Reaper Reborn

by Kel Carpenter

  “I could say the same to you,” he replied with a slight smile.

  I was still struggling to make sense of what was happening. It might have been the exhaustion fogging my mind, but without even trying, I’d managed to bring Shep back. Not just Shepard, but all three of us.

  I blinked at Graves; he was grinning at me.

  “You did it.”

  “I did it,” I repeated, feeling a bit numb. Holy shit. “I wonder what else I can do . . .”

  Before the thought was even fully voiced, my aunt, Shepard, Graves, and I popped into the spirit world.

  Esme looked around with wide eyes while Shep let out a soft groan. “Not again.”

  “No, no, you aren’t dead,” I assured him. “It was me. I did it.”

  I let out a surprised laugh and then threw my arms around Graves, pulling all of us back into the destroyed remains of my living room. “I did it!”

  He held me tight against the hard lines of his body. “Can we take it easy on the spirit melding thing for a while?” he asked with a tired laugh.

  “Yes, sorry.” I pulled back to look at my twin. The fact that he was here and very much alive finally penetrated the fog in my mind. It was my turn to throw myself at him, squeezing tight. “Welcome back.”

  He held me hard, stealing the breath from my lungs. Pulling back, he grinned and said, “About damn time.”

  I glared at him, but he waved me off as Graves moved in for a hug of his own.

  “Good to see you on this side again, man,” Graves said.

  They did that manly one-arm slap thing and let each other go. “I think I’ve seen more than enough of you recently,” my twin said pointedly, lifting his brows with a smirk.

  “Hey! You said you didn’t spy on us,” I protested.

  Shepard laughed. “I’m just teasing.”

  “You better be,” I growled.

  “Why would I want to see your pasty ass—”

  “Hey, that’s my girlfriend you’re talking about.”

  Esme watched all of this with a happy grin, not bothering to wipe away the few tears that trickled down her cheeks.

  “I’m sorry, I’m sorry. Man, not even a minute back and you two are already teaming up on me. Bitch me out later once I’ve finished saving your asses.”

  “Pretty sure that’s the other way around,” I said, crossing my arms.

  Shep rolled his eyes. “Believe it or not, bringing me back really was a priority. There’s something you need to know. Something I couldn’t tell you in my other form.”

  “Why not?” Graves asked.

  “Because the dead can’t interfere.” He gestured to his body. “Death told you that from the very beginning, and it’s actually true. If I tried to interfere, I would have been sent to the afterworld instantly, and there’s no coming back from that . . . but as I’m no longer dead, I can now tell you how to beat your bitchass other self.”

  “You know how to beat Thana?” I asked.

  “She considers herself above humans and ghosts alike. She doesn’t really think about what she says or how she acts, sort of like another person I know . . .”

  I slapped him on the arm in good nature, but in truth, the comment sort of stung. Shep must have seen that because his expression softened. “I didn’t mean to hurt your feelings, Squid. Thana is literally you, though. At least what you would have been had you led the life she did. She’s literally a bad Salem, something that you guys seem to forget when really it’s your biggest advantage.”

  “So you’re saying our greatest advantage in handling her is thinking about how you would handle a four-hundred-year-old me with psychotic tendencies?”

  Shep grinned. “That’s exactly what I’m saying.”

  Before I could say anything more, my stomach chose that moment to emit a loud growl.

  Three pairs of eyes turned to me and I shrugged. “Dying is hungry work. Let’s order a pizza—or five—and then Shep, you’re going to tell us how to end this.”

  Their expressions sobered. There’d be time to celebrate and reminisce later. Right now, we still had much bigger problems on our hands.

  20

  Hey Sister, Soul Sister

  “Are you sure you can do this?” Graves asked. His hands pressed against either side of my face, long fingers locking around the back of my neck. He brushed one of his thumbs over my cheekbone, worry setting his blue eyes aflame.

  I took an unsteady breath.

  “It’s the only way,” I whispered. “Richard needs more time, and if Thana really is that much like me—she’s not going to sit around waiting in the makeshift prison much longer.”

  He pressed his lips together.

  “I know, I know, it’s just—you suck at lying.”

  In any other situation, it would have been funny.

  But not this time. Not here. Or now.

  “I do,” I agreed. “But I’m going to have to make it believable real fast—because otherwise, we have nothing. If she suspects this, we’re done—unless I kill her.”

  I knew what he thought about this. He’d rather I just took what Shep told us and used it to end her. The thing was—she’d come back. One day. She’d be reborn and maybe she’d be like me, without her memories. Maybe she’d grow up to be a better me. A kinder one. Less of an asshole.

  But in doing that, I would still strip away who she was. What she was. (And who were we kidding? We’d be lucky if the reborn Thana didn’t just start murdering people.) Not to mention the other rather complicated side effects of actually putting an immortal down.

  No. We had to be smart about this, and I had to play my role perfectly.

  “Just remember the safe word if you wanna pull out—”

  “Meatloaf,” I said. “I’ll do anything for love, but I won’t do that.”

  I grinned at him even though it was edged with sadness. This could all blow up in our faces. If Thana didn’t act how I would . . . if Death wasn’t who I thought they were . . .

  But what could I say? I wanted the killing to stop.

  Peace was doable, damnit. Even if it was the last thing I did here on Earth.

  “Alright, you two, let’s go over the plan,” Shep said, strolling into my bedroom. He was dressed in his old clothes and had his hair slicked back. Where he managed to find the time to make himself look presentable while we were wargaming, I don’t know.

  “I’m going to go ghost and take Graves with me. He’s our go-between,” I started.

  “And I’m going to stay out of the way for the most part, so Thana doesn’t know what’s up,” Graves said.

  “Good, now Richard said he needs at least a couple hours before—” Shep started, giving me the look. This was where the plan got a little tricky.

  “I know. My job is to keep her away from the house until it’s time.”

  “Even if we’re in danger,” he added.

  I swallowed. “Even if you’re in danger.”

  My brother smiled and wrapped me in a bear hug. “You got this, Squid. I believe in you. Now you just need to make the psychotic one believe you too.”

  I squeezed him back. “Easier said than done, but I’ll find a way,” I vowed—and I meant it.

  I needed to fix this for everyone, but I couldn’t fix a damn thing until Thana was gone.

  For good.

  “The mines are ready to blow in case any of those fuckers think of getting frisky too early,” Esme said. She was wearing a hard hat and suspenders that looked absolutely ridiculous.

  I’d ask what she meant about mines, but in truth, I didn’t want to know. Besides, the genuine surprise would help me play my role better.

  “Alright, we need to go before she gets too impatient,” I said, patting my brother’s shoulder. He released me and stepped back.

  Esme winked and gave us a little wave.

  I returned it and grabbed Graves’ hand, slipping us fluidly into the spirit realm.

  “You remember how travel works in this realm, right?” I
asked, not quite ready to leave him behind.

  He nodded. “Don’t worry about me. Just be careful, Salem.”

  I snorted. “Careful is my middle name.”

  Graves raised a brow. “When have you ever been careful?”

  “Good point.” I sighed. “I won’t fuck it up. There’s too much at stake.”

  He gave me a small smile. “Go. We’ve got things handled on this end.”

  We shared one last look before Graves faded from view. One second we were standing beside each other in the grayed-out version of my house, and the next I was in Thana’s cell.

  I watched her for a moment, all sorts of conflicted emotions writhing in my stomach. I pushed them away, I didn’t have time to process them, and I couldn’t afford to get sidetracked. The performance of a lifetime was about to begin.

  Thana was seated on a little cot, her booted feet kicked up and crossed at the ankles. She sat with her arms folded over her chest, glaring at a guard who was on the phone at a desk just past her cell.

  The reaper guard was a problem, but only a minor one. I couldn’t risk popping into being with him right there, which meant I was going with option B. Jailbreak—well, sort of.

  I reached out my hand and grasped Thana around the shoulder yanking her back and into the spirit realm.

  She made the shift easily, toppling off her cot in one world and landing on the floor of the other. Bonus, since he hadn’t heard her fall, the guard was unaware that his prisoner was now missing. He’d figure it out eventually, which was part of the plan, but the longer it took him to realize it, the better.

  Thana stood, patting invisible dust off her legs, before finally lifting her face and looking at me. If she was surprised to see me, there was no trace of it in her expression.

  “What, no hello?” I asked. “Not even after I came and broke you out?”

  Thana laughed. “I could have left anytime I wanted to, and you know it.”

  “So why didn’t you?”

  “I was waiting for you,” she said with a loose shrug, as if it should have been obvious. “Took you longer than I thought to come for me. I was just about to give up on you.”

  “Yeah, well . . . it’s not easy to come and go when people think you’re in jail. Made it a little tricky for me to take care of things on my end.”

  Thana smirked. “If you’d just let go of your mortal attachments, you’d realize it’s not hard at all. Look at us now,” she said, waving her arm for emphasis.

  This was it. My opening.

  I forced myself to look her straight in the eyes. “You’re right.”

  Thana blinked. “Excuse me?”

  Oh shit. I hoped that was just her surprise talking.

  I took a deep breath and jumped right in. Embracing my inner psycho liar. I was a shit liar, the only way I was going to make this work is if I at least tried to see it her way.

  “I said, you were right. About all of it. Graves, the reapers . . .” I trailed off and shrugged. “Everything.”

  Her brows lowered, and she looked at me skeptically. “Excuse me if I don’t buy your sudden change of heart.”

  “I don’t see why you wouldn’t. I mean . . . wasn’t that the point of all of this? To prove that in the end it’s only me and you?”

  She frowned. “Well, yeah . . . but after everything I’ve done, you don’t just suddenly come to that conclusion, Salem.”

  I tried not to swallow. My skin felt hot. I was itchy all over trying to force myself into a role I was struggling to play, but people depended on me.

  I had to do this.

  “Excuse me if I’m not exactly thrilled that everyone in my life turned on me,” I snapped back, feeding my inner bitch. If the liar couldn’t pull this off, asshole Salem was my next best shot. “I mean, I didn’t do shit, and they all just fell for it. No one would even give me a chance to explain. So yeah—I’m done with it. Done with them. If they don’t want me, then they don’t need me to save their asses. They can learn to save themselves.”

  It wasn’t nearly as hard to pull off this version of me. I was angry. Resentful.

  They really didn’t believe me. And when this was all done, they probably wouldn’t give me the time of day.

  Part of me was pissed and thought they should handle the fallout on their own.

  The rest of me saw the bigger picture and acknowledged the role I played.

  “Alright.” Thana nodded. “Let’s take a walk. Have a little fun.”

  The way she said it made my stomach drop. I knew without a shadow of a doubt that people were going to hurt in my quest to make Thana believe I was leaving my old life behind.

  That was something I had to accept, and hope that I could fix it later too.

  “Where to?” I asked flippantly.

  “Let’s pay those reapers a visit. You were fond of them even though they treated you like garbage. It’s time we put them in their place,” Thana said.

  The Brotherhood . . . there were worse places for her to start. Not many, but some. At least she hadn’t wanted to go after Esme. Getting out of that without seeming suspicious would have been tricky.

  “What do you have in mind?” I asked.

  Thana lifted one delicate, blood-smeared shoulder. The dark look in her eyes made me wonder how I ever thought we could have a real relationship. I’d never actually trusted her, but still. Part of me was a bit angry about losing the chance to have a relationship with her, and then realizing that I was mad about it, I became angry at myself for feeling that way to begin with.

  “Just a little game,” she said, vaguely. I had the feeling that it wasn’t going to be little, and that she was the only one who would think it was a game.

  My stomach twisted, but I forced the words from my mouth. “I’m down.”

  She walked through the bars of the jail and came to a stop in front of her jailer before popping back into existence.

  “What the—” The reaper tried to scramble to his feet.

  Thana tsked, grabbing him by the flannel shirt and lifting his entire body as if he were a teddy bear and not a two-hundred-pound guy.

  Without further ado, she popped back into the spirit realm with him.

  I had to work not to grit my teeth. That bitch knew how to take people in and out.

  Fucking liar.

  When she turned to look back at me, something devious shone in her eyes, but I simply waved her on as if bored.

  She frowned, clearly not liking that.

  Without more dramatics, she turned and tossed the reaper’s spirit form into the jail cell.

  His body popped back into the living world just before he hit the hard concrete floor.

  Aw fuck.

  My fingers twitched, but I didn’t move. Instead, I looked away from the guy as if he were nothing.

  “I thought you had something more interesting in mind,” I said in an apathetic tone that mimicked her own.

  Thana’s eyes narrowed. “You want more? Fine. Let’s go.”

  She spun around, grabbing my hand and pulling me along with her. I allowed myself one second to close my eyes and pray that I didn’t just make things worse.

  When I opened them, we were standing in front of a house I didn’t recognize.

  “Where are we?” I asked, in that same bored voice.

  “Gamma Rho’s new hangout. The boys needed somewhere to go now that their house is little more than ash and rubble.”

  I fought hard to keep my expression neutral. “Perfect.”

  She eyed me for a second before smiling. It was a dark, cruel thing, and I knew she was just getting started. “Let’s thin the herd some more, shall we?”

  So much for not making things worse. I took a deep breath and nodded, reminding myself that when all of this was over, I could bring them all back. This was temporary, just a performance.

  Whether or not they’d forgive me when it was over? Well . . . you couldn’t win them all.

  We walked through the door into a living
room where three reapers were resting in front of a flatscreen. I recognized Dale and Randy, and I thought the third guy was named Leo.

  Without warning, Thana reached out, closing her hand into a fist and yanking it backward. When the bodies didn’t move, I let out a breath I hadn’t known I was holding, only to realize that I’d let myself relax too soon.

  Standing around us in a loose semi-circle were the souls of the three reapers.

  She’d killed all of them.

  “Salem?” Randy asked, looking confused. “What happened?”

  “Yeah, Salem?” Thana said, crossing her arms and grinning at me. “Why don’t you fill them in.”

  “Why are there two of you?” Dale asked.

  Randy blinked at me, giving me a confused smile like he was waiting for me to let him in on the joke.

  “Payback,” I said, my voice ice cold. I was holding onto my anger and feelings of betrayal in a death grip, using them to get me through this. It was easier than I thought it would be.

  “For what?” Randy asked, looking hurt.

  “It wasn’t enough that you got most of us killed yesterday?” Leo added with a sneer.

  Temper I could totally deal with. I didn’t even have to fake the iciness of my response this time.

  “Oh that wasn’t me,” I said, jutting a thumb at Thana. “That was my sister. I’m here now because you were all so quick to believe the worst in me. After everything I did for you guys, you wasted no time seeing me as the villain. So fine. Villain it is.”

  “Salem,” Dale said, “wait. Isn’t this a little over the top?”

  “Over the top? After I brought all of you back to life? After you’d locked me up and didn’t believe in me when I tried to warn you the first time? How many times do I have to prove myself?”

  “Salem,” he tried again.

  “No. It’s too late. You had your chance—more than one—and you blew it. So this time, you can fuck right off. Who’s next?” I asked, turning to Thana and using the move to hide the fact that I couldn’t bear to see the shattered look on Randy’s face.

  “Hmm,” Thana hummed. She tapped her index finger against her lips. “We could go after the rest of the reapers . . .” she started. My chest clenched. “But I have an even better idea.”