to hug the base of my throat.
The playfulness in his eyes darkened to a knowing intensity. I was probably doing a shitty poker face.
I cleared my throat and dropped my gaze. “Any news from Uri?”
“No,” Azazel said. “I sent a phoenix to him this morning along with a comm, so he can message us directly when he finds something.”
“Is he allowed to have one?”
“I don’t give a fuck,” Azazel said evenly. “Circumstances dictate that he needs one.”
“He’ll probably get fired,” Mal said. “Grigori aren’t meant to get involved in the matters of this human realm.”
“This isn’t a human matter,” Azazel reminded him. “A celestial artifact has been taken by outlier monsters, and Uri is aiding in its identification and retrieval.”
“Is that what you put in your letter?” Mal asked teasingly.
Azazel looked at him flatly. “Exactly that.”
I glanced at my comm. Ten minutes had passed. Shit. I hoped Cora and Conah were okay.
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Conah
Teleporting is harder when you haven’t been to the location before, but the map Mal has sourced for me makes it easier. I focus on the units marked on the map and will myself to those locations. The tulpa, however, has no such issues. She shoots off sans map, and I keep expecting to find her stuck in a wall somewhere.
I want to ask how she does it, but the question feels invasive.
We’ve searched a quarter of the estate and come across the homeless and a group of teenagers indulging in drugs. The sight of my appearance in front of them didn’t even cause them to blink an eye. The shit humans will put into their bodies. It makes me sick.
Not Fee, though. She’s pure. I sensed it when I first met her that night in the alley with the mouth. I sensed it in her aura, and I was drawn to her, and now she is with us every fucking day, and I can’t help but want to be in her orbit. I want to prot
ect the pure glow that surrounds her. I want to bathe in it.
Yeah, bullshit sounds so much better than the base truth. I want her in my bed, underneath me. I want her in ways I’ve never wanted a woman, and it scares the fuck out of me because I’m not that male. I’m loyal, faithful, and honest, and Kiara—sweet, kind Kiara—deserves better from me.
I’m committed to another, and all I can do for Fee is keep her safe. I won’t allow the Loup to have her. I won’t let her become a body to be used by every male Loup in whichever pack claims her.
The world shifts, and I materialize behind a wall. A cool breeze kisses my forehead. Voices drift around it—male and female. My heart stutters. I recognize those voices. I recognize them both, but it can’t be. My senses must be lying to me.
Heart in my mouth, I sidle along the wall and peer around it. I’m on an upper level. I spot stairs up ahead that lead down to where they’re gathered. The Dread. Twenty … No. More than that, thirty of them. They’ve set out chairs for their meeting and stand about in pale blue robes that cover their bodies from neck to ankle, but my gaze zeroes in on the two figures sitting companionably on the podium. Evelyn, my ex, flicks her red hair and smiles down at the Dread who are taking their seats, but it isn’t Evelyn I’m drawn to, it’s the man standing beside her. A man I thought dead, killed by the Dread he now cohorts with. Vale runs a hand through his dark hair. Hair as dark and thick as his brother’s was before Peiter cut it.
I tear my gaze away and scan the roof. That’s where the breeze is coming from. That aperture in the roof. A perfect place for an invasion. My gaze drops back to the dark-haired Dread, and my hands tremble as I send out the location message, leaving off the most vital piece of information.
Pieter’s brother is fucking here.
Peiter’s brother is Dread.
Chapter Thirty
Cora
Shit, this place stinks. Not sure what the smell is exactly, but it smells old and dead. Yep, if death had a smell, it would be this. I doubt there are any Dread in this unit. It’s dark, like almost pitch dark, and surely if the Dread were here, they’d have some lights on. Is there any point in exploring it further?
I feel kinda guilty. I mean I offered to help, but I was expecting a little more excitement. Possibly the thrill of being the one to discover the den of the Dread. I want to be useful, but as Fee gets more tangled up in this life, I find myself more and more sidelined.
It’s not her fault, she has actual duties and stuff. I could go back to Soul Savers. Fake being a ghost and get my job back. Give her some space. But the thought of leaving her makes my chest ache.
I fucking love that bitch.
I’ll stay as long as I’m not in the way. And the tavern gig is pretty sweet. I wonder what sex is like? I could have some of that. Everything works. I tried it out solo for the first time last night, and fuck did it feel good.
Yeah, wanking rocks.
A creak to my left.
Shit, focus, woman. My senses prickle. Okay, I am not alone here. Shafts of moonlight up ahead lance in through the gaps in the boards nailed to the windows like blades, and something just fucking ran across the floor.
I stop and place my hands on my hips. Fear is my bitch, because hell, nothing can hurt me, right? “Show yourself or be damned.”
It sounded better in my head.
Shadows cut across the ropes of moonlight.
Um … what the fuck?
“No flesh, not really,” says a creaky, fucked-up voice. “No blood, not really.”
“But it lives,” another voice says, this one raspy but equally fucked-up.
“Alive is good,” another voice says.
The first frisson of fear skates across my tulpa skin. “Hey, you guys … I’m just gonna back up and let you get on with whatever you were do—” They rush me. “Oh, shit!” I try to wink out but never make it.
Talons hook into my back, and I get my first taste of pain.
Chapter Thirty-One
My comm beeped at the same time as Mal’s and Azazel’s.
Coordinates came up, and a map appeared followed by another message with the number twenty and a plus sign.
We could handle that. I hoped.
“Finally,” Mal said.
The reapers’ comms beeped as Azazel forwarded Conah’s message. “The plan is to engage and maintain chaos,” he said. “We’ll do the rest.”
We stood. Wings unfurled, and our reaper teams launched themselves into the air.
“Do you need a lift?” Nox asked me.
I looked to Mal, but he shrugged and then shot up into the night. Wow. Okay. Ignoring the stab of rejection, I turned back to Nox to accept his offer, but Azazel wrapped his arm around my waist.
“I have her,” he said.
Nox nodded and then took off after his team. Azazel scooped me off my feet and cradled me to his chest.
“Are you ready?” he asked. “There are no health potions or level-up options, but we can heal our reapers if needed, and I have your back.”
Had he just made a gaming reference?
But before I could dwell, we were flying over the fence and across the estate. The other reapers came into view, hovering a little way away from a low, squat building. That must be the location. I spotted Mal. He broke through the flock of reapers and flew to meet us.
“The roof’s busted,” he said. “Easy access. I asked the reapers to hold back. We go in together.”
He didn’t look at me. Didn’t meet my eyes, and his avoidance was a nagging thorn in my heart.
We joined the other reapers, and they flew back to form a V behind us. Mal led the charge, and then we were hurtling down so fast my head spun. The air fizzed effervescent against my skin, stinging for a moment, and then we were landing on dusty floorboards. Azazel lowered me to the ground, and my scythe was out, ready to slice. It was the silence that stopped me. Deathly, pregnant silence.
Below us sat rows of figures dressed in blue robes. Some had red eyes and ridges across their noses, others had perfect faces and smooth, unmarred skin. These others looked bigger, brawnier than the ridge-nosed ones, and their eyes were ice blue. They just sat there, watching us, as if we were the entertainment.
This was wrong, and then it registered why. Azazel, Mal, and I were alone on the podium. Where were our reapers?
I looked up to see a blue wall that shimmered and glowed. A barrier. A barrier that had let us through but kept the others out.
This was a trap.
A female figure I recognized strode into the room from the left, and a man followed, dragging another figure.
Conah.
Conah’s hands were bound by glowing silver ropes, and dried blood caked the side of his head.
Azazel sucked in a sharp breath, and Mal cursed softly.
Evelyn smiled up at us. “You may as well put down your weapons,” she said. “You can’t kill us all. Not without backup, and backup isn’t coming.” More Dread poured into the room, swelling their numbers. “The wards around this building will keep your reapers out while we get on to business.”
I looked to Azazel, but his attention was on the man tugging Conah toward the podium.
What the fuck was this? I stared at the dark-haired Dread with the crimson eyes and ridges on his nose. Wait, there was something familiar about that jawline and those lips. Something …
“Vale?” Mal said. “Vale, you’re alive.”
Vale? As in Peiter’s brother, Vale?
Vale smiled good-naturedly. “And you can stay alive too, brothers. I’m sorry for letting you think I was dead. I needed time.”
Evelyn shrugged. “Vale needed a little persuading, but he understands what’s important now. Don’t you, babe?”
Babe?
Vale nodded. “And you will too.”
“You’re in charge of them?” Mal asked Evelyn.
She smiled smugly. “This is my Hive, yes, and I have been given the most auspicious duty imaginable.” She reached in
to the folds of her cloak and retrieved a book. It was a slender tome with a gold leaf pattern all over it.
Oh fuck. Was that the book from the Academy? The celestial text.
“What do you want, Evelyn?” Azazel asked.
“I want to right a wrong. Reset a balance.”
Vale shoved Conah onto the podium. The silver ropes around his wrists vanished.
We exchanged looks, and in that moment, an unspoken communication passed between us. It was fight because there was no flight no matter how outnumbered we were.
“Now!” Conah ordered.
My body reacted on his command. I leaped for the edge of the podium, hand tingling as my scythe prepared to appear, and slammed into an invisible wall.
“Fuck!” Mal was on his ass behind me.
Azazel hauled him up.
What the hell?
“Look.” Conah pointed at the ground.
A strange symbol lit the platform, surrounding us, trapping us.
“We’re not the enemy,” Vale said. “We just want to go home.”
“Home?” Mal asked.
“To the Beyond,” Vale said. “It’s where we belong.”
The gathered Dread all moaned as if yearning for this very thing, and the sound coaxed goosebumps to life up my arms.
“Monsters don’t belong in the Beyond,” Azazel snapped.
“You think we’re monsters. I did too … before,” Vale said. He smiled enigmatically. The look of a man convinced in his faith. The kind of look you saw on the faces of brainwashed cultists. “But I saw the truth. I felt their purity. The original Dread spoke to me. They showed me the truth.”
Original Dread?
Evelyn nodded eagerly.
“Do you know what they are?” Vale asked. “Do you know?” His eyes were twin crimson stars in his pale face as he looked up at us almost pleadingly.
Reaper Uninvited: Deadside Reapers book 2 Page 17
