She grinned. “Or if it’s my birthday and my friend plans me a party with a male stripper.”
He pulled a chair off the table and set it down on its legs and then pointed at her. “Or that.” He laughed as he thought about that night and how it felt so long ago, when actually it wasn’t.
Reese flipped the open lights on and they were officially on duty. Dan got to tend bar again, which he was excited about. The difference was that this time, he really, really wanted a drink. Maybe he couldn’t do this job and not drink, but then again, maybe if he were alone, it would be easier for him to hit the bottle. One step at a time.
After closing, Reese locked up and before they could go upstairs he asked her to go with him to the farmhouse. “I have to grab a change of clothes and it’s closer than my place. Would you come with me? I don’t want you to be alone.”
She shook her head. “I’ve told you guys before that I don’t need you to pull guard on me. I just let you because you’re easy on the eyes.”
He gripped her hand. “I’m serious, Reese. I’d feel better if you came with me. It won’t take long.”
“Fine. But I’m not doing this because I’m incapable of taking care of myself.”
“I know that.” He nodded.
So, instead of going up to her apartment, they got in Dan’s car and drove over to his family home. As they pulled in he saw lights on in the main room and the kitchen. He was sure someone was awake, even at this hour. Someone was always awake no matter what time of day or night.
Reese was staring at the graveyard, not the house.
“Everything okay?” he asked, killing the engine.
“Yes, I’m just wondering how it was for you growing up? Could you always see souls? How did your parents teach you about what you are? Children are so vulnerable, how in the world did you get through school having to lie to everyone? Kids are so apt just to blurt out the truth, I can’t imagine how hard it was for your parents, and then for your dad to have to do it alone.”
Dan followed her gaze out over the cemetery. The gravestones and markers were lit up in the dim lamplight and the souls wove in and out of them, the shimmering blue mist spreading out and coming back together as they swirled about. “It wasn’t easy, that’s for sure.” He stepped out of the car. “Come on, walk with me for a few minutes and I’ll tell you a little bit about it.
He spotted a silver aura near the woods at the edge of the cemetery. He didn’t know which of his siblings were out there, but he hoped they would leave him be with Reese for a little while.
They crossed the lawn, then started up the path into the graveyard. “We probably didn’t have it as bad as some Keepers do, since Summer Hollow never had many Reapers until after my father died.”
“Why would that trigger them to come here?” Reese asked.
“Because, the Reapers know about the prophecy, too. They had likely been keeping tabs on us and when my father passed, they decided that they should take out Lucy to make sure. Actually, the Empress kidnapped Lucy and told her they had their own prophecy. It had something to do with mixing blood, so they stole blood from my sister for experiments.”
Reese’s eyes widened. “Oh, shit …”
“Yeah, thank God they hadn’t killed her though, I’d rather them take her blood than just kill her. But now they know we will fight back. And we have Jack and Aiden, so now they just want to kill us all.”
“Even Jack? She would kill her own son.”
Dan nodded. Wasn’t that some shit. “Yeah, actually that is why Aiden is here. They have been best friends since they were kids. He saved Jack when the Empress was going to shoot him. He lost his rank in the Reaper Army and lost all trust from the Empress. So, he worked for us as a double agent until they found out he was doing it. We gave him safe harbor for helping us and then he and Liv … yuck. I don’t know.” He shuddered as he thought about his sister and Aiden, he really hoped that dude was in love with her. Because he could tell that she sure as hell loved the Reaper assassin.
“That is a crazy story.”
“And that’s only part of it.”
He pointed as they approached a bench. “I have come to this bench since I was little. I’d come out and sit here and talk to the souls.”
“Talk to them? Do they talk back?”
He shrugged. “Sometimes, it depends. Most souls can’t even solidify into the form of a human. It takes a lot of energy and endurance for them to maintain the form and also speak. Sometimes they can do one or the other and sometimes both. My father is out here and he can do both.”
She shook her head. “That has to be weird.”
“It is,” he assured her. “In any case, I’d come out here and talk to the souls. Most of the time they don’t speak, so it felt as if there was no judgement. Unlike the kids at school, they weren’t worried about my clothes, or my red hair, or anything … they just accept me.”
Reese turned to face him and he realized that sadness was etched all across her face. “I didn’t realize that you were concerned with any of that when we were kids. You always seemed confident to me.”
Dan grinned. “Well that’s because I had all my brothers and sisters to back me up if anyone messed with me.”
“I remember more than one fight that involved several Estmond children.”
“But,” he added. “That didn’t mean that kids didn’t make fun of me and it didn’t mean that I was immune to getting my feelings hurt. I had issues, just like most kids.”
“Bullies,” Reese seethed. “If I had known people were making fun of you I would have kicked their asses myself.”
He didn’t doubt that one bit. The Estmonds weren’t the only ones to get into fights at school. Reese was practically a legend in elementary school. No boy dared push her down on the playground or they would end up with a bloody nose or a black eye. “Yeah, I know you would have. You were such a badass, even back then.”
“I had to be. After mom left, a lot of people made fun of me and made fun of my dad. One day, a boy said something about my mom running off to be with another man and that I was probably just like her. Then he slapped me on the ass. That day, I went home crying and my father told me that I could protect myself and never, ever to take shit from a boy or anyone else. From that moment on, I just started beating the hell out of anyone who messed with me. That was probably not what my dad was going for, but no one messed with me after a while.”
Shock rippled through him. “I had no idea that you went through that.”
“Most kids deal with bullies in one way or another. I just decided to stop it, for myself and for others. At the time, it was the only way I knew how.”
“Still sucks.”
“Yeah.” She shrugged. “Tell me how you can tell if someone is a Reaper.”
She changed the subject seamlessly. Dan was glad, because he’d rather not talk about it either. Although, he was happy to get some insight on to what made Reese into the woman she was.
He leaned back on the bench. “Okay. You probably won’t believe this.”
“Try me. I’ve already accepted that you can see ghosts, so how much worse can it be?”
He tilted his head and raised his eyebrows. “Keepers have a glowing silver aura around them and Reapers have a red one. It’s like a shimmering cloud of mist that surrounds them at all times.”
Reese’s jaw fell and he saw the clear disbelief in her eyes. “Seriously?”
He nodded. “Absolutely. I’m used to seeing it, so it’s nothing for me to see it or not see it. It’s like getting used to someone who has a big mole on their face, you just get used to it and don’t even notice after a while.”
“Wow.” Reese shook her head.
“And the souls, they are a glittering blue that glows day and night. It is especially beautiful to see at night.”
“I wish that I could see all this.”
He slid his arm around her. “I wish you could, too.”
She frowned. “It’s just
so hard. I believe you, I do, but I wish that I could see it. That it was as real for me as it is for you.”
“Me too …” Dan’s last word faded away as he spotted two bright red flashes in the woods. “Shit.”
Reese obviously heard the alarm in his voice. “What?”
He removed his arm from around her and stood. “There are Reapers here.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
DAN
Footsteps pounded behind him and he spun, whipping his gun from his holster faster than he ever thought possible.
“Whoa bro!” Steph held her hands up. “Save that for the bad guys.” She nodded toward where he had seen the flash in the woods. “Hi Reese.” She waved.
Reese waved back and shifted her eyes back and forth between Dan and his sister. “Hey.”
“Shit, Steph. How long have you been creeping around back there?” He fit the gun back into his holster.
His sister had her dark red hair twisted into two braids and a black beanie cap pulled down over her head. She had on a short, black leather jacket with tight black jeans and boots with flat soles. She shrugged. “I’ve been here the whole time. I was just giving you guys some space.”
“You were spying!” Dan accused, pointing his finger.
“Dude, we have to go take care of this now. We don’t have time for bickering. Let’s go.”
Dan turned to Reese. “Go into the house, okay. If anyone is up you can let them know what’s going on, but don’t wake anyone unless you have to.”
“Okay.” She sounded confident, but he could hear the fear beneath it when she spoke.
“It’s going to be okay, I promise,” he told her as he slid his trench coat off and handed it to her. His eyes slid over to the woods where he saw the red flashes again. This time they were headed for the house.
“Shit. Nevermind. You need to stay here and keep out of sight, okay.” He lifted his hoodie up over his head. “Let’s go Steph, they are near the house.”
Steph nodded, pulling a dagger from her boot. “I’m ready.”
He took off at a run down the slope, his sister close beside him. These Reapers had to know they were out there and had seen them, or they would have at least tried to hide themselves a little better. Unless they were stupid, which was always an option. Dan’s best bet, was that the Empress was getting desperate and her plans were becoming erratic.
The two Reapers had disappeared behind the corner of the house where the garden was located. Once he was in the yard, he beckoned Steph to keep the house at their backs as they crept along. He stopped before they rounded the corner and inhaled deeply, preparing himself for a fight. Then, he signaled to his sister that it was time and they rounded the corner, weapons drawn and ready.
Before he could react, something slammed down onto his hand and reflex caused him to release his grip on his gun. It fell to the ground with dull thump. “Dammit!” He turned in that direction and no one was there. He circled and saw Steph already engaged in a fight with one of the Reapers. Where was the other one?
A boot to the back of his knee took him down. Holy fuck that hurt. He hit the ground and pain radiated all the way through his body. Quickly, he rose and limped around in a circle again. Finally, he spotted the Reaper who had been attacking him. To his surprise, it was the woman from the bar. Great, he hated when he had to hit women.
“Come and get me, Keeper.” The woman spread her arms wide, indicating he go for it.
Steph was grunting with each kick and punch, but he could see that she was doing fine, so he shook his head in frustration and lunged at the woman.
The gun option was always there, but he didn’t want to use it unless he had to. The woman blocked his first punch, but he landed the second one with his left. His fist made contact with her cheek bone and her head swung to the side, her hoodie slipping off and exposing more of her red aura.
Without hesitation, Dan grabbed her right arm, circled around her back and then secured her in a headlock. He pulled her arm up far enough on her back that if she moved it might break. The Reaper woman was far stronger than he was, as all Reapers were, but that position still gave him the upper hand.
He held her tightly, not giving the slightest bit of slack. “Now what are you gonna do?” he whispered in the Reapers ear.
“Fuck off, you piece of shit. It’s all because of you and your family that we even have to do this in the first place. Once you all are gone, we can stop having to follow your dumb asses around and we can go home.”
“Sorry for the inconvenience. I didn’t know we had placed such a burden on you.”
Steph growled and Dan glanced up just in time to see his sister perform a spin, her dagger blade glittering in the porch light and then she lunged, slamming the blade up into his shoulder. The Reaper stumbled and then fell down to his knees just as the back door flew wide open.
David stood there in his pajamas, a wild look in his eyes and his gun pointed out into the darkness. He spotted them and hurried down the steps. “What the hell, you guys.”
Steph reared back and kicked the Reaper in the face with the heel of her boot. He toppled backward and David bolted back inside. “Hold on! I need my cuffs!”
He was gone only seconds and Steph’s Reaper was attempting to get up. She nailed him with her boot again and held her dagger out. “Quit trying to be brave. You’re done,” she hissed at him.
The woman squirmed beneath Dan, so he yanked her arm a little bit in return. She cried out in pain and cursed at him.
“Shut up.”
David appeared with two sets of handcuffs. “Here.” He hurried down the stairs and first went to the Reaper Steph was dealing with. He knelt behind him and secured his wrists inside the metal rings. Then he moved to the woman and carefully, they maneuvered the woman so that they could get the cuffs on her.
“Looks like I’m taking these two in for breaking and entering.” David stared down at the Reapers and then handed Dan his keys. “Go put them in the back of my car. The police car, not the Chevelle.”
Dan rolled his eyes. “Duh.”
“Just making sure,” David called as he hurried into the house.
“Hurry up, though, Reese is in the graveyard alone,” he shouted after him and then yanked on the woman’s arm. “Let’s go.”
It took way longer than Dan would have liked for them to lead the two Reapers to the cruiser and force them into the back. He was surprised Reese hadn’t already made her way down to the house if she could see that they had secured the Reapers. Maybe she was hiding and couldn’t see what was going on.
“She’s just going to keep sending more of us, no matter what you do.” The woman hissed at Dan as he shoved her into the car. “Not until you are dead and gone.”
“I told you to shut up.” Dan growled as he slammed the door closed. The other Reaper had been surprisingly quiet.
David appeared shortly after. He had thrown on a pair of jeans and a sweatshirt, but his hair was still tousled and sticking up in some places.
“Hopefully they keep these assholes in jail and don’t make me regret not killing them,” Dan told David as he handed him the keys.
David nodded. “I’m with you, man. I’ll do the best I can, but we can only do so much here.”
Just then, a scream echoed through the night. The sound pierced his heart and had him bolting off at a dead run. “Reese!” he called out as he crossed the parking lot. He scanned the cemetery and found what he was looking for, a red glow at the top of the slope.
He heard footsteps pounding behind him and knew that Steph was with him. They didn’t take the path, but plowed right over all the plots, taking the shortest route to where the Reaper had Reese.
Another scream rippled through the night and Dan, who already thought he was going as fast as he could, picked up speed. They emerged at the top of the slope onto the path and bathed in the glow of lamplight, there was Reese.
The Reaper had her from behind, his arm around her neck. She had her
keys in her hand and was struggling, fighting against the man who held her that was ten times stronger than she was. But, this woman, never one to give up, somehow already knew what she was doing. She raised her hand and slammed it down into the Reapers thigh.
A roar erupted from the Reaper just as Dan and Steph arrived, and he saw that Reese’s entire key ring was stuck in the man’s leg. She had stabbed him with her key!
He already had his gun drawn and skidded to a stop in front of the two, just as Reese took advantage of the guy’s agony. She stomped his foot with hers, slamming her heel down into the top of his shoe and then bashed her head backward, slamming the back of her skull into his forehead.
“Fuck!” She screamed at the same time as the Reaper shouted the same thing and released her. She bolted forward, trying to get a safe distance away. “Shit, that fucking hurts! Not like the movies at all! Oh, my god! Her hand went to the back of her head.
The Reaper surprised them all by springing up from where he had been crumpled in pain and lunging for Dan. Dan felt his body going down and his finger reflexively tightened, pulling the trigger. A loud blast echoed through the night and Dan’s one thought as he hit the ground was, please, don’t let that bullet have hit anyone.
He was flat on his back and the Reaper rolled on top of him, his dagger out. Everything happened so fast that Dan didn’t really know what was going on, but he saw Steph behind him with her blade flashing downward and then pain ripping through his right shoulder as Greg and Jack appeared and pulled the Reaper away. There was grunting and shouts and then, blessedly, Dan was free again.
He rolled onto his hands and knees and realized blood was gushing from his arm. “Dammit.” He moaned, getting to his feet.
“Oh, oh my god you guys! He’s cut!” Reese’s voice came from beside him.
“I’m okay,” Dan assured her. “I’m sure it’s just a scratch.”
She opened the hoodie where it was sliced and peeked in. “I’m sorry big guy. That is not a scratch. You need a hospital.”
Greg and Jack both held the struggling Reaper so that he couldn’t get away. “Let me go, dammit. I promise not to come back.” The guy was pleading. Reese turned her head slightly, glancing at the Reaper out of the corner of her eye.
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