by Cynthia Eden
He knew she was right. “Gregory and I can be too much alike.” Again, he was warning her. “We hunted together for years, but he didn’t like being second best. Now I guess he’s ready to take over.”
She licked her lips. “He’s trying to take me.”
Cass turned to face her. Ivan slipped away, moving toward the front of the plane and picking up the tools. “That’s not happening. I don’t give up a bounty to anyone.” He moved even closer to her. “I’m not giving you up.” The words came out rough and hard, but they were true. He wouldn’t let her go.
“Except…to Luke. You’ll give me up, then, won’t you?”
His jaw clenched.
“I can’t say anything to convince you to let me go?”
His chest burned.
“What is he giving you in return for me?”
He’s giving me what I thought I wanted. Finally. But…Cass couldn’t look away from her eyes. And when he thought of his future, when he thought of a mate, he just thought of her.
“No answer, huh? Guess I should have used that Blade of Truth on you.” She shook her head. “Whatever. I’m good enough to kiss, maybe good enough to fuck, but in the end, you’d still abandon me.”
“No, I—”
She had already climbed into the plane.
Dammit.
Ivan cleared his throat. Cass glared at him.
The bear shifter held up his hands. “Easy, buddy. I’m on your side, remember?” He smiled, but the smile didn’t reach his eyes. “You aren’t thinking of letting her go, are you? Because if you went back on a deal with Luke…” He blew out a breath. “Hell on earth will have new meaning for you.”
Cass didn’t speak.
“Right. Okay, your funeral, then.” Ivan pointed to the plane. “You still remember how to fly?”
“Fuck, yes.”
“Then I guess I’ll be seeing you.” Ivan inclined his head. “Safe travels.”
“Thanks.” He climbed onto the plane. Made sure Amber was secure. Then he was in the pilot’s seat, checking the instrument panel and buckling in.
“Didn’t realize you would be our captain,” Amber called. “What else can you do that I don’t know about?”
Plenty.
He settled back into the seat and focused dead ahead. A few moments later, they were rushing down the makeshift runway and soaring into the sky.
Next stop…Key West.
And Luke.
Cass’s chest burned once more. The next stop…would be the end of the line for him and Amber.
***
Amber sat in the front of the plane, her gaze on the land below them. Cass was at her side, flying as if he’d been doing it his whole life.
Every mile they took…it was a mile that brought her closer to Luke.
Closer to her past.
“He wanted you brought back alive,” Cass’s words were rasped. “Dead or alive…that’s how I’ve brought in my prey before. Luke—sometimes he wants prey dead. And sometimes…sometimes he wants them alive.”
Her gaze didn’t waver from the ground. Everything looked small down there. “So he can make them suffer?” She didn’t give Cass a chance to respond. “He has a prison on his island, you know. It’s where he keeps the worst of the worst. Inescapable. If Luke locks you up, you don’t get loose.”
“He doesn’t want you dead.”
Her lips curled. “I know.”
“I won’t let him hurt you.”
She had to laugh. “Do you really think you can stop him? Luke is the most powerful being I’ve ever met. He snaps his fingers and fire erupts. He blinks and people die.”
“He hasn’t faced a Reaper.”
Goosebumps rose on her arms—and not because a threat was close. Her head turned.
The plane bounced a bit.
She stared at his hard profile. “Are you telling me that you can kill Luke?”
“A Reaper can kill any being that walks on the earth. Why do you think my kind was hunted so fiercely? Hunted, captured, our hands cut off right before we were killed…”
She had to swallow twice before she could speak. “You can kill Luke…and Leo?”
His head turned so that their eyes met. “I haven’t put it to the test before.”
So he didn’t know but…What if he can?
“There wasn’t a need to find out,” he continued quietly. “Before.”
The plane bounced again. Her hands flew out, gripping the arm rest.
“Turbulence,” Cass said, not sounding even a little concerned. “Don’t worry—”
But an alarm began to sound, a piercing shriek and the plane didn’t just bounce…the nose tipped down and the plane seemed to drop.
He grabbed for the controls, yanking up hard. “What did you do?”
The ground was rushing up to meet them.
“You said you fixed the plane…” He was fighting and sweating and struggling to get the nose to rise—it wouldn’t. “What did you do?”
She hadn’t done this.
The plane kept shooting straight down. She could smell smoke. Could see smoke coming from the front of the plane. Dark, black smoke that shot into the air. The safety straps dug into her skin. “Cass?”
His face was locked in tight, angry lines. “We’re fucking going down. We have seconds—seconds! Shit!”
She grabbed for his gloved hand and held tight. “Cass?”
His gaze held hers. The anger faded away. He stared at her…as if…
“Close your eyes, sweets,” he whispered. “Everything will be okay.”
No lie had ever sounded sweeter.
Her eyes closed. And then she felt his arms close around her. In that last moment, as she hurtled straight to her death, held tight in his arms, fear finally broke her.
Luke! Leo! Help me! Her mental call flew out even as the plane crashed down to the earth.
The plane shuddered, the smoke filled her nostrils, and Cass held her tight.
***
“They wouldn’t have made it far,” Ivan spoke quietly. Guilt twisted in his stomach as he stared at Gregory. He’d gotten the call from that vamp just moments before Cass and the woman had appeared in his woods. “I made sure of it.”
Gregory smiled at him. “Considering what he is…Cass is far too trusting.”
Yes, he was. Ivan had worked with Cass plenty of times over the years, and he had agreed to get Cass transport but…Gregory had something Ivan needed. Something he was desperate to have. “You have her? Vanessa is really alive?” The human he’d loved. The human who’d vanished during that terrible battle.
But Gregory had said that he’d saved her. That he’d transformed her and kept her close by.
Vampire, human, it didn’t matter to Ivan what his love had become. He just wanted Vanessa back. He wanted her so much…that he’d just sent two people to their deaths. I’m sorry, Cass.
Gregory’s smile stretched. “Of course…” He slapped his hand over Ivan’s shoulder.
Hope burst in him, making him light-headed.
“…she’s not alive,” Gregory continued. He gave a low, rumbling laugh. “I drained that bitch years ago. She’s rotting in the ground someplace.”
Ivan’s body went ice-cold. “But…but you said…”
“I lied.” Then Gregory went right for his throat. Ivan tried to shove him back, but Gregory wasn’t interested in drinking from him. The vampire used his fangs to slash Ivan’s throat wide open. Blood sprayed into the air and Ivan fell onto the ground, his body jerking.
Gregory stood there, Ivan’s blood dripping on him. “Everyone has a weakness,” the vamp said. “She was always yours. If it makes you feel better…I don’t think she felt pain at the end.” That smile was on his bloody lips again. “I made sure she enjoyed her death.”
Ivan tried to speak but couldn’t. Too much of his throat was gone.
“Shifters are always most vulnerable in their human forms. For such a big, fierce bear, you sure did go down easy.�
�� He crouched beside Ivan. “Maybe you’ll see your Vanessa in the next world, hmm? Then I’ll have kept my promise and given her back to you.” He dipped his finger in the blood that poured from Ivan’s throat. “Or maybe not. I really don’t give a shit.” He rose. “Now…I have a crashed plane to find. I’m betting Luke will still pay me even if the bounty is dead on arrival. And I’ve got plans for Luke. I think it’s time for someone else to be in charge, don’t you?”
Ivan’s body had grown cold.
Gregory walked away, not heading back for the road, but going to the small hangar that housed Ivan’s other plane. The vamp knew how to fly, too. Once, he and Cass had flown together. Once, they’d been nearly best friends. But something had happened. Something that had made Cass turn away from the vampire.
Gregory would fly after the Reaper. He’d follow the smoke and flames.
Then Ivan knew he’d head for that final meeting with Luke. There would be no stopping him.
His eyes began to close. Sorry…Reaper…
***
Cass knew hell. He also knew heaven. He’d visited both, at different times.
The plane ignited and the fire swept back toward him. The crash was brutal, jarring, and he held as tightly to Amber as he could. They both went flying on impact, but he didn’t let her go. He wished he’d said more to her, wished he’d learned all her truths…
But there had been no time.
Death was brutal. Fast and hard. His body burned with the agony, but it was one he’d felt before. He was the last Reaper…and that meant something.
It meant he could never stay dead. All of the power of his people—it had come to him. As the others had died out, as they’d been slaughtered, their powers had drained to him, coming in like a beacon.
He hadn’t even realized it. Not until the first time he’d been killed.
Back when he’d been six.
He died, but he didn’t stay dead. Heaven, hell—neither could keep a strong hold on him. A Reaper always had to walk the earth.
And he was the last one. He had to walk.
He had to rise.
So he came back, his mouth opening and a roar of rage escaping him. He came back—this time from hell, from the pain and the horror, and he opened his eyes to see more fire around him.
And to see Amber…held in his arms, but still. So still…
He was afraid then. Terrified beyond his darkest dreams. He put his hands on her chest—the gloves still covering his fingers—and he fought to bring her back. He pushed on her chest, again and again. He breathed for her. He begged her…
Come back. Come back.
Another breath.
Don’t leave.
He pushed on her chest.
Stay with me…
Chapter Nine
“You will not die.”
Something hard pressed on to her chest. Amber tried to get a breath but couldn’t and then—
Air. Air was filling her lungs. Power pulsed in her body. Her eyes opened.
Cass stared down at her. A deep gash was on his forehead, bleeding too much, and he stared at her with glittering eyes. With…
Fear?
“Fuck, yes,” he whispered. “You came back.” Then he yanked her into his arms. He held her tight, so tight that her bones ached, but she didn’t care. He was warm and strong and they were both alive.
Though she seriously had no clue about just how they’d survived. The last thing she remembered was him telling her to close her eyes. He’d pulled her close and then…
Oh, no. I called for Luke and Leo. She pushed against him. “We…we have to go.”
His mouth crashed onto hers. He kissed her with desperation and need and a dark desire that pulled at her very soul.
She wanted to keep kissing him back. But…they had some seriously big problems to deal with right then. Amber pulled her mouth from his. “We have to go!”
He tensed. His head lifted. His gaze was burning as he stared at her.
Burning…
Her nostrils flared as she became aware of the smoke and flames around her. Her head turned and she saw that they were in the middle of the wreckage. Chunks of the plane were on fire. Glass was everywhere. Fire. Hell.
“How did we survive?” They shouldn’t have. No way should they have made it.
“I’m Death,” he said simply.
She turned back to look at him, her heart tight in her chest.
“I’m Death and I have to walk the earth. One way or another…”
That was scary and she wasn’t even exactly sure what that meant.
“I tried to protect you from the impact. I knew I’d come back…it was you that wouldn’t.” His eyes glittered. “And you were so still. You weren’t breathing. I know death, but I don’t know life. And you needed life.”
He rose, and he lifted her up, holding her in his arms.
She could have walked, maybe. She wasn’t exactly sure of what injuries she had. Amber was a bit too stunned to take stock of things. “Why didn’t you die?” Amber whispered. That whole “I’d come back” part nagged at her.
“Who says I didn’t?”
What?
His hold tightened on her and he started walking away from the wreckage. Heading toward the line of trees. They seemed to have crashed near the edge of a swamp, and the twisting cypress trees were all around them.
Had he died? Had she? She didn’t want riddles, she wanted the truth and—
“The knife!” She grabbed for his shirt front. “I have to get the knife. I need it!”
“I already have it, sweets. I strapped it to my leg right after I boarded the plane.”
He’d…what? She didn’t remember seeing him do that. Sneaky Reaper.
“That was how I knew you hadn’t sabotaged the plane. Ivan did it. The bastard set us both up to die.”
“Why would he do that?”
“I worked with Ivan in the past…and Gregory worked with him, too.”
Gregory. Her new least favorite vampire.
“I’m guessing Gregory got to Ivan. Made him an offer too good to pass up.” His jaw hardened even more. “So that means that fucking Gregory will be closing in on us.”
“He’s the least of our troubles.” At the moment. Luke and Leo are both coming here…because I called out to them. She and Cass had to haul ass—seriously fast. But how?
He kept walking. Kept carrying her. There were no cars, no motorcycles. No boats. Nothing. It looked as if they’d crashed into the middle of absolutely nowhere.
“It’s going to be okay,” Cass told her. “I’m going to keep you safe. You don’t have anything to fear any longer.”
“We both have plenty to fear, trust me,” she muttered.
“I won’t give you back to Luke.”
Her eyes widened.
“I can’t.” He stopped walking to stare down at her. “I can’t let you go. I’ll do anything to keep you with me.”
“Cass?” Something had changed between them—she could see it in the way he looked at her.
“I’d never been that scared. You weren’t breathing. I’ve seen so many people die. Thousands. You were…you are different. The world can’t keep going unless you’re in it.” His jaw hardened. “Not my world.”
Then he was walking again, carrying her through the woods and she curled her arm around his neck. “You…you protected me.” She was trying to piece the last moments of that crash together. She’d been surrounded by him, held so tightly in his embrace. “What did you do…make yourself my air bag?”
He gave a rough laugh that rumbled against her. “Something like that. I knew I’d come back, so the trick was making sure you survived.”
And she had.
“But then you weren’t breathing.”
“So you breathed for me,” she whispered.
He smiled. Had she ever noticed just how sexy his smile was? “Seemed a simple enough price to pay to make sure you stayed in this world.”
Tears st
ung her eyes. He didn’t get it. “Luke and Leo will come. And they will take me from you.” He should leave her. He should get the hell away. Luke wouldn’t handle a betrayal well. She knew that from past experience. And if Cass was really going to stand between her and the Lord of the Dark…
It’s what I wanted. But I can’t let Cass suffer for me.
Because something had changed for her, too. When a man died for you, it changed everything.
“They can try.” He didn’t seem worried. His steps didn’t falter. “But I’ve finally got something worth fighting for.”
And her heart warmed.
She rested her head against his chest. Her whole body ached, but she was a fast healer—another left-over trait from a time long gone. It was also damn hard for her to die—most days. She doubted a human would have walked away from that crash—or even been carried away—alive. But thanks to Cass and her own genetics, she’d survived.
Now what?
They made it to a road. A small country road. She didn’t know if they were in Mississippi or Alabama or Florida. She just knew Cass was covered in blood, testimony to the injuries he’d taken for her—and he was holding her so carefully in his arms.
“Lift up your thumb, sweets,” Cass murmured to her. “Help is on the way.”
She didn’t hear—
The rumble of a truck’s engine reached her ears just as she saw the vehicle round the curve on the narrow road. Cass had better hearing than she did. The man just kept surprising her.
Supernatural tricks.
She lifted her thumb. “He’s not going to stop.”
Cass walked into the middle of the road. “I won’t give him a choice.”
She turned her head to stare at the truck that was fast approaching them. The last thing she wanted was a head-to-head impact after the plane crash and if that truck didn’t slow…
“Smile, sweets. No one can resist your smile.”
She smiled, knowing that what Cass was saying was utter bullshit.
But the truck stopped. Probably because a blood-covered man was in the middle of the road, clutching a stunned-looking woman. Not because of her smile.
“What happened?” An older man with grizzled cheeks and white hair hopped out of the truck. “I saw that cloud of dark smoke and thought someone needed help!”