Reaper's Blood (The Grimm Brotherhood Book 1)

by Kel Carpenter

  “See reason?” he asked, leaning in, our faces were only inches apart. “You’re sneaking around in the single worst place for you to fucking be right now. What part of lie low do you not understand?”

  We were both breathing heavy. The scent of aftershave and spearmint hit me. I stared at his face, at his eyes, into the depths of blue so deep I half wondered if it was his soul.

  Then I kissed him.

  It wasn’t a tentative kiss or even a gentle one. I pressed my lips to his and grabbed both sides of his face with my hands. My heart beat frantically in my chest as I waited for him to respond.

  Just as I started to pull away, a groan slid from his lips and he kissed me back. Strong arms wrapped around my waist, pulling me to him. Our chests hit and passion collided.

  He kissed me back without abandon. Despite the lack of practice he claimed he had, the way his tongue slipped between my lips and twined with mine left my legs feeling weak. I clutched him harder, matching him touch for touch, stroke for stroke.

  He tried to control every little aspect of my life and yet it seemed the only thing that wanted to listen was my body. Go figure.

  We turned, and my back hit the wall. Strong fingers hoisted me up by the waist, and I wrapped my legs around him—having no idea where this was leading but enjoying the ride all the same.

  “I still can’t stand you,” I groaned as he released my mouth to run his lips along my jaw.

  “You’re such a brat,” he whispered, kissing the sensitive skin beneath my ear.

  The insult did nothing to cool the heated flame in me as I moved to wrap my arms around his neck and arched my back.

  The creak of a door, however, did.

  “What the hell?”

  Oops.

  Maybe I was a bad Salem.

  Graves pulled back, his forehead resting briefly against mine before he gently lowered me to the floor. As I slid down his body, I could feel every inch of his response to our kiss.

  A grin stretched across my face.

  No, I wasn’t bad at all. According to Graves, I was still a good Salem.

  Very, very good.

  “Dom, you remember Shep’s twin,” Graves said, turning away from me, his voice surprisingly even despite the rise and fall of his chest.

  The smile dropped from my face, and my eyes narrowed as they landed on Gamma Rho’s president and my main suspect. He was standing a few stairs away from the top, his arms crossed over his chest, his expression livid.

  “You know better than to bring a bitch up here,” he said.

  “Who you calling a bitch, dickwad?” I asked, taking a step forward.

  Graves stopped me with a hand to my stomach. My body was struggling to remember that we weren’t still in the middle of grinding on each other up against the wall because the warmth of his hand sent a flood of liquid heat spiraling through me.

  Before Graves could respond, Dom spoke again. “I thought you were searching for the intruder . . .” he trailed off, his eyes flinty. “Unless you already found her.”

  I was pretty sure my lost earring excuse wasn’t going to do me any favors here, so for once I remained silent, letting Graves answer.

  “Cool the hostility, Dom. This is Shep’s sister you’re talking to. Salem was in my room when the wards were crossed,” Graves said smoothly, simultaneously impressing me and concerning me once again with his ability to lie. “I told her to stay put, but she got nervous and ran up here not realizing there weren’t any windows for her to climb out of.”

  A muscle ticked in Dom’s jaw. It didn’t take a genius to realize he wasn’t buying it. “Shep’s sister? In your room? Right. You’ve been acting strange ever since she showed up and you expect me to believe there’s not more going on here? Everyone knows she’s paranoid. She tried to get the whole place shut down a few years back when her old man died.”

  Graves shrugged. “It’s the truth. She has no reason to break in.”

  Dom’s gaze drifted back to me, and he shook his head. “Doesn’t matter what I think. Rules are rules. Any non-brothers found on the premises when a ward is broken have to be taken before the Council for interrogation.”

  “Dom—” Graves protested. The thread of panic I detected in his voice kept me silent. The last thing I wanted to do was have to deal with the Council.

  “No way, brother. I’m not about to break the rules for your fuck buddy. Especially not with everything going on.”

  “Pres, you up there?” another voice called from below.

  “Yeah,” Dom said, not looking away from Graves and me.

  “We caught her. It was a succubus. She was trying to charm James into letting her go when we found her.”

  My eyes shut briefly. Fuck. Tamsin

  His thick brows lifted at that. “Well, would you look at that. Either you two were telling the truth, or your girlfriend has a partner.”

  Graves didn’t betray me, not even with a flicker of his eyes, but I could tell he was pissed. I just didn’t know if it was with me, or the reaper shooting daggers at us with his eyes.

  “Aw, come on,” Tamsin’s voice drifted up the stairs. “I can think of much better things we could be doing with those hands . . .” I could just see her batting her eyelashes, playing the role of vixen like that would get her out of trouble with reapers of all people. I rolled my eyes and snorted. And they thought I was the problem?

  Graves turned and gave me a look, taking my hand to haul me down the stairs. I tugged back, not about to leave my purse—or Shep—behind. Bag in hand, I followed Graves. Dom stepped aside, clear distaste on his face when I walked past.

  Given we were already caught, I didn’t resist the urge to flip him off.

  He let out a huff as I turned my head, using my middle finger to pretend I was putting on some of my Maneater lipstick before mouthing, “Fuck you.”

  “Salem,” Graves said. I turned, blinking my eyes innocently even though he totally just saw that. “Please go wait in my car.”

  “What?” I asked, looking back and forth between Dom and Graves. “Why?” I demanded.

  “I have to bring you before the Council. Please just get in the damn car,” he said quietly, trying not to elicit an argument.

  “I’m not leaving Tam to ride with them,” I said. “I don’t trust them.”

  Graves’ jaw clenched. He didn’t like it, but I think he knew I was right not to trust them.

  “The succubus will be unharmed,” Dom said in a brisk tone.

  “Your face won’t be if you lay a hand on her,” I snapped back.

  “Salem,” Graves groaned—and not in the good way. “Get in the fucking car before you make this worse for everyone.”

  I pressed my lips together, eyeing Dom with hatred.

  “If it makes you feel better, I’ll be riding with you instead of her,” Dom said, clearly not trying to make me feel better.

  “I got this,” Graves said. “You don’t need to—”

  “Actually, I do. I’m not giving you two time alone to get your story straight before the Council questions her.”

  I swallowed hard, and I think he saw because the bastard grinned.

  “You clearly don’t know Salem if you think she can lie,” Graves said, already defeated.

  “Well, we’ll find out. Won’t we?” Dom said, moving to stand beside me in the hall. He motioned to the staircase that led down to the first floor where Tamsin was standing. She stood at the bottom of it, staring up at me with solidarity. Behind her was the lumberjack from my first time here. He was holding her arms behind her back. Relatively speaking, she seemed unhurt.

  “He drives a Corvette. You won’t fit, so find another ride,” I snapped.

  “Lucky for us, he has many cars, and the Corvette isn’t here today,” Dom said with a smirk. “After you.”

  “Oh, go choke on a dildo,” I muttered, brushing him off.

  No one laughed.

  16

  Sexy Lies

  I glared at him in
the rearview of Graves’ ‘67 Chevelle Malibu, trying hard not to kick the purse at my feet as I crossed my legs.

  Dom the Fuckface glared in return from the backseat.

  While his mocha skin and regal bone structure made him attractive to an unbiased party, all I saw when I looked at him was my brother’s killer and everything that was wrong with the Grimms.

  “You’re awfully hostile for a girl who’s supposed to just be fucking him,” Dom commented.

  Graves’ hands tightened on the steering wheel, his knuckles going white. His full lips pressed into a thin line, but his eyes stayed on the road.

  “Maybe because the first time we met, you were slinking around outside the cemetery, a place I had every right to be, might I add,” I replied. “And then you had the bright idea to be a dick to someone grieving,” I added.

  Something crossed his face, almost like regret. It was gone in an instant as the car came to a halt. I turned my eyes from the mirror to the building before me.

  Town Hall.

  How . . . basic.

  I don’t know why, but when you hear about some infamous supernatural council, the meeting place doesn’t exactly scream Town Hall. More like hidden basement beneath the university houses with fingerprint access pads and spelled booby traps.

  This was downright boring by comparison, but the familiarity of it settled some of the knots in my stomach and the panic that had been slowly starting to creep up on me.

  “Time to see what you know, Kaine,” Dom said, the backdoor slamming shut as he got out. I took a deep breath and followed. On the other side of the half-empty lot, an SUV was parked. Lumberjack got out first, and Tamsin followed, arms still behind her back in a way that didn’t look comfortable. She gave me a weak smile that I knew was meant to reassure me more than anything. I gave her one back, and then the lumberjack shoved her shoulder.

  “Get walking,” he said.

  “Hey!” I snapped, “She’s half your size, dickhead—”

  “Salem,” Graves said in warning.

  “Don’t Salem me,” I said, flashing him a hard look. “Who the fuck put him in charge where he treats her like some kind of convict?”

  “Because she is,” Lumberjack muttered under his breath. My fists tightened, and I started for him, wishing we’d taken my car so I could grab the bat out of it and beat his ass.

  A hand grabbed my forearm.

  I wheeled around, ready to swing if it was Dom.

  Much to my disappointment, it wasn’t.

  “You need to calm down,” Graves whispered in my ear. His cool breath fanned against my flushed skin. I shivered, and Tamsin let out a whoop despite the hands holding her back.

  “Get it, girl,” she called out, throwing her head back in a laugh as she was urged forward.

  I turned my head a fraction to meet his eyes. “They’re not treating her right.”

  What I saw shining back at me was understanding. “No, they’re not. But they won’t seriously hurt her before she’s brought to the Council. Her mom’s on it. They’re just throwing their weight around because they want to see how much you know.”

  I opened and closed my mouth. “Oh.”

  “Yeah, so chill. In fact, if you can avoid talking as much as possible that would probably be best right now.”

  I glared at him, mouth opening to hurl another comeback, but I snapped it closed at the pointed lift of his brows.

  Graves gave my arm another squeeze, the warmth of his touch seeping through me and reminding me that even though I was about to be surrounded by a room of potential enemies, I was not alone.

  We moved up the steps and through the surprisingly empty lobby. It was still late afternoon. There should have been people milling about, but our footsteps were the only ones echoing through the building. Our small group strode past a couple of elevators, moving instead to the back corner of the main lobby.

  The door we were heading toward read “Restricted Access” but was otherwise unremarkable. At least it was until Dom’s hand curled around the doorknob.

  Electric energy arced down my skin, and it was a struggle not to move away from it. Beside me Tamsin let out a low moan, her discomfort looking like it bordered on pain.

  My eyes snapped to Graves over my shoulder. “What the hell?” I mouthed.

  “Ward,” he answered, breathing it into my ear.

  Apparently this place just looked basic. Good to know.

  Dom led us down a hallway, my eyes trained on one flickering light at the far end of the hall. In every horror movie I’d ever watched, there was always that one struggling light acting as some kind of symbolic warning of what was coming. Almost as if it were the last beacon in the darkness, or whatever.

  I snorted as my imagination ran wild with the scenarios of what was about to happen, each version more absurd than the last.

  The reality was slightly less colorful.

  Dom knocked on a door about halfway down the hall, opening it before there was any kind of response from inside. We filed into a sort of amphitheater, one curved table set out on the stage, seven people spread out along its length, staring at us with completely unreadable expressions.

  I recognized Tamsin’s mom sitting to the left of a man with Graves’ startling blue eyes. Even her expression was frosty, her golden eyes trained on her daughter as her lips curled down in disappointment. Tamsin wilted a little, some of her defiance draining out of her as she dropped her eyes down to the floor.

  If anything, that only fueled my own resolve. I would not give these assholes that kind of power over me.

  “Well, Dominick, why don’t you tell us why we’re here,” the man I could only assume was Graves’ father said, his voice a cultured drawl. It would have been soothing under any other circumstance, but the softness with which he spoke only seemed to underscore the depth of his power.

  “As per the bylaws of our house, whenever a ward has been triggered, all non-members must come before the Council for questioning.” Dom gave his report like a soldier reporting to his commanding officers. His feet were spread shoulder width apart, his hands clasped behind his back. He spoke clearly, not mincing words as he made references to specific rules that we’d apparently broken. Finally, he finished with, “We caught these two sneaking around after such an incident.”

  “I see,” Graves’ father said, eyeing Tamsin and me with more interest. “And do you two have anything to say for yourselves before we begin?”

  “I was just waiting on Salem and Graves to finish up so we could go grab coffee,” Tamsin said with a straight face.

  I swallowed. Aw hell. Were we really using fucking as the cover-up? I wasn’t even getting some.

  “Finish what?” Graves’ father asked. His blue eyes flicking between Graves and me. The former took a step to the side, further away from me, and it was my turn to wither a little.

  Well. If it’s going to be like that . . .

  “What do you think?” Tamsin asked with a delicate lift of her eyebrows.

  Her mother’s lips twisted in amusement. “You’re saying they were having sex.”

  She didn’t ask it like a question, but Tamsin chose to answer it as one. “Yes, ma’am.”

  “And you were waiting for them to . . . finish?” her mother asked.

  Tamsin nodded.

  “We found her at the bottom of the stairs,” lumberjack reaper interjected, his big meaty face set in a scowl.

  All members of the Council eyed her again.

  “They were getting it on,” Tamsin said. “I got a little curious since they were taking so long. I wanted to see if they might like a third . . .”

  Oh my God. She did not just—yes, she did.

  And her mom was now smiling.

  What the fuck?

  I couldn’t lie for shit, so I really hoped my face didn’t betray me right now because I was in next-level shock.

  “Interesting story,” Dom said, stepping forward. I didn’t notice until now that he wore casual clothes
, but casual in the rich person sense. Instead of a three-piece suit, it was a button down and slacks. He fit right in with the Council as he started to slowly stroll as if drumming up to tell quite the story. “I’d almost believe it, had I not found Salem Kaine and Graves in the hallway near the upper level of the Grimm house. Graves claimed they were also in his room, that he came to check the ward, and Salem ventured out to look for him.”

  Well, it could have been worse. I think.

  The Council looked to me.

  “Is this true?” another member asked, one that I didn’t know who or what they were. Although, she did resemble Not-Morticia a bit. With her tight black dress, just long enough on the skirt to be classy, long sable hair, and red lips—she could have been her mother. At least as far as ensemble was concerned.

  I swallowed, mouth dry. “Yes.”

  Stick to one-word answers. Harder to get caught in a lie.

  “What made you think that he was on the upper floor?” Graves’ father asked.

  “I don’t know.” I shrugged. “Just a guess . . .”

  “A guess,” the man repeated. I wish I knew his name right about now. “Do you know why you’re here”—his attention flicked to Dom—“Salem, you said?”

  Dom nodded.

  I froze. “I . . . um . . . well, I thought it was kind of weird how they were all freaking out about some alarm I couldn’t hear or see. Now I’m in trouble with the city council, and that’s really weird . . .” I said, fumbling over my words. “I mean, why would I be in trouble for walking around? And why do Tamsin and I have to explain? It’s a frat house and, uh, I was just there to hook up. Getting it on like Donkey Kong, you know?”

  “I can’t tell if she’s lying or just nervous,” the lady in black said with an exasperated sigh. “Sarah, just compel them. If she knows nothing, we wipe her memory, making her forget this ever happened and move on. I’m going to miss my four o’clock feeding at this rate.”

  I swallowed again, for more than one reason.

  One, this broad was a vampire. I was face-to-face with a vampire, and she looked nothing like the ones from Twilight.