Hijinks & Misdemeanors (The Reaper Chronicles Book 2)

by Apryl Baker

  “Are you sure that will work? If what you’re saying is right…then couldn’t they just disable whatever you do?”

  I shake my head and lean back, the heat radiating off Ella’s body into mine and lulling some of the rage out of me. “The demon-proofing goes inside the house, hidden behind wallpaper, paintings, wherever. It can’t be seen from the outside, but I want to make sure there are no hidden cameras in the house before we start on that. There are a few protection tattoos I can give the girls, but there’s no real protection against demons finding them.”

  “Not necessarily true,” Gramps says, coming back into the room. “I need to call in a favor, but there is one that will hide her from ninety percent of demons. The oldest and most powerful ones, that’s open season on her, though. No one can hide from them.”

  My head droops, coming to rest on top of Ella’s.

  “Boy, we need to teach you how not to give her everything. You’re going to end up hurting yourself or not being able to help her when you need to. We talked about this.”

  “Yeah, but not sure how to stop it.”

  “Time and practice.” Gramps sits down on the other side of me. “Take my hand.”

  I do, but it takes some effort. A warmth spreads out from Gramps’ hand through my own and then into me. He replaces the energy I gave Ella, but the flow is controlled. He doesn’t give me everything he has. I tentatively reach out with my own abilities and follow what he’s doing. He’s essentially showing me how to control the flow by demonstrating it. The concept clicks, and I do exactly as he’s doing. He grunts and withdraws, but my own abilities are now mimicking his.

  “You learn a lot quicker than most, boy.” Gramps grins like I’ve just won an Olympic gold medal or something. Maybe, in his eyes, I have.

  “Did you get hold of the doc?”

  “Yeah, he’s on his way now. I told him to stop at the grocery store and buy something to bring to dinner.”

  Before my frown can morph into a complaint, he grips my shoulder. “I know she needs help, but we can’t risk making them more suspicious than they probably already are.”

  “I still don’t think the Army is responsible.” Mrs. Banks taps her foot nervously against the floor. “Why would they send a demon after Ella?”

  “I don’t think they’re responsible for that either,” Gramps says smoothly. “Disturbing the salt line, though? That’s different. If they suspect anything is up with Ella, they’ll be watching her, and they wouldn’t be above installing hidden cameras and listening devices.”

  “But why would they suspect anything to begin with?” Mrs. B jumps up and starts pacing. “Ella was in a hit-and-run accident. She had cranial bleeding. Why would they think that translates to her being anything other than human?”

  “Because when her abilities woke up, we all felt it, especially those closest to us. The only other living reaper in the world felt it and came to the hospital. If they have someone on staff who’s sensitive to the shifts in the supernatural world, then they felt it, too. Ella was the only one who had something happen to her.”

  Mrs. B sinks back down in the chair, her shoulders slumping. “How do I keep her safe?”

  “By letting us do what we need to.” I rest my head against Ella’s. “Don’t argue and fight us on everything we need to do, even if you don’t agree with it. Like letting her stay here for a while, where I know she’s protected. This place is the Fort Knox of the supernatural world.”

  “Closest thing next to the Crane plantation in New Orleans.” Gramps grins ruefully.

  That, I’m not surprised about. I’ve read Ezekiel Crane’s file and met him in person. He’s someone to be very afraid of.

  “She should be home where I can take care of her.”

  “No offense, Mrs. B, but you can’t take care of her right now. She’s under so much stress, I think that’s part of why the demon attack affected her as much as it did. Her mental capabilities had weakened because of her worrying about her father’s job.”

  “She’s never worried about her father’s job before.”

  “Yes, I know,” I say gently. “That was before she found out exactly what his job was—to capture supernatural creatures and experiment on them. His job is to hurt people for no good reason. Ella is not someone who can tolerate that. She cries if she accidentally hurts a bug. What Mr. B is doing, she’s never going to be okay with. It’s hurting her heart because every day she’s growing angrier and angrier at herself for feeling the way she does about her father now.”

  The color slowly leaches from her face. “How does she feel about him?”

  “She hates him a little more each day.”

  “No.” Mrs. B shakes her head. “She loves her father.”

  “She does, but she hates what he does, hates that he allows it. Hates that he won’t quit doing it. It’s making her hate him. She’ll always love him, but she’s growing to hate him. And that’s tearing her apart.”

  “How do you know this?”

  “Because I feel what she does. I can even hear her thoughts sometimes when they’re so loud they’re drowning out every other single thing. This is tearing her in two. I know you both love her, and that’s why I’m asking you to be strong enough to let her go for a little while so she can find some peace. Watching her father go to work each day and wondering who he might have hurt when he comes home for dinner is literally killing her. She needs to be away from that. She’s going to have a mental breakdown soon if something doesn’t give.”

  “The boy’s right.” Gramps stretches his leg. I’ve noticed it bothers him from time to time. “We can protect her better than you can right now, and she needs time to heal and to come to terms with Major Banks’ position in the Army.”

  Ella will never come to terms with it, but I don’t say that. I’m hoping she can find a way to forgive him and not let it wear her down until she can’t live with herself anymore. That would be when I’d really start to worry about her.

  Gramps’ phone rings, and he pulls it out of his back pocket. “Hello? No, she’s in Eli’s lap right now.” He nods. “I’ll get that now. Anything else?”

  It has to be the doctor Gramps is talking to. He confirms it when he hangs up.

  “We need blankets and pillows.”

  “I’ll get them,” Ethan says. I almost forgot he was here.

  “Roger says we need to keep her warm and her feet up above her head.”

  I should have done that. I know enough about shock to know that much, thanks to Dad’s work.

  “You were stressed, boy.” Gramps points a finger at me. “Don’t go blaming yourself for not thinking of it.”

  The old man knows me better than my own father does…or did, I guess.

  “Let’s get Ella up to her room where we can keep her warm until the doctor comes. You stay with her, and I’ll start on dinner. We’ll make her favorite.”

  “Lasagna?” The first hint of a smile tilts Mrs. B’s lips.

  Gramps nods. “I make mine with homemade ravioli instead of lasagna noodles, though. Ella loves it.”

  “I’ve never heard of that.”

  “Come on in the kitchen, and I’ll show you how to make it. An old friend from Italy taught me.”

  I ignore the rest of the conversation, knowing Gramps will calm Mrs. B down enough so that she’ll see past her own hurt over Ella not wanting to be at home and focus on what’s best for her daughter.

  And right now, that’s me and Gramps.

  Chapter Eleven

  Eli

  Ella’s sound asleep upstairs with more wards around her than I’ve ever seen Gramps put up. He said he wasn’t taking any chances. He even added his electronics ward inside the whole house just in case Mr. Banks came in without realizing he was bringing in a listening device. The thing will cease to function inside the house and will resume working outside the perimeter of the property.

  Gramps and I both agree Ella needs to be here right now, but convincing her parents isn’t p
roving to be an easy task. They want her home. She is their daughter, and the major is a soldier who is trained to protect. Us telling him he can’t protect Ella the way she needs to be is not going over well, to say the least.

  “How is she?” I ask as soon as I see the doc come down the stairs. He reminds me of Andy Griffith. I’d never even seen the old black-and-white show until I came to live here. Gramps loves The Andy Griffith Show and Green Acres. The theme song for Green Acres gets stuck in my head every single time he has the show on. It runs on a constant loop for days in my mind.

  “She’s doing as well as can be expected, all things considered. Sleep is the best thing for her right now. I gave her something to help her rest, and she needs to stay warm. If it’s okay with you, Marco, I’m going to stay tonight to check on her. It’s not the shock I’m worried about. That’s treatable. I scraped sticky sulfur off her cheek. I’m worried about a metaphysical wound we can’t see.”

  “Is that why she’s so quiet and not speaking?” Mrs. Banks clutches her hands and squeezes them together, worried.

  Dr. Adams nods. “Yes. It’s a soul wound. That thing touched her soul when it touched her. It’s like a burn, one that continues to burn until all the sulfur is cleaned off. Her soul needs time to heal.”

  “What kind of demon was it?” I ask. I’d never seen anything like it. I’ve seen black goo before when Dan’s mother sent a protection demon to kill Mattie, but this thing was different. The protection demon could cause black slime to form at its feet and spread outward. This thing was just covered in it from head to toe.

  “It’s a lower-level demon with enough juice to manifest a physical form on this plane. I don’t know the specific type just yet, but I will once I search for the answer later tonight.”

  “I can have our lab test the substance.” Major Banks runs a hand through his hair. He has Ella’s dark red color and her green eyes. She takes after her mother in everything else.

  “That wouldn’t be a good idea.” Ethan stands and goes to look out the window overlooking the mountains. Gramps has the best view of the whole house in here in his den. “How would you explain it, Major? You can’t very well tell them a demon attacked your daughter.”

  “Why not?” Major Banks closes his eyes and lets out a sigh. “They know I’m a target in this town, and they’d believe someone may have sent the demon to my house to scare me or my family. We could test the substance and tell you exactly what kind of demon it is in minutes. We have the DNA of almost every type of demon there is.”

  Ethan’s nostrils flare, and his eyes narrow. Not good. Gramps holds up a hand, sensing the same fight brewing that I do.

  “There are millions of different types of demons. Unless you’ve been cataloging them since the beginning of time, I can guarantee you don’t have them all.”

  “And how would you explain me having a blessed blade?” I lay my head back against the couch cushion, exhausted.

  That has the major’s mouth open and close just as fast. He didn’t think of that.

  “How do you think your boss would feel about getting her hands on someone with real Angel blood in them? And a Guardian Angel, no less. If I disappear, Ella’s left with no one to protect her. Ghosts are dangerous, Major, and Ella is not equipped to deal with the more psycho ones on her own yet. You would basically be leaving your daughter a sitting duck.”

  “The boy’s right. You need to keep your mouth shut about this to keep that little girl safe.”

  “Mom?” Cecily comes into the room, interrupting us. “Are we going home soon? I promised I’d call Sherry, and my phone doesn’t work here.”

  “Sorry about that.” Gramps winks at her. “Eli put a call in to tech support while he was in town earlier.” We decided it would be best that the major doesn’t know about the electronics ward.

  “I was hoping you’d stay here with Ella tonight,” Mrs. B tells her daughter. “She’s had a rough few days.”

  “Ella’s fine, Mom. She’s the strongest out of all of us.”

  I’m not going to disagree there, but Cecily should stay here just in case there are more demons at their house. Ella may or may not have been the intended target. She might have just been the only one of us alone. Mrs. B and I had been in the kitchen with me munching on her homemade chocolate chip cookies.

  “Sometimes even the strongest people need to be taken care of, Cecily.” I crack an eye and look at her. “If it was you, you know she’d stay.”

  I know she wants to argue, I can see it in her face, but she nods. “I’ll stay.”

  Well, I was expecting more of a fight, considering how much I’ve seen her take advantage of her big sister the last few months.

  “Does Ella have anything here I can wear to sleep in?”

  “She packed a bag before we left the house earlier.” Mrs. B lets out a sigh and rubs her forehead. For a woman with two almost grown daughters, she doesn’t look old enough to be their mother.

  Cecily is the spitting image of her mother with honey gold hair and light blue eyes. Same facial structure and everything. The whole family is tall, with the exception of Ella. She’s a short stack. She’d be lucky to hit five feet. I’m a giant next to her.

  I used to be five foot eleven, but since coming into my Guardian Angel status, I’ve grown to six feet five inches. My brother Dan, who holds one of the four Holy Swords, is taller than I am. Caleb is the shortest of us now at six one. My little brother Benny will probably be around my old height, or he could shock us all and sprout up there with Caleb.

  I shake my family free of my thoughts. It’s best not to go down that particular rabbit hole.

  “She packed a bag?” Major Banks sits forward, his anger clear on his face.

  “Yes, sir. As I said, this is the best place for her right now.”

  “The best place for her is at home.”

  That same stubborn tilt of the chin I’ve seen on Ella so many times comes out to play in her dad’s expression.

  “Sir…”

  “Don’t sir me.” Mr. B points at me. “I’m a soldier who’s been around the supernatural world for over twenty years. Don’t tell me I’m not equipped to deal with potential dangers.”

  “Even if that danger is from the people you work for?”

  “It’s not. They don’t know a thing about Ella’s condition.”

  Condition?

  “What Ella has isn’t something she can just be cured of,” Doc Adams says quietly. He obviously took offense to that word, too. “It’s not a condition like diabetes or even cancer. It’s an ability, one that’s only going to get stronger as she learns to use it.”

  The major’s lips purse.

  “You say you know so much about us, sir.” I put so much emphasis on the word “sir” he has to know I’m being snarky. “Yet you appear to know nothing.”

  His lips curl up in a snarl.

  “Do you and the Army think this is something that can be cured? Because if you do, then you’re barking up the wrong tree. What we have are abilities we’re born with. None of us asked for it, but it’s as much a part of our DNA as red hair and green eyes is of yours and Ella’s. We can’t change it even if we wanted to. And we don’t want to change it. These things are what make us who we are and what make us unique. You’re doing your daughter a disservice if you think that.”

  “He’s right, honey.” Mrs. B takes her husband’s hand and squeezes it. “Ella is a living reaper. It’s not something that can be cured or locked away. She’s going to deal with this for the rest of her life, and pretending that it doesn’t exist is wrong. I have followed your lead with everything concerning this, but I will not allow you to make what Ella is going through meaningless or make her feel like she’s an outcast because you refuse to acknowledge it. We have to get behind her. Haven’t you noticed how quiet she’s become, even quieter than normal? How she’s withdrawn into herself more and more? I’ve only ever seen her crack a smile around Eli. Ella might prefer a book to going out, but she�
��s never been this quiet before.”

  Major Banks hangs his head, but not before I catch a flash of guilt. Maybe it’s because of what his wife just said, but I don’t think so. What did he do?

  “And protecting her? That means from everything including your job, Henry.” Mrs. Banks’ expression turns fierce. “If they do suspect something is going on with Ella, they’re probably the ones responsible for disrupting the salt line. Who else would have the resources? And you and I both know the military is not above listening devices or hidden cameras. You are going to let Marco’s friends go sweep our home. We need to keep Ella safe, and we need help to do it.”

  “Fine, but she doesn’t need to be here indefinitely.”

  “She needs to be here until we know if there’s more danger at home than there is here,” Mrs. B counters. For all her arguments earlier, she’s coming in strong for the clutch. I thought she’d be our biggest obstacle, especially given her hesitation on the same subject at dinner.

  She also understands how fragile her daughter’s feelings are right now. Ella needs distance so she can try to deal with her feelings toward her father and his job. I think I did a decent job of explaining that to her. I understand why she hasn’t brought it up. She doesn’t know Dr. Adams. No one wants to air their dirty laundry, as my mom used to call it, out in public for everyone to hear.

  “You know, it’s been a long day, and you both look like you need some air. Why don’t you take a walk in the gardens?” I know Gramps extended the electronics ward to cover the entire property while Ella’s dad is here. If Mrs. B wants to talk safely about what I told her, she can do it out there. “I’ll check on Ella and make sure Cecily’s good too.”

  “That’s a good idea, Eli. Didn’t you tell me you have some rare night-blooming flowers, Marco?”

  “I did.” There’s a hint of pride in Gramps’ voice. He does so love his gardens. He spends more time tending to them then he does anything else.