Hades’ Daughter (The War of Fate)

by Charlotte Carol

  “Yes. May I ask who was lying dead on my floor?”

  “You’re a weird chick,” he says, ignoring my last question.

  “And you’re a gang leader, so what?”

  “A normal girl would have screamed or fainted if they found a dead body, but you didn’t care,” he comments.

  “How do you know I didn’t?” I challenge, raising an eyebrow.

  “You wouldn’t have accepted,” he states simply.

  “What I said when I first met you was true—I’ve seen a lot of dead bodies in my lifetime,” I supply as an explanation.

  He looks at me closely as if to try and work something out before shrugging.

  “So have I,” he adds.

  “Why crime? Why start a gang?” I ask, firing other questions off at him.

  “Whoa, those are big questions,” he remarks, clearing his throat.

  I shrug. “The big ones usually have more interesting answers.”

  I wait for his answer, noticing how he is less comfortable. I know I’ve hit a nerve with this question, and confirmation comes when Reid rubs his now empty hands over his face. When his face reappears, vulnerable eyes stare back at me.

  “Ask another question, please…” he says quietly.

  Shocked at seeing and hearing him that way, I relent and ask another question.

  Reid sips some of his beer, his mask coming back into place. Whatever wall he has built up—I just knocked it down with that one question, and now he is slowly placing the bricks back into place. I guess no one really asks him that question. They’re probably too afraid to.

  “Okay…Why are you called the Grim Reapers?” I ask.

  Instantly, a smile comes onto Reid’s lips, his vulnerable moment forgotten.

  “Easy. Because we bring death and destruction wherever we go, and people fear the name,” he answers. “Want to see the infamous tattoo?” he asks with a wiggle of his eyebrows.

  I laugh and nod. He moves his arm so his wrist is facing up. A skull with a scythe in the background is the main part of the tattoo; however, the two seem to be entwined with a vine. On one of the leaves are the initials G.R. I trace it, marveling at the artistic excellence. Although it is in black, it looks so lifelike.

  “I also have one on my neck to show my rank. Want to see it?” he asks, moving his head so his neck is exposed. I lean forward to have a closer look, balancing myself on his knees.

  “I can’t…” I start, pulling back slightly to look at him puzzled but am cut off by Reid’s lips on my mine. My fingers clutch his thighs tighter as the taste and smell of him touch my senses. His soft lips move once over my lips before he pulls back. I lick my lips as I fall away from him, trying to get over the sudden bloodlust I am starting to feel. I take a couple of breaths, trying to focus on his words.

  “I don’t have one to show my rank,” he admits.

  “I kind of guessed that when I couldn’t see it, and you kissed me. Nice move,” I tell him with a slight laugh, my bloodlust dampening slightly. The next four words that fill the silence has my bloodlust being extinguished completely.

  “Nice day, isn’t it?” a familiar voice asks from above us.

  I let out a low growl so only the newcomer can hear as I look up to see his shadow blocking the sun. I should have guessed that he would pull something like this when he allowed me to shoo him away.

  “Yes, it is,” I grit out to my dad who is grinning down at us.

  “Do you mind if I join?” he asks, already sitting down.

  I scoff. “Yes, actually.”

  “Sorry, I didn’t catch that. I’m sure you wouldn’t have said no. You look like nice people.”

  I scratch my head as it goes silent and as a result, awkward.

  “So…” I say.

  My dad turns to look at Reid, his expression going confused and then thoughtful.

  “I’ve seen you before,” my dad says slowly.

  I see Reid’s chest puff out slightly as he waits for my dad to say he’s the leader of the Grim Reapers, but my dad, true to form, doesn’t miss the chance to embarrass. He clicks his fingers as his face lights up. “That’s it! You were the guy that served me McDonald’s earlier. Thanks for that!”

  I have to hold in my laughter at Reid’s smug expression falling and being replaced with a murderous one.

  “Are you being fucking serious?” Reid asks, his fist clenching at his side, looking like he’s ready to punch my dad. I’m not sorry to admit that if he did, I wouldn’t be quick to stop Reid. I would allow him to get in a few punches.

  “Yes. Why wouldn’t I be?” my dad answers seriously.

  “Do you know who I am?” Reid asks my dad who is now holding a shit-eating grin on his face. I bite my lip as I watch their interaction. This is not technically how I thought my dad and my potential boyfriend would be getting on.

  “Father Christmas?” my dad asks, not missing a beat.

  “Ha ha, very funny,” Reid answers sarcastically before continuing proudly, “No, I’m the Grim Reaper.”

  “Believe me, you’re not…” He chuckles as he gets up, brushing the sand off his pants.

  “It was nice talking to you,” my dad calls over his shoulder as he walks off down the beach, his hands in his pockets. I look back to Reid who is staring off at the sea before his eyes fly to me.

  “He was the guy you were talking to at the park, wasn’t he?”

  I nod. “I think he’s stalking me,” I reply, not showing any inclination that I am joking. I watch his reaction, testing to see if it came to it whether he would protect me.

  Reid jumps up, his eyes furious again, scanning the beach for signs of my dad. I know he would have teleported home by now.

  “Where did that bastard go? He was here a minute ago,” Reid says loudly, going to walk away from the blanket before stopping. His shoulders rise and fall with his heavy breathing from his anger.

  He turns back to me, his eyes a lot softer than they were now but still holding the steeliness that was there the first day I met him. I shrug at him, hiding my smile with my drink. He kneels in front of me, concern shining in his blue eyes. He takes my hands.

  “Please, if you see him again, let me know?” he pleads.

  “Okay,” I agree.

  Silence returns to us again, and as Reid moves back beside me, my eyes fix on the clear, inviting water. I stand up, looking down at Reid.

  “Are you coming?” I ask, reaching for the hem of my shirt. His eyebrows rise for a moment before he responds.

  “Where?”

  “The sea,” I reply, pulling the shirt over my head and moving to my jeans. I drop them both to the floor and take my necklace off, putting it on top. Reid’s eyes move over my underwear-clad body. I bite my lip as I see a smirk tug at the corner of his lips.

  “You don’t need to have an excuse to take your clothes off around me,” he tells me.

  I roll my eyes at him as I kick some sand toward him. Before I can see his reaction, I am off running to the waves at a human pace. I giggle when I hear the thud of clothes hitting the sand.

  I enter the waves, gasping at the shock of the coolness against my skin. I shiver but continue on. I continue walking until I can no longer stand, kicking my legs to stay afloat. I turn back around to find Reid but don’t see him.

  I furrow my eyebrows before feeling something encircle my ankle. I struggle against it as it pulls me down and into the cold water. I continue to fight until the bubbles clear, and I see Reid’s face smiling back at me. I pretend to stick my tongue out at him, not actually doing as I don’t feel like swallowing salty water. He lets go of my ankle, allowing me to swim back up to the surface.

  As I watch him swim back up, I wait until he breaks the surface before resting my hands on his shoulders. He leans forward, but I use my extra strength to dunk him under. He grabs my hips, meaning I go down with him.

  I grin at him as I feel his hands go up to my waist. His fingers trace lightly there. He’s tickling me! I fight
against his grip as he continues. I hate being tickled. I open my mouth, swallowing water as I laugh. I choke on the water, swimming back to the surface, letting out a giggle through my coughing when I know I won’t swallow any more water. This is the most fun that I have had in a while.

  Reid’s hands find me again, holding me up from drowning. My laughter dies down, and my smile lessens when he begins to pull me through the water. I cling onto his shoulders as our chest press together, our eyes meeting in an intense gaze. I lean closer to him, and that’s when everything from earlier, the bloodlust I felt, comes rushing back in full force, and my demon instincts kick in.

  My fangs descend; my eyes change color; my face transforms until my horns sit on top of a demonic face. I just get a glimpse of Reid’s face before I bury my face in his neck, biting into his soft flesh there. Blood starts to pool into my mouth instantly, and I begin to swallow down the blood.

  I gasp and begin to swallow it down faster when the shock of the taste hits me. I clutch Reid’s shoulders even tighter as the ambrosia-like liquid enters my body, trying to keep my long, sharp fingernails from piercing his skin. I let out a moan into Reid’s neck when he grabs my legs and brings them around him, allowing me to feel just how much I am affecting him with my bite.

  “Scar…” he moans. Reid’s voice is the thing that cuts through the haze of lust. If he hadn’t have said anything, I wouldn’t have stopped until he was sucked dry. His blood is addicting.

  I pull away, detaching my legs from his hips. I look away from his eyes, which are reminders of what I just did, with the haze that is blurring them. I look down at his neck and see the wound. Blood begins to trail down from it, so I lick the red river and then the puncture wounds on his neck, healing them.

  “Sorry…” I mutter, moving my gaze from him completely to look at the beach.

  “Don’t apologize,” Reid says, and I hear the waves break around his body as he moves closer to me.

  “No, I shouldn’t have lost control like that,” I respond, moving further back from him, not trusting myself. What must he be thinking of me?

  “I liked it. Is that weird?” he asks. Finally deciding to look him in the eyes, I only see lust and curiosity. No fear. No resentment.

  “No, it’s not weird.” My head is spinning at how well he is taking it; he hasn’t even mentioned anything about what happened. He hasn’t even known me for long, and I’m already showing him that I’m not human. He’s not showing that he’s the least bit scared as he moves closer to me. His hands move up to my face, cupping it.

  “Stop with that look, please,” he implores, staring into my eyes. “You look like I’m going to go running off screaming.”

  “Aren’t you? It would be a natural reaction.”

  “No.”

  I sigh, closing my eyes. I only have one choice. I promised my dad that I wouldn’t let anyone find out, and I don’t want to give my dad an excuse to bring me back down to Hell.

  “Look into my eyes, please,” I mutter reluctantly; I don’t want to hide from him. I want him to know, and like, the real me, not an image I have to show the world.

  His piercing blue eyes meet mine, and for a moment I forget what I am doing. I swallow.

  “You are going to forget what just happened with the bite. Instead, you will think that we were playing around in the waves and ended up making out.”

  His eyes stay trained on me for a moment before he blinks and he raises his eyebrows as if waiting for something.

  “Is that a trick of yours?” he asks after another minute.

  I stare at him puzzled. He hasn’t forgotten?

  “Wait, what? You can remember?” I ask.

  He nods slowly. “Yeah, was I not meant to?”

  “Obviously. Did you think I just did that for fun? Hey, why don’t I ask him nicely to forget about me! That will work!” I say harsher than I intended.

  My compulsion has never not worked. It can’t just stop working; I need it for moments like this! I decide to see if maybe I had done something wrong the first time and try and compel Reid again. However, the same thing happens as before. Is there something wrong with me, or is it Reid?

  Not giving him time to ask any more questions, I grab his arm and drag him after me to the beach. When my feet hit the dry sand, I pull him to the blanket and basket.

  “Put your clothes on,” I tell him sharply, shoving them into his chest before pulling my own on.

  “Are you mad at me?”

  “No, I just don’t understand why it didn’t work. It’s never happened before,” I say, pulling the elastic out of my hair and combing my fingers through it.

  I search for my phone and pick it up, hitting my dad’s contact. I pace the patch of sand, watching Reid pull his shirt over his head, waiting for the phone to connect. When it does, I don’t allow him to talk.

  “I’m coming down with Reid. Clear the house and surrounding area of anyone who can’t control their hunger,” I say simply before hanging up. Shoving the phone into my pocket, I grab Reid’s arm again.

  “Wha—”

  “Hold on and don’t let go. I don’t feel like searching for you. If you do, it can guarantee that it wouldn’t be any fun for you to find yourself lost,” I tell him, already closing my eyes.

  “What are we doing?” he asks as his hand comes down onto my arm holding his other.

  “We’re going home,” I say, gripping his arm more firmly, picturing the ornate front doors breaking up the stone wall of the front of my house back in Hell. Who thought I would be back there so soon? I think as I feel the familiar pull on my body, dragging me down to my destination.

  Chapter 18

  Fun and Games

  I feel my feet hit the hard floor, and when I open my eyes, I see the ornate doors in real life. I look around and see that my dad followed what I asked by getting rid of everyone, meaning the part of Hell we are now standing in is empty. I let my head fall back and the heat encompass my body. It feels good to be home. I look to Reid, who is still holding onto me in a vice-like grip. Beads of sweat roll down his red face.

  “We’re here,” I let him know.

  “Jesus, it’s hot!”

  “We won’t be here long,” I say.

  Reid opens his eyes and looks around. “Where is here?” he asks, his eyes wide.

  “Home.”

  “Where is home?”

  “Hell,” I answer as if it isn’t a big deal; it’s not for me.

  “No, really…”

  “Yes, really…” I answer with a laugh.

  His grip on me seems to get even tighter.

  “Come on, Grim Reaper, you can let go of me now, or are you scared?”

  “I’m not scared,” he insists defiantly, letting go of me.

  “Yeah…” I say as I begin to walk to the doors.

  Someone screams nearby, and I hear Reid gulp and take a step toward me. I chuckle as I push the heavy doors open, going to take a step in. However, I don’t get very far because as soon as I step over the threshold, I am thrown through the air, landing with a thump on the hard ground ten feet away from where I was. What just happened?

  I groan, rolling onto my side and pushing myself to my feet. I gingerly walk back to Reid, wary of anything else that could potentially happen. When I get back to him with, thankfully, nothing else happening, Reid asks what I was thinking, “What was that? Are you okay?”

  I survey the door and know that only one person could be behind this. He may not like to admit it, but I get my prankster side from him.

  “Yes, I think my dad is playing a joke on me,” I answer Reid’s question, glaring at the open doorway. “Cover your ears.” I wait until Reid has placed his hands over his ears before calling for my dad.

  “Dad, you sneaky devil, where are you?”

  Reid turns to me once I’ve stopped shouting, a smirk on his lips.

  “Wow.”

  “I’m full of surprises,” I tell him with a wink. I look back to the door and
see that my dad has decided to join our date for the second time. A big grin stretches across his face as he looks me over and then Reid.

  I turn to see that Reid is sending him a glare, looking like he’s ready to charge at him. I have to hold back a happy smile at Reid being protective of me. He looks like he would kill my dad, whom I told him was my stalker.

  “I’d watch how you look at me. You may be stuck here if you don’t stop glaring at me like that,” my “stalker” threatens menacingly.

  “Be nice,” I chastise. I ignore the curious look that Reid is sending my way. He seems to have put two (my stalker on the beach) and two (him showing up when I called for my dad) together and got to four (that my “stalker” is my dad, and I lied to him).

  “But he started it!” my dad objects, pointing toward Reid.

  I raise an eyebrow at his childish actions. Sometimes it feels like I’m the one raising him and not the other way around.

  “I assume you had something to do with this,” I say, waving my hand at the doorway, against which my dad is leaning.

  “You know me too well. How do you like it?” he asks gleefully. I swear he doesn’t care about hurting me.

  “Well, it works,” I tell him, rubbing my sore butt. “Can I come in now you’ve had your fun?”

  He pretends to think about it for a moment.

  “Hm. No,” he answers with a smile.

  “Why not?”

  “You can’t control your bloodlust, by the looks of things,” my dad says, motioning to where there is now dry blood on Reid’s neck, “and you asked me to rid the house of anyone like that, so that is why this thing has been put up.” After he has finished his explanation, he turns on his heel and walks back into the house.

  I stomp my foot, letting out a sound of frustration, just like a petulant child not getting her way.

  I take a deep breath and turn to Reid and then back to the door. My dad didn’t say anything about humans not being able to get through.

  “You try,” I suggest.

  “Pardon?” he asks, slightly scared, his gaze going to the door. I raise my eyebrows at him.

  “I thought you were a gang leader, but as soon as you face something that is ‘scary,’ you become a wimp.” I goad him.