Death Wish (Reaper Reborn Book 1)

by Harper A. Brooks

  Rubbing at a stiff muscle in my shoulder, I replied, “Eh, I haven’t spilled blood in a long time. I have a lot to catch up on.”

  “Well, just to be safe…” Kay reached for the window to close it.

  A gray-skinned hand reached through the opening and seized Kay by the arm.

  “Kay! No!”

  But it was too late. Xaver yanked her out of the window, leaving us only with the echo of his laughter.

  I rushed over and peered outside. “Kay! Kay!” But she was gone. Vanished.

  Not knowing what else to do, I ran out of the apartment, my heart pounding harder than it ever had before. Laurence was right behind me as I circled the building, but there were no signs of Kay or the demon.

  “What do we do now?” Laurence cried out, searching the surrounding area.

  “I’m thinking. I’m thinking.” I paced in front of the boarded-up store. My head was still throbbing from the fight with Xaver in the bathroom and now from the new panic of losing Kay to the monster.

  Come on, Jade. Think.

  We needed to rescue Kay. That was a given. But how to find her…

  Something resurfaced from my memory—something Kay had said a long time ago about Laurence and doing a spell to find out who I really was in life.

  “Laurence!”

  He jumped. His nerves were obviously shot.

  “Do you know how to do a location spell?” I asked.

  “Uh, I’ve been practicing. It’s the highest form of level one magic there is, so I haven’t perfected it yet.”

  “Didn’t you say the fire ball was level two magic? Shouldn’t that mean you’re level two now?”

  “That fireball was extremely lucky. And it was small compared to what it should have been. I’ve been tinkering with the spell, but I’m not there yet,” he said. “As for moving levels, that’s not how it works for witches and sorcerers. You move to the next level after passing a test held by the Magic Council.”

  What the hell did I know? These weren’t the types of questions you asked people. Especially ones you just helped die to cross over.

  “Level one is mostly defensive magic. Protection spells, concealing and levitation spells. Counter curses. Stuff like that. Level two is more offensive, and they don’t really tell you what’s in level three. Not many of us get that far.”

  “Do you think you can perform a location spell to find Kay?” I asked. “Or even Xaver?”

  She was bound to be wherever he was. After everything, it was doubtful he would let her out of his sight again. Even more so since he knew I was involved in this.

  “Maybe,” Laurence said, “but I would need a piece of her…”

  “Er—what?”

  “Like a lock of her hair or a clipped fingernail. Something for the magic to know who it’s looking for.”

  There had to be something in her apartment. “Go back upstairs and snag her hairbrush or something.”

  “Good idea.” He was gone in the next second.

  I took the moment alone to really take in what was going on. Did I trust Laurence to do the spell? Did I really have a choice? If Marla was still here, I could have asked her, but it was doubtful she was even done with her afterlife orientation and readjustment. It would be some time before she was sent to her dimension and settled in. And even if she was, the afterlife wasn’t really the safest place for me right now, was it? Azrael could find me a lot quicker on the other side. The dead was his “thing” after all.

  Nope, I was stuck with level one Laurence.

  “Jade.” Laurence’s harsh whisper came from around the corner.

  I followed it to find him sitting on the stoop again, a piece of paper laid out on his lap and Kay’s brush in his hand. “What’s up?”

  “You can’t blame me if this doesn’t go right, got it? I’m doing all I can.”

  I opened my mouth to say “Well, no shit” but stopped myself. In the time I had known Laurence, one thing was for certain: he had enough self-confidence to fill a grain of rice. He was always doubting himself and his magic. Maybe that was contributing to his mediocre spell casting?

  Didn’t magic come from within, or some philosophical nonsense like that?

  It was worth a try.

  “Laurence, look at me.”

  He did, and the worry in his eyes spoke volumes. My mind blanked. Dammit, I was awful at this stuff.

  What would Kay say to him if she were here? Something encouraging and gentle, no doubt.

  Be gentle, Jade.

  I took a deep breath, trying to channel my inner Kay. “You can do this, Laurence. Don’t get in your head. It’s your own worst enemy.”

  “I know that.” His voice rose in annoyance. “You don’t think I know that? I have to get this right. I have to. For her.”

  “Listen to me here. There is no pressure.” He went to cut me off, but I held up my hand. “I know other ways to find her, but I want you to do it because I know you can. I just saw you conjure a fireball without being a level two sorcerer. That’s unheard of.”

  Man, the lies were just rolling off my tongue now, but the sudden glint of hope in Laurence’s eyes kept me going.

  “I know you love Kay, and she loves you, too. That connection is what we need. It’ll strengthen the location spell.”

  It sounded as if that would work, but who knew if it made any difference at all? I wasn’t going to tell him that, though.

  He plucked a couple of hairs from Kay’s brush and pulled off the necklace he’d been wearing. It was a white crystal wrapped in wire and then threaded with a rope. Holding the hairs in his palm, he muttered a few words in Latin, then placed the top of the necklace over them and closed his fist so the crystal could sway freely over the paper.

  That’s when I noticed the paper wasn’t blank. Laurence had scribbled a large blob-like object with small random dots inside. It took me a second to realize the sketch was supposed to be Fairport, and the dots were all the major landmarks in the city. The harbor, city hall, cemetery, the war memorial, and Oh! Kay’s, where we stood now.

  He said a few more words, and the crystal began to sway like a pendulum. It rocked back and forth by an invisible force and then around and around, skimming the crudely drawn map for a place to land.

  But it never did. It just continued to swing.

  I waited a few moments before saying, “What’s it doing?”

  “I don’t know,” he said, frustrated. “It’s not supposed to take this long.”

  Another minute of the necklace swinging, and he slammed it down. “It’s like it can’t reach her.” He sighed. “I’m sorry, Jade. I thought I could do it, but I obviously can’t.”

  “Hey, stop that. You did great,” I said. “Maybe the map isn’t big enough. Maybe she’s somewhere—”

  “What?”

  My stomach clenched painfully. I knew exactly where Xaver had taken Kay.

  “The spell didn’t work because of you,” I said as dread set in. “It didn’t work because Kay is no longer on this plane.”

  Laurence’s face fell in horror. “What do you mean?”

  “Xaver brought her to Hell.”

  He leapt to his feet. “What!”

  Monnie had said Xaver would probably do something like that—bring her to a Hell dimension until she gave birth, where she couldn’t be reached by anyone. How could I have forgotten something like that?

  “We need a way to summon a demon,” I said in a rush, my mind and heart racing too fast. “Is there a spell for that?”

  “Not that I know of. Maybe a level three?” He put the crystal necklace back around his neck.

  There was no way for me to get to Marla to ask her.

  Maybe I could find another level three witch or sorcerer and force them to perform a summoning spell, if that even existed. But I didn’t have time to go knocking on doors and ask every single person what kind of supernatural they were. There would be a lot of confused humans in the mix, too.

  Who else did I know
who could help us?

  Wait… Maybe humans were just what I needed.

  “Do you have a car?” I asked.

  He pulled his keys out of his pocket, looking extremely confused, and pointed across the street. “The blue Toyota there. Why?”

  “Let’s go. I’ll fill you in on the way.” Sprinting toward his car, I waved for him to follow. “I’m driving.”

  Why had I insisted to drive Laurence’s car? Because I wanted to, mainly. It’d been a long time since I had done such a basic human thing, and I wanted a crack at it. I couldn’t be as bad as Cole. But after missing the exit I needed to get off at and having to circle back around again, I realized I probably should have taken the passenger seat.

  I wasn’t awful. If anything, I was driving a little too slow. I just stuck to the basics—steering, gas and brake pedal, blinker—and stayed away from all the fancy buttons on the dashboard.

  When we pulled up to Wyatt and Sean’s trailer, I threw the car into park and climbed out. Laurence did, too.

  “Where are we?” He took in the junk cars and scrap metal all over the property and small trailer in the middle, boarded up and marked with strange symbols. It looked like they had added a few more since my visit with Cole.

  “Some friends.” Wow, I sounded like Cole, didn’t I? “Let me do the talking here, okay?”

  Laurence nodded, appearing thankful more than anything else.

  “Throw some protection spells around the house, will you?” Even though I knew most of those symbols were meant to keep out certain creatures, we could use all the protection we could get.

  Their German shepherd, Angel, barked from inside the trailer, but instead of Wyatt and his gun meeting us at the door, I spotted his suspicious glare through a boarded-up window as I walked up to his porch.

  “Uh, hey, Wyatt. It’s me,” I said with a little wave. Why did I feel like even though I couldn’t see his shotgun, it was still pointed in my direction?

  “Who’s that?” the old man asked, nodding toward Laurence, who was walking around the trailer, hands up and chanting. “And what is he doing to my house?”

  “That’s Laurence. He’s a sorcerer. He’s placing more protection to your house.”

  Wyatt snorted.

  “Can I come in? I have something to ask you.” When he didn’t move, I added, “Please. It’s important, and I’m on a strict deadline here. Lives are at stake.”

  He still seemed unimpressed. “Lives are always on the line,” he said. “Where’s Masters?”

  The mention of Cole’s name brought back the anger. And surprisingly, sorrow. I hated that part of it. It meant Cole had managed to worm his way into my heart somehow.

  “Not here,” was all I said. Wyatt had known Cole longer than I had, so telling him the truth about our split could make him not want to help me. “He might meet us later.”

  Not a total lie. Cole would come back here eventually, and hopefully when that happened, I wouldn’t be around. He had to be looking for me by now, realizing I hadn’t just gone to a vending machine or to grab a slice of pizza.

  Wyatt nodded toward the front door. “Stand on the welcome mat.”

  An odd request, but okay.

  The mat, which had a faded Christmas tree on it, looked normal enough, so I did as he asked and waited. Nothing happened.

  Then the creaky storm door opened to reveal Wyatt and the shotgun at his side. “All right. Come in.”

  “What was that all about?” I asked, stepping inside.

  Angel rushed toward me, pushing her large head under my hand so I could pet her. I scratched her behind the ears.

  “Demon trap under the mat. Just in case.” Wyatt set his gun down against the wall and walked over to his armchair. Angel took her place at his side. “So, why’re you back here?”

  “I need a way to summon a demon. From Hell.”

  His eyes widened. “And why in the world would you want to do that? They need to stay in Hell. We shouldn’t be helping them get out.”

  “Xaver, the one who impregnated my friend, kidnapped her and took her into one of the Hell dimensions so I can’t reach her,” I said. “Is there a way to summon him?”

  Wyatt slumped in his oversized chair and sighed. “There is, but it’s extremely difficult. And messy.”

  Messy?

  “We’re going to need blood. A lot of it, too.”

  Oh. Messy. It made sense now.

  There was a knock at the door. I turned to see Laurence standing there. He gave a little wave.

  Angel barked, ears perking up, until she was shushed by her owner. Then she curled by his feet.

  Wyatt gestured for him to come in. He did, proving he was also demon free.

  Just like I had when I first entered the human’s home, I marveled at the mountains of books and papers and strange symbols covering the walls, floors, and windows.

  “I have some wild cats in the area,” Wyatt said. “Sean has a few bowls out back where he leaves food for them. Maybe if I snag two or three…”

  Whoa. I was not going to sacrifice Sean’s cats. No way. Just like I wouldn’t do anything to hurt Angel.

  “What about using a person’s blood? Would that work better?”

  “Yes, actually. And a supernatural’s is even better. Has the energy and magic needed for the incantation.”

  I knew what I had to do. But before I could say anything, Laurence stepped forward.

  “We’ll use my blood. I volunteer it,” he said.

  “Absolutely not,” I shot back. “You don’t need to do that. I’ll do it.”

  “Do you even have blood?” Laurence asked.

  I showed him the dry blood on my wrists from where Xaver’s talons had sunk in. “It seems like it.”

  “Can you even…die?” he asked.

  That was a good question. I definitely could feel pain in this “alive” state. I could bleed.

  But I was technically already dead.

  There had to be a risk. The question was, did I really want to find out what it was? If I died while on this plane, my soul could be lost forever. Stuck between worlds. Or maybe I would just go to a Hell dimension for trying to cheat death. Anything was possible, and that was scary.

  “I’m not going to die,” I said to convince myself as well as Laurence. “Did it once, don’t feel like doing it again.”

  “We’ll need a good amount of blood,” Wyatt interjected. “You may feel sick after or even pass out.”

  “I’ll be fine.” Maybe if I said it enough, it’d come true. But I was shaking a bit on the inside from my nerves. I clapped my hands to fake enthusiasm. “All right. When are we doing this?”

  “Midnight,” Wyatt said. “Sean should be getting home soon. Then we’ll prepare.”

  Just before twelve, we gathered the things we needed for the summoning on a small folding table behind the trailer. A bowl, a candle, a dish towel, a knife, a jar of dirt, and a belt. That last item threw me, until Sean explained it was for a tourniquet.

  And of course, there was a first aid kit to sew me up afterwards.

  Even though we had everything we needed to pull Xaver out of his Hell hole, we didn’t have much of a plan for what came after. Well, besides a bunch of guns.

  I suggested we dip the bullets in Holy Water for two reasons: to give them a little more kick and because we didn’t have Cole and his bullets here. We were on our own, but the good thing was that it was four against one.

  One mediocre sorcerer, two humans, and a reaper-thing against a full-blooded demon. Our odds didn’t sound as good when I said it that way.

  Wyatt set out the bowl and lit the candle beside it. Besides the flickering motion sensor on the back of the trailer, the candle was a weak light in the dense darkness. Sean beckoned me over to the table.

  “Are you sure about this, Jade?” Laurence asked, nervously swaying side to side.

  More certain than I’d ever been in my afterlife. Kay was my closest friend. I had the ability to save her.
And that was just what I was going to do.

  I nodded and held out my arm.

  Sean wrapped the belt around my arm above my elbow and pulled it tight. Then, Wyatt took the knife, pressed its sharp edge against my skin, and sliced my forearm open. The pain was instantaneous and severe enough to make me gasp. As my blood spilled over, Sean moved the bowl underneath to catch it all.

  I watched as the lifeforce I didn’t even know I had drained from me. Besides the pain in my arm, nausea roiled in my stomach and sweat beaded on my forehead. I swayed on my feet.

  “Whoa.” Sean was quick to steady me. “Don’t go down on us, Jade.”

  I bit the inside of my cheek to force myself to stay awake and focused on what we needed to do. But when I glanced at the bowl again, now halfway full, my head fogged.

  “She’s going to pass out.” Laurence’s voice was a distant hum. “Surely we have enough by now?”

  “A little more,” Wyatt whispered gruffly.

  The seconds felt like hours, but finally, the belt loosened on my arm and pressure was applied to my wound with a towel. Something pressed against my lips, and when cool liquid splashed against my tongue, I realized it was water.

  “Drink,” Sean said gently, and I did.

  It was as if the water flushed away the haze. Not completely. I was still woozy from the blood loss, but things were becoming clearer.

  Sean had the first aid kit ready and began stitching me back together.

  After having my forearm slashed open, the stitches were a breeze. I barely felt them at all. Sean was quick and efficient with his care, and it wasn’t long before I was sewed back up and bandaged.

  While Sean had been working on me, Wyatt was preparing his makeshift altar. He sprinkled the dirt he had collected earlier from his yard into the bowl of my blood.

  “Xaver, demon of the underworld,” he began, talking directly to the mixture, “we call you to the earth with this blood offering.”

  The wind picked up around us, turning up the dirt and whipping through the tall grass. The trees farther back on the property, though, didn’t rustle. The mysterious, unnatural breeze only touched the area around us.