by J. L. Weil
“You gave in so easily.” She tilted her head. “I have to say I’m kind of disappointed.”
“What do you want?” I asked in a much braver voice than I was feeling. Inside, I was quaking. The last Blue Sparrow I had encountered tried to kill me. She must be a shifter. That was pretty f-ed up.
How could I be so dumb? So gullible? Why not give her my soul on a freaking silver platter for her to devour? I didn’t have time to berate myself—she was advancing on me.
“Not much. Just your soul, little Raven.” Her violet eyes flamed.
My window of escape was closing down on me, and then it slammed shut as my back hit the doorframe. Shit. All I could think was stall. “Why would you want my soul?”
An evil grin spread over her lips. “You have no idea, do you? That only makes this that much sweeter.” Faster than I anticipated, she reached out, jerking me by my ponytail and snapping my head back. It felt like every tiny hair follicle had been ripped from the scalp.
I refused to cry out. Tears stung my eyes, and I bit my lip until the worst of it subsided. “You bitch,” I cursed. Not exactly the smartest move when she still had my hair in a death grip.
She yanked again, leading me into the bedroom like a pooch. I swung out blindingly, hoping I would get lucky and sock this loco reaper.
Ugh. I needed to work on my aim.
My fist sailed through nothing but air, causing me to lose my balance, which in turn tugged a handful of hair. Fire burned at my scalp.
I was going to be bald and dead.
Joy.
“You’re pathetic,” she hissed, a massive bug up her butt. As if she had to drive home just how superior she was, she shoved me.
I stumbled, nearly toppling onto the bed. My eyes frantically looked for a weapon as she lunged toward me, and in my panicky state, I did the only thing that came to mind. I threw my half-full glass of Dr. Pepper at her face.
What a waste.
Glass shattered on the floor as she fumbled about, rubbing her eyes.
I bet that burned like a mofo.
She wiped at her sticky eyes, flinging dark liquid all over my lavender walls. Rose was going to pitch a fit. I scrambled around the bed, and she stalked me like a cracked-out panther, violet eyes glowing, accented by blue tendrils striking past her fake lashes.
She pounced, catching me in the back with the sole of her canvas sneakers. I guess I should’ve been thankful the bitch wasn’t wearing heels. I landed on my face with the grace of a drunk. Arms flailing, I went down hard, the floor scuffing my elbows and giving me a nasty burn on my cheek. Slivers of broken glass were embedded in my forearms and palms. Son. Of. A. Mother…
Lying flat on my stomach, I groaned, positive I couldn’t move. My body was screaming in agony. The older you were, the harder they fell. This was nothing like falling off my bike at five.
Piper, take a deep breath.
Where had my lady balls gone? I wasn’t going to let this vindictive hooker anywhere near my soul. My brother needed me. And I was far from ready to leave this world. Not yet. Not until I solved the truth about my family. About my mom.
And this skank, she might be my ticket.
She had known to use my mom to get to me, make me let my guard down. Now she was going to pay.
“And you underestimate me.” I swung my foot out, catching her at the back of her kneecap, and watched her go down to the ground.
There was a satisfactory thwack, and she let out a howl of pain. “You stupid—”
Ha. Take that reaper bitch, a taste of your own medicine.
There was, however, a flaw in my retaliation. Her recovery time was a thousand times faster than mine. Can’t a girl catch a break?
As I pushed to my feet, fully intending to find a sharp object, she bear tackled me and the two of us went sliding across the shiny, glass-littered floors. I let out an oomph as her weight crushed me.
She choked out a dry, bitter laugh. “It’s almost comical that you think you stand a chance against me. Your mother didn’t teach you shit.” Her hands shot out, pinning my wrists on either side of my head.
I’d just gotten my ass handed to me, but I didn’t care about that. “What do you know about my mom?”
“I know she was a failure, running away from her destiny. She was a coward.”
I bucked, my rage spiking. No one talked about my mom like that and lived. It fueled me, giving me the edge I needed. I didn’t think at all, just reacted. Wrapping my legs around her hips, I rolled, gaining the upper hand for the first time.
The struggle was real.
Even though I was sitting on her chest, she wasn’t making it easy, so I pimp slapped her. Hey, it was the only way I could think of to get her to stop from tossing me across the room. I was already going to be covered in bruises tomorrow morning.
A network of blue veins coursed down her face, and I knew what came next: my soul being sucked from my body. Man, I hated being right. She wasted not a second. A bolt of blue energy slammed straight under my boobs, her hand covering my heart. A starburst clouded my vision as the warmth in my veins began to freeze.
If I didn’t do something, fast, I was going to be entering the spirit realm sooner than later, but what? How did you stop a reaper from taking possession of your soul? If there had been a chapter on the subject in my mythology textbook, I’d obviously doodled through it.
They could be killed, echoed in my head. Zane had told me a grave injury was enough to take down a reaper, but did I have it in me to go through with such a vile deed?
She’d made it obvious only one of us was leaving here with her heart still pumping. I intended for it to be me. Full strength, I arched back, shoving both hands into her chest. “Screw you!” I yelled.
With a force I didn’t know I possessed, she flew back, her red hair billowing around her as she slammed into my dresser. A loud thud followed by a crack shot through the room as she hit her head on the corner. Bottles of perfume and lotion fell over the edge, clunking off her head. Unblinking, she stared at the ceiling, motionless.
“Still disappointed?” I asked.
I waited for her to answer. Guess she was a little rattled.
Relief eked through me. I was alive, but it was short-lived.
There was a dead body in my room.
I very much doubted Rose would approve. Nor did I imagine her staff cleaned up such messes. I clamped my hand over my mouth. Suddenly, I didn’t feel too spiffy.
My heart started hammering in my chest like crazy. I felt sick to my stomach and was pretty sure I was two seconds away from hurling all over Rose’s Persian rug. The experience of killing was a different brand of hell, and it sent shivers to my core.
With trembling fingers, I made the call. There was only one person I trusted to help me in my current predicament. “Zane,” I said shakily when I heard his voice. “I need you.”
Chapter 20
I felt a warm tingle down the back of my stiff neck, and I forced my lashes up. Zane slipped soundlessly inside my room and threw the lock, ensuring we wouldn’t be disturbed. My body wouldn’t stop quaking. I was curled up into a tiny ball on the bed, knees pulled to my chest.
Oh boy.
This could go one of two ways.
Very bad or disastrous. What other choices were there when it involved a dead body?
At least he was here, and I was no longer alone to face this somber problem. I hadn’t known what else to do, but faced with calling Rose or Zane, I chose the greater of two evils. I mean, it made sense that a reaper would know more about disposing a dead body. Rose might be blood, but with this I trusted Zane more.
His eyes immediately sought mine, brows lifting and mouth hanging open. “I can’t leave you alone for two seconds. I swear trouble seeks you out.”
Zane’s presence enticed two very different emotions inside me. Relief and apprehension. It was weird that a reaper made me feel secure, but he did just that, and after the hellish night I’d had, I could use a safety
blanket.
Before I had a chance to think about what I was doing, I was already in motion, springing from the bed and throwing myself into his arms. Later, I would be mortified. In my current distraught state, there was no room for self-consciousness.
His arms immediately encompassed me, and I buried my face into the alcove of his shoulder. “I don’t understand what happened,” I said against his neck, and then I was babbling incoherently, the whole messy affair coming out in incomplete sentences that made no sense, but somehow Zane got the general gist of what had gone down.
And while I was making a fool of myself, he managed to sit me down at the end of the bed. “You’re hurt.” His fingers moved over my achy cheek.
I grimaced. “At least I’m not dead.”
His glaze flicked up. “That’s more than we can say about her.”
I dropped my forehead on his chest, and let out a long swoosh of air. The fact that he could joke at a time like this made some of the tension ooze out of my body.
“Too soon?” he asked.
I lifted my head. “She is dead, right?” My hands wouldn’t stop shaking, so I shoved them between my knees.
His jaw tightened. “Stay there.”
After the night I’d had, I didn’t even want to be a few feet from him. I was going to be stuck to him like white on rice. The moment he stood over the body, I wiggled to the edge of the bed, swung my feet over, and tiptoed beside him.
He frowned in concentration, eyes still on the oddly-angled redhead. “I thought I told you to stay.”
I shifted my feet, the fuzzy socks slipping on the floor. “I have a short attention span. She’s dead, isn’t she?”
Kneeling down, he placed a hand over her stagnant heart. “Very. Even her soul is gone.”
“What? But, I thought…” My voice trailed off.
He shot to his feet. “That only a reaper could diminish a soul?” he finished, taking the words right from my closed-up throat. “That’s true.”
“But that would mean…” The knot that formed in my stomach, inched its way upward into my chest. “Why did she come after me?”
Zane frowned. “You’re a target, Piper.”
“What is it about me that puts a bull’s-eye on my back?” I asked.
“Are you sure you want to know? You might not like the answers you seek.”
Did I want to know? Isn’t that what I’d wanted all along? The truth? Would I turn away from it because I was scared?
No.
I couldn’t.
Not only for me but also for TJ. And for my mom.
“I want to know. All of it, Zane. I need to,” I finally said, voice thick.
“Let’s clean up this mess. Then we’ll talk,” he said.
I hoped that meant he had some kind of magical spell for that, because I really didn’t want to touch her again. What I wanted to do was close my eyes, curl up in my bed, and forget this night ever happened, but seeing the expression on Zane’s face, I knew there was no genie in the world that could grant me that wish. “Okay. So how do we do this? Toss her in the ocean? Burn her on the beach? Or bury her body in the sand?”
He shook his head. “Princess, you watch too many Unsolved Mysteries.”
I gave him a dry look. “Enlighten me.”
Flexing his fingers, he said with a sardonic grin, “It would be my pleasure.”
Without preamble, he laid a hand over her head. There wasn’t a moment of hesitation in his movements. At first, nothing happened, but then, slowly at first, the floor began to vibrate. A willowy darkness spread down her face, and inch by inch, the darkness consumed her from head to foot. When she was covered entirely, a burst of light lit the room, blinding me unexpectedly. Such a strong contrast from the blackness, it hurt the eyes. As the light began to recede and my vision adjusted, so did the minor shock wave. But most importantly, the dead body in my room was gone.
“Holy shit,” I whispered, staring at the spot where a body had once lain. There was nothing, absolutely nothing left of the girl who had attacked me.
He stood, his icy eyes glowing. “Magic has nothing to do with it.”
“Show off,” I muttered, hugging myself. I needed to sit down. My legs had started to wobble, and I could feel the color drain from my face.
“Piper,” Zane scolded. “If you pass out on me now, it will piss me off.”
I sunk against the wall, lowering my head, and closed my eyes. “I wouldn’t dream of making you angry.”
He laughed. “Yes, you would.”
Deep breaths. Deep breaths. In and out, I told myself. The last thing I wanted was to have to stick my head between my legs. Glancing up, I locked onto the protectiveness shining in his glowing irises. I had just killed someone, and I knew I wasn’t in trouble. The cops weren’t going to show up on my door with handcuffs. This was a different world—different rules. “Now are you going to tell me why reapers are trying to kill me?”
“I think you need some fresh air,” he said, guiding me outside onto the terrace, his cool fingers at my elbow.
I took a huge gulp of the salty breeze washing over my face, a calmness seeping through my blood. He sat down with me on the top step, overlooking the ocean view. It felt good getting off my feet, breathing in crisp air.
Actually, I was feeling strangely tranquil, my shaky nerves gone.
Now that I thought about it, I wasn’t feeling like a girl who had just killed someone. Analyzing what was going on inside me, I got a sneaking suspicion that Zane was responsible. My gaze zeroed in on his fingers casually lying on my arm. “Are you doing that?” I accused, pulling my arm out from underneath his.
His eyes tapered. “What is it you think I’m doing?”
I rubbed the tingling flesh on my forearm. “Why must you always answer a question with a question? It’s infuriating.”
“If you are talking about the wave of calmness, then yes. My soul is quieting yours.” He glanced at me as if to gauge my reaction.
I didn’t disappoint, my eyes bulging. “Your touch can do that?”
Zane glanced over his broad shoulder, pinning me with his intense, bright eyes. “For you it can.”
The hairs on my arms stood up where he had touched me. I could still feel him. “Because our souls are in sync,” I concluded.
He nodded.
It was obvious I had much to learn. “Can I do the same? For you?”
His mouth moved into a barely-there smile. “In theory, if you knew what you were doing, you could.”
Whoa. This weird vibe we had between us was becoming intimate, and I wasn’t sure I liked it. Okay, I’ll admit I had a thing for Zane, but this soul merger was on the verge of taking it to a whole new level. Still, my interest was piqued. “Show me.”
“Piper, this isn’t—”
I crinkled my nose. “Don’t be such a stiff.” Poor choice of words. “I want to learn.”
He sighed. “There isn’t much to it. Our souls seem to naturally align when we’re near.”
“Why do I get the feeling that isn’t normal?” I butted in.
Propping his elbows on his knees, he intertwined his fingers. “Nothing with you is normal.”
“Great,” I muttered.
His breath stirred the hair around my face as he leaned close. “The trick is to think of something that relaxes you, keeps your blood pressure steady. That calmness will transfer through our linked souls.”
“That’s it?” Disbelief colored my tone.
“Not everything is complicated. Some things are just basic.”
It sounded easy enough, and that got me thinking… “Does it work both ways? Could you feel my distress?”
His eyes clung to me like magnets. “You don’t get the good without the bad.”
I swallowed discreetly. Fabulous. The last thing I needed was to worry about my emotions every time he was near. It was bad enough that I couldn’t control my hormones around him. Good grief. Did he know that? How my insides went apeshit when I s
aw him? Just thinking about it made my cheeks flame.
Ugh. Of course I would have completely messed up relationships with guys. It must be part of my genetic makeup to date complicated, egotistical, and I couldn’t forget hot, douchebags only. But that was a dilemma for another day.
Trying to maintain my cool, I focused on the dimple situated just to the right of his damn kissable mouth. It wasn’t working. “Happy thoughts, huh?”
Voice low, he said, “That’s the idea.”
He waited in silence, while I struggled to gain control over my emotions. It was easier said than done, but most things are. I could definitely make him feel pain, uncertainty, fear, because those emotions were taking turns ricocheting inside me.
This was a dumb idea. Lord knows, I was full of them, but this one might just take the cake. I weaved my fingers with his, and a flutter formed in my chest. Then I watched his brows rise. I wasn’t a quitter. With a renewed determination, I cleared my mind. If I could just latch onto one happy memory…
The color of his eyes went up a notch, and I thought, Nailed it. “Did it work?” I asked, hopeful.
“Don’t I look happier?” He sounded sincere, but I wasn’t buying it.
A short laugh bubbled out of me as I unfurled our hands. “Not really. But something tells me you’re a master at hiding your emotions.” Stretching my legs out, I crossed them at my ankles. There was a count of quietness, and the edge in Zane’s eyes came back. I sighed. “Why do I get the feeling you are about to change my life? Kind of ironic after what I’ve done—after what I’ve seen. There’s no going back, Zane.”
The lines on his face hardened. “Do you want to take a walk?”
I didn’t bother with shoes or care that I was in PJs and socks. It was well past midnight, and the beach was empty other than the creatures of the sea. Shadows misted over the water, and the whoosh and sigh of the winds harmonized with the lapping waves. The world appeared untainted. Unfortunately, I no longer was.
“Cute shorts,” Zane said, eying my little black and teal polka dot shorts.
The moon shone at our backs as we walked down the beach. “Don’t get any funny ideas.”