by J. L. Weil
For the love of reapers. Crash’s timing sucked. Not only had he singlehandedly botched my interrogation, but Zane had been itching to confront Crash, and it wasn’t going to be a civil conversation.
“Why the hell are you here?” Zane demanded, blue eyes luminous in the shadows.
Crash dug in his pocket, pulling out a lighter and a pack of smokes. “It’s nice to see you too, Death Scythe.”
Zane was having none of it. He was neither amused nor happy. “Care to explain why you executed our hostage?”
Crash put the slim stick in between his lips and flicked the end of the lighter. The flame burned brightly in the dark. “Does it matter? I came to save your ass.”
I blinked, and in that second, Zane had Crash wrapped in head to toe darkness, his fist curled on the front of his shirt. “When have I ever needed your help? I think you were spying on us, you little traitor.”
I couldn’t believe this was happening. Were we always doomed to fight among ourselves? I was going to have to intervene. Again. Aspyn and Declan were clearly not going to get involved. The two of them were standing on either side of me, seemingly enjoying the show.
Crash blew a puff of smoke in Zane’s face. “Whatever makes you sleep better. Or, I heard the world was on the brink of an apocalypse and thought I would lend a hand.”
Zane snorted. “As if a good deed has ever crossed your mind. You’ve spent your entire life abusing your position.”
Crash stuck his cigarette in his mouth and swept his arm down over the hold Zane had on his shirt. “Hands off the merchandise, unless you want to lose the hand.”
Zane step forward, muscles bunched, and I made my move. “Guys!” I yelled, weaseling my way in the middle. “Can we not do this now?”
Crash held up his hands, backing off, and Zane glanced down at my face, seeing the exhaustion and pain. Even if I were a skilled enough actress to hide the suffering I was feeling, Zane would have still known. He would always know. The tie between our souls made sure of it.
Crash leaned up on the brick building. “Truce, for the night. We can go back to hating one another when the sun comes up.”
“Fine,” Zane reluctantly agreed, mostly for my benefit.
“Thank you,” I whispered.
“You sure you’re okay, doll?” Crash asked, dropping the half-smoked cigarette on the ground and crushing it under his foot. “You look like death.”
“Good thing I’m not trying to win a beauty pageant,” I replied sharply.
Aspyn chuckled softly.
Crash was right though. I was beat and on the verge of collapsing, but the night was still young. The stench of death was everywhere. Wordlessly, I took a moment to look at my surroundings. The hallow had dragged me into the open street. There were bodies littered along the road, souls waiting to be released.
Seeing all the bodies turned my stomach. It seemed unnecessary that so many innocent souls were taken tonight. I shuffled around a corpse of a ten-year-old boy whose clothes were ripped and skin was an unsightly gray. I glanced up and knew Zane and I were both thinking about our brothers. Mine was still alive, but Zander, he was gone.
“Let’s finish what we came to do,” I said, letting my outrage fuel my body with the energy I would need to get me through this night.
Chapter 7
The sun was rising, casting beams of soft orange and yellow over the horizon as I stood on the balcony. I held my breath, still braced for a fight even though I was home. After several tense moments, I relaxed. Zane had put his hand on the side of my waist, bringing me back from the gruesome images haunting my memory.
I don’t know how they did what we had just done, night after night. It tripped me up and had me second-guessing whether I was the right person for the job. A Raven was supposed to be a leader: strong, and have a stomach of steel.
“Hey princess,” Zane said, his voice slightly hoarse.
The cloudiness lifted from my eyes, and a strangled laugh bubbled out. “That wasn’t a dream?”
He placed the tip of his fingers under my chin, examining my face. “Afraid not.”
I exhaled and closed my eyes. Everyone had bad days. Today was mine. Luckily, tomorrow was a new day and just around the corner. I’d pick myself back up and remember what I had to do. And after seeing firsthand what the hallows were capable of, and getting a glimpse at what the world might look like if I didn’t restore the veil, my resolve was even stronger . “I’m running out of time,” I stated. “I can feel it. Tonight was only the tip of the freaking iceberg.”
Zane gave me a piercing look. “What’s the plan?”
“That was Plan A,” I replied, walking through the double doors and kicking off my shoes.
“Plan A never works,” he told me.
I rubbed the sore muscles at my neck. “Obviously. You got any suggestions?”
“I have plenty.” He leaned a jean-clad hip on the doorway as his eyes roamed over my body. “But none of them have anything to do with restoring order and everything to do with getting you out of those grimy clothes.”
Holy hot reaper babies. Zane had made plenty of advances at me, but not when we were free to actually act upon them. We’d grown accustomed to one of us always putting on the brakes, but not tonight. He wasn’t going to get an argument. Not from moi. Actually, I was going to knock his socks off, because I was damn tired of fighting the attraction between us.
I’d had a hellish night, and all I wanted at this moment, besides a hot shower, was all six-foot plus inches of Zane. Heck, I was going to have both—Zane and the shower—together. Once the idea took root, it was all I could think about.
Before I lost my nerve, I grabbed the ends of my shirt. I locked eyes with his, and my blood roared. “I can help you with that.” I tugged the tattered cotton over my head and let it slip to the floor. This wasn’t the first time I had stood in front of Zane in only a black lacy bra, but this time my cheeks didn’t flame from embarrassment. Instead, it was a different kind of fever.
Keeping my eyes on his, I was encouraged by the dark gleam that followed. The entire room seemed to spark. I walked forward, invading his personal space so our bodies brushed. Anticipation heightening, I ran my hands over his shoulders and down his chest. “You’re wearing too many clothes. Lose the shirt.”
He arched his brows. “Piper, what are you doing?”
I slipped both my hands under the cotton material, and his stomach jumped under my touch. “The fact that you have to ask makes me think I’m doing something wrong.”
The hue of his eyes burned extraordinarily bright. “No, you’re definitely doing it right. And that’s the problem.”
I lifted up on my toes, aligning our mouths. “The only problem is you’re not kissing me.”
His gaze moved to my lips. “That can be fixed.” Slowly, as if he had all the time in the world, his head dipped.
Unfortunately, I wasn’t a very patient person. My fingers sunk behind his head and closed the distance between us, sealing our lips in a kiss that started soft and tender, but quickly turned into something neither of us could contain. A blazing fire. He was kissing me as if it was his dying wish.
In an effortless turn, he pressed my back against the wall, lips trailing the side of my jaw and then tasting the sensitive spot on my neck. My body reacted. I pulled him closer, chest-to-chest, flesh-to-flesh, causing us both to shiver.
Running my fingers down his stomach and along the angles of his hip, I wound my fingers with his. “Speaking of dirty…I stink.” I rubbed the tip of my nose along his cheek. “And so do you,” I whispered.
“Let me guess, you have a solution,” he murmured.
“I really, really want to get this funk off me,” I said, nipping at his bottom lip. I took a step back, but kept my hand in his, not letting him get away. I wasn’t ready to stop touching him. Walking backwards, his eyes imprisoned mine as I guided the two of us into the adjoining bathroom. Scents of candy and apples, much like my soap and shampoo,
perfumed the room.
He raised my hand to his lips, pressing a kiss at the center of my palm. “I can’t stop thinking about you,” he whispered.
“Don’t stop, okay? I don’t want you to ever stop thinking about me.” Or touching me.
He moved into the shower, turning the handle to hot. The hiss of the water brought a smile to my face and steam slowly began to fill the room. I hooked my finger behind my back, unsnapping my bra, before wiggling out of the rest of my clothes.
I felt him stop breathing for a moment, and the look he gave me had my blood humming. His form blurred, darkening at the edges. For a second I thought we might end up on the bathroom floor. “You first,” he stated and pressed a kiss to my nose before closing the curtain.
I waited, assuming he was undressing to join me. I stood dunking my head on the spray. The steady stream of water plastered over my face and cascaded over my body, soothing the cuts, burns, and tender muscles that were already beginning to heal.
Where was he? I was feeling a bit lonely... Pulling back a corner of the shower curtain, I stared at an empty bathroom. Zane was nowhere to be found. Dumbfounded, I realized he wasn’t joining me. I was torn between stomping out of the shower soaking wet to give him a piece of my mind, or just enjoying the rest of my shower.
The nearly scalding water did the trick, washing away the dirt and blood stuck to my skin. My annoyance and disappointment soon gave way to bliss. He didn’t know what he was missing. Bubbles from all the fragrant shampoo and soap pooled around my feet, and I tried not to think about why the water was tinged pink.
The shower was nearly cold by the time I was finished. Shrugging into a robe, I ran a brush through my hair and attended to my teeth before stepping out of the foggy room.
Shirtless, Zane was lounging in my room, his hair slightly damp. Our eyes locked. “You showered,” I blurted.
“I did. You smell amazing,” he said
I wrinkled my nose. “You mean I don’t smell like dirt, sweat, and death.”
“Precisely, princess.” His accent thickened, and the veins spidering down over his eyes shone in a wealth of emotion.
I padded over to the bed and climbed in. “That was a dirty trick,” I pouted.
He rolled over on his side, propping up on his elbow. “I could say the same. You don’t play fair.”
“Tell me again why we need to?” I should have taken a cold shower. Seeing him half-naked wasn’t helping to control this overwhelming urge to do more than kiss.
His smile was secretive. “Some things shouldn’t be rushed.”
My thumb swept over his bottom lip, and his dark eyes drifted shut. “Let’s not sleep, just yet,” I whispered.
Zane and I had unfinished business, and it seemed like the kind of night to clear the air. I wanted a resolution, and I wanted it now. As I stared into his face, Aspyn’s suggestion played in my mind. Zane and I having a baby? The idea was preposterous. I mean, we were supposed to be married before we thought about having a kid.
But perhaps it was the solution. Nothing about my life was normal or traditional. So why should my relationship with Zane be any different? Regardless, I didn’t want our first time to be about anything other than us. It was a big deal, and not only because I was still holding the v-card.
The edges of his form were outlined in shadows, and there was a ghost of a smile on his lips. “What did you have in mind?”
Gazing into Zane’s eyes, I lifted my face to kiss him. “I’m more of a show than tell kind of girl.” His hot mouth met mine, and there was no turning back. The moment our lips connected, all self-control went flying out the open window. Sparks ignited. Feelings intensified. I never felt more excited or more ready for anything in my life. He had a taste that was deliciously cool and intoxicating. I reached up, placing a less than steady hand on his cheek.
Darkness as snappy as winter blanketed around us. But in the moment, with Zane kissing my brains out, I didn’t give it a second thought. His frosty shadows glided us from the center of the room to the bed. Zane pulled me onto his lap all while kissing me until I was breathless. He paused only to brush the robe off my shoulders.
My hands roamed, moving from over the cords of his neck and shoulders to his chest and stomach. His breath quickened as my fingers slipped lower over the planes of his belly. I fumbled with the button on his jeans, looping it through the hoop. I pressed against him, and a fresh bout of unbridled power trembled in the air. He gazed at me in a way that touched my soul.
I had no idea what to do, but it seemed my body knew. Each touch, each kiss, made me feel closer to Zane than I’d ever been with anyone. Words couldn’t express what was going on inside me, not just my body, but also my soul. This was nothing like the making out we’d done before. This was so much more. More feelings. More intense. More serious. The veins inside me glowed brighter everywhere his hands lingered. And they were everywhere. Not in a rush. He took his time, as if he was searing every moment to memory.
I trusted him explicitly. But I’d never done this before with anyone. It was only natural that my nerves kicked in as clothes began to shed and ended up scattered on the floor. As we lay next to each other, no barriers, his mouth found that spot just under my ear that sent my senses spiraling and drove me crazy. I brought his mouth down to mine again. Deepening the kiss, our tongues danced, charging the electricity between us.
Our bodies weren’t the only things that merged together—so did our souls. I remembered everything I’d ever heard about a girl’s first time, the uncomfortable pain, the blood. In the moment, I couldn’t fathom either. Nothing about how Zane was making me feel was scary or alarming. Just the opposite. I was drowning in pleasure. Every pore in my body was alive.
Yet, right before the moment, I stiffened, braced for the unknown.
He pressed a kiss on either side of my mouth. “If you want me to stop, you only have to say the word.” His voice was dark and rough as his breath washed over my face.
I looked into his eyes. “Don’t stop.”
His five o’clock shadow brushed against my cheek. “Do you trust me?”
The feel of a bit of roughness against my smooth skin made me shiver. I bit my lip and nodded. There was no one I trusted more.
“Relax, princess,” he whispered.
When his lips met mine, all trepidation fled. A fire ignited inside me and spread like wildfire. I swear I would have burst into flames if it weren’t for his cool body covering the length of mine.
Being with him so intimately had been like merging our souls, only a thousand times more potent. It had been absolutely perfect. Yeah, there was a pinch of pain, but Zane had vowed to always protect me. And he did. Because of our bond, he was able to make me forget the discomfort before I really realized it was there.
Afterward, sunlight bathed the room, the warm breeze streamed through the open windows, setting the sheer curtains in a twirl, and while the rest of the world was waking up to start their day, we were just lying down. I shouldn’t be so relaxed or happy, not after all the death I’d seen.
Feeling utterly languid, like a kitty cat licking the last drop of milk, I rolled onto my side and tucked my hands under my pillow. I tilted up my face toward his, content to stay wrapped up in him for all eternity.
Zane trailed a finger over my arm. “You’re glowing,” he whispered in awe. “It’s beautiful. I’ve never seen anything as beautiful as you.”
I rubbed my cheek on the pillow, amazed by the tingles budding over my skin. “I love you,” I murmured, my heart soaring and my bones feeling like mush. I was ridiculously happy.
His eyes searched mine. “Not nearly as much as I love you.” Only Zane and I could compete over who loved whom more.
I thought I saw a flicker of sadness, but it was gone before I could be sure. My chest squeezed. I’m no longer a virgin.
Zane’s mouth traced over the curve where my shoulder met my neck, sending tingles down my spine. “So was it everything you thought it
would be?”
A smile teased my lips. “Are you fishing for a compliment?”
“Maybe.”
“You were amazing.”
He grinned like a wolf after the hunt. “Like fifty shades of amazing?”
“Better,” I whispered before closing my eyes, and what felt like only minutes, I was fast asleep, only awake in my dreams.
***
It was another day. Nothing special. TJ was sitting on the couch, yelling at the TV, a remote control in his hand. His fingers punched the little keys, frustration lining his face.
I stared down at the sketch in my lap. “Why do you play those stupid games if they make you so mad?” It was a question I’d asked countless times.
“Mind your own business,” TJ snapped, eyes in a trance, mesmerized by the movement on the screen.
“I was just saying,” I barked. To me it seemed obvious. If something pissed me off enough that I had to throw a remote control across the room, then maybe I shouldn’t play anymore. I glanced up in time to see the guy on screen’s brains spatter everywhere. Disgusting.
“Dammit, Piper,” TJ swore, giving me the death stare. “You got me killed.”
“Tragic,” Parker’s voice came through the TV, not sounding remorseful in the least.
TJ stretched out his legs so they were covering the coffee table, and in the process knocking my pencils on the floor. “Why don’t you dabble somewhere else, somewhere far from me?” he suggested in a not-so-nice way.
Ugh. I’d forgotten what a pain in the ass TJ could be. “Why don’t you go jump off a cliff?”
TJ scrunched up his face at me, only to return to his video game.
Yep. It was a typical Friday night in the Brennan household. TJ and I bickering, while Dad was closed off in his room waiting for inspiration to strike. Mom was…I wasn’t sure.
I looked over my shoulder. We were in Chicago, at our old apartment, and regardless of TJ being a total butt plug, I was happy. Settling back into the worn couch, I turned my attention to my drawing, the girl with the whip. My hand carved out the scar just below the girl’s face on my sketchpad. It was in the shape of a star. She had big sultry eyes and long, dark red hair. To offset the hard lines of the whip she held, I added a flower to the side of her hair.