Keeper Under Fire (Graveyard Guardians Book 3)

by Jennifer Malone Wright

  Everyone who hadn’t been in the kitchen when Aiden played the message earlier swung their heads toward him expectantly.

  “Hey, I didn’t answer it.” He responded to their curious stares. Then, he dug around in his pocket and pulled out his phone. “Here’s the message.” He set the phone to speaker and played the message for everyone to hear again.

  After hearing what the Empress had to say, Liv knew she should feel relieved, but she didn’t. She was furious. She wanted this crap to be over with, not to sit around and wonder when the Reapers were going to strike again. As much as she hated the fact that there might be more killing, she wanted to go over to the mansion and eliminate them … she just wanted her family and her home to be safe again.

  “I think she’s bluffing.” Hannah was the first one to speak, her voice soft. “I don’t believe for a second she’s going to pull her men back. That woman is relentless.”

  Aiden tilted his head. “She is that, but she also has an Army, a guard who trains for situations like this and they would advise her of our retaliation, and thus pull the men back. You went after the mansion before, why wouldn’t you do it again?”

  Greg nodded. “This is true. But, I stand by the earlier decision that we still go check it out.”

  “Remember …” Aiden started to say something but Greg cut him off before he could get it out.

  “We know. Alma is still there. We’ll be careful she doesn’t get hurt if anything should happen.”

  Liv shifted her eyes back and forth between her brother and Aiden. Who in the hell was Alma and why was Aiden so worried about her. From what she knew, Aiden didn’t have any ties anywhere.

  Her eyes drifted to the others and she saw that all the guys seemed to understand what Greg was referring to, the girls on the other hand, appeared just as lost as she was.

  Lucy was the one to ask the question, though. She spread her hands wide and turned to Aiden, “Okay … who is Alma?”

  Liv watched as Aiden’s body visibly tensed, but he seemed to push away any emotion before he replied. “She’s the housekeeper at the compound. She doesn’t have anything to do with any of this and I don’t want her caught in the middle of it.”

  Lucy had obviously been expecting a different answer because her stern expression melted and a soft, “oh,” slipped from her lips. “That’s nice that you would worry about her.”

  With a sigh, Aiden shook his head. “I don’t know why everyone is making such a big deal out of this, I just don’t want innocent people to get hurt.”

  Seriously! Liv felt her skin flush with anger as she remembered some of the things he’d done. Before she knew what was happening, her mouth was moving. “That never seemed to bother you before.”

  Aiden’s head swiveled toward her and his emerald gaze bore down into her. “No, it didn’t.”

  “But suddenly it does now?” She couldn’t stop herself, why did she care anyway, he was trying to protect an innocent person, that was a good thing.

  “For fucks sake, Liv, there is nothing wrong with me wanting to protect an old woman who is completely clueless about any of this.”

  He was right. He was totally right. She was being an asshole.

  However, backing down wasn’t one of her strong suits and admitting she was being an asshole was a whole lot harder than being one. “I’m sorry if it’s hard for me to believe that you actually care. You hurt innocent people for a living, Aiden.”

  “I’m not arguing with you about this right now.” He practically growled the words.

  “Okay!” Jack held up his hands. “Point being, we need to go to the compound. Obviously, I have to go since I know the place better than anyone. Who else is going. Not to take leadership position or anything, but I want several people to stay back with Lucy.”

  Liv’s hand shot up. “I’m going.”

  She needed to go. She needed to see that they were either gone, or if they weren’t gone, she needed to be able to fight for what she loved.

  In the end, it was decided that she would go and the rest of the team would be the guys. Greg, Jack, Ethan, James, Dan and Aiden. It was a good choice. Hannah couldn’t risk any more attention on her should something happen that they were caught by law enforcement, which was the same reason David needed to stay. Steph didn’t even want to go. She’d said that she would rather stay with Lucy, just in case anything happened at the house.

  “Okay.” Greg circled the kitchen table. “Tomorrow morning, we leave before dawn.”

  Everyone nodded in agreement, though none of them appeared anywhere near excited about it. The next hour was spent going over strategy plans for getting into the compound and what would happen after. They covered several different scenarios and what they would do should those situations come upon them.

  After a while, Dan stretched, his stupid trench coat fanning out around him. “This has been one long ass day. I need another nap.” He withdrew his flask from the wide pocket of the jacket and unscrewed the top as he made for the door that led to the living room. “See you pansies later.”

  Liv absolutely hated that Dan was that dependent on alcohol, they were all going to have to plan an intervention if he didn’t stop soon. She knew he still faced pain and anguish every single day, but he had to get over it. He just had to.

  “Well …” Jack pulled Lucy close to his side. “I think we need another nap, too.”

  Lucy slapped at his arm and then tilted her head up to gaze at him. “I am pretty tired.”

  “You don’t sound tired,” James said with a snort, scooting his chair out so he could stand. “Greg, let’s go work on the weapons and start prepping.”

  Jack gently urged Lucy toward the door, winking at James on his way out.

  “That is so gross. Why is he so open about that stuff?”

  Hannah shrugged. “I don’t like it either, but it could be worse I guess.”

  “Five minutes ago, everyone wanted to kick his ass if he even looked at her sideways,” James argued.

  “Yeah, and now I’m going to be an aunt, and Jack is my niece or nephews dad. It’s obvious that he is here to stay, so we just need to get used to how he is.”

  James rolled his eyes. “It’s still … ugh.” He faked a shutter to display his disgust.

  Liv knew she couldn’t hang out here with them for the rest of the afternoon and evening. It was too loud and crazy. “I’m going home,” Liv announced and glanced at Aiden, “Are you staying here?”

  He nodded, his gaze not meeting hers. “Yeah, for a little while, but later I have some stuff I have to take care of.” He didn’t offer to explain further, so Liv determined that it had to do with taking souls and that was not something she even wanted to think about.

  “All right, I’ll be at the house. I’ll see you all later.” She waved at her family.

  “Thanks for the doughnuts, Sis,” Greg called after her.

  She raised her hand and absently waved again without responding.

  Aiden couldn’t help but follow Liv with his eyes as she left. He had disappointed her. He knew that. Once upon a time, like yesterday, he didn’t give a crap about what anyone thought. Now, here he was, all worried because he thought she might be upset with him.

  What a fucking pansy.

  He needed to get over that and get his shit together. They had a mission to go on and hopefully there wouldn’t be any fighting. But if there was, he needed to be in soldier mode. Emotions, he was learning, were just not for him.

  He’d planned on asking Jack if he wanted to go with him to find souls, but after that little announcement and how he and Lucy had run off, he realized he was on his own.

  Speaking of which, he could not believe Jack was going to be a father. The guy could barely take care of himself. He seemed happy about it and that was a good thing, but he couldn’t imagine how hard it was going to get for those two now, especially Lucy.

  The family began to disperse from the kitchen, each heading off to take care of whatever tasks
they needed to tend to or to sleep. Finally, he and Ethan were the only ones left in the room.

  Ethan eyed him warily, obviously still unsure of Aiden’s presence. All he really knew about this Keeper was that he wasn’t blood related, but that the Estmonds had practically raised him. He was also Lucy’s best friend.

  It hadn’t escaped his attention that Ethan had stronger feelings for Lucy than Lucy had for him. It was written all over his face when he looked at her. He seemed to accept that anything between him and Lucy would never happen, but it was hard not to feel bad for the guy, Aiden was not like most people. He could shut his emotions on and off … well, usually he could, but not all people could do that and this poor kid was in love with a girl who was someone else’s soul mate.

  “Later,” Ethan grumbled as he pushed through the kitchen door and disappeared before Aiden could respond.

  Before he stepped into the living room, he took a long look around and let out a sigh. When had this become his life?

  He found James and Greg going through weapons and let them know that he was leaving. They had both heard him answer Liv, earlier, so neither of them asked where he was going or when he’d be back. They both simply waved and said goodbye.

  As he passed through the living room, Jack was just bounding down the stairs. “Hey, bro, where are you going?”

  He bypassed the question for now. “I thought you were napping.”

  Jack shook his head, his dark locks had grown longer and some of the strands fell into his eyes. “Nah, Lucy shot me down. I guess she actually wanted to sleep.”

  Aiden smiled. “She’s going to be tired a lot.”

  “How the hell do you know.”

  “I don’t.” Aiden shrugged. “I haven’t been around pregnant women much at all, but from what I know there are these things.” He held up his fingers so that he could tick them off. “They are always tired, they have strange cravings, they always have to pee and there will be mood swings.”

  Jack’s eyes widened. “Shit, worse than what she has already?”

  “Yup. Like I said, I don’t know much, but that’s what I’ve heard.”

  A voice carried through the room, cutting them off. “My god.” Steph was shaking her head. “You two are like children discussing where babies come from. Do my sister, and yourself, a favor and go buy some books on pregnancy please.”

  Aiden nodded, clapping his friend on the shoulder. “That’s a good idea.”

  Steph continued to pass through the room into the kitchen, shaking her head and muttering something along the lines of dumbasses.

  “Hey.” Aiden leaned over to Jack and whispered. “Do you want to come with me. I’m going out of town so that I can feed.”

  His friend’s eyes took on a lustful shine as the thought of taking a soul crossed his mind. “Yeah.” Jack also kept his voice low. “I do need the strength. Give me two minutes to let Lucy know and then I’ll be right down. I’ll take you to where I have been going.” Jack turned and bounded up the stairs.

  While he waited for Jack, he turned on the SUV and waited for the air to cool off inside before getting in. He was happy Jack was coming with him. They didn’t talk about it because it wasn’t manly and rugged, but he hadn’t had any time alone with his friend to talk about everything that had happened with both of their lives. It had been go, go, go, something always happening and during all of this he’d spent more time alone with Keepers than he had with Jack.

  Finally, Jack appeared on the porch, closing the old farmhouse door softly behind him. He jogged over and met Aiden at the SUV, circling to the passenger side. “Okay, I’ll tell you which way to go.”

  They both got in the vehicle and drove about a half an hour, while Jack gave directions. “So,” Aiden began, between Jack pointing out where they needed to go. “How are you feeling about this baby thing?”

  Jack shrugged. “I don’t know. It’s happening and it can’t be reversed, so I choose to be happy about it.”

  “But, man … a baby.”

  Jack sighed. “I know. I sure as hell didn’t plan on kids for … well, I’d never planned on kids. And right now isn’t exactly the best time to be family planning, but it’s a done deal.”

  Aiden glanced at his friend out of the corner of his eye. “You’re going to have to get a job. You can’t raise a kid on your good looks.”

  “I know,” Jack responded thoughtfully, “I’ve already thought of that. It’s just sort of hard right now, with everything going on. Turn here.”

  “Well, man, I’m happy for you. Seriously. I’m just worried.”

  Jack let out a small laugh. “Believe me, I’m worried too. This is a complete fucking surprise and I wasn’t prepared for anything like it.”

  Their conversation came to an abrupt end when they arrived at a cemetery that had a large iron gate and was surrounded by woods. Jack directed Aiden to bypass the parking lot and park a little further down the road.

  Aiden nodded as he inspected Jack’s choice. They needed the cover of the trees to keep anyone who might be passing by from seeing them. A regular person who caught sight of a Reaper feeding might think that they were glimpsing a person who was possessed, or possibly interpretive dancing. They could see the Reaper, but not the soul.

  “Are there any Keeper’s here?” Aiden asked, staring through the windshield.

  “Of course there is.” Jack pushed open his door and stepped out. “There is always a Keeper. We need to just be fast and then get the hell out of here.”

  With a silent nod, Aiden agreed. The last thing he wanted right now was an altercation with a Keeper. But, just in case, he removed his gun from the holster at his hip and checked the clips. Seeing the magazine was full, he replaced it into the weapon and holstered it. He also had his knife at his other hip. He truly was hoping for no fighting, but better safe than sorry.

  He followed Jack as he entered the woods bordering the cemetery. Carefully and quietly, they crept through the broken tree branches and the burnt orange and yellow leaves that had fallen with the season and now covered the floor of the earth.

  It wasn’t long and they emerged in what appeared to be the far corner of the cemetery where the really old tombstones were. Now days, you got a fancy carved marble or granite headstone that looked just like everyone else’s. Long ago, they had markers of all different kinds, each displaying something different about the person it stood there for. Well, if you were wealthy or important you got that type of headstone. If you were poor, then you were shit out of luck and lucky to get a homemade cross. In fact, many people weren’t even buried in cemeteries. Families had their own plots located on their own land. Or, the people who cared about you just dug a hole, threw you in and covered you up.

  The souls were plentiful. Even in the daylight their shimmering blue mist could be seen floating over the grounds. He felt his heartbeat skip as his body acknowledged the presence of what it needed.

  “Let’s do this,” Jack whispered. Though he appeared anxious, Aiden heard the resentment in his voice. Jack had never liked taking an entire soul. His friend had always preferred taking a little bit from living people. Aiden figured it made him feel less like a murderer and more like a regular person.

  Reapers would never be regular people, that much was for sure. Jack could play house with the Keepers all he wanted, but none of that changed that he was always going to have to feed on souls. There was also the chance that his child would be born with that basic Reaper need as well, or perhaps Lucy’s Keeper bloodline would cancel it out. They wouldn’t be able to tell until long after the baby was born, but it was half Reaper so the chances were definitely there.

  He watched Jack go his own way to one side of the graveyard and then he scanned the blue mist for a soul that seemed easy prey. He found one, floating beside a towering headstone almost as tall as he was. The swirling fog of the soul gathered together into what was almost a sphere, and then the shimmering ball of light pulsed in and out as if it were a beating hear
t.

  He scanned the area, checking for any signs of the Keeper for this graveyard. He waited and saw no one. If there was a Keeper here, they weren’t in the immediate area. Using soft steps, he proceeded to creep carefully toward the soul.

  The soul did not detect him as he continued to move closer. When he near enough, he extended his arms, reaching toward it. The connection between himself and the soul clicked almost instantaneously and the soul was trapped in his invisible grasp. The sphere pulsed harder and faster, its light brightened and dimmed with fear as it realized what was happening.

  A sudden thought wedged its way into his mind. Was this painful for them? For the souls?

  He knew that the body of a Reaper absorbed the soul, so he assumed that they were gone forever after that. But, the visual of a soul silently screaming was now firmly implanted in his brain.

  Dammit.

  Before all this bullshit with the Keepers, he had never thought of the souls as actual people or anything more than what he needed to live. But lately, he had begun to feel like he was doing something wrong. Not that it would stop him. He would always need to take souls, but he wanted these feelings to go the fuck away and let him do what he had to do.

  Pushing all those images and feelings aside, he brought the soul closer to him and his lips parted, letting his nature take over. The moment the blue mist passed over his lips he felt a surge of energy wave through him. As the soul absorbed throughout his body he felt himself immediately growing stronger. All the weakness he’d been feeling evaporated and all the hunger he had felt was finally sated.

  Why did he wait so long since the last time he’d taken a soul? Why would he put himself through the withdrawal of not having that lifeforce inside of him?

  “Hey.” Jack’s urgent whisper cut through his thoughts. “We have to go.”

  Aiden turned and found his friend beside him. The look on Jack’s face had him reaching to his hip for his gun.

  Jack shook his head. “No, let’s just go. Right now.” He said the second part with more inflection. Aiden didn’t need to ask what it was, he already knew, a Keeper was coming. So, like pansies … they ran.