The Artifact Reaper Saga Box Set

by Jen L. Grey

  Great, now I've hurt his feelings again. "I'm sorry. It wasn't that. You were sleeping so well, and I wasn't realm jumping. Nothing bad was going to happen. I just wanted to check on the ogre’s wife. I was afraid and panicking."

  "About what?" He takes a few steps toward me and frowns.

  My power is picking up in intensity even though I'm inside and protected. What the hell? It should be calming down. "Well, the ogre said she was healed, so that made me think of Becca."

  His forehead wrinkles, and he stares off. "I'm not following."

  "Well, being a reaper is part of me just like the artifacts now." So he's making me spell this out. I lower my voice to a whisper. "What if I killed her and brought her back?"

  "No..." He inhales sharply, and his mouth drops open. "Please, tell me it isn’t true."

  Okay, his reaction isn’t helping. It's as bad as I feared. "It is. I found her when she was coming back from another realm. Between that and my powers healing her, I had to kill her and bring her back." My heart races, and power begins swirling in sync with it. "Shit, what am I going to do? I can't tell them what happened, but her soul is already splintering." The ground begins to shake underneath me.

  "Hey." He walks over and cups my cheeks with his hands. "It's fine. We've got this. It's not like they'll know what happens. And if they figure it out, I won't let them touch you."

  Yeah, right. Like he can make those promises. I'm not stupid.

  A loud bang echoes against the door. "What the hell, Chris?" Dax's tone is rough from sleep. "Let me in."

  Charlie drops his hand and opens the door. "She's freaking out and having an episode."

  Shit, and I thought it was just my nerves that caused the shaking. Great, now I'm causing a freaking earthquake in the middle of the night. That is going to draw some attention.

  Dax enters the room, and his jaw tics. "You're in the house now?"

  "My power is getting more unbalanced." Maybe bringing her back has something to do with it or just stress. I mean it was only a matter of time anyway, but I figured it would be more gradual. Ha, that's stupid. It's not like anything has made sense, so why would it now?

  "We're going to have to find that damn artifact fast." Charlie’s hands rub my arms. "There is no way in hell I'm going to chance losing you."

  It may be too late. The magic inside me clashes and fights with the artifacts. The colors are separate, but it's as if they are attacking themselves as well. Somehow, it's as if they had been behaving and suddenly decided to act out. The ground shakes in rhythm with each inner pulse. "Well, I'm not sure how much longer I have."

  "This isn't going to bode well for us." Dax glances out our window and shakes out his hands. "We have company."

  What the hell does he mean? I stumble next to him and find several guards running down the road.

  "It's getting stronger here." One shouts and waves the others over. "I think it's coming from over here somehow."

  Holy crap. They are able to locate me. How far is this earthquake going?

  "We need to get her out of here." Charlie pulls me toward the door, almost causing me to fall on my face.

  "What good will that do?" Dax turns toward us and lifts his arms out. "They'll just follow us, and she'll be without the protection that the house holds. It'll just make it worse."

  Dammit, I'm screwed in all ways. If I stay, they're going to find me, and if I run, it might get worse. It seems no matter what I do, I'm going to cause problems.

  "It's coming from Ria's house." One of the other guards runs over and bangs on the door. "Open up!"

  "I'm calling her. We know who's doing it if it's from here." One guard grabs some sort of communication device, lighting the side of his face as he places it to his ear. "Hello, Ria. The earthquake is coming from your house."

  Well, the cat is out of the bag now. I'm sure this is going to be a pleasant encounter.

  "Yes, we will wait outside to make sure she doesn't leave before you get here." The guard hangs up and turns to the others. "Go around back to make sure they don't skip out the back entrance."

  Hell, I didn't know there was a back entrance. "Shit. How long has Ria been gone?"

  "She left shortly after you snuck out." Dax leans his head back against the wall and closes his eyes. "I heard the door shut and went to peek to see who left. I figured it was her, but before I could go follow, Ria was walking down the hallway. That's when I knew it was you who snuck out, but I was stuck here. She paced for a while and then left after a few minutes mumbling about needing to figure out where you went." He rubs his eyes and shakes his head. "Obviously she hadn't found you since you made it back and the guards are looking for the source. She was probably hoping it would lead her somewhere other than her own house."

  Of course she did. I'm always one step behind everyone. My heart races, causing my powers to become even more frantic.

  "Baby, you need to calm down." Charlie's tone is full of worry, and he pulls me into his arms.

  For some reason, it doesn't bring me comfort. Everything seems to be pressing against me, and being in his arms makes it worse. It's as if the walls are beginning to close in around me. "I'm sorry, but I can't..." The magic flairs even harder, and the walls begin to shake.

  "Dammit, give her space." Dax grabs Charlie's shirt and yanks him back from me. "She's freaking out. She needs air."

  That's an understatement. I already have the Air inside me. I need the Water Artifact and soon. "I'm so sorry."

  Charlie grimaces and reaches out before stopping. "Don't you dare apologize right now. You've done nothing wrong."

  I hate that I've hurt him even though he's being understanding. But I can’t think about it right now. I've got to figure out a way to control this storm brewing inside me. My insides are raw, and the claws just keep digging in and hitting me throughout.

  "Chris, lock it down. Ria's here." Dax’s tone is harsh, but there is a hint of worry in it.

  "Don't you think I'm trying?" What does he think I'm doing over here? Having fun? I don't know what's gotten into him, but he's becoming more of a jackass each day. I don't know why the air around him is changing, but the darker it gets, the more he changes.

  The front door swings open, and there are footsteps hurrying up the stairs. "Don't move from your places. I don't want her to try to sneak out."

  Great, I was hoping I’d be more under control before she got here, but that's not freaking happening. Any chance of making this a permanent home has now probably been thrown out the window.

  Ria steps through the door that Dax left open, and her lavender eyes find me. "What the hell is going on?"

  If I don’t get this under control, it’s going to go from worse to worst. An image of a jack in the box springs in my head randomly. Maybe that’s the key. I concentrate and push the powers down back inside. They resist but lose some of their momentum. The walls stop shaking, but the ground is still quivering.

  "Don't you get it yet?" Charlie's face hardens, and he sneers.

  We can't let her know we still need the artifact. I want to interject, but when I try, the magic pushes against me harder. I can't break any of my concentration from it.

  "Charlie..." Dax's warning is low.

  But Charlie doesn't listen. He lifts his chin in the air and stares her down. "Not only is she at risk without the artifact, we all are. She needs to find it and fast."

  "Oh, are we back on that again?" Ria crosses her arms and snarls. "After everything I've done for you all?"

  "Like keeping us in your house so you can monitor and control our every move?" Dax arches an eyebrow and stands beside Charlie.

  At least they are showing a united front. I wasn't so sure Dax would after he tried to keep Charlie from confronting her just now.

  Her mouth drops open, and she huffs. "How dare you?" Her hands quiver, and she balls them into fists. "You all agreed that you would stop seeking the Water Artifact. That's why she got the medallion to protect her."

  Thi
s is not how this is supposed to go down, but I ruined that tonight. We should have focused more on finding the artifact, but we wanted to give the appearance of settling in. Why did my powers have to go wonky tonight?

  "Oh, please. You don't want her to implode in the middle of the square." Dax rolls his eyes. "Don't play the innocent act right now."

  And now, Dax is making it worse. Apparently, we are letting it all out now.

  "Well, I've never heard such blatant disrespect before." Ria takes a step back and finds me again. "If you're going to push this, there will be consequences."

  "I'm not going to stand by and watch her die." Charlie's face turns a light shade of red. "We will find the artifact to save her and keep everyone safe on this island."

  "You think we'll be safe?" She laughs hard and takes a step toward the door. "If this is how it's going to be, you leave me with no choice."

  Something needs to be done to salvage this. Why can't I get these powers contained? I push harder inside me, trying to smush it all inside my core like a box.

  "Well, then I guess you'll have to do what you need to do." Charlie stands beside me and scowls in her direction.

  "Then so be it." She turns on her heels and walks out the door.

  Chapter Sixteen

  Each step toward the door rings in my ear before Ria slams the door behind her.

  I'm not sure what she's planning to do, but I can guarantee it won't be anything good for us. Times like these, I feel powerless even though my magic is ramped up and causing problems. I don't have any control, and I'm not sure how I'm going to make it out of this situation in one piece.

  "Well shit, that could have gone better." Dax hits the wall with his fist and runs a hand through his short black hair.

  "She's just trying to scare us." Charlie sounds almost desperate, but he holds his head high.

  Maybe not if I can't get my shit together. At this point, she knows we are going to go after the artifact. I'd hoped to be a little more discreet, but my stubborn ass had to go investigate tonight, and it's a good thing I did. Earlier today, I was freaking considering spelling some water since I healed the ogre. That dream has set sail.

  "Dammit, Chris." Dax walks over and gets in my face, placing both hands on my shoulders. "The ground’s shaking hard again. You need to get it together, or you're going to kill us all."

  "Hey, back off her." Charlie comes up and pushes him on the chest, making him step away from me. "She's struggling. Give her space."

  Their fighting isn’t going to help me any. I step back against the wall and force myself to take deep, slow breaths. Dax is right, and I need to figure out how to rein it in. I picture the lake back on Earth near Charlie and Beth's home. It’s a unique spot because it’s where the stream meets the lake. It's the place she and I used to hang out when we were in school and she was alive. I visualize the water running and the sounds the stream makes. This is where I felt safe and comfortable growing up, so I'm hoping it brings me peace now.

  The walls around me stop rattling once again. Yes, it's working. Thank God, but I’ve got a lot further to go. Once again, I concentrate on the image in my head. One of my favorite things to do there was to lay down on a blanket and let the sun warm my entire body. I so often felt cold from either my reaper magic or being around other reapers that it was nice to feel toasty warm on those days.

  Charlie's fingers caress my cheek. "You're doing it baby. It stopped."

  What? I did it? I come back to the present and realize the ground underneath me isn't shaking any longer. I don't know how I managed to do it, but I'm thinking that spot had something to do with it. There isn't a battle raging inside me any longer. My breathing is easier, and I sag against the wall. "It's about time."

  "Do you know what happened to cause the earthquake?" Dax walks over and plops onto the bed cushions.

  Is this story time or something? "Well, it started after I realized that the ogre's wife had been brought back from the dead with the spell I cast on the fan." My mind flashes back to just an hour ago. "I panicked and lost control."

  "So, that energized the artifacts somehow." Dax taps a finger to his lips. "We're going to have to keep you from high-stressed situations."

  I don’t hold back a hollow laugh. I can’t believe him. I’m always in high stress situations.

  "Even though I'd love nothing more, I'm not sure if that's feasible." Charlie's hazel eyes are filled with worry. "Everywhere we go, it seems to be constant chaos."

  Yeah, he doesn't have to say that again. "Well, for the time being, I figured out a way to calm down and get it under control."

  "Okay, the best thing we can do is get some rest." Dax stands and heads to the door. "Let's get up bright and early and try to do damage control. I'm pretty sure Ria won't be coming back tonight."

  I want to argue with him, but I'm exhausted. Sleep seems like a great idea right now. I need to recharge and let my body have time to heal.

  "We need to make sure all the others are gone." Charlie purses his lips and looks outside.

  My eyes follow but find the road in front of the house empty. All of the guards in the front are gone or in hiding.

  "Don't worry." Dax opens the door and glances back. "I'll check everything out and sleep downstairs. I'll yell if anything seems funny." He shuts the door behind him.

  My legs become weak, and I stumble to the bed before I fall down. "I'm so tired."

  Charlie climbs into the bed and holds out his arms to me. "Come on, let's get some rest."

  Not wasting another second, I crawl into his arms and rest my head on his chest.

  His arms wrap around me, and he kisses my forehead. "Everything is okay right now."

  That's easier said than done. Even though it's comforting in his arms, my mind won't turn off. What am I going to do about all of this? How do I fix what I didn't mean to break? The first step is finding the Water Artifact and fixing the realms from all the corruption. But It seems as if each time I take a step forward, I fall back ten steps. After several long minutes, I bite my lip and blow out. "What are we going to do now?"

  "Well..." Charlie's tone is low and raspy.

  I startle and jump a little.

  "What's wrong?" Charlie turns his head, glancing around the room.

  "Nothing, you just scared me. I thought you were asleep." I hadn't meant to bother him.

  He chuckles and tucks me in closer. "Nope, I think my mind is racing like yours. But we continue our plan."

  "Which one?" Our plans have changed so much I’m not sure which one he’s talking about.

  "That's fair." He lets out a sigh and tightens his arms around me. "I think we still need to figure out how to live here or at least keep up the pretenses we do. We can blame tonight on an anomaly, and that her threat changed our mind."

  Do I still want to live here? It would be nice, but I do have to get my hands on the artifact. "Yeah, either way, you're right. We at least need to pretend."

  Silence falls between us again, and I enjoy Charlie running his fingers down my side.

  "But, even with pretending, I don't want to spell any more of the water. I can't risk harming anyone else." It kills me to know that I hurt the woman ogre even if it was unintentional.

  "Then don't." Charlie's tone is getting quieter, and he yawns. "You don't have to do anything you don't want to. We can contribute in other ways."

  Yeah, we can find another way. My eyes become heavy, and my body slumps more into the cushions.

  The suns shining into the room wakes me. A heavy leg drapes over my waist, and warm air hits my neck with every breath Charlie takes. It's nice to be cocooned in his arms. He's my protective bubble. I snuggle into him and try to enjoy the moment.

  "Hey, stop wiggling." Charlie's raspy voice tickles my ear. "You may be asking for more than you're willing to deliver."

  My heart picks up at the thought, and I giggle.

  "I miss that noise." He kisses my neck and hugs me tight.

  He's bein
g sweet, but that comment makes the previous night’s event spring back up in my mind. Wow, I royally screwed up last night. "Yeah, well, that might be the last time you hear it."

  His arm tightens and his tone gets low and hard. "Don't say anything like that again. We're going to figure everything out."

  He can't know that, but I don't want to fight with him. Things are only going to get worse if I don't get the artifact and fast. Not to mention, what happens if Ria and Tide figure out what I've done.

  The door to our room opens, and Dax enters with a large cup in one hand and the other hand at his back. "Finally, you two are up. We need to determine our next steps."

  The smell of strong coffee fills the air. "Damn, that smells good. I need to make me a cup."

  "Well, you are in luck." He moves the hand from behind him to reveal the cup of coffee he was hiding. "I thought you might need some this morning."

  "Ugh, I can't win against that." Charlie lifts up his arm and pouts.

  "You'll be fine." I rise to sit upright on the makeshift bed. I'm surprised that my insides feel better after what happened last night. I'm still a little raw but drastically improved. I take the cup from Dax and sip. The warmth floods me and seems to sooth my insides even more. "Thank you."

  "I thought you might need it after last night." Dax leans on the wall and takes a sip from his drink as well. "What's the plan? The quicker we address it the better."

  That's true, but I was hoping to live in denial a little longer. "I can't spell with water any longer. I don't want to chance killing and bringing someone back again."

  "It's not like you meant to." Charlie sits up and runs a hand through his hair. "That has to count for something."

  Yeah, I'm not sure that it does. A chill runs through me, so I take another sip of my drink; the coffee warms me as I enjoy the sweet taste. Hot damn, Dax sure can make a cup the way I like. Cream and sugar to help mellow out the bitterness.

  "You can still spell things like you had planned but deal more with the ones for crop growth and things like that." Dax scratches the side of his nose and glances out the window.