“What?” I scoffed aloud.
He opened one eye. “Tell me he’s not.”
I couldn’t.
The truth was that Brazen and I had a lot in common. More than I cared to admit, in fact. He was brash, mouthy, tough, good at fighting, and had that same shoot-first-and-ask-questions-later process of handling criminals that I had. The primary differences between us were in the realm of personal hygiene and clothing choices. Now, I couldn’t speak for what he may have worn on Friday nights, but I also didn’t want my mind to go there…ever.
“Ugh,” I said finally.
Reaper grinned slightly at that.
“We always dislike the ones who remind us of who we are, Piper.”
“You don’t remind me of myself at all, Reap, and I’m not really loving you at the moment.”
His grin widened.
“I’m more like Kix, I think,” he admitted. “We are both filled with empathy. Our first instinct is to heal and protect. This is why you and I make a good team, just as Brazen and Kix do.”
“Riiight,” I said with a laugh. “Kix is a real humanitarian. And when you say ‘heal and protect,’ do you mean like you did to Cleary?” His grin faded almost instantly. “I’ve never seen you like that before, Reap. Kind of freaked me out, if I’m being honest.”
Reaper’s eyes were open again, glowing brightly. He was scanning the floor and his face had reddened a fair amount. Obviously, bringing up the late, great Mr. Cleary had reignited a flame of rage.
“The man had it coming,” he muttered through clenched teeth. “Not only was he a monster, his evilness infected others…including me.”
“Yeah, I kind of noticed that.”
Reaper slowly turned to stare into my eyes. It wasn’t the kind of stare that gave you the warm and fuzzies, either.
“If you had seen one-millionth of what I’ve seen over the years, Piper,” he seethed, “you’d have made me look like a saint in that tent with Cleary.”
I inclined my head.
He was right, of course.
Yes, I was immortal, but I’d only been around a tiny fraction of the time Reaper had been. In my young life, I’d seen enough and been subjected to enough to make me jaded and generally irritable. But Reap had to stand idly by as people suffered until death set in. He wasn’t allowed to interfere, regardless of how much he might have longed to. His job was to wait for them to die, and then he could take their fractured souls and ferry them to their final resting place in the Vortex.
There were undoubtedly many Mr. Clearys in Reaper’s past. I only had a few to ignite my deepest feelings of angst, and that was enough to make my powers superhuman. I couldn’t even fathom what happened in Reaper’s mind at seeing these things in his corporeal state.
Well, I suppose I could, now that I’d seen him in action.
It wasn’t pleasant.
“You’re right, Reap,” I apologized. “Sorry.”
He closed his eyes again and looked away.
“It’s okay,” he said finally. “I know you better than you know yourself, Piper. You don’t mean to spew acid at me. You’re just protecting yourself from getting too close. It’s the same for Brazen.”
I frowned at that observation, but I knew he was right.
Any time I had allowed myself to get close to anyone over the years, it turned out negatively—boyfriends, fellow officers, regular friends…nothing ever lasted.
“Thanks for making me feel even more depressed than I already was at the thought of being tortured, Reap,” I mumbled. “You’re a real pal.”
His grin returned.
Then the door opened and Temperance walked into the room.
Behind her was a very determined-looking Mr. Cleary.
Much to my surprise, Reaper said, “Aw, fuck.”
Chapter 22
Now, I knew we left that guy for dead, and I was certain that the mixture of all those potions had to have put him over the top…or was that under the bottom? I guess that would teach us to check for a pulse before making assumptions in the future…assuming there was a future.
“Hey, Brazen,” I said in a direct connection, “remember all that shit I said about keeping to the mission and not coming after us?”
“Yeah.”
“Fuck that noise. Our pal Cleary is still alive and he doesn’t look happy.”
“Shit. On our way.”
I couldn’t imagine ever thinking that hearing Brazen say he was on his way would make me feel a sense of relief. Usually, it’d bring on a bout of nausea. But I guess Reaper was right about the man. He was a lot like me, and that meant we had a fighting chance of getting out of this before we were mangled too badly.
“I have to say, Officer Shaw,” Temperance said as she leaned back against the wall with her arms crossed, “I wouldn’t have expected to see a Retriever down here.”
“Yeah?” I replied while keeping tabs on Cleary’s preparations out of the corner of my eye. “Well, what are ya gonna do, ya know?”
“Oh, I’m going to let Mr. Cleary torture you both thoroughly,” she replied sweetly. “He was rather adamant about being allowed to work you both over. It seems that you nearly killed him.”
Cleary snarled in our direction.
“I don’t suppose an apology would help?” I asked hopefully.
Another snarl answered that question.
“Ah well,” I sighed. “What the hell if you can’t take a joke, ya know?”
Temperance smirked.
“It’s nice to see a tough lady, Officer Shaw.”
“Just call me Piper, yeah?” I said. “That ‘Officer Shaw’ crap makes me feel too proper. I’m not proper.”
“No,” Temperance agreed, “you’re not. And that’s what I like about you. You’re tough, resilient, and smart. Ladies like us need to stick together.”
I blinked at her. “Huh?”
“I didn’t mean us, specifically,” she corrected while motioning between herself and me. “I was speaking metaphorically.”
“Yeah, okay.” I shook my head, grimacing. “So, what the fuck are you talking about, then?”
She gave me a look that made it clear she wasn’t a fan of my using that kind of language with her. I guess I’d forgotten she was the leader of all fae. Not that I really gave a shit in the grand scheme of things, but in my current position a little tact would probably be wise.
“I’m in the unique position of being able to stop Mr. Cleary here from exacting any pain on you two,” Temperance replied, pushing off the wall and stepping between the sadist and us. “He’s simply dying to dive right in and get to work, but there are certain things that I need in order to take my plan a step further.”
Okay, so she wanted to play the game with us. That was cool with me. I knew damn well it wouldn’t stop her from opening the gate for Cleary once she got what she wanted, but it’d delay the inevitable and hopefully give Brazen, Kix, and Methkins time to get to us before things got too rough.
I was going to direct connect with Reaper, but he’d already pointed out that he knew me pretty well by now.
“I’m listening,” I said finally.
“You liberated the three others who were in the dimensional box,” she said. “Where are they?”
“We sent them back to base to get reinforcements,” I lied.
“Good, good,” she said, her face shining even more beautifully than before. “That will pull resources away from the precinct.”
“So?”
“So our goal is to take over your base, Officer…” She smiled. “Sorry, I mean Piper.”
“Is that why you were speaking with Keller?” I asked, knowing it wasn’t the wisest course of action, but I had to do it. When she blanched, I added, “I’m talking about the guy who set up that dimensional box from before.”
The unexpected slap that connected with my face a moment later hurt like hell. Temperance was apparently quite strong. Worse, she had nails that felt like they were made of steel, and t
hey raked my cheek rather nicely.
“Hit them,” she commanded Cleary.
He didn’t need to be told twice. The sadistic fae spun a couple of knobs on a device that was connected to the battery linked to us by wires.
Reaper and I began convulsing like mad.
I’d touched runes before that shocked me, and I’d even been hit by energy pulses fired at me from the fingers of mages, but those were child’s play compared to this flow of joy. I could damn well feel my eyes rolling up into my head and I thought certain I was going to crack my teeth due to how hard I was clenching my jaw.
Both Reaper and I were yelling uncontrollably until the electricity halted.
My head lulled forward for a second as I heaved in pain.
“Ouch,” I whimpered, and I wasn’t someone who typically whimpered. But, fuck, that hurt. “What say we don’t do that again?”
Temperance grabbed my face and roughly pulled it up to look into hers.
“Don’t ever mention that traitor’s name to me again,” she asserted.
“Keller?” I said and then my eyes went wide. “Sorry! I was just making sure that’s who you meant.”
Her stare was laced with very bad intentions.
“He’s a dick, anyway,” I said, hoping that would appease her.
Her eyes flashed for a moment and then she let me go.
“What do you know of him?” she asked, taking a step back.
I felt drool pouring from my lips, but I mumbled the best I could.
“He killed a lot of normals in the late eighties. He also led a revolt against the PPD, but he failed. Now, he’s back to his old tricks.” I struggled to look up at the fae. “And he’s known for screwing over people who he’s supposed to be partnered with. I’m assuming he’s done that to you as well?”
She glanced away, nodding.
“May I send another course through them now, ma’am?” asked Cleary.
“Not yet,” Temperance warned.
I sighed in relief at that, even though I was certain it was only going to be a minor reprieve. Still, I’d take what I could get.
“You’re the reaper who was assigned to work with the PPD a few years ago, yes?” Temperance asked Reaper, turning her attention to him. “I’d heard of you, but your eyes were never glowing in any of the pictures I’ve seen.”
“They were doctored in my photographs,” he answered raggedly. “I cannot explain why my superiors found that to be necessary, but they apparently did.”
“Apparently,” Temperance replied. “What can you tell me of Keller?”
Reaper licked his lips. “Only that he is a narcissistic megalomaniac who thrives on discord and chaos. He longs for power and he believes he’s a god.”
“Sounds about right,” Temperance said. “Do either of you know how to defeat him?”
Reaper and I glanced at each other and then shook our heads in unison.
Temperance sneered and flicked her hand at Cleary.
The energy streamed through us again.
Chapter 23
Pain will make you do things you never thought you’d do. For some people, they’d beg and plead and tell you anything you wanted to know. Others would shrivel into nothing and just suffer, waiting for the darkness to come. For someone like Reaper, it just made him go completely cold and businesslike. Me? I became a flat-out cantankerously boisterous pain in the ass.
“Crack us with it again, you fuckin’ shit stain,” was what I babbled as soon as the third wave of electricity diminished. “You’re all tough when we’re tied up, Cleary the Queery.” I cackled at my little joke. “That’s your new name, Cleary the Queeryyyyyyy!”
I hadn’t actually sung out that last part. It only sounded that way because Cleary spun the goddamn dial on me again.
Temperance almost instantly told him to cut it off, though.
“Awwwww,” I slurred. “Mommy won’t wet da widdle baby pway!”
In response, I got another nice smack across the face. It burned because Temperance’s pinky nail slit my eyelid. But that just fed my insanity even more.
“You hit like a girl,” I said, laughing as the blood dripped into my eye. “You look like a boy, but you hit like a girlllllllllll!”
Another jolt, this time authorized by the leader of the fae.
It stopped about five seconds later.
“Are you finished?” Temperance asked. “Or would you like some more?”
“I can do this all day, bitch,” I replied, though I doubted it sounded anything like that due to my lips being numb. “Let me out of this chair and I’ll fuck you up.”
Temperance stood up and shook her head at me. She then walked over to Reaper and ran one of her nails down his face seductively.
He didn’t budge.
“A reaper must have seen many things,” she said in a seductive way.
“Hey,” I blurted like a drunken fool, “how come I get slapped around and he gets all the lovey talk? I’m not gay, but I’ll try playing for the other side if you’ll quit smacking the shit outta meeeeeeee!”
Honestly, I had to learn to keep my mouth shut.
But I couldn’t.
The longer I kept this stupid fae and her asshole torture guy going, the more chance Reaper and I had to survive. This assumed that Brazen, Kix, and Methkins would be able to mount a decent rescue effort, of course. One thing was for sure, if we got out of this damn situation, we weren’t going to get caught again.
“Are you guys getting close at all?” I asked Brazen through a direct connection. “We’re getting our asses kicked in here.”
“We just dropped three guards and had to pull them into a dark room,” he replied.
“Did you just say you dropped down in front of three guards and pulled them off in a dark room?” I asked, thinking I had to have heard that wrong.
“I absolutely didn’t,” Brazen replied in a tight voice. “You’re obviously delirious. I think we’re getting close. This place just has a lot of twists and turns.”
“Follow the screams,” I told him.
“Hang in there, Piper.”
“Yeah, yeah, yeah.”
I gave a quick glance over at Cleary. He was watching as Temperance held a seductive dialog with my partner. Reaper remained silent the entire time, but I could tell that Cleary was not pleased with the game his boss was playing.
Jealousy?
That was my bet.
And that meant it was time to fuck with him some.
“What’s the matter, Cleary?” I deadpanned. “Don’t like it when the boss wants to wrap her tits around another guy’s cock?”
The look he gave me was priceless. It was a mixture of hate, distaste, and downright fascination. He probably thought that it wasn’t ladylike of me to speak in such a filthy fashion.
“Oh, I’m sorry,” I said, opening my good eye a little wider. “Was that too graphic for you?”
“Quite,” he replied.
“My bad,” I said and then spit out some blood. “Let me try again. Are you worried that your boss may want to toss my partner’s salad while giving him the best tug job he’s ever hadddddddd!?!?!”
Temperance spun on him and yelled, “Stop!”
He did, but his glare remained.
I just laughed right in his face. It was a forced laugh. Agonizing and difficult, but I couldn’t let him get the upper hand.
“It really bugs the shit out of you doesn’t it, Cleary the Queery?” I said, fighting to maintain my consciousness. “What I’m not quite sure of, though, is whether you’re jealous of Temperance, or Reaper.”
“What are you saying?” Cleary hissed, sneaking a peek at Temperance, likely making sure his voice wasn’t loud enough to bother her.
My shrug in response was weak, but I managed. “Just that I think maybe the real jealousy stems from the fact that you’re the one who wants to play a game of hide the beef with my partnerrrrrrr!”
Temperance turned again on Cleary, but this time she sma
cked him across the face. He yelped like the wimp that I knew him to be. It made me giggle.
“Yay,” I wheezed. “One point for our side. Eh, Reap?”
Reaper gazed over at me, shaking his head.
“You’re crazy, you know that?”
“Yup.”
A knock came at the door as Temperance was reading the riot act to Cleary. She didn’t answer until she was certain that her main torturer was prepared to control himself. Based on the look on his face, he wouldn’t touch that dial no matter what I said from that point on, at least while she was in the room.
The knock sounded again, this time much more insistently.
“What is it?” Temperance yelled out, opening the door. A young man on the other side kneeled immediately. “Get up, get up,” she complained. “Why are you disturbing me?”
“You asked to be notified when the PPD turned up at the main Faeland gate, ma’am,” he said, keeping his eyes affixed to the ground in front of her. “There are many officers on site, and they have a warrant.”
“Perfect,” she replied. Then she turned back to Cleary. “Do whatever you want with them, but make sure they’re dead within the hour.” She pointed firmly at him. “One hour, or you’ll be dead too.”
Then she gave us one last look and walked out.
Cleary’s face was so full of joy in that moment that it was as if he’d just been handed his first present on Christmas morning.
“Looks like you’re in charge now,” I said.
“Yes,” he cheered, “and you’re going to suffer an incredible amount before you die.”
“You can torture us and kill us and…” I paused. “Well, that’s about it, I suppose. But just remember something…” I squinted at him as best I could. “To me, Cleary the Queery, you’ll always be a big fat pussyyyyyyyyyyyy!”
Okay, that time I started singing it, but he spun the dials after a few seconds to help me carry the note.
Chapter 24
You know that weird person in your family who makes you uncomfortable whenever they show up at holiday parties? The one who says things that make you cringe? If you don’t think you have someone like that in your family, it’s you.
Deathly Temperance: A Piper & Payne Supernatural Thriller (Netherworld Paranormal Police Department Book 3) Page 8
