Reaper (10 page)

“I kinda feel like a hooker,” I admitted and looked down at the large amount of cleavage I was showing. “Do I really look ok?” I immediately felt self conscious.

“Yeah,” he assured me and stepped closer. His arms wrapped around me, pulling me into his embrace. I rested my head on his chest for a second before standing on my toes to kiss him. Ethan’s mouth on mine sent a wave of desire throughout my body; I slid my hand under his shirt and kissed him with more passion. Ethan’s hand went to my face, cradling my cheek as he kissed me.

“Are you ready to go?” Sam’s voice called from down the hall. The door wasn’t closed and she could surely see us. My reaction was to let go of Ethan and step back, but Ethan, who never seemed to acknowledge that PDA could possibly be offensive, didn’t let me go.

“Yes,” he replied shortly and let his arms fall.

Two minutes later, we all piled into the Camaro. Ethan (who looked incredibly hot dressed simply in jeans, a faded Metallica shirt, and a leather jacket) said it would take a little over an hour to get there. Sam and Belinda knew where we were headed, and they both seemed excited. There was no sun left when the car bumped its way down a gravel drive into a packed parking lot. A large, windowless building loomed in front of us. “ZODIAC 13” flashed in neon lights above the dimly lit front door.

Curiously, I got out of the car and surveyed the surroundings; we were in a small clearing of dense woods in presumably the middle of nowhere. Except for the faint echo of music and laughter coming from the building, it was eerily quiet. An odd, heavy vibe hung in the air. It was familiar, but I couldn’t place it.

“Is this a bar?” I asked. Gravel crunched under my feet as I slowly turned around, looking for the eyes that I felt were watching me.

“Yes,” Ethan answered.

“Can I get in?”

“No. You’ll have to stay in the car.” Ethan took a step forward before turning around and laughing. “Of course you can, I wouldn’t bring you if you couldn’t.” He extended his hand for me to take. “This isn’t any bar, though. This is a Zodiac.”

“Oh,” I stated and took Ethan’s hand. “And that means…?”

“Zodiacs started out as meeting places and hangouts for Order members. They’ve become rather modern now, but I’d say it’s more like a tavern than a bar,” he explained. I wasn’t sure what the difference was. “And they won’t card you here.”

“Well, they will.” Belinda spoke for the first time all night. “But in a different way.” A small amount of humor glinted in her eyes.

We made our way to the Zodiac’s entrance. A large pentagram with four zodiac symbols around it and a creepy eye in the middle of the star –the Order of the Mystic Realm’s symbol—was painted on the door. The heavy feeling got stronger.
 
On impulse, I put my hand on the eye, and the heaviness pounded in my ears. I jumped back.

“Why does it feel weird?” I asked aloud.

Ethan, Sam, and Belinda exchanged confused looks. “What feels weird?” Ethan touched the pentagram himself before opening the door. He looked at his hand and shrugged. “It feels normal to me.”

“The air. It feels thick. Like it’s humid out,” I tried to explain.

Again with the looks. “I don’t feel anything.” Ethan put his hand on my back and ushered me inside. “But this place is protected with magic. I guess you can sense it.”

“Oh. Is that normal?” I asked quietly, hoping Sam didn’t hear my question.

“Not for regular people.” Ethan half smiled. “But for you, I’d say so.”

A big burly man, the bouncer I’d presume, rushed over to Sam and Belinda (who went in ahead of us) to ID them. He stopped when he saw Ethan.

“You David Bailey’s boy?”

Ethan nodded. The man clapped him on the back. “I haven’t seen you since you were, oh, shit, twelve. Look how big you’ve got!”

“Harold Crow,” Ethan recalled. “It has been years.”

“And this must be Anora.” He looked past Ethan to me. “Your daddy told me about her. Still hunt with ‘em. He’s over there waiting for ya.” I smiled politely. “Still hunting?”

“Never stops, right?” Ethan slipped his fingers through mine. “I’ve been busy lately.” He looked at me and smiled.

Harold cocked his head sideways. “Heard about how you killed all ‘dem Pricolici and that demon all by yourself.” His eyes burned into mine.

I shifted nervously; I wasn’t expecting any other Order members to know who I really was. David told us more than once to keep my Coven status hushed. “I had help. Thank goodness my dog was there.”

“You mean your Guardian, right?”

“Yeah.”

He leaned closer. “Never been in the presence of a witch from your Coven before. Heard many stories. The one about them all being beautiful must be true.”

Feeling my personal bubble was being invaded, I leaned away. “Thanks,” I said quietly.

“And you talk to spirits, I hear.”

“Uh, not on a regular basis.” I smiled my nervous smile.

He moved closer. I looped my arm through Ethan’s. “But you can, right?” he insisted. I nodded. “Huh.” He straightened up and out of my face. “Interesting.” He lowered his voice to barely a whisper. “You can do magic, single handily kill multiple demons, and summon the dead. Witches with that talent are very rare. You must be powerful.”

“Uh, maybe.” That wasn’t all I could do. But I wasn’t about to give a telekinetic demonstration. I felt like Harold was egging me on, though to what, I had no idea. Ethan knew this was making me uncomfortable. “Hey, Harold, it was really good to see you. We’ll let you get back to work,” he said smoothly.

“Good to see you too, kid,” Harold grunted and clapped Ethan on the back. “And I haven’t told a soul,” he whispered to Ethan as we passed.

We walked deeper into the bar. The entire place was spotlessly clean and dimly lit. The only décor on the painted black walls was the randomly placed symbols, no doubt part of the protection spells placed on the building. Everything was pretty modern and there even was a DJ taking requests; it was not how I imagined a secret demon hunter hangout would look.

Ethan and I slid into a booth where Sam and Belinda had already been seated. I could feel Sam’s anger; she was mad Harold didn’t remember her and she was mad that I got his attention. I took a deep breath and tried to put up my mental shields. I didn’t want her bad mood to infect me.

“Your dad’s here?” I asked Ethan.

“Yeah, he can’t stay away from a Zodiac,” Ethan chuckled and placed his hand on my thigh. Though he never admitted it, I think Ethan missed his family. “I assumed he’d stop here on his way back to New York. We’ll find him after we eat.”

Since no one got carded here, I went ahead and ordered a drink.
 
I had only been drunk once in my life, and it wasn’t a fun experience, though, it did lead to me meeting Ethan. I’d never had a Long Island Iced Tea before; I wasn’t expecting it to be as strong as it was. I made a face after the first sip.

“Like it?” Ethan laughed.

“Eww, no. It’s disgusting. I don’t see how people enjoy drinking this.”

“The more you drink the better it tastes,” Ethan told me.

I slid the glass in front of him. “You drink it then.”

“No thanks,” he said with a grin and pushed it back in front of me. I watched a bead of water roll down the sweating glass. I picked it up and took another drink. It tasted just as nasty the first time. I knew I had to drink more to like the flavor.

“I didn’t know you were a medium too,” Belinda told me.

“Yeah, I’ve had that ‘gift’ ever since I was born,” I replied casually and sipped at my drink. Was it pathetic that I was already feeling the effects of alcohol and only a fourth of my drink was gone?

“I think it’s cool. I used to wish I would be able to see and hear spirits,” she admitted shyly shrugged. “But it must be hard, all the time.”

“Sometimes,” I said and set the glass down, with no intention on picking it back up. “Until I met Ethan I just felt really alone with that stuff. You learn to live with it but it’s hard not having anyone to talk to about it.”

“Oh, please.” Sam rolled her eyes. “It can’t be that terrible.”

“I didn’t say it was terrible. But unless you are like us, then you don’t know how we feel.”“I think it would be hard,” Belinda agreed, which made Sam even more pissed.

“I know it is,” Ethan spoke up. “I’ve seen Annie deal with a lot. So give her some credit.”

“Whatever. So what? You see ghosts. Big deal.” Sam crossed her arms.

“I know there are people with way worse problems than me,” I interjected. The room spun a bit, but not from the alcohol. “But, you should know, being different from the rest of the world isn’t easy.”

“Amen,” Belinda proclaimed with a tight smile.

“In fact,” I began as another familiar feeling buzzed in my head. I closed my eyes to get a better read.
 
“I think this place is haunted.”

“Oh, please, tell me something I don’t know,” Sam spat.

I opened my eyes. “I’m not wearing underwear.” Doubt she knew that.

“Really?” Ethan’s eyes might have widened.

“Really.” I leaned on him.

“Oh.” Ethan smiled deviously and squeezed my thigh. “No wonder your ass looks so good in those jeans,” he whispered in my ear and caused me to break out in giggles. His warm breath on my skin made me shiver. I squeezed his hand.

“You know this place is haunted?” I asked incredulously.

“Yeah,” Ethan remarked.
 
“Of course, we could get rid of the spirit, but it gives this place character, and for some reason, everyone thinks it’s funny. Bad Order humor, I guess.”

I nodded and twisted around in my seat to look for the ghost. I could tell the spirit was a male, and he had been dead for over a hundred years. I got the sense that he died in some sort of war, which confused me since we were in Indiana. I closed my eyes and let the shields come crashing down.

Bits of random, raw emotion hit me all at once. Unable to descry who it came from, I shook my head and opened my eyes. I spaced out wondering why a bar seemed so stereotypical for demon hunters to gather until my cheeseburger was put in front of me. When we were done eating, Ethan and I stood to find David.

David and Julia were sitting around a table with four other hunters. Papers were scattered untidily in front of them. My guess was that they were working on a case. The alcohol made me feel more excited than I normally would have been to see them again. Actually, I think this was the first time I’d ever met with them without a threat of demons or death.

I liked Julia, and I didn’t have anything against Ethan’s father, but he scared me a little. A huge sense of authority always hit me when I was around him. After giving Julia an awkward hug, I realized I was way over dressed. Pretty much everyone had on clothes that would be practical for running through the woods chasing demons. My three and a half inch heels and very tight pants would make a getaway interesting.

“Nice job with the reapers,” David said shortly.

“Thanks.” I, again, smiled nervously. “It’s a good thing Ethan taught me how to fight,” I added, rambling like usual when I feel awkward.

“Ethan said Hunter helped,” Julia commented softly so only I could hear. “I would have liked to see that.”

“He brought me the reaper’s head,” I almost laughed.

“Guardians are…amazing,” she said.

“I couldn’t agree more.”

Ethan introduced me to everyone, telling them nothing about my Coven. Ethan pulled a chair out for me to sit and slid his close next to me. I ordered another drink (cranberry and vodka this time…it was still gross) and chewed on my straw to give me something to do while the hunters schemed.
 
I was starting to feel sleepy when Ethan playfully poked my side, making me jump.

“You ok?” He tried not to laugh.

“I’m tired.” I put my head on his shoulder.

“I think you’re drunk.”

“I barely had anything to drink.” I looked at him.

Ethan laughed and rested his hand on my leg.

 
“I have to pee,” I told him.

“I’ll ask Julia to show you where it is,” he offered.

When I stood, it was apparent that I wasn’t drunk. My mind swam in only a tiny bit of alcohol, making me feel slightly buzzed. Julia showed me to the bathroom and ended up waiting for me outside the door. Instead of going back to the table with Ethan, we sat down with Sam and Belinda again. Julia, who was always more than polite, asked me about the house, the horses and Hunter, and joked about living with Ethan. After a few minutes of small talk, she got up to get order a drink for herself.

I let my eyes wander around the bar. It seemed rather crowded for a week night. When my attention came back to the table, I was hit with a wave of negativity.

“Why do you hate me?” I blurted, looking Sam in the face.

“I don’t hate you,” she snapped back, shocked by my bluntness.

“Then why is this negative-ness coming from you?”
 
I asked, unable to keep my mouth shut. I had had enough of her crap to last until her next surprise visit.

“You really want to know?” Sam narrowed her eyes and leaned forward. Harsh shadows cast across her boney cheeks. “You are so wrong for Ethan. You act like you know him better than everyone, but you are so wrong. I’ve known him more than twice as long as you and I know that all you are doing is playing with his head. It’s only just a matter of time before you get sick of him and throw him out.”