Reaper (47 page)

I opened the book, which was about a mermaid living on land pretending to be human, and only read one chapter before I fell asleep.

“Annie?” someone called. I felt a hand touch my back.

“Hmm,” I answered and stretched out.

Ethan laughed. “Are you sleeping?”

“Not anymore,” I told him and blinked.

“There was a spider on you.”

I sat up quickly.

“I got rid of it,” Ethan reassured me.

“Thanks.” I patted the blanked next to me. “Lay down with me.”

Ethan sat and put his arms around me. I leaned into his embrace and closed my eyes. A gentle breeze blew through my hair, removing some of the heat absorbed by the sun. I took a deep breath. Ethan pressed his lips to the back of my neck, making me shiver. He ran his hand up my arm and to my face, gently turning it up to kiss him. I twisted around and pressed my lips to his.

We resituated so that I was on top of Ethan. He layed us down. My heart sped up; it had been a while since I felt like this. I slid to the side and pulled Ethan on top of me. Desire moved through my body, sending a warm tingle to my core. I stuck my hand over his shirt and ran my fingers up his abs. Ethan took a fistful of my hair and gently pulled.

My want for him grew; I wrapped my arms around his torso and pulled him to me. I gripped the hem of his shirt and pulled it up. It made it to his shoulders when Nik stepped onto the back porch.

“My lady, René is on the phone!” he called.

Ethan’s muscled tensed and he froze. With a huff he moved off of me, looked up at Nik and shouted, “Take a message.”

“I would have, since you two seem to be enjoying the heat of the moment,” Nik replied. “But René said it was an emergency and that she wrecked her car. She’s ok,” he added quickly.

I looked into Ethan’s brown eyes. He was so gorgeous. Everything about him—physically—was perfect. And what was on the inside was even better. I unwrapped my legs from around his waist and straightened my dress.

“You should see if she’s ok,” Ethan told me and moved off. He ran a hand through his hair and coughed.

“Yeah,” I agreed. “Are you feeling ok?” I asked.

“Better than yesterday.” We stood. “I still feel kinda weak,” he confessed. “I’ll be back to normal tomorrow.”

I picked up my book and Ethan grabbed the blanket, shaking off the grass. I didn’t want to tell him that it will probably take more than one day to feel back to normal. We hurried into the house.

“Are you ok?” I asked René immediately.

“I’m ok, but my car’s not!” she spat. “I can’t believe it! It’s just my freaking luck!”

“What happened?”

“I rear ended someone. Someone in a truck…with one of those hitching things on the back. Didn’t hurt the truck at all…no. But my Mini Cooper…ugh! Like I have money to pay for this!”

“But you’re ok?” I asked again, feeling like my mother.

“Physically, yes. Not a scratch on me, no whiplash,” she promised.

“Oh, good. I was scared. Nik said it was an emergency.”

“Well, it is,” she said and lowered her voice. “The reason I ran right into that guy was because I thought I saw something. It took my attention away from the road.”

“What did you see?”

“The whole way home from Tyler’s last night, I kept seeing flashes of black and red in my rearview mirror. It was three in the morning and I was tired. I didn’t think much of it. On my way to class, I saw them again. Still, I ignored it. I was gonna run and get some food in between classes—that’s what I was doing when I hit the guy—and…it’s weird, Anora.”

“Trust me, I won’t think so,” I soothed. I could tell by René’s ranting that she was shaken up. “Go on.”

“I saw it in the mirror,” she started. My heart plummeted to the floor. “Black mist. It billowed and I swear it started to take on the form of a person. I turned around to look of course. Nothing was there. The next thing I know, I smacked right into the truck. Asshole got out and started yelling at me too.”

 
“Where are you?” I asked, my voice a harsh whispered.

“At the car shop. Shelly’s picking me up. Why?”

“Mirrors. I think,” I shook my head, not realizing she couldn’t see the gesture. “I
know
that is how Melcovel sees me.”

“You think that he—no, why? What would he want with me?”

The color drained from my face. I sank down in a chair, looking intently at my little herb garden. “To get to me. I think he made Ethan sick. When that plan failed, he must have moved on. Hurting you hurts me. If he’s watching you, then…” I trailed off. Then she was in danger.

“What do I do?” she asked, her voice trembling.

“Stay away from mirrors. Are you by any right now?”

“No,” she breathed. “Wait, I can see my refection in the window, does that count?”

“I don’t think so.”

“Think? Just
think
?”

“I haven’t had time to fully investigate,” I confessed. “I just put this together last night.”

“Oh, ok,” she said in a shrill voice. “This is worse than the time Keith and I thought we summoned Bloody Mary.”

“Go home and cover your mirrors,” I instructed. “He can’t get to you; he’s still in the Nether.”

“But Clarice…he got to her!”

“She called him. Don’t call him.”

“No shit, Anora.”

“You’re gonna be fine,” I promised. The calm in my voice was almost unsettling. “I’m not going to let him hurt you. This is gonna end, one way or another.” Something clicked into place in my mind. “I’ll send Nik over. He has a little bit of magic, he’ll be able to keep you safe until—” I cut off.

“Until what?”

“Until I figure out a way to cut the connection,” I lied. René wouldn’t be pleased to hear that I was planning on summoning and killing Mel. And she wouldn’t be pleased to hear that I lied either, but if I kept her alive, then I could make it up to her later.
And
, as much as I liked René, she would only get in the way. She was defenseless against a demon.

“Ok. Can Nik drive?”

“I don’t know. I never thought about it. Maybe he’ll fly over,” I mused. I shook my head. “René, you are going to be ok.”

“Yes, I am,” she repeated. “Shelly’s here, gotta go. Come over in like half an hour, ok? Shelly will be gone by then.”

“Alright, see ya soon.” I hung up the phone, turned around and saw Nik and Ethan staring at me. “What’s going on?” Ethan asked, concern on his face.

“Melcovel,” I stated. “He’s watching René.”

Ethan’s eyebrows pushed together. “How do you know that?”

“Mirrors,” I said simply. “Last night, I figured out that he can see us through mirrors. It makes sense,” I started, excitement building. “That’s why the black mirror spell worked, that’s how he—and Clarice—knew where I was and what I was doing. They saw me through mirrors. And I’ve read about mirrors being portals or windows before and—”

“—how do you know he can see you through mirrors?” Ethan interrupted.

Uh-oh. Time to explain why I lied. “Last night,” I began, choosing my words slowly. “When I looked in the mirror, I saw this black mist behind me. When I turned around, it wasn’t there. But it was still there…in the mirror. Then I caught a glimpse of my reflection in my phone, and the mist wasn’t there.” I paused, to make sure Ethan was following. Nik’s curious eyes were on me as well. “The longer I looked in the mirror, the more the vision grew. I started to feel like I was suffocating because it looked like I should have been suffocating. That is how Melcovel gets you.”

“What did you do?” Nik asked, his voice a shallow echo of its usual spunk.

“I kept looking into the mirror. Finally, my reflection grabbed me—or I thought it grabbed me, I don’t really know,” I said with a shake of my head. “Then it all went away. I think I pissed him off and that’s why he went after René.”

Ethan stared at me. He blinked, looked at the floor, and then back at me. “You put that all together from just last night?” he asked, the air of being impressed floated in his voice.

“Not completely,” I confessed. “I’ve been seeing weird things in the mirror for a few days now.”

“What?” he asked incredulously.

“I saw things in the mirror. Like blood running down my face,” I noted.

Ethan took a breath. “Goddammit, Annie, why didn’t you tell me?”

“Because you were sick. You needed to rest, not worry about me.”

“You have to tell me these things!”

“No, I don’t. I don’t
have
to tell you anything! You wouldn’t have rested and gotten better and you know it. I didn’t tell you for your own good, just like I didn’t tell you about the scrapper demons.”

“Scrapper demons? Scrapper demons?! What else aren’t you telling me?”

“Nothing! And I took care of it. That’s kinda what I do, ya know, my whole birth right and all. I can take care of myself. I’m not a little girl anymore. And, if you haven’t noticed, I happen to have a Guardian with me twenty-four seven. I’m not gonna take on an army of demons—or an army of anything for that matter—but between the two of us, we can handle a dozen scrappers.”

“You did not kill a dozen scrappers,” Ethan snapped.

I threw my hands up. “Seriously?”

Ethan shook his head. “Don’t cover things up thinking you’re protecting me. I’ve been doing this a while now, Annie, and I’ve never had anyone protect me before.”

“And you’ve never had anyone love you before,” I retorted, heart beating fast in frustrated anger. “Ethan, I love you. That’s the whole issue here. I love you and I want to make things as good as possible for you. If that means not telling you that pesky scrappers were walking through our yard, then so be it. I took care of it, with Hunter’s help I should add. But we got it done. Bottom line, they came, I killed, I buried the bodies. You were really sick. Do you know how worried I was? You were in the hospital, Ethan, and no one knew what was wrong with you! What if it was something serious? What if Melcovel had really been behind it and killed you? You were in no condition to fight demons and I know—and don’t even try to deny it—that you would have gotten your butt off the couch and tried to take them down. And I think we
both
know how that situation would have ended.”

“Yeah, the scrappers would have been killed in half the time,” he pouted.

“Ah! Stop it, Ethan!” I yelled, frustration climbing. Nik backed out of the room.

Ethan set his face and stared at me, his eyes panes of brown glass. “Annie,” he said in a level tone. “You have to tell me this stuff so I can take care of you. Yes, you are strong and a fearless fighter, but you’re still new. If we got into a battle of strengths, I know you would win. Not physically, of course, and that makes you all the more powerful. I know that, ok, I
know
. You and Hunter and your magic…it’s great. But it’s not fool proof. You are not invincible.”

“And you are?” I crossed my arms.

“So far…” he started but paused and shook his head. “No, I’m not either. I’m even more human than you are. I don’t know everything, but I know demons. And I know that the only thing you can count on when it comes to demons is that they are unpredictable.
 
You can’t count on anything happening like you planned. Situations go from bad to worse in seconds. I’ve seen it too many times. Hunters get careless and cocky. And then they get killed. As brave as you are, you can be a bit reckless.”

“And you’re not?” I snapped.

“Fine. I am.” He took a step forward. I resisted the urge to flinch away. He closed his eyes and sighed. When he opened them, his whole face was calmer. “Annie, I don’t want to fight, ok? Of course you don’t
have
to tell me anything, but I’d appreciate it if you did. I want to protect you as much as you want to protect me.” He put his hand on mine and smiled. I didn’t know if I should slap him or kiss him. I chose the latter.

“Fine,” I said tartly, not ready to let the issue go. “Maybe it was wrong to keep things from you. On that note, you should know that when the scrappers attacked, a reaper kind of…kind of, uh, saved me.” Ethan didn’t say anything. I could sense Nik creeping around the corner, listening. With a heavy sigh, I went on. “I had just gotten home from the hospital, the first day you were there. Scrappers attacked, I was weak, sore, tired, and unarmed. Plus, Hunter was in the house. If she hadn’t shown up, I don’t know how I would have made it out without major damage.”

“She?” Ethan asked.

“It was a female. I don’t know how I know that, I just did, ok? She killed a scrapper and even helped me get rid of the bodies. It’s messed up, I know.” I shook my head and put my face in my hands. “I’m sorry,” I told Ethan. “I shouldn’t have kept that from you.”

Ethan leaned against the counter. “It makes sense,” he said. Thinking he was joking, I looked up. “The reapers respect you. I’d assume that if anything attacked their leader, they’d defend them.”

Nik rushed into the room, looking at me like he was a mouse and I was a fat cat. “You are the leader of reaper demons?”

“Kind of,” I said meekly. “I sorta accidentally killed their leader after we unknowingly exchanged blood.” The faery’s jaw dropped. “It’s an odd story, I know, and I really can’t explain it any better than that,” I told him honestly.