Grim Life: A reaper's tale (Reaper Files Book 2)

by Nicky Graves

  “I thought the stones were seven brothers,” I said.

  “Guess the legends didn’t get it right,” Ranger said.

  It didn’t matter if Wiltone took the shape of a male or female, but she did make me question how I was going to survive. I now had a grumpy, taciturn man and a horny goddess living inside of me.

  “Okay, now we have two stones,” I said. “What’s the next step? I’m pretty sure I can’t use Wiltone against Azrael.”

  “She’s a good way to distract him,” Ranger said.

  “She makes everyone horny,” I said. “Are you really suggesting I make my father horny?”

  Ranger frowned. “Nope. You’re right. We can’t use Wiltone against him, but having her still isn’t a bad thing.”

  I looked over to where Wiltone and Treble were squabbling like . . . well, like siblings. Treble’s beard bristled every time Wiltone jabbed her finger at him.

  “We need to find the other stones and fast,” I said. “I need to balance Treble and Wiltone. I can’t have these two fighting inside of me.”

  “I’m not sure if the other stones will help balance these two personalities,” Lawson said. “Adding more might make it worse.”

  “Can we go to Charlie’s?” Wiltone suddenly asked.

  “No,” Lawson said. “How do you even know about Charlie’s?”

  “It’s inside Riley’s memories—along with a few others that interest me,” she said, sliding up to Lawson to wrap her arm around his. “Very interesting memories.”

  Ranger glanced from me to Lawson with an arched brow.

  “Get your head out of the gutter,” I said. “I have no idea what she’s talking about.”

  Lawson unwrapped himself from Wiltone. “Wiltone, do you know where any of the other stones are located?”

  She thought for a moment, her lips forming a sexy pout. “I might know where one is, but that was a long time ago.”

  “Where?” Ranger asked.

  “In the demon realm,” she said. “With someone named . . .” Her lips did the pouty thing again. “Sammy? Samault? Santa?”

  “Satan?” Ranger asked.

  “Oh, yes, that’s it.”

  “You mean the real one?” I questioned. “The devil?”

  Ranger nodded. “He prefers Lucifer.”

  “Wait,” I said. “Is this the same stone Azrael is after?”

  “If it’s Basole the Black, then yes,” Wiltone said as she eyed Lawson. She leaned closer to me. “You’re right. He’s hot.”

  “I didn’t say that,” I said.

  “You don’t have to. I know everything inside your mind.”

  Scary.

  My gaze flashed to Lawson, hoping he hadn’t heard Wiltone. But from his pointed stare at the ceiling, I suspected he had.

  I quickly turned to Ranger. “You said you didn’t want to get the black stone from the demon realm. Do we give up on it?”

  Ranger sighed. “The problem is we could look for a century and might not get another stone. We were lucky finding Wiltone. I don’t think the other stones will be so easy.”

  “Treble, do you know locations of any of the others?” I asked.

  He shook his head.

  “Then do we have a choice?” I asked. “We have to go with the leads that we have. And so far they point to Lucifer. I can’t see him just handing over the stone to Azrael, so we might still have a chance. It’s not like they’re friends, right?”

  “Lucifer doesn’t have friends,” Ranger said. “But I don’t doubt he’d work with Azrael for a common goal.”

  That was not good news, but it made sense.

  “So, do we go after it?” I asked.

  “I say we track down another stone,” Lawson said. “There’s no way we can sneak into the dark lands of the demon realm.”

  “Okay, then where do we begin looking?” I asked.

  “Ranger and I will research,” Lawson said. “You stay here.”

  “Why can’t I research?” I asked.

  “Because you’re still wanted by the elders and Azrael, and you don’t have a handle on your life stones,” he said, pointing to Ranger, who was being mauled by Wiltone.

  “Wiltone, get off Ranger. He’s dating my mom.”

  She stopped pawing at him and then turned to me with a pout. “Lawson, then?”

  “Just go,” I said to Lawson.

  “Don’t leave here. Promise me.”

  “Yeah. I promise.” I wouldn’t be able to take Wiltone anywhere anyway without it becoming a giant make-out session.

  “Ranger, let’s go,” Lawson said.

  I was left alone to babysit the troublesome stones.

  Wiltone plopped down on Lawson’s couch with a sigh. “You really shouldn’t let him boss you around.”

  “Lawson? He’s only looking out for me. Treble, can you think of any stone locations? Think hard. Maybe you heard something long ago.”

  He stopped glaring at Wiltone enough to answer, “No.”

  “Not even really far back in your memory? To when you were originally broken apart?”

  He grumbled and fidgeted. I wasn’t sure if he was trying to hide something or if that was just Treble being Treble.

  “What’s happy juice?” Wiltone asked.

  I looked at her, wondering how happy juice applied to finding the stones. “Why?”

  “It’s in your memory as pleasurable,” she said.

  “It’s a drink at Charlie’s,” I said. “But the one time I went there, Treble was stolen, and I ended up in reaper prison.”

  “Sounds fun,” she said.

  I stared at her. “It was not fun.”

  “I can feel your memory. The happy juice. Kissing Vance. The combination is yummy. And I want to experience it,” she said as she stood.

  “Where are you going?” I asked, suddenly afraid.

  “To Charlie’s.”

  “You can’t, because I’m staying here.”

  She laughed. “It’s cute that you think so.”

  “Aren’t you tied to me since we bonded?”

  “Treble didn’t have to stay with you, and I don’t have to either.”

  “Yeah, but after being away from me, Treble got lost. I still don’t understand what he was doing in Chicago.”

  “He was looking for you before he lost his way,” she said. “Now, you can either come with me or stay here to wait like a puppy for Lawson.”

  “I’m not a puppy.”

  “When it comes to Lawson you are,” she said. “It’s kind of sad. You need to learn that you’re the goddess, not the lapdog.”

  I scowled at her. “I’m not a lapdog. And I don’t think we should go. There are too many people after me, and I get mixed reactions from reapers.”

  “That’s because you’re too timid,” she said. “Love them and they’ll love you back.”

  I wasn’t up for her version of love.

  Treble crossed his arms in front of him, glaring at her. “You will not go.”

  “I will, and you can’t stop me.”

  Just as she was about to exit the pod, Treble puffed out into a blue cloud and enveloped her into a blue burrito. She struggled against him, but he was stronger. For once, Treble and I were on the same page.

  However, just as I thought Treble had Wiltone in hand, the smoke dropped to the floor and puddled. Treble’s sigh came from somewhere under there. He sounded happy.

  “What did you do to him?” I asked.

  She patted her heart. “It’s all about love. Now, ready to go? Because I need to get my happy juice.”

  “I promised Lawson I wouldn’t leave.”

  She rolled her eyes. “Live a little before you die.”

  “You think I’m going to die?”

  “No, but you do.”

  I guess I did. Too many people with power wanted me gone. Eventually they would figure out a way to end me.

  It sucked having someone tapping into my thoughts, especially since she was so vocal about them.
It gave me a new appreciation for Treble. He might be grumpy, but he rarely called me out on my thoughts.

  Wiltone hopped through the wall with a squeal.

  “Treble, do we go after her?” I asked.

  He grumbled something as he re-formed into his ancient man cloud and headed after Wiltone. I guess we were going to Charlie’s. I mentally crossed my fingers, hoping this didn’t cause problems for me.

  19

  I walked down the gray-stone path, following Wiltone as she eagerly headed to Charlie’s. Treble floated a step behind her. They made for a strange pair, and yet this almost seemed normal. Clearly a lot had happened to me since the beginning of the school year if this all seemed fairly normal. But thinking about school made me wonder what I’d missed.

  And what was Larue doing? Was she still dating Finn?

  By the time we arrived at Charlie’s, my head swam with questions and homesickness. I even missed my brother.

  Wiltone skipped inside Charlie’s pod. I hesitantly followed, wondering who I would run in to this time. Another demon posing as a reaper?

  The same bartender was there. Raven looked up with a smile. “I was hoping you’d come back,” she said.

  “So that you can find someone else to screw me over?” I asked, still upset about my last visit.

  Her smile fell. “No, not that. I feel bad about what happened.”

  She seemed like she did feel bad, but maybe it was just an act.

  Wiltone perched at the bar and smiled at Raven. “You’re the succubus.”

  In that instant, I realized my mistake. Between the passion of Wiltone and the succubus charms of Raven, this outing had the potential to be a gigantic problem.

  “Treble,” I said. “Anything beyond kissing, I need you to knock someone out. Preferably not me.”

  That seemed to cheer Treble. He floated to a barstool next to Wiltone.

  “A round of happy juice,” Wiltone said.

  “Just one glass,” I amended. “We’ll share.”

  “Three,” Wiltone said.

  “One, or we’ll end up drunk,” I said.

  Plus, I wasn’t sure how the money situation worked in the dead zone. And I didn’t want to have an outrageous bill I couldn’t pay.

  “Party pooper,” Wiltone said with a pout. “Fine. One for now. But a big one.”

  Raven made the drink and then set it in front of us. Before Raven could take her hand away, Wiltone snatched it and held on.

  The sensation that grabbed me was pure heaven. Pleasure beyond anything I had ever experienced. My eyes nearly rolled back as wave after wave of passion pulsed through me.

  “Let go of her hand!” I demanded, even though my body was saying the complete opposite.

  Wiltone let go and smiled at Raven. “So that’s the power of the succubus. I knew it would be yummy, and you didn’t disappoint.”

  Raven, seeming a bit lost at what had happened, glanced between our odd trio.

  Wiltone took a sip of the happy juice and sighed. “Perfection.” She scanned the patron-deficient bar. “Where is everyone?”

  “Reapers have been busy,” Raven said.

  “Did something happen?” I asked, wondering if I should help them. But I was hiding . . . poorly hiding. Seriously, why hadn’t the elders come after me? They were obviously waiting for a reason, but what?

  “I think there’s a skirmish in a Middle Eastern country right now,” Raven said. “Many have been called over there. The others are keeping up with the day-to-day death count.”

  “Death count?” I asked, not remembering Lawson or Boomer using those words. “Is that what they call it?”

  Raven shrugged. “Some of the regulars do.”

  “Too morbid for my taste,” Wiltone said, and she bounded off the barstool. “I want to dance.”

  “There’s no music,” I said.

  Raven reached over and flipped a switch on the wall. Music began playing. It wasn’t anything I had heard before, but Wiltone was delighted as the bass thumped off the battered walls. There wasn’t really a dance floor, just a small space between tables, but Wiltone wasn’t deterred and began dancing anyway.

  “We don’t get a lot of requests for dancing,” Raven said over the music. “We rarely get women in here. And when we do, it’s usually vampires.”

  “Are you the only succubus here?”

  “There are a few, but most stick to Earth.”

  “Why don’t you?”

  “It’s hard on Earth. I’m still learning to control my feeding,” she said. “Immortals are better able to deal with my needs than humans.”

  “But why bartend here?” I asked. “It can’t be easy being surrounded by men all day.”

  She shrugged. “It has its pitfalls, but I found someone that keeps the men at bay and I get enough to feed on.”

  I wasn’t entirely sure what she meant by feeding. I assumed it had something to do with her succubus appetite. In any case, it wasn’t my business.

  Vance walked out of the back room. He wasn’t in his usual black attire and leather jacket. Instead, he wore a tight pink shirt with sparkly letters that spelled “Hot Stuff.” The matching pink mini skirt really brought the look together.

  He stopped when he saw me. I couldn’t help the laughter that was spewing from my mouth.

  “It’s not funny,” he muttered.

  “It is,” I said, nearly choking on a snorted laugh.

  Raven handed him a beer as he sat down a few seats away from me. He took a large gulp and then looked around. “Where’s your guard dog?”

  “He’s not my guard dog.”

  Vance glanced over at Wiltone. “Who’s she?”

  I was wary of telling him the truth, but I also couldn’t take him very seriously dressed in sparkling pink.

  “Her name is Wiltone,” I said.

  “What is she? I don’t smell reaper on her, and I don’t smell blood.”

  “She’s . . .” I stopped. He had screwed me over before.

  Vance eyed me. “I’ll figure it out eventually, so you might as well tell me. Or should I find other ways to make you talk?” His tone was menacing but ineffectual.

  “You can’t scare me when you’re wearing that outfit.”

  “Your guard dogs sent me into the dead zone without clothes. And this was the only outfit Raven had that was clean and stretchy enough to fit me.”

  “Haven’t done laundry for a while,” she said with a shrug.

  Vance sighed. “Forget it. I don’t give a damn anyway.”

  I nursed the happy juice so that Treble would remain docile. I wasn’t about to overindulge, though. I had already learned my lesson.

  “Raven, what are you doing tonight?” Vance asked. “Want to go out?”

  She busied herself with cleaning the battered bar top. “I already told you. I’m seeing someone.”

  “What’s the point of being a succubus if you don’t play with others?” he asked.

  “Maybe she just doesn’t want to play with you,” I said.

  He glowered at me. “At least I’m on the playing field. You’re still in the bleachers.”

  Wiltone stopped. “What are bleachers?” She looked thoughtful for a moment and then smiled. “Oh, I see.”

  Vance cocked a brow. “Is there something wrong with her?”

  “No,” I said.

  Vance stood and moved closer to her.

  “Want to dance?” she asked him.

  “Not particularly,” he said. “Unless you’re in my bed.”

  “Seriously, Vance, is that all you think about?” I asked.

  He grinned. “You’re saying you don’t think about it with your guard dog?”

  “Lawson is not my guard dog.”

  “Lawson?” Raven asked, suddenly interested in the conversation. “Are you seeing him?”

  The way she asked was nearly guarded.

  “No. We work together,” I said.

  Raven smiled as if relieved, which made me wonder if she l
iked Lawson. I didn’t blame her. It was hard not to like him.

  A jolt of pleasure shot through me. I glanced at Raven, who was walking to the other side of the counter. The pleasure didn’t come from her. I then turned to find Wiltone and Vance plastered against each other as he ran his hands down her back, pulling her closer against him.

  Treble grew agitated.

  “Dammit, Vance!” I yelled. “Stop it!”

  I hurried over and yanked them apart, letting out a giant shiver.

  “She’s a succubus,” Vance said, trying to get back to Wiltone.

  “She’s not a succubus,” I said. “She’s a life stone. And everything you do to her, you’re doing to me. And to Treble.”

  That knowledge only encouraged Vance. And Wiltone didn’t need encouragement. She already looked at him like she wanted him on a buffet table covered in whipped cream.

  I put my hand on Vance’s chest to stop him. Amazingly, he did stop. “I can feel her through you.”

  “That’s because we’re bonded.”

  “The crystal . . . the red crystal. You stole it from Juliette.” He put the pieces together. “That’s why you broke in. It was a life stone?”

  I nodded.

  “She’s going to come after you. She’ll want her necklace back.”

  “Azrael and the elders are coming after me too. She can get in line.”

  “No. This is bad. She has destroyed reapers before.”

  “How?”

  “She has a demon she works with. Bornor can destroy a reaper’s body to the point they can’t recover and they can’t die. They’re stuck in a purgatory existence.”

  “Great. Looks like I get all the fun.”

  “This is serious.”

  “Yeah. I get that. But I don’t know what the hell to do about it,” I said. “I have enemies everywhere, and my life stones don’t help. One makes out with people and the other just wants to sit and grumble. I have to find the rest of the stones, but the only one we have a lead on is in the dark lands in the demon realm. And I’ve heard that Azrael wants that stone. So, unless you know about another stone, my only option is to hope I don’t get killed, sent to prison, or maimed by Bornor.”

  Vance flicked his gaze behind me just as I felt a hand grip my shoulder and turn me around. I fisted my hand, ready to punch whoever it was until I realized it was Lawson.