Reaper Mine: A Reaper Novel (36 page)

Well she definitely didn’t like the sound of that. “Umm, if I understand it correctly. Aldon is the asshat causing all the problems. Not me.”

Devon threw his head back and laughed. “Asshat?” he asked.

Victor narrowed his eyes and laughed. “Aldon is many things. And asshat seems like a good moniker for him.”

“Yeah. So glad you approve,” she said and turned to Victor. “What happened to said asshat?”

Victor shrugged. “One minute he was there and the next he was gone.”

“We believe he has an underground fortress.” They both turned back to Devon. “I have my men searching for the entrance. He is probably watching us right now. That is why I can’t allow anyone to wander around the compound. Aldon has set the place with various booby traps. As you have found out with his missiles. Which are his failsafe; if his compound is taken, the missiles would destroy the compound. Luckily my men were capable of disabling the majority of them before the entire compound was destroyed. If we’re lucky we’ll be able to find the entrance.”

It made Elle’s skin crawl.

“Let’s burn the place to the ground,” the thug from earlier said. “Smoke the bastard out.”

Elle rolled her eyes. “Not all that original. And how do we know it will even work?”

Tabitha walked over. “How long can he stay down there?”

Devon shook his head. “We have no idea. Probably a life time.”

“What does that mean? A life time?” Elle asked. The skin crawl had changed to a sick feeling and she felt like she wanted to empty her stomach all over the dirt.

“Ahh.” Devon gave her a sad smile. “Aldon hasn’t shared his dirty little secret with you has he.” Devon looked around the clearing and raised his voice. “I would have thought you would tell her Aldon. You should have shared this information with the woman you wanted to carry your soulless bastards.”

Elle reached out and Victor took her hand. Elle gripped it hoping it was enough to keep her on her feet.

Devon turned back to her, but didn’t drop his voice. “I’m giving you the chance to come clean Aldon,” he screamed as he spoke. “Don’t you think it appropriate to come from your lips; don’t you think you should follow even a few of the codes of the brotherhood?”

Devon finally broke eye contract with Elle and looked around again. “Law 3: Let the words of truth always be spoken. As a Son of Adam I shall hold the chalice of truth and bear the weight of god’s great wrath when lies sprout and take root in my soul and choke out the light.”

Devon ended his words as any great sermon would on a high note with a fist raised to the heavens. Several of his soldiers nodded and pounded on their chests in agreement. Even the Daughters of Eve seemed to agree. By raising their own weapons.

“Let the honesty start now, let the light come back into the darkness,” Devon shouted. When he stopped talking the silence was deafening.

Devon shook his head, and he turned to Elle. “It would seem Aldon has truly given up on the beliefs of the Sons of Adam.”

“I am the only one who truly believes in the Sons of Adam. It is you who have strayed.” Aldon’s voice boomed from the darkness.

“How am I a prevaricator?” Devon asked smiling as if he thought being called so was amusing to him.

“We are the fathers of mortals. We should rule them. As a Son of Adam you shall hold sacred the brotherhood and the sons produced of the brotherhood,” Aldon screamed making the speakers crackly and buzz. “You are burning my sons in mass graves, should I go to your estate’s Devon and burn your sons?”

“Aldon what you are creating in test tubes are not sons, they are things. When you bend the laws of god you break the laws of the Brotherhood,” Devon announced. “Now present yourself so you can be judged.”

“Wait.” Victor held up his hand. “He belongs to me.”

Devon shook his head. “He is a Son of Adam and therefore he will be held to judgment by the Sons.”

Victor shook his head. “The hell you say. Dante wants him, and Dante will not be swayed on this.

Devon gave him a smile. “Dante will have his soul I will promise you this. But he will be judged and punished by the Brotherhood.”

Victor threw his hands in the air and turned to his brothers, Elle still clung to his back. “We will return to the Infernos and see what Dante has to say about this,” Christian offered “We will be back.”

Victor didn’t really have a choice and the bastard was still squirreled away in the ground somewhere. Victor nodded and his brothers all Flashed away, he turned to Elle and cupped her face. “And what exactly am I supposed to do with you?” Gods he just wanted to put her someplace safe. But he had tried to get her to go someplace safe but no matter what he did she seemed to follow him into danger.

She leaned forward, pressed herself into him and kissed him. “I’ll be happy and safest with you, I think.”

He agreed with her there. “Just don’t move from my side.” She nodded and linked her arm with him. “Like glue.”

“What say you Aldon?” Devon asked.

They waited but after ten minutes there still wasn’t an answer. Victor snorted. “Now what?”

“We continue to search for a way in. Nothing changes.” Devon shrugged. “Now where were we…” he tapped his chin. “Oh yes Aldon’s lies.” He chuckled. “Aldon has been on the outskirts of the brotherhood for some time now. But it wasn’t until the Tribunal made the…” he trailed off thoughtfully and then tried again. “Shall we call it an offer to the non-Tribunal Others? We are a scattered, lawless and hunted sect of Others. There are the Sons of Adam, the Daughters of Eve, the demi-gods, the last of the world benders, I know of four Sandman’s they are siblings three sisters and a brother they would love to be represented on the Tribunal but not at the cost that is being asked. And a hundred or so other Others, that truly deserve to be represented but that really isn’t a Reaper problem is it?”

“Anyway, Aldon decided he was going to do what none of us wanted to do. And he was going to represent those who couldn’t represent themselves. And it sounded too good to be true.” Devon shook his head sadly. “So we looked into Aldon, and what we found was so sad it broke the heart of those who believed in him.”

“Aldon had given up everything to make his dreams for his people come true,” Devon explained.

“Not anything new,” Victor said.

Devon reached forward and patted Victor on the shoulder. “It is when that something means it takes your soul and leaves you unable to die.”

“Wait what?” Elle felt her mouth fall open. “Is he immortal?”

Devon sighed. “Oh, he dies, Elle. I’ve killed him myself with a bullet to the head. But Aldon does this freaky thing by coming back.”

“Did I faint?” Elle asked when she opened her eyes. “I have never, in all my life fainted.”

Victor wasn’t sure if he was going to shake her or kiss her. “You scared the hell out of me.”

“Sorry.” She wrapped her arms around him and he let her because he needed to feel her close to him right then. If the news they had just gotten about Aldon had affected her as much as it had affected him he had wanted to faint too. “I had the strangest dream,” she whispered into his ear. And he was pretty sure it wasn’t a dream.

Gods he wished he could just Flash her to the Infernos where he could keep her safe. “Why can’t I Flash you? I just want to keep you safe, you know that, right?”

She smiled at him. “It wasn’t a dream, was it? Aldon has the same curse as I do?”

Victor nodded. “I think so, yes.”

“How is it even possible?” Elle asked. “I mean the Druid who cursed me died. Aldon isn’t that old…” she had a horrible thought and rushed to get to her feet, Devon was standing with Tabitha as Victor pulled her close. “Tell me he isn’t that old?”

Devon shook his head. “As best as he can guess he has only prolonged his life by twenty-five or thirty extra years. Just long enough to build his little army and find out about you via Chaos, by the way what happened to your lovely brother?”

“I took care of him and Helena,” Victor said, as much as Victor had said to her about the two and she hadn’t wanted to know more but she knew she would have to get more information about them eventually. She just wanted to take it one issue at a time. And her sister and brother were not an issue she was ready to deal with.

Devon nodded. “Chaos was a spoil of Aldon’s conquests from some Lord overseas in the 70’s. It was what led us to figure out what had happened to Aldon,” Devon went on to explain what they knew. Which wasn’t a lot. Most of it was conjecture, up to the point where Devon had captured Aldon. He was tried, sentenced, and pronounced guilty of his crimes. Devon carried out the sentencing.

Once they had carried out the sentence, woman came to prepare the body. And shockingly, Aldon woken up. And acted as if it was a miracle. Devon and the Brotherhood hadn’t known know what to think.

Thankfully, the Brothers have several criteria, before something is considered a miracle. And Aldon did not meet any of them besides rising from the dead. So they sentenced him to die again. Apparently Aldon did not appreciate it, and had barely escaped. He had been on the run ever since.

“During this time, he started creating the Freaks.” Devon looked around at the group. “To this day, I don’t know how he was able to escape. And we haven’t seen him, until now.”

Something had been bothering Victor all evening. “Are you working with the Daughters? Why are you here?” He didn’t believe in coincident. The Daughters of Eve seemed awful chummy with the Sons. The fight he was going to have with the Bitch was working up to an all-out brawl.

Devon shrugged. “I won’t lie to you, we bugged the Daughters. When information was sent to us that they had information about Aldon and that he had created Freaks. We mobilized. The Freaks held our hands, but as far as I was concerned, the kill order should never have been lifted. He and his creations need to be destroyed. I know that Tabitha and her warriors have been sent to deal with Aldon. But I’ve killed him once; I’m here to make sure he stays dead this time. Personally, I think you’re wasting your time. Aldon has no soul, you have nothing here to reap.”

“What makes you think he is soulless?” Elle asked Devon.

Devon gave Elle a sad laugh. “Of course he is soulless how can something like him have a soul?”

Victor was about to come to her aid, but she stepped around him with her arms crossed over her chest. “What the hell does that mean?”

Devon didn’t back down. “I didn’t mean to offend you Elle, and I am not sure how you ended up the way you are. And it is commendable you haven’t given into darkness without a soul. But that doesn’t change what has happened.”

Victor tried to grab Elle but she stomped over to Devon and slapped him upside the head. “Were you dropped on your head as a child?”

Several of his men jumped forward but Victor shook his head at them and they immediately backed away. Elle was holding her own, but he’d be damned if the Sons raised a hand against his woman.

Devon rubbed at his head. “You take your life in your hands, lady.”

“You’re an idiot.” Elle turned back to Victor. “Victor do I have a soul?”

“One of the brightest I’ve ever seen,” Victor said with all honestly.

Elle turned back to Devon. “Why do you think Aldon wants me? He wants me to add a soul to his creations. If he got a Druid to curse him the same way I was he still has a soul. His might be black as oil pitch but he still has a soul.”

There was a popping noise and suddenly Aldon appeared holding a dagger to Elle’s throat. “I knew I still possessed my soul,” he whispered against her cheek. “I just need the light of yours to complete my work.”

“I knew I killed you in that damn car!” Elle said back. Just as all hell broke loose.

****

Guns were grabbed, and actions were cocked. Elle stilled her breathing. Aldon didn’t have a problem killing her and she wanted very much to stay alive for this show. The last thing she needed was to die right now.

Victor held up a hand. “Don’t anyone move.”

Making Aldon smile. “Ah I see you recognize the Dagger.”

Victor could barely breathe, as Aldon held the Blood Rite Dagger to Elle’s throat. If that Dagger killed her, he would lose not only her, but her soul as well.

“If you spill one drop of her blood you will live to regret it Aldon,” Victor snarled.

Aldon laughed. “But I will live Reaper, and she won’t. Do you want to risk it? I wanted to save my people, save those who didn’t have a voice.” Aldon said to Devon as he backed up dragging Elle with him.

“You aren’t going anywhere, Aldon,” Devon said.

Aldon laughed again. “That’s what you think. See, I’ve been working on this little spell…”

Victor lunged but it was too late, the popping noise was the only warning they had and Aldon and Elle disappeared. Guns exploded around him as he landed in the dirt where Aldon and Elle had been milliseconds before.

He rolled to his feet. “What part of don’t anyone move didn’t anyone understand?” Victor shouted at the group. He felt like his head was going to explode.

“You would have rather he get away with her?” Devon snarled.