Reaper Dreaming: A Reaper Novel

by Christie Palmer

  James opened and closed his mouth several times, but obviously wasn’t able to come up with anything before Dante continued.

  “Hunter was about to pass judgment on him. You remember Hunter don’t you?” Dante motioned to Hunter. “Ruler of Treachery?”

  Hunter was sure the Angel would have hissed at him if she could have. Instead, her nostrils flared, her breathing increased, and Dante continued. “Anyway, Hunter here was about to judge your Guardian, and of course, find him guilty. His soul is tainted with, no, drowning in, deceit and the gods themselves only know what else. But of course you already know the basic requirements for Treachery. Would you like us to take care of him for you?”

  The Angel pulled away from James. And was quiet for a moment, “Yes.” She wouldn’t even look at James now.

  Hunter took measured steps down the dais until he stood directly in front of the quivering Guardian. James opened his mouth to speak, but Hunter held up a hand stopping him before he was able to utter another false syllable.

  “You have been judged and found guilty. Your crimes are many and varied. Your soul is stained with your offenses and it is time you pay for what you have done.” Hunter spoke slowly so James understood everything he said.

  With a flick of Hunters wrist, chains shot from the ceiling and circled James’ ankles while another set of chains shot out, circling each of his wrists. James let out a horrified scream as the chains lifted him off the floor and another chain shot out to encircle his throat. It tightened until his screams stopped. James' eyes bulged in horror.

  “Save your screams for Treachery. They are wasted here,” Hunter said without feeling. Then the chains shot back up into the bows of the ceiling, taking James with them.

  Hunter turned to go, but Dante raised a hand stopping him.

  “What of the girl?” Dante asked the Angel, pointing toward the girl still lying unconscious at his feet.

  “The female belongs to the Angels,” the Angel sputtered in outrage.

  Dante chuckled, “Actually no, she belongs to me. Payment I think for my troubles today.”

  Hunter raised a questioning brow. He couldn’t imagine why his father would want the female. But Hunter often didn’t understand Dante’s motives and it wasn’t really his place to question them. Steeling his features, Hunter looked back to the Angel who floated over the floor, huffing and stuttering. He barely kept the bark of laughter from erupting from deep in his chest.

  “She isn’t yours to bargain with,” the Angel stammered. “She belongs to the light. Any fool can see that. Her Guardian may have failed, but you can plainly see she is of the light. She is not yours to claim.”

  Dante shrugged. “Be that as it may. He brought her to me and I actually have claimed her.”

  “But what could you possibly want with her?” the Angel practically screeched. “She is nothing to you. You didn’t even want to make the deal with her Guardian. Otherwise, you would have filled his pocket with gold and sent him on his merry way.”

  Dante pushed himself to his feet, shaking his head. “You Angels know so little of what I will and won’t do. Her poor excuse for a Guardian had no right to sell this child to me. His treachery was despicable and he is being punished for it. As to this woman, why is she so important to the Angels?”

  The Angel narrowed her eyes. “She is none of your concern.”

  “Then it shouldn’t matter what I chose to do with her,” Dante said, motioning for the Abda, who had stood in the corner silent this entire time. It rushed forward to pick the woman up. The Angel backed quickly way.

  “You can’t do this!” The Angel was back to stammering. “She belongs on the mortal plane… You can’t just claim her… The Arch will hear about this… She is of the light… You are tainting her by keeping her here!” she finally finished.

  “Yes, yes. Of course. Run back to your Choir of Angels. I’m sure I will hear from them in time.” Dante waved her away. Hunter snorted with laughter at the look of horror the Angel gave him. But she didn’t say anything more as she disappeared.

  Dante looked at Hunter with one raised eyebrow. “I just love irritating them. Now what do you think we should do with her?” he asked.

  “Give her back to the bloody Angels. Don’t you think we have enough going on?” Hunter asked.

  Dante snorted a laugh, “Probably, but don’t you think if the Angels want her so badly there might be something about her we should be interested in?”

  “Then why didn’t you take the deal with the bastard James?” Hunter asked with disgust.

  “That disgusting excuse for a Guardian needed to be taken care of. We both knew it.” Dante motioned for the Abda who brought the woman forward again. Dante regarded the woman carefully. “But now I don’t know exactly what to do with her?”

  Hunter shook his head. “Well don’t look at me. I’m not a babysitter or a Guardian.”

  Dante laughed again, “Of course not. I think, for now, we should return her to her place on the mortal plane, don’t you? Just until this mess with Victor and his female is taken care of. Like you said, we are dealing with enough.” Dante stood from his seat and reached down to place a hand on the woman’s arm. Then he released her and tried again, then laughed. “I am unable to mark her as one of my Touched.” He turned back to Hunter.

  Hunter barely controlled his mouth from dropping open. Never in all his days had he seen Dante stumped in his powers. However, this women had done just that. Dante stared down at the female, a small smile creasing the sides of his mouth. “Special indeed,” Dante said quietly. “Well, she is not our problem. I have upset the Angels and that is enough for today. Return her to the mortal plane. She isn’t our problem.”

  * * *

  Hunter gently placed Lailah back into the bed he had taken her from hours before. It was the middle of the night and he pulled the covers up to her chin. Her soul shown around her, making her aura bright. She practically glowed with the light around her. Hunter felt inexplicably drawn to her.

  White blonde curls fell down over her face and Hunter couldn’t stop himself from gently pushing them off her face. When her eyes drifted open, he was stunned immobile by the piercing emerald green eyes drowsily looking at him, framed by thick lashes. Hunter had to admit she was the most beautiful creature he had ever laid eyes on. A hand crept up to cup his face, so soft and gentle it could have been the brush of a butterfly’s wings.

  “Are you going to save me?” she whispered, the words barely a breath. Hunter had to lean into her to hear them.

  Hunter didn’t know what possessed him to answer but he whispered back, “Yes.” Her fingers traced down the scar on the left side of his face, scars no other human had ever touched. Hunter leaned into her touch, something that should have freaked him out but felt amazing. Just the tips of her fingers ran along the scared tissue that used to be his face. Something that should have been ugly and hateful now felt completely the opposite. Hunter didn’t understand how she could manage to do that with one touch.

  “You’re the perfect hero,” she whispered just as quietly as before. “My hero.” Her words went straight through him like an arrow straight through to his soul. Hunter wasn’t sure how it happened or which of them instigated it. But one second he was staring into those mesmerizing green eyes and the next he was kissing her; pressing his lips against hers, coaxing them open and thrusting his tongue into her mouth. The shock of her taste hit him hard and went directly to his brain. He couldn’t get enough of her, and he slanted his mouth over hers deepening the kiss. He drew her tongue into his mouth and sucked, drawing her taste and essence deep into him. This wasn’t just a normal kiss and he wanted to draw the kiss out. Wanted to draw her into him until she was a part of him. Until they were one person. Hunter felt like this was some kind of dream, like he had stepped into a dream world where this creature, this female, had been made just for him. And as Hunter deepened the kiss, he was desperate to get closer to her. Hunter tunneled his fingers into her hair, ho
lding her steady.

  He finally pulled away, breathing heavy, and looked down at Lailah. She was breathing heavy as well, her eyes sparking with desire.

  She bit the side of her full bottom lip, and Hunter felt his stomach drop out from beneath him.

  “Perfect.” The word tripped out of her perfect mouth and Hunter bent back to taste her again. Hunter needed one more taste before he ran away, before he told himself this was only a dream. He sucked her bottom lip into his mouth, soothing the bite with his tongue. Lailah moaned in the back of her throat and it lit a fire deep inside Hunter.

  Hunter jerked away from her. Lailah made a small mewling noise as Hunter pried her fingers from the front of his t-shirt.

  “Mine,” Lailah whispered. Her eyes had closed again and Hunter wished to the gods it could be true, even if it were just for this precious moment.

  But Hunter knew this was wrong. He knew he needed to leave. But Hunter also knew he needed to erase what had just happened. Leaning over Lailah, Hunter buried his hands into her soft hair. Lailah opened her beautiful eyes and smiled at him. With his hands in her hair, he moved them so his palms covered her temples.

  “I’m sorry,” Hunter whispered and gods was he. Then he Tread her mind, erasing everything from that night from her mind.

  Lailah blinked several times, her eyes unfocused. Hunter stood and Flashed away. He shouldn’t have felt anything as he left her. Hunter was the Reaper over Treachery and he dealt in lies and deceit. So why did walking away from Lailah feel like he was pulling a knife from his chest?

  * * *

  Lailah blinked and touched her lips, sitting straight up in her bed, “What the hell?”

  She did not understand how she had gotten in Jimmy’s bed. Her head was pounding, and… Why the hell was she so…? Horny?

  Lailah touched her lips again. Closing her eyes, the vision of a hot guy with mysterious grays eyes, strong shoulders, and very kissable lips, and a scary scar? Thinking about him made her stomach jump with excitement and fear. Why fear? But his image was gone before she could grab ahold of it and solidify it in her memory. Like a dream she had but couldn’t quite remember. Lailah tried to pull it out of her fading memory but couldn’t quite pull it back as it slipped away again. It left her feeling bereft and she wanted nothing more than to lay back down and have a good cry over it. Like most things in her life, fleeting.

  Lailah shook it off as her head pounded in earnest. She couldn’t stay in Jimmy’s bed. The thought of it gave her the hibby jibbies, so Lailah jumped out of Jimmy’s bed. Honestly, it was the last place she wanted to be caught. Grabbing ahold of the edge of the bedside table, Lailah was assaulted with dizziness. She would kill Jimmy the next time she saw him, the bastard. This was the last time he drugged her and sold her to some drug lord or god only knew who. The last time Jimmy had done this to her, she had had to work for the vampire cult for two months. They had almost drained her dry before she had worked off Jimmy’s debt.

  This shit was getting old. Shit, it had gotten old a long time ago. Lailah would have a serious talk to him about it, and the talk would involve her baseball bat. Lailah couldn’t live this way anymore. They might have grown up together and she might have stuck with him because of it, but her debt to him only went so far.

  Lailah stumbled out of Jimmy’s room, thanking her lucky stars she had woken up before Jimmy had the chance to get back with whoever he had decided to sell her to this time. Lailah grabbed her purse, noticing the syringes and vials of god’s only knew what on the coffee table. It had probably been what he had drugged her with. Lailah thought about it for all of five seconds before she grabbed the packaged syringes and the small vials. It would serve Jimmy right to lose what was left of his stash. The rat bastard. Lailah stuffed it all in her purse and left. Checking her watch, she noted it was just after four a.m. There was no way she would get a cab at this time of the morning, so she would have to take the bus. Lailah would be lucky if she didn’t get mugged on her way to her apartment. And she could blame Jimmy if she got mugged too.

  Thank goodness she wasn’t expected into work for a couple of days because Lailah was pretty sure she would sleep for a good twenty-four hours.

  When she finally made it back to her apartment, Lailah could barely keep her eyes open. Throwing her bag on her couch, Lailah stumbled into her bathroom to brush her teeth and drink a couple glasses of water. Then Lailah dropped into her bed. She was asleep as soon as her head hit the pillow.

  The knock on her door woke her up. Lailah rolled over and looked at her bedroom clock. Five p.m. Pulling her pillow over her head, Lailah muttered foul words. Her head was still pounding. Lailah wasn’t about to get out of bed to answer the door. Whoever it was could pound on her door all they wanted but Lailah wasn’t about to get up and answer it.

  But the knocking continued. Lailah looked at the clock again, fifteen minutes. Whoever it was wasn’t giving up. When the pounding started up again, Lailah sat up and glared down the hall at her front door. Whoever it was, Lailah would kill them.

  Stumbling down the hall, Lailah threw open the door. “Someone better have died.” Lailah growled and then jumped back as a badge was shoved in her face. “Shit.”

  “Detective Banner with the Chicago Police Department.” The badge was dropped and Lailah got a look at the officer. Lailah couldn’t help it as her mouth dropped open in shock.

  Good looking was too nice a term. Warm brown eyes and curly dark hair hung down into drop dead gorgeous eyes, almost too long. Lailah had the urge to run her fingers through his hair. But it was his broad shoulders which caught her attention, and they were something. Lailah’s mind wandered for a second, wondering how much he bench pressed, before wanting to slap herself in the forehead for having such a bazaar thought. He wore a button down shirt pulled taut across his impressive, muscular chest and shoulders. Lailah thought about how nice it would be to smooth the shirt over his shoulders. She mentally shook herself. Damn she needed to get laid because she knew she shouldn’t be having such indecent thoughts about the fuzz.

  “Christ, someone died! Who?” Lailah’s mind instantly went to Jimmy. Someone finally got sick of his shit and had killed him, was her first thought and Lailah was his emergency contact. This was it, he was dead. Lailah wasn’t surprised, but still. Her second thought was she was just thankful she had gotten out of his apartment before she had become a part of the horrible mess.

  “No,” the detective said. “I’m here to ask you some questions, though. Do you have a moment?”

  Lailah eyed him, now on guard. If no one had died, then this was bad. Lailah, remembering she had stolen Jimmy’s drugs that were sitting in her bag on the coffee table, started to sweating. This could go bad really fast. Lailah had a record for bad.

  “Um about what?” Lailah asked, wanting to kick herself when her voice cracked.

  Those beautiful brown eyes narrowed just a little before he spoke. “I have some questions about your friend James Dell.”

  Lailah latched onto her door for support and to keep herself from shaking. “Seems like an odd time for questions about Jimmy,” Lailah answered, trying to keep herself from sinking down to the floor and spilling the beans about the drugs and Jimmy being a drug pusher from way back. “Saturday evening? Don’t you guys get weekends off?” Lailah asked, trying to put some lightness in her voice. But it came across more panicked than anything.

  “Yes well, we’ve been trying to locate Mr. Dell for a couple of days now. Unfortunately, he seems to have disappeared. You were his emergency contact at his last job, so we were wondering if you know where Mr. Dell might have gone,” he asked, his voice smooth and calm. Lailah thought the detective had very intense eyes and doubted he missed much. Not good for her, because Lailah was a terrible liar. Lailah tried to swallow past the lump forming in her throat and wondered what the detective would think if she vomited on him right there on her doorstep. She looked down at the detective’s shoes. Shit, he was wearing leather boots and she
was sure vomit would soak into those and ruin them. Lailah really shouldn’t vomit onto those.

  Lailah forced herself to breath slowly. “I haven’t seen Jimmy in about a week.” Lailah gave him a half smile because it wasn’t even a lie. Lailah had gone to his apartment last night because he had called her over, telling her he had to see her, it was an emergency, and it couldn’t wait, swearing it was a life or death situation. Lailah should have known better. When had it ever really been a life or death situation for Jimmy? Like everything else in Jimmy’s endless life of bullshit. But when Lailah had gotten there, she had let herself into his apartment like she always did, and the next thing Lailah knew, she had a needle in her neck. It wasn’t a lie. Lailah never actually laid her eyes on Jimmy, the rat bastard.

  Smacking him around with her bat was too good for him. And if Jimmy knew what was good for him, he would stay out of Lailah’s sight for the next couple of days because Lailah wasn’t going to forgive him for whatever it was he had tried to do to her. And now Lailah had a detective at her door? And drugs in her purse?

  Shit, shit, shit…

  “Really?” The detective drew the word out. And Lailah just knew she was screwed. “Because I was watching his apartment last night.”

  Lailah nodded like a god damn bobble head doll. “I went over last night. He wasn’t there.” Lailah babbled trying to find a way between the truth and a lie that wouldn’t actually land her in jail, while she contemplated ways to murder Jimmy.

  The detective pulled a small notebook and pen out of his back pocket, and Lailah rubbed her palm over her forehead. Lailah reminded herself to stick with the truth.

  Truth, truth, truth.

  “And then what?” the Detective asked.

  “What?” Lailah barked, then laughed, because this was going from bad to worse as her anxiety spiked, making the detective give her a strange look. Lailah had been chanting to herself and had missed the damn question.

  Detective Banner’s eyes narrowed. “I asked what happened after you arrived at Mr. Dells apartment.”