Jack A Grim Reaper Romance (15 page)

He knew he should have taken the time to convince her that staying with him was the best solution instead of insisting as chancellor—and now she was making him pay the price.

“You should starve her out of her room.” Pierce dipped his toast into his egg yolk and took a bite. He’d only just returned from assignment in the north of the country, yet another futile attempt to track down Jack and his movements.

“Lilly? Why would I bother? I’ve more pressing matters to deal with than that temperamental and stubborn woman.” Mason pretended she did not matter, but knew he was fooling no one. Rather than continue with that line of questioning, he changed the subject to work—a far safer choice. “What did you find?”

Pierce reached over the arm of his chair and rifled through his leather bag, coming up victorious with a handful of papers. His auburn hair fell disheveled over eyes of soft brown, before a casual hand brushed it out of the way. A reaper for close to fifty years, Mason thought the life suited Pierce just fine, allowing him the freedoms to pursue what pleasures he wished. No one was bothered by his pursuits, nor did they care, the life of a reaper too long to not get bored or curious.

“I don’t know how he’s managing to avoid us, for even when we are able to track his whereabouts, he’s always gone by the time we get there.” Pierce flipped through his notes until he came upon what he was looking for. “Here we have it.” He pulled out a sheet of paper, his eyes quickly scanning it. “His sister lives at the family home, though technically, it belongs to Jack’s son, Emerson Harper. The last name is that of his stepfather.”

“And has Jack been there?” Mason resisted the urge to yank the entire file away from Pierce. He was taking too bloody long getting to the point.

Knowing him all too well, Pierce smirked and gently slid the file to him across the table. “She’s not seen him, and if he did visit the area, it was not recent enough for me to detect his energy.”

Mason flipped through the papers, trying to make out his lieutenant’s writing. “It’s as if your hands were tied behind your back when you wrote this.”

Pierce shrugged, a cocky grin springing to his lips. “Not at that very moment, anyway.”

“You spend too much time in Paris, no doubt amongst the depraved.” He had all too good an idea the things Pierce got up to when not working.

“Well, you know what fun that can be.” Pierce leaned forward. “You should join me next time. It’s been too long since you last indulged yourself.”

Ignoring Pierce’s teasing, Mason pursed his lips, and tossed the file back to him. “What of the other properties? Any luck there?”

“I’m afraid not. They’re far from London, and I’d not expect him to make the journey until he’s finished what he’s set out to do here.”

Pierce’s words were like another nail in Mason’s coffin, though he already knew this murderous affair was far from over. If anything, it felt like Jack was just getting started, the second murder more brutal than the first.

“I don’t understand it. Whenever we do manage to track down his whereabouts, we always
just
miss him.” Mason kicked the chair next to him in frustration. They’d managed to get enough of a hold on Jack to trace him to a boarding house, but once again he’d been gone by the time they got there. They’d missed him by a mere twelve to twenty four hours, his essence still lingering here and there. Never enough to actually follow.

“It cannot be coincidence. Once, maybe twice, but each and every time?” Pierce shook his head, his mouth twisted in annoyance. “He knows we’re coming. There can be no other answer.”

“But how can he know? He’s likely traveling light, but that still doesn’t explain how we’ve managed to keep missing him.” Mason racked his brain. From the beginning something felt completely off about this case, and he’d yet to put his finger on it.

“What if he’s not staying in any given place longer than a day or two, and we’re happening across his location late, once he’s gone?”

“He’d been at the most recent location for close to four days. No, I’m afraid something else is going on, though I’m damned if I know what.”

Mason’s gut churned with unease. He’d soon have to face Damon with yet another failed attempt at capturing Jack, and no closer to finding the bastard. His mind ran through the possibilities, but turned up empty, frustrating him further.

Pierce sighed and glanced over at Mason for a moment before looking away to play with the food on his plate. “I know you’ll not want to hear it, and I mean no disrespect, but perhaps he’s getting help—”

“Pierce. I know what you’re going to say and I’d rather you didn’t.” His tone was firm, however, this was Pierce, and he’d speak his mind, no matter what. It was why he was such a good lieutenant.

“I like Lilly a lot, Mason. You know that, aye? But there are few close to Jack, and even fewer who would try to help him.” He looked over at Mason to plead his case, the distress in his brown eyes only adding to his boyish good looks.

“It’s not her. Do you hear me?” Mason shook his head.

Pierce chewed on his bottom lip while giving it some more thought. “If not Lilly, then who? I can think of no one else who’d be willing to help him.”

“He
is
gifted. Perhaps he’s managing it on his own.” Mason’s mind wandered to the other threat. “In the mean time, that man who’s been following Lilly—we found out he goes by the name Stefan. It’s imperative you find him. Call in whatever help you need, but get it done.”

“I’ll do my best, though that’s still not a lot to go on. London is teeming with people these days, and we’ve yet to even narrow down a particular part of the city for the man.”

That was the part of the problem. This man seemed to show up out of nowhere, and then disappeared just as fast. Normally, Mason would not have to worry about any of his reapers getting hurt by mere mortals, but this man could not be controlled and it worried Mason. If anything happened to Lilly, he’d not forgive himself.

Pierce pulled him from his thoughts. “I heard Nelson paid Lilly a visit. That couldn’t have been too pleasant.”

“No, I’m afraid it wasn’t. First Damon and then Nelson, only a day apart.” Though Mason knew Pierce wasn’t taken by Lilly’s charms, his concern for her was genuine—if not for her sake, then for Mason’s. As brash as Pierce could be with her, he wasn’t the type to take pleasure in another’s suffering—only his own, it seemed. “Frankly, I’m surprised she held up as well as she did. The only good to come of it is Damon warned Nelson off, and we’ve not seen him since. For now, he’s to use the information Lilly’s already given us, though I don’t know how long that’ll last. Another murder, and they’ll tear her to shreds if it gives them the answers they’re looking for.”

“Well, she’s safe for now. That’s something at least. But are you sure she’s holding up well? Have you seen her at all in the five days she’s locked herself away?” Pierce took a sip of his tea, his eyes still on Mason as he waited for an answer.

Mason let out a weary breath. This was the last thing he wanted to be discussing, and with Pierce no less. He missed nothing and could always see the truth of the matter. “She won’t let me see her. But it matters not.”

Pierce’s eyebrows shot up, his teacup clattering against the porcelain saucer as he set it down. “If you say so.”

“I do.” He pinned Pierce with a steely gaze to make sure it ended there, and then moved onto a different order of business. “I know you’re busy, but there’s one more thing I need you to look into.”

He slid the paper over to Pierce. There was little information to go on, but it would have to do. Pierce quickly read it and then looked at him, his mood now serious.

“Are you sure you want me to do this?”

“Aye, I am. But not a word to anyone.”

***

As the day wore on with still no sign of Lilly, Mason’s patience thinned, no doubt fueled by Pierce’s comments. “You’re to bring up no food or drink whatsoever. Do you hear me?”

There was barely a perceptible change in his butler’s eyes, yet Mason could see the old man thought he’d lost his mind. “As you wish, m’ lord.”

Once again, Mason dined alone, and then retired to his library to pour over his notes on the murders.

Jack.

Where the hell was he? Having developed the ability to not be traced, it seemed he could be just about anywhere and they’d be none the wiser. And why the hell was he murdering these women? There could be no reason other than a perverted pleasure, fueled, perhaps, by his current life as a reaper. Some did not adjust to the life, and it could leave them scarred and broken. He’d seen it on more than one occasion, though it seldom manifested itself like this.

Lilly did not think the murders rang true for the man she’d known, but it would appear she’d not known him as well as she thought. The man had kept his secrets, of that there was no doubt. For proof, one only had to look to the ability he developed in masking his whereabouts. Jack had certainly been honing those skills when they were involved with one another, yet she’d had not a clue.

He thought of Lilly. Would she choose to disappear if she could leave this life—leave him—behind? He thought she would, without barely a second thought. And he, like a fool, had let himself grow attached to her—indeed, could see himself developing real feelings.

If she only knew how vulnerable she left him. Good thing she thought him a bastard. It was an image he’d gladly hold onto, though too often he found his demeanor softening in her presence.

Well, enough of that.

Abandoning his work, he stood and headed for the stairs, taking them two at a time, and startling one of the chamber maids. “Give me the keys to the sleeping quarters.” Unlocking doors in Ilymnia wasn’t quite as easy as it was in Aelyri. It would not do to have no privacy from other reapers.

With eyes wide, his maid nodded and pulled them from her apron pocket. He grabbed them without so much as a thank you, and stalked his way to Lilly’s room. He pounded on the door, and jiggled the locked handle. “Lilly, open this door.” He did not have very long to wait for her response.

“Is that an order,
Chancellor
?” From the sound of her voice, Mason knew she’d not even bothered to come to the door.

He cursed and then, refusing to play her games, unlocked the door and pushed it open. He found her seated before the fire, an open book in her lap. He was so frustrated with her, yet short of yanking her out of her chair, he was at a loss, and paced the floor instead.

“It’s rather late, Mason. Could this not have waited until morning?” Lilly looked at him as if he were a petulant child.

He then noticed she was in her dressing gown, her hair loose over her shoulder. Worked up as he was, he had little control over his body’s reaction to her state of undress. “Why bother waiting? Or did you decide tomorrow would be the day you’d grace us with your presence?”

“How dare you. I asked for none of this, Mason.” She stood, her body rigid and only a heartbeat away from his. By the gods, she was angry with him, and it took all he had to not fist her hair and cover her mouth in a hard kiss. “If you don’t care for my attitude then send me home.”

Their cheeks brushed as he bent forward to whisper in her ear. “You’d like that, wouldn’t you? Well you’re going nowhere, and while in my home, you’ll do as I say.”

She cocked her head sideways to look him in the eyes, though doing so put her lips so incredibly close, he could feel her breath mingle with his. “And if I don’t? What then? Will you send me to the Elders or paddle my bottom red like a spoilt child?”

He slid his fingers into her hair, her face cupped in his hands as he nuzzled her. “Don’t tempt me, love.”

He was dizzy from her scent, her words, and all too tempted to do as she said and put her over his knee. It’d be a vision—to see her bare arse twitch, red, the sting in his palm. He could barely resist such games.

“I thought you were beyond temptation, Mason.” Her body brushed against his, as the words she whispered in his ear sent a shiver down his spine and to his groin.

He cursed. Unable to resist her any longer, he kissed her hard, ignoring her struggles to get free of him. When he finally pulled away, she was breathing heavy and there was fury in her eyes.

“I’d say I’m sorry, Lilly, but I’m not.”

With an arm around her waist, he pulled her close and kissed her again, but this time instead of pushing him away, she pressed her body against his as he held her tight, returning his affections. Her silk robe slipped from her shoulder, exposing her pearly skin and the swell of her breast, his self control evaporating like water on hot coals.

She touched his face with a gentle caress, her kisses slowing to a stop, all anger gone from her voice and touch. “Why do you do this to me, Mason? I cannot play your games and remain unscathed—nor can I resist you. I’m begging you to let me go.”

He could hear the anguish in her voice and it tore him up inside, for he did not understand it. Though he still held her to him, his hold on her softened.

“Lilly, I don’t understand what’s happened to us. We’ve known each other years. What’s changed?” It was the same conversation they’d had a week ago, and he’d yet to find out what the problem was. “Talk to me, love. I cannot help you if you’ll not let me.”

“If you want to help, then you’ll let me be.” She would not even look at him when she spoke the words, her hands pressed against his chest to put some distance between them.