Reaper Mine: A Reaper Novel

by Palmer, Christie

  It hissed but otherwise showed no other signs of slowing down. Turning on a dime, it back-handed Victor, picking him off his feet. Victor hit the ground several feet away with such force stars exploded in his vision. The ground shook as his opponent pounded toward him. Victor rolled out of the way. Making it laugh, an irritating sound grating on Victor’s every nerve.

  “I am really getting tired of hearing your laughter,” Victor snapped. Throwing a punch he connected solidly with its face as it bent down to pick Victor up. Victor rolled to his feet as the thing stumbled back a few feet.

  “The poor creatures and mortals I have been sent to collect are no match for me,” It rumbled, head snapping forward. Wiping the oily red/black blood from its chin, it opened its mouth showing bloody, pointed teeth. Victor's stomach turned at what he could only assume it was a smile. “But you? Ah, it will be a joy to make you scream.”

  Victor snorted. “Not even on your best day,” Victor said crouching down into an attack stance he waited. He didn’t have to wait long for the creature to attack. Victor stepped away at the last second, his scythe leaving another gaping wound. This one across the Freaks ribs, cutting straight through to bone.

  Victor racked his brain for what type of creature this could be, pasty green skin with demon like features but obviously with a clear mind. Victor slammed a fist into its face, grunting in pain as it landed a few punches of its own. He stumbled back, nearly dropping his scythe again. After this fight, he might have to consider carrying a gun. But he loved his scythe, even though his brothers teased him for using such an antiquated weapon. He swung out, slashing at the beasts other arm. Warm blood splattered out, coating him in it. Twirling the scythe he slammed the butt end of the handle into the Freaks eye socket. It stumbled back howling in pain, causing it to swing out blindly and catching Victor in the thigh making him stumble back several steps.

  It advanced. Another smile on its face as it head-butted Victor, stars exploding in his vision. Meaty hands wrapped around his throat, nearly causing Victor to lose his weapon again. He managed to bury it deep into the Freak's stomach, driving it upward until his fingers dug into the warm, wet wound.

  The creature's eyes rounded, as he squeezed Victor's throat tighter. Black spots appeared in his vision, before the creature dropped him and stumbled back, clutching at its stomach. He wheeled backwards until he slipped and fell into the old cemetery gate. Smoke sizzled off the beast as the hallowed gate burned the Freak; it screamed trying to roll free.

  Victor spat out blood and walked over to the thing planting a foot on its chest he pressed him into the gate and the hallowed/ blessed earth letting it finish off what Victor had started. Within minutes the thing burst into flame and after several minutes the screams stopped.

  Victor stumbled back and onto his ass, he lay for several minutes staring up at the night sky. The noxious smell of charred skin choked him. He had noticed there had been no soul connected to the mass of horror.

  Victor stared up at the constellations and swore to himself, as he let his body heal. Someone thought they were God, and everyone knew how well that always turned out. Dante was not going to be happy about this. Hell Victor wasn’t happy about this, why couldn’t shit just be easy? And the Tribunal wanted Dante to answer for his crimes? The irony of the situation didn’t amuse Victor. This shit just kept getting better and better. Dante was going to have a fit and then some.

  "I'm getting too old for this shit!" Victor swore and threw an arm over his eyes, trying to forget all the bullshit he just breathed the cool night air. He tried to imagine himself on a quiet beach his feet buried in warm sand, turquoise water spread out as far as the eye could see. The warm sun shining down on him, no death, no destruction. No damned souls. No wars and people trying to kill him and his brothers.

  He didn't know how long he lay there, but when he finally opened his eyes again, he was calm. He climbed to his feet, glared at the soulless piece of shit and shook his head. It was a bad omen if he ever saw one.

  "Well, you sure the hell weren't what summoned me." Kicking it away from the gate, he focused on the faint heartbeat he had identified earlier. He ducked through the gate and went looking for an idiot who would summon a Reaper.

  ****

  He followed the Blood Call, and stopped when he found the half-dead female. She lay spread over a headstone. A mangled ankle the obvious source of the blood she had used for her Blood Call. Victor just looked at her, and then looked back at the beast he had just killed. And shook his head. “You certainly didn’t have a chance did you?” He was surprised she had made it as far from her vehicle as she did. Long curly hair lay spread out, covered in twigs and dirt. She had high cheek bones and full lips and to top it off she was barely breathing. “Why in the world would you call a Reaper?” he asked the unconscious woman. Not expecting an answer.

  He touched her shoulder; she moaned and moved away from him. “Smart woman.” He shook his head. Not sure what he should to do with her now. Victor figured he couldn't just leave her in a deserted cemetery. After all, she had used a Blood Call and Dante had sent him after her. If he followed the Old Laws, he had every right to take her to the Infernos and keep her or give her to Dante.

  So really she belonged to him according to the rights of the Blood Call she had used. After all she had used her own blood to make the Blood Call and therefore forfeited her soul to the biding of the Reapers or Dante depending on answered the r call, which meant him. Nobody really used the Blood Call anymore. They used Ink, water, and requested things of the Reapers, but Blood hadn’t been used in over a millennia. Who wanted to forfeit their soul to the Reapers?

  Of course he had to accept the call either way, and add his blood to it to make if official. If she had used any other medium for her call her soul wouldn’t be involved. But she hadn’t used another medium. Now this little beauty’s soul was vulnerable, Victor smiled. He wouldn't of course take it, but she lay at his mercy. And taking her back to the Infernos for safe keeping wasn't the best idea, but, it was the only one he had. Besides, until she was awake and could explain what the hell was going on, the Infernos was the safest place for her right? It made total sense to him. They could talk about her soul and how fast and lose she was with it later.

  Gathering her up in his arms, he tried to Flash. When nothing happened he tried again. The woman in his arms moaned and jerked in pain. “What the f—” he grated, wondering if it had something to do with the graveyard. If the holy ground had been blessed by the right type of holy man it could prohibit him from Flashing. He took the woman and left the graveyard. He tried to Flash again, the woman arched and started to shake to the point he almost dropped her. Blood started to seep out of her nose. Not a very good sign.

  He glared at the woman, gently laying her down. “You are becoming a serious problem.”

  He took several steps away, and Flashed back to the Infernos without a problem. Then Flashed back. “Well, now what?”

  They were nowhere near a portal. Swearing, he picked her up and carried her back to the vehicles. Maybe he could just take her to the nearest emergency room and leave her there? After all he had taken care of the Freak that had been after her. And he didn’t sense anything Other about her. He looked down at her and wondered who and what she was. He didn’t sense anything Other about her. But that Freak was definitely Other, and why had he been after her in the first place, and why did she have a Blood Oath summons, if she wasn’t some type of Other? She had a lot of explaining to do, for him to just leave her on the side of the road.

  If he couldn’t take her back to the Infernos all bets were off. She had just become a liability to him, and one he wanted nothing to do with.

  He carried her back to the vehicles and put her in the backseat of the SUV, surprised when he found the keys in the ignition. Still not sure what to do, he climbed behind the wheel. He began punching buttons on the GPS until he had directions to the nearest ER and pulled the car out onto the road. Swearing to himself
over the mortal technology and the need to have to use it and not use his Other abilities. He grumbled to himself for the entire ride, when a hand grabbed his shoulder he swerved the car off the side of the road. And nearly ran them into another tree, shouting four letter words the entire time.

  ****

  Bile crawled up the back of Elle’s throat as the car rocked her, pain racked her ankle making her want to cry. A man sat behind the wheel. She was weak and it took everything she had to reach forward and touch his shoulder. He looked nothing like the horror stories she had made herself believe, of what Reapers would look like. Which scared her even more, who the hell had picked her up? Had she been taken by the Tribunal? Had her call to the Reapers gone unanswered? Leave it to her to get the emergency number wrong. Helena was going to lose her shit.

  She wanted to throw up, and cry all at the same time. She needed a phone, as much as she wanted to avoid it she needed to call Helena.

  When she touched his shoulder she wasn’t sure who was more surprised by his actions him or her? But, the way he veered the car off the side of the road, she would have to say him. The SUV swerved, throwing her from the seat and landing her in a heap on the floor between the front and the back seats jarring her.

  “Mother of all the gods above and below, woman!” The man swore again, and again, using combinations she had never heard before. Until the car screeched to a halt and the door at her head opened. With the early morning light behind him she couldn’t ascertain who or what species he might be, just his height.

  Elle took a deep breath. “What are you?” she asked trying to mask her fear. Then realized she didn’t feel anything. She closed her eyes, and actually reached out. Being bombarded with others' emotions came with being an Empath. But the only ones she was sensing were her own. Those she knew how to handle. At least, she thought she did. Now, staring at a man she had never met before and feeling nothing but her own emotions, she wasn't sure what to do without her enhanced ability.

  Her eyes shot to where his should be, but she couldn’t see them. His face was cast in shadow. “Oh my gods, what are you?” Elle shrieked. He crossed his arms over his wide chest, Elle wished she could get a good look at him. Wished she could get any type of reading off of him, but he was a blank slate to her. “You first, sweetheart.”

  Elle shook her head. This had to be a Reaper, right? Her fear ratcheted up to past anxiety, and right into feeling as if she might just throw up. “Oh Gods, I’m totally going to throw up,” she cried.

  “Yeah I’m taking you to the nearest ER, I don’t do sick.” He took a step back.

  Elle scrambled forward, as much as the cramped space would allowed, trying to grab at him. “No.” He must sense the fear in her voice, the horror. “I can’t go to a mortal hospital.” She practically screamed it at the top of her lungs.

  He stopped. “Then you have some questions to answer.”

  Elle chewed her bottom lip, caught between a rock and a hard place. “Are you with the Tribunal?”

  “No.”

  “Me either,” she offered hoping he would say more. When he didn’t say anything she sighed. “The Freak?”

  “Dead.”

  She wanted to shake him. “You killed him?”

  “Look, lady, you called me. Why don’t you tell me what you want?”

  And her mouth fell open, she just couldn’t help it. She must have looked a sight because he chuckled.

  “You. Are. A. Reaper?” She exhaled. Honestly Elle didn’t know what she had been expecting when she had used the emergency number. Well she had to be honest with herself she couldn’t get a good look at him from her position. But from what she saw, he looked like a regular guy. Well his silhouette looked normal. He didn’t have horns, and she peeked down, or hooves. Well he had on boots from what she could see so his feet could very well be hooves but she was pretty sure you couldn’t wear combat boots over hooves. But maybe you could, she didn’t know. Maybe they had adapted over centuries to wear regular footwear. How the hell was she supposed to know? Elle clapped a hand over her mouth as a giggle escaped.

  “What?” he snapped.

  “I just…” Elle stuttered. “I… I…You…feet…boots…a…holy shit,” she breathed.

  “Are you not well?” he snapped.

  Elle laid her head down and took a couple of gasping breaths, her ankle was killing her. She had been run down by some type of Freak of nature. She had almost bled out, and it looked as if she had been rescued by a Reaper. A Reaper for all the Gods Sake! Her life had most assuredly taken an odd turn or two in the last twelve hours.

  “I think I might be in shock,” she admitted. “And my ankle is killing me. And I just can’t believe the damn emergency number worked. So you’re really a Reaper?” Elle asked looking up at the man still standing over her.

  His head dropped just a fraction of an inch. “At your service.”

  “I can’t go to an emergency room,” she said with more calm then she actually had. She tried to make her voice sound self-assured. Talking to a Reaper scared the crap out of her. It shouldn't. After all, she was descended from gods and a demi-god herself, for Hell's sake! A powerless, helpless, worthless demi-god. But, a demi-god, never the less.

  “And why is that?" He sounded calm. In control. Maybe even a little bored. She wondered if she asked, if he would teach her to talk like that. Because his voice held this amazing lilting calm she would kill for. People had to take you serious when you spoke like that, because people who spoke like that ruled the world. She didn’t know how she knew that she just did.

  “I’m not exactly mortal.” Her voice cracked and she wanted to crawl under the seat. Her voice wasn’t strong or authoritative in fact it cracked just a little. She wouldn’t be threatening if she tried.

  He leaned in. Strong cheek bones, sandy blond hair and eyes so dark blue, they appeared almost black, came into focus. His eyes were sexy as hell. Dammit, he was so beautiful it was sinful. Of course he had to be freaking gorgeous. And with that voice, she wanted to sigh, might have sighed if she wasn’t scared.

  “I sense nothing. What are you?” he demanded. The voice had gone hard, it wasn’t a tone you said no too.

  She pulled as far away as the cramped space would allow. “There is no need to snap at me.” She swallowed when his eyes narrowed in irritation. And she spoke before he had a chance. "Well, there isn't! It isn't like I'm trying to hide what I am." Not from him. At the moment anyway.

  “Your eyes are gold,” he barked and stood up swearing. “Bloody hell,” He shouted then leaned close only inches from hers, moving with a speed and grace which made Elle jealous and dizzy at the same time.

  “Demi-god,” he snarled it like it was a bad word

  Air rushed from Elle before she nodded. “Yes, why is that such a bad thing?” she heard herself ask.

  "Who do you answer to? Who are you bound to?" He snapped. Elle was surprised her head didn't whip back from the vehemence in his voice.

  She shook her head. "No one."

  "Bullshit! Who is your god?" He demanded, "Who is the one you answer to?" He spat the words out, like he couldn't get them off his tongue fast enough. This wasn't what she had expected. She had expected a Reaper to come and protect her from the Freak. And to be a gentleman, after. Okay, not really what she had expected, she hadn’t known what to expect. But a regular looking guy? Not on her expectation list. It just threw her for a loop. But since a regular guy had shown up, he could at least treat her like a regular person, right? At least make an effort to be nice?

  "The Gods of old are gone. Something, I am sure you know." Elle said, waving her hand around dramatically.

  “As were their offspring. And their bastards with them!" He barked, making Elle wince.

  His words stabbed at her heart. “Not all their offspring,” she said defensively. “Some stayed behind, were actually left behind.” Since we were of no use, or in her case, too mortal to be useful. She didn't tell him that, since it would only vali
date what the prickly bastard thought. And she wasn't in the mood for that.

  He grabbed her, ignoring her cries of pain as he dragged her from the back of the vehicle. Elle gritted her teeth and forced herself to stand on her good leg. Lights exploded behind her closed eyes, but she forced them open, anyway. She refused to pass out in front of him. She wouldn’t satisfy his morbid curiosity. “Why did you call for a Reaper? And let me tell you in doing so you and your soul now belong to me.”

  Elle blanched, and her stomached dropped into her feet. “That’s impossible.”

  “Nothing is impossible,” he growled.

  “But Helena… She never said. She wouldn’t do that to me.” Elle stumbled on her words. “I didn’t have a choice.”

  “I don’t give a shit what this Helena did or didn’t do. Now tell me what chased you into the cemetery?” His voice was so uncaring it ran chills down her spine. And she felt more alone then she ever had in her entire life. How could Helena have done this to her?

  “I have no idea. Some kind of freak.”

  “Well sweetheart, you don’t have a lot of answers. And unless I start getting some damn good ones, I’m not moving another inch.” He folded his arms over his chest.

  Elle took a couple of reassuring breaths. “The Tribunal sent out a notice that all species of Other, were to register with them. From what I understand, the majority of the Others, basically laughed it off.” She took a breath; she had no idea what the Reapers knew of the Tribunal’s current actions or why the Tribunal were currently going bat shit crazy. “About six weeks ago they started collecting those who had refused to register with them.” She used her fingers as quote marks when she used the word register. “It’s a way for the Tribunal to make the Others bow to them.”

  “Those of us who refused to become pawns for the Tribunal have gone into hiding. My sister called me tonight and said they were going after the higher casts.”