When they pulled up in front of the massive home, the driver circled the fountain and came to a stop in front of the doors. Aiden got out of the car and grabbed his bag from the seat beside him. “Here you go.” Aiden threw they guy more than enough cash than needed for the fee and the tip.
“Thanks man.” The driver accepted the cash with a smile.
Aiden opened the door and stepped out of the vehicle. “No prob. They will open the gate for you on your way out.” The guy nodded, put the car in gear and headed out, leaving Aiden standing in the drive, looking up at the Empresses vacation home.
He used to come here with them a lot when they were younger, but now he only came when there was some kind of job that needed to be done in the area. The place was fully staffed and a few members of the Reaper Guard stayed here all the time. Basically, they were on call for the Empress.
With a sigh, he shouldered his duffel and jogged up the steps into the house. Inside, the place was dead silent. The silence only added to the cold, yet classy, atmosphere of the interior. He knew there were several people around, but still, he neither heard nor saw anyone.
The first thing he needed to do was to go upstairs and find a room. He chose one of the average sized rooms that had an adjoining bathroom. The room was all white with the exception of a maroon accent wall. The queen sized bed had a maroon bedspread, matching pillows and rested in a wooden four poster frame. The sheer curtains were also maroon, to match the rest of the décor.
He threw his bag on the bed and then headed back downstairs to find some food. It was in the kitchen that he finally found signs of life. A short Hispanic woman stood before the massive granite island chopping different colored peppers and sorting them into bowls.
“Hello, you must be Aiden?” She greeted him cheerfully and without any trace of an accent.
He nodded. “I am.”
“I’m Alma, the cook here. I heard you were coming so I stocked up the fridge. The other guys here empty that thing so fast I can barely keep up with them. I assure you, if you open it now there will be food. Tomorrow however, I cannot make such a promise.”
Alma put a smile on his face. She seemed a genuinely happy person and those type of people were contagious. “No worries, Miss Alma, anything will do at this point. I would like a beer though, do we have any of that around?”
She pointed to the double door refrigerator. “Same place. Help yourself. I hope we have a brand you like.”
“I’m not picky,” he told her, opening the door and peeking in. On the bottom shelf he spotted a twelve pack of Sierra Nevada, which he could tolerate. Snatching one up, he reached in his pocket and withdrew his keys so he could use his bottle opener.
After tipping his head back and guzzling nearly half the bottle, he returned to the fridge. He had spotted a container with what looked like cold fried chicken in it. Pulling the container from the fridge, he popped it open. Yeah! It was fried chicken.
“Did you make this?” he asked Alma.
She must have seen him grab the chicken because she had a plate in her hand and set it down on the counter in front of him. “Yes. I make a large batch twice a week and leave it for whoever is hungry. It disappears rather quickly.”
Aiden nodded as he set two thighs on his plate and then took a bite of one. “Mmm, I can see why it doesn’t last long.”
Alma offered him a smile and then wiped her hands on a dish towel. “I am going to have my break now. If you require anything you can either come find me or text me at the number on the refrigerator.
“Thank you,” Aiden mumbled with his mouth full. Alma disappeared through the side door, leaving him alone with his chicken and beer.
An hour later, he had taken an SUV from the garage at the compound and was headed over the mountain. He took his time driving and enjoyed the views. The vineyards were beautiful against the hills that surrounded them. It wasn’t like Florida, but the wine country had its own appeal.
Aside from enjoying the scenery, Aiden spent the drive trying to figure out how exactly he was going to approach Jack. He certainly couldn’t go to the Estmond house, that place was crawling with Keepers. Going in there would mean certain death.
He rolled into Summer Hollow and still hadn’t decided exactly how he was going to do this. His fuckin emotions were getting in the way too. He was supposed to be here to give Jack a message and then get the hell out of California, but he missed his friend … the only one he’d ever really given a shit about in his whole life.
As he passed the grocery store, he spotted a shimmering red aura among the cars in the parking lot. Without hesitation, he hit the break, causing the car behind him to slam on theirs. The driver leaned on his horn and then hit the gas, passing him where they weren’t supposed to pass. He looked over just as the car went around him and the driver flipped him the bird.
“Asshole,” Aiden muttered, even though he knew damn well he was the one in the wrong. He backed up in the middle of the road and then turned into the parking lot of the tiny ass grocery store.
Before he parked, he caught sight of the red aura again, the sign of a Reaper. Beside the red one, was a harder to see silver aura of a Keeper. Jack and Lucy.
Looks like his problem solved itself. None of them would do anything to him in a public place. Not that he was afraid or anything, he just wasn’t in the mood to fight with Jack, or any of the Estmonds.
He parked the SUV and stepped out of the vehicle. Mentally, he prepped himself for the meeting. The last time he had seen Jack, the bastard had stabbed him. But, he had done it for the woman he loved. Aiden only somewhat grasped that concept, as he had never been in love. He knew Jack though, and he knew that man would do anything to protect that Keeper.
Forgiveness didn’t come easy to Aiden, in fact he had never needed to forgive someone because no one had ever dared cross him. But, he forgave Jack for all that he did because he was Jack … his brother.
He entered the grocery store and scanned the front of the store. There were four cashiers, only two of which were open. A rack of those twenty five cent candy machines sat between the exit door and large freezers holding bags of ice. He smiled at a dark haired cashier who was ogling him and then headed down the main aisle to find Jack.
As he passed each row he peered down the aisle to see if his friend was there. He found him on the third one. Jack and Lucy stood in the freezers and appeared to be in a heated discussion. As he got closer, he could hear what they were saying.
“Luce, I don’t like frozen yogurt, it’s nasty.”
“Just try it, you pansy ass.” She opened the freezer and snatched up a carton.
“No, I want something with chocolate and nuts and more chocolate and lots of fuckin’ calories. Not your chick food.”
“What are you, on your period?” She slapped at him and threw the yogurt into the cart. “Should we rent a chick flick to complete your chocolate binging?”
“I like chocolate, sue me, that doesn’t mean I’m emotional enough for chick flicks.”
“Fine,” Lucy sighed. “We’ll get both, but you better promise me that you will at least try the yogurt.”
“I promise nothing.” Jack narrowed his eyes into a mock glare.
“Then no chocolate for you.”
“Shit, what will I eat while Dr. Phil is on?”
Lucy laughed and headed for the freezer that held the ice cream.
Aiden smiled at their interaction and then watched his friend bend down and give Lucy a kiss. He had truly never seen Jack so happy over something since they were children.
Then, as if Jack sensed his presence, he lifted his head and spotted him. Without hesitation, he moved in front of Lucy in one step, guarding his precious Keeper.
“What the hell, Jack!” Lucy tried to push him out of the way. When she leaned around Jack’s body to see what the problem was, her eyes landed on Aiden and widened. Oddly enough, it wasn’t fear in her eyes, it was interest.
“Aiden,” Jack nodded wit
hout taking his eyes off of him. “Why are you here?”
Aiden knew that moving closer would only make Jack even more defensive, so he stayed where he was. “I just came to give you a message from your mother.”
“We got the message loud and clear,” Jack retorted.
“That isn’t the message I’m talking about. Can I come closer so we can talk?”
“Fuck off.”
“Jack,” Aiden tried to explain, “I’m not here to hurt anyone.”
“You forget, Aiden, I know your games and what you’re capable of all too well.”
Lucy finally managed to step around her protector and stood by his side. “What is your message, Aiden?” Her voice was steady and firm.
Nodding gratefully at Lucy, he focused on Jack again. “Your father won’t last much longer. The Empress wanted me to come and tell you this … and give you the opportunity to come home to see him before he passes.”
This news was somewhat expected. Everyone was shocked the man had hung on for as long as he had already. He watched Jack process the news. First his eyes warmed a bit, then they went cold, blocking out any feeling he had for his father. Aiden knew what was coming.
“I can’t. I won’t leave Lucy. Even if I wanted to go back there and see him I wouldn’t. It’s too dangerous.”
Lucy slid her hands around Jacks and tilted her gaze up to his. “Jack, this is your father. Maybe you should go.”
“No,” he shook his head. “That part of my life is over. They are no longer my family. My mom almost killed me for fucks sake! I know my father would have tried even harder than she did to get rid of me.
Aiden agreed. “Yeah, and I wouldn’t be here either.”
“What is that supposed to mean?” Jack demanded.
Aiden saw his opening and took a chance by stepping forward a few paces. Jack noticed, but didn’t seem to care.
“After the mess at the compound, I fell from the grace of our Empress. When they were going to shoot you, I kicked the gun away and stopped it. That little action messed up everything I’ve worked for my entire life.”
“So why did she send you here?”
Why do you think, ass hat. “Because she’s not stupid, she knows that I am the only one of us who had even a chance of getting close enough to talk to you.”
“Well, you found me, we talked, now you can tell her I’m not interested.”
“All right, I will pass the message.” Dammit Aiden, talk to him some more. Don’t waste this opportunity. Jack slid his arm around Lucy’s waist, turning her away. “Uh, Jack?”
Their eyes met and locked. “What?” Jack demanded.
“I miss you, dude. I just wanted you to know and I’m going to try and get out soon. I’ll probably get caught though, cause she is having me watched.” He shook his head, choking back all those girly emotions.
Jack narrowed his eyes and his arm slid off of Lucy’s waist, but quickly grasped her hand. It was fascinating, almost like they always had to have contact. Plus, they didn’t have the burn that Keepers and Reapers usually have. “Okay. Come closer,” Jack told him, dragging Lucy to meet him half way.
“I thought you didn’t want to get near me.”
“I don’t, but I want to talk to you at a distance where no one is going to hear, if the Reaper Guard really is watching you. Now tell me what’s been happening.”
Aiden shrugged. “I just want out now.”
“You know there is no way to just get out.”
“I know that, I’m the one who told you I’d help you before all this happened. But now, I don’t like it. You’re not there, I don’t like the way the Empress rules, I don’t …” He stopped, it was one thing to say you missed someone or that you didn’t like the practices of your leader, to admit fear was not Aiden’s style. He was a killer. Fear should not exist to him.
“Don’t what?” Jack pushed.
“Nothing, don’t worry about it.” Aiden hooked his thumbs on the pockets of his jeans.
Lucy’s eyes were swinging back and forth between him and Jack as they conversed. “Aiden,” She asked softly, “Is there something you want to tell us, something we need to know?”
“Nah, I think I covered it.” He turned, but before he could walk away, he felt Jacks hand wrap around his arm.
“Wait.”
Aiden stopped and turned to face his friend again. “Are you afraid, Aiden? Do you think they are going to hurt you?”
Aiden guffawed, “I’m not afraid of anything, but yeah, one wrong move and my ass is toast.”
Lucy spoke before Jack could get a word in. “Then don’t go back.”
He felt his lips curl into a small smile. “I have to, there is nowhere else to go just yet. I need time to plan.”
The three of them were silent for a moment and then Lucy tilted her head, looking up at Jack. “Uh oh, I see the wheels churning in there,” Jack teased her.
“I have an idea,” she whispered thoughtfully.
They were all quiet again, waiting for her to speak. “Well, tell us what it is?” Jack pushed her.
She moved her big brown eyes from Jack to Aiden. “What if you continued to work for the Empress for a little while, plan your escape and then when you are ready to come back, we will give you as much protection as we can in exchange for any information you can give us about what she is planning for me and my family.”
Aiden stepped back, a little shocked for several reasons. “You want me to be a spy?”
She nodded.
“No.” Jack raked his fingers through his black hair. “I don’t like it.”
“Why not?” She elbowed him. “It’s a good idea.”
“He could be pretending to spy on them, but really be spying on us and taking information back to my mother instead of the other way around.”
“They are already watching you, man. There are Reapers all over this town.” Jack and Lucy shared a knowing look, but didn’t elaborate on anything. “What? Did I miss something?”
“No,” Jack mumbled. “We know they are here though. We just don’t know how many, or how many more will be coming.”
Aiden thought about his choices for a moment. He could go back and keep doing shit jobs for the Empress forever and maybe … just maybe, someday earn his rank back. Or, he could spy for the Keepers, get out of the Reaper society like Jack did, which would also mean that he would be poor.
Fucked or fucked, should be easy to choose right.
“I’ll do it.”
Jacks head swung from Lucy to him. “What?”
Aiden knew he hadn’t seen that one coming. All his life he had been a loyal member of the Reaper Guard, it was his life mission and nothing got in the way of that. “I’ll do it. The Empress is going to turn on me sooner or later. If I can manage to get through this without being caught, I accept your offer.”
“I didn’t offer you shit!” Jack protested.
Lucy shoved him. “Well I did, so back off.”
“Lucy this is dangerous.”
She rolled her eyes. “We are already in danger, taking a chance with Aiden is worth it.”
“You are so stubborn.” Jack shook his head.
“So are you,” she shot back at him.
Aiden held his hands up to stop them. “All right, look. I probably shouldn’t be seen talking to you for very long if this is the way thing are going to go. Tell me your cell number so that I can call you from a phone that isn’t issued by the Empress.”
Lucy rattled off her phone number, which he memorized, and then moved just a little bit closer to him. She looked up and their eyes locked. “Aiden, I can forgive what you did to me, only because of what you did for Jack at the end. So, don’t disappoint me. I may seem sweet and innocent on the outside, but I can be a cold, hard killer too.”
Whoa, she was still feisty. No wonder Jack loved her, he needed someone to tolerate his snark. “There is one thing I don’t do, sweetheart, and that is lie. If I wanted to hurt you right now I could, even wi
th Jack here. So, if I say this is how it is going to be, then this is how it is going to be. I’ll do what you ask, and you help me in return, deal?”
She nodded. “Deal.”
Jack rubbed his face. “Fuck, your family is going to be so pissed.”
“I’ll take care of them. Now let’s go.” She went back to the cart and began pushing it away from the two of them. Jack threw him a weary glance and then followed his woman down the aisle.
It wasn’t until he had already turned to go back to the front of the store when he heard Jack call out to him. “Aiden?”
He turned back around. “Yeah?”
“I miss you too, bro.”
Aiden only nodded and spun back around. He needed to get the hell out of this store, like right fucking now. What in the world had he just agreed to?
On the way to the SUV, he spotted another silver aura among the cars and then one of the Estmond sisters appeared on the sidewalk.
He couldn’t remember her name, but like the rest of the Estmond Clan, she had dark red hair and big brown eyes. Her hair was pulled into a bun, tight at the back of her head, and she wore jeans with a purple form fitting tee shirt. Her outfit was plain as far as clothes go, but somehow she rocked the look.
She spotted him and her eyes widened. It wasn’t fear or surprise he saw flaming in those pretty brown eyes, it was anger. “You should know better than to show your face in this town, Reaper,” she hissed as she approached him.
He ran his gaze from her toes all the way up to the top of her head. Why was it that all the women in the Estmond family were amazingly hot. His eyes settled on how her tee fit snugly against her chest.
“Hey, Reaper, my eyes are up here.”
He shifted his stare so that their eyes locked. “I’m not here for trouble. I had to bring Jack a message from his mother. It had nothing to do with Reaper activities.”
She blew a breath out from between her lips. “That is hard to believe. Everything that bitch does is Reaper related.”
Aiden didn’t agree nor disagree.
Keeper of the Peace (Graveyard Guardians #2) Page 10
