Reaper's Wrath: A Last Riders Trilogy (Road to Salvation Book 2)

by Jamie Begley

  “Uh-huh.”

  “Do you know what your gift is, Ginny?”

  “No. What?” she whispered at the gentle way her dad was staring at her.

  “Laughter.”

  “Laughter?” Disappointed, she unhappily jumped off the bed. “I want one like Silas, Isaac, or Jody’s. Anybody can laugh.”

  Freddy took her hands and sat her back down. “Laughter heals, Ginny. Laughter is the most special gift of all. That’s the gift we lost when a Coleman became a Porter. You brought it back to us, and the one your soul mate is going to need most of all.”

  “Okay ….” She wasn’t really convinced, but if her dad said so, then it had to be true.

  “Don’t ever lose that gift. Laughter heals even the most scarred souls.”

  “I’d rather read the stars like you and Jody.”

  “Baby girl, when the right man laughs with you, you’ll not only read the stars, you’ll be able to reach out and touch ’em.”

  “Wow … Really?”

  “Really, really.” Lifting her onto his shoulders, he danced around with her. “Don’t forget to grab those stars ….”

  Ginny was brought back to the present when Isaac stood up from the rocking chair.

  “They’re coming.”

  Ginny stood up, looking to her older brothers for guidance. “What should I say?”

  “Just be yourself.” It was Moses who answered her. “He’s like a wounded animal right now. Let him come to us ….”

  Ginny tried to listen to Moses’ advice; she really did. It lasted until Gavin got out of the truck.

  She was unaware she was even moving. Her lips moved, but she was unable to form words with the silent sobs coming out.

  While her brothers held back at Moses’ suggestion, Ginny lost what little mind she had left.

  Finding herself within reaching distance of Gavin, her hands unconsciously flew out, shoving him back a step. “You big jerk!”

  Suki started barking at her, and Ginny snapped a command at the dog. “Quiet, Suki.”

  The dog immediately stopped barking, winding behind Gavin to hide.

  “I told you what happens to you happens to me! I’m tired of ramming my head against a brick wall!” she shouted at him.

  “Ginny ….” Silas sought to intercede on Gavin’s behalf, but Ginny put her hand up, stopping him.

  “Stay out of this, Silas,” she snarled, worry and fear making her ignore her brother.

  Silas hastened over to where the men had started grouping beside Gavin, waiting to support him.

  It warmed her heart while it infuriated her further with Gavin.

  “You don’t believe you’re my soul mate? Fine.” She snapped her fingers at him. “You’re not my soul mate anymore. I take it back. My soul mate …” Ginny hit her chest over her heart. “My soul mate would fight to stay with me, because he would know how badly it would hurt me to lose him. You fought years to stay alive for Taylor. Hell, be real, you’d still take her back if she’d take you. You wouldn’t fight one day for me. You big jerk!” Clenching her hand into a fist, she punched him on the shoulder.

  The big jerk just stood there, looking at her, stunned.

  Turning on her heel to go back inside the house, she got to the first step before pivoting around to face him again.

  “I hate you.”

  Chapter Fifty-Three

  “Uh-oh … You’ve done it now,” Ezra whispered at his side.

  Spinning around again, she stormed toward the front door. The tears streaming down Ginny’s cheeks gutted him.

  Every man left standing outside winced at the sound of the front door slamming shut and the loud clank of the bar being slid home to lock them outside.

  “Good luck trying to talk her out of that mad spell,” Jacob said, giving Reaper a consoling pat on the back.

  “Nah,” Jody argued back. “He’s good. She didn’t rip any of his hair out so she could jinx him. You have your truck key, Silas?”

  “No, she took them.”

  “See?” Jody gave him another pat on the back. “You’re good.”

  “Maybe I should go …” It had just occurred to him how close the brothers were standing to him … how close Ginny had been to him. He fucked up again. “I shouldn’t have come. Slate and Butcher could have been infected.”

  “No cases have been reported yet in Kentucky.” Matthew shrugged. “We’re hoping the infection dies when it’s exposed to heat. If so, Fynn and I have you covered if you or Ginny start to get sick.”

  “You’re not supposed to tell him,” Fynn berated his brother.

  Looking down at the boy, Reaper recognized the fear on his face. When he had been kidnapped by Slate, living in fear had been a daily occurrence. He didn’t want to have to see that expression on a boy so young.

  “I won’t say anything,” he promised.

  “Ginny told you he wouldn’t,” Moses assured him while his steady gaze was firmly fixed on who his words were meant for. “Remember, we’re all family. Reaper’s going to keep our secret, and we’re going to keep his.”

  If he hadn’t had such a fucked-up day, he would have laughed at the not-so-subtle threat leveled at him.

  “Don’t worry, Fynn. I’m not anxious to expose my secrets, either.”

  Moses didn’t feel the same restraint at showing his amusement.

  Reaper would have never spoken about Silas’s ability, not only because he had killed Butcher on their property and half-believed what Silas was able to do, despite what he had witnessed with his own eyes, but for the reason that it would hurt Ginny if the secret got out.

  Shoving his damp hair from his face, he shivered at the words she had thrown at him.

  “Damn, I’m glad I’m not you.” Ezra slung a friendly arm over his shoulders. “When Ginny gets her mad going, watch out. Don’t let her get near your hair, and keep your belongings where she can’t get to them. She jinxed Isaac one time, and he had trouble finding a comfortable spot to sit until the moon came out—she burnt a pair of his underwear in the firepit with a hornet’s nest. Word to the wise …,” Ezra murmured conspiratorially. “Make sure Ginny’s inside the house before midnight.”

  Reaper arched a brow at him. “You don’t really believe in jinxes, do you?”

  Had he lost what little sanity he had left?

  The group of men and the boy surrounding him burst out laughing.

  “You’re asking us if we believe in jinxes? That’s fucking hilarious.”

  Reaper’s shoulders shook at Ezra’s laughter.

  “Ezra, language,” Silas reprimanded, even though his voice was filled with just as much laughter.

  “Sorry,” Ezra immediately apologized. “Ignore the F-bomb, Fynn.”

  “I think it’s just as hilarious you believe in jinxes,” Reaper said, not appreciating being laughed at.

  “Don’t get your pride hurt. You’ll think it’s funny, too, once you can see what we can do—”

  “Ezra!” Silas snapped.

  The laughter stopped.

  “Sorry, Silas.” Ezra dropped his arm. “You have to admit it was funny.”

  “I don’t think Reaper is in the mood to be joking around.”

  “Oh … because he almost bit the dust?” Ezra asked.

  Silas looked like he wanted the dirt to swallow him whole at Ezra’s mentioning the attempt Reaper had made to take his life.

  “They know?” Could life get more humiliating for him?

  How did they know? Another question just came to him. How had Silas known?

  Fynn rolled his eyes at him. “Course we knew. How did you think Silas found you?”

  Reaper turned his head to look at Silas. “I thought you were just out looking for me and found me.”

  “The wind told him where you were,” Fynn told him.

  Remembering how he had rolled the window down to throw the cell phone out of the car so The Last Riders couldn’t track him, he thought back to the burst of wind that had come inside th
e car as he drove.

  “I’ve lost my mind, haven’t I? I’m really in a psych ward, aren’t I?”

  “No.” Silas warned him, “But the more you’re around us, I’m sure you’re going to feel that way.”

  “If I’m not crazy, then how did you find me?”

  “Fynn told you the truth. Because I was near you when you took off, I was able to follow you. The wind told me where you were.”

  “Doesn’t look like he believes you,” Jody commented.

  “I don’t.”

  “Didn’t you show him?” Ezra asked.

  “I did, but I don’t think he believes me.” Silas shrugged. “I thought we could break it to him slowly.”

  “I bet he’ll believe this ….” Matthew moved closer to him.

  Looking down, Reaper saw Matthew touch the sleeve of his jacket. Not seeing anything unusual, he then stared at Matthew questioningly. He was about to ask to borrow Silas’s cell phone to call the nearest mental health facility to make sure he wasn’t a patient, when he felt the moist material warm and slowly begin to dry.

  “You have no idea what we’re capable of.”

  The austere way that Matthew spoke to him made a believer out of him. The man staring deep into his eyes had flames coming from within their depths.

  “Chill,” Isaac told his brother. “He already thinks he’s crazy.”

  “He’s not crazy.” Ezra removed Matthew’s hand from Reaper’s sleeve, replacing it with his own. “He’s just tired of fighting against the darkness.”

  Shocked at Ezra’s description of what he’d been going through, Reaper felt the shroud that constantly smothered him begin to lift.

  “You can’t bury what’s not dead, Reaper. You know better than that. Gavin is still very much alive. It’s his pain you can’t escape from. There’s a much better way to deal with the pain than killing yourself and hurting so many people who love you.”

  Already broken, Reaper gave a harsh laugh. “How?”

  “Allow Gavin to come back into the light.” Ezra’s low monotone compelled Reaper to keep listening. “Give Reaper your strength to accept what happened to you instead of shutting his pain out. Allow Gavin back into the light. He’s so tired of being alone in the dark … Share the light with him.”

  “I can’t … I have no light to share.”

  Ezra moved his hand away. “Maybe not yet … but you will. You’ve yet to find enough light to share with Gavin. When you do, you’ll be whole again.” Ezra stepped away, his voice changing to one filled with humor. “Until then, don’t take anything from Ginny in a green cup. See you tomorrow. Come on, Fynn; we need to finish your homework.”

  “Isaac and I need to get going. We have an early morning,” Matthew said. “When you wake tomorrow, come by the shop. I’ll really show you what me and Isaac can do.” Giving him a wink, they didn’t leave without imparting more warnings. “Hide your hairbrush.”

  Isaac gave a sardonic snort. “Hide your fucking wallet.”

  Glancing at Silas, the man just lifted his shoulders as if he didn’t know what his brothers were warning him about.

  Jody and Jacob gave him encouraging pats on the back.

  “Check under your pillow before you go to sleep,” Jody advised.

  “Check your boots before you put them on in the morning,” Jacob mentioned over his shoulder as they moved away. “Oh, and Jody and I have a job in the afternoon. We could use some help, if you’re up to it?”

  “If he’s able,” Reaper heard Jody’s aside to Jacob as they walked away.

  “Don’t worry.” Moses’ lips curled in a smile. “She’ll get over her mad sooner or later. With Ginny, you just hope your big toe doesn’t rot off before she does. I left a bag of Suki’s dog food in the kitchen. You can pay me back when you get the cash. I won’t miss having to feed her. She eats like a horse.”

  Reaper was then left alone with Silas, who was staring at his house thoughtfully.

  Realizing he was being stared at, Silas gave him a comforting look. “Don’t worry. We can go in through the back door. If she was that mad, she would have locked that door too. That’s why Dad just put a screen door on it—became too expensive tearing one of the doors or breaking a window to get inside.”

  Walking beside Silas, they headed to the back door. When Silas reached out to open the new door that Reaper suggested Ginny’s brothers put up, it refused to budge.

  “Don’t worry.” Silas ran his fingers over the ledge. “I hid a key, just in case.” When his hand came back empty, Silas gave a frustrated sigh before turning around to face him. “Okay, you should be worried.”

  Chapter Fifty-Four

  “You need another refill, Ginny?” Mick yelled out from behind the bar.

  “No, I’m good. Thanks, Mick,” Ginny reassured the bartender. “Silas should be here any minute.”

  Staring down at her full drink, she wondered why Silas was taking so long. She started to reach for her purse to leave, then she saw who entered.

  “Silas asked me to give you a ride home.”

  “I called Silas, not you.”

  “He asked me. Moses called, one of your goats wandered off.”

  “Then I’ll call Matt.”

  Ginny had pointedly refused to look at him, pretending an interest in watching Dustin and Jessie dancing on the dance floor. The scraping of a chair alerted her that Gavin had taken a seat at the table with her.

  “Why are you here? Silas said you came here to eat. No one comes to the bar to eat, especially this bar.”

  “Never mind.” Sarcasm rolled off the end of her tongue. “You’ve made no effort to get to know my likes and dislikes of places I go, so I’ll let that comment slide. And what’s wrong with this bar?”

  “It’s a dive; people only come here to get drunk or laid.”

  “Be careful, Mick could here you,” she hissed.

  “Mick owns the fucking bar, he knows.”

  “Go away, Gavin. I changed my mind I’m not ready to leave.”

  “I’m not in a hurry. Take your time.”

  “You are not getting my message. I don’t want a ride home with you.”

  “The message you’ve been giving me the last three days is pretty fucking clear. You’re done with me. See, I get it, hard not to when after sleeping for two days straight, I wake up and find you put my favorite T-shirt over the target hanging on the tree. And if that didn’t paint a clear enough picture, you disappeared the first day I’m awake.”

  Ginny spared him a brief glance. “You look more rested than I’ve ever seen you.”

  “I feel better than I’ve felt in a long time.”

  “I’m glad for you.”

  Ginny turned her attention to the dancing couple.

  “I never imagined you’d sink to a hook-up bar just because you’re pissed at me. What I did had no bearing on you. Just because you hate me and finally realized you had no future with me doesn’t mean you have to settle for the men that frequent this place.”

  Her mouth dropped open at his assumptions.

  “Are you flipping kidding me?” Ginny scooted her chair closer to the table. Folding her arms on the table she leaned closer to him. “You … you … big flipping jerk! You think I’m waving a flag over my head saying I’m giving up on us?” Anger had her railing at him. “I said you’re not my soul mate. It doesn’t mean I no longer love you. I’ll love you to my dying day, you big jerk. Soul mates don’t hurt each other the way you hurt me.” Ginny lowered her voice to combat wanting to yell her lungs out at him, and God forbid Dustin and Jessie overhear. “What you know about love couldn’t fill a thimble. You know who you remind me of?”

  Stiffly, Gavin stared at her with a clenched jaw.

  Ginny continued her rant not giving him time to answer.

  “The prospectors that were gung ho to go out west looking for gold. Then when they found it, they made all those grand plans about what they were going to do with all this gold. Happily they went to sell it, gu
ess what they found out? It was fool’s gold.” Angrily, she pointed a finger at him. “What you had with Taylor was fool’s gold. What you can have with me—if you would just be willing to see with your heart instead of your eyes—is the real thing.”

  “What I had with Taylor was not an illusion.”

  “Wasn’t it? I beg to differ.” Being the sweet, understanding woman was getting her nowhere fast; it was time Gavin heard the cold hard truth. “You’ve built up this fantasy about the two of you being happy together. And for some reason, you can’t break yourself out of the illusion of wedded bliss, with the 2.5 children you two probably planned to have. The fact is, if you had married Taylor you would have been miserable.”

  “You don’t know that.”

  “Have you even taken the time to look at her Facebook page to see what kind of life she is living? You had the same friends as her at one time. Have you asked them about her?” Ginny released a sarcastic sigh. “I’m not the quitter, you are. If you ever love me the way you thought you did her, I’d be furious you didn’t put up a better fight. You’ve been tracking your enemies to the end of the earth, but you gave up on Taylor with one no. Instead you’ve been pining after fool’s gold that never really existed, because it’s easier than risking your heart.”

  “You don’t know what’s in my heart.”

  “Because you won’t let me.” Ginny gave a ragged sigh. “You don’t let anyone get close enough to hurt you. Gavin, so many people were hurt when they believed you were dead. To have garnered that kind of love, you had to have reciprocated those feelings. What’s been destroying you isn’t what Slate did to you but what you’ve been doing to yourself. Wild man, a heart isn’t like an arm or leg that can be amputated and you can still survive. You know what hurt me the most about you possibly going over that cliff with Slate? Leah’s life was cut short, and you were willing to throw yours away because of him. I’ll never get over losing her, ever, and despite you not wanting to hear this I would never have gotten over losing you. Even if we never had a relationship, I’d know you were breathing, walking, and talking. I couldn’t bear you not sharing this crazy world with me, even if you’re not with me.”