Reap & Repent (23 page)

If only she could stop and be still, she could rest. But that damn light was calling to her like Daisy’s green dock light in
The Great Gatsby.
Sink or swim to the light? One choice was so easy, and the other insurmountable.

She swam. Hard. If she didn’t make it, there would always be the opportunity to quit the fight and let the water take her. But if she did make it …

She flailed and kicked, struggling through the corpses, pushing them aside. Relenting, she dragged herself up onto one of them, using its body like a kickboard so she could have a momentary reprieve. She was sickened by her mode of transportation, but it was getting her closer to the shore.

Her feet made brief contact with the sandy bottom, and after riding a few more waves, she finally found purchase on the sand. She made stepping motions toward the shore, feeling like a moonwalker given the ups and downs of the waves. Eventually, the water receded to just under her breasts, then her waist, and finally her knees. Her body grew heavy without the water to hold her up, and the bodies pushed against her, throwing off her balance.

Her knees buckled and her head and face went under the water. On instinct she inhaled and a big gulp of water filled her lungs. She marveled at the irony of making it to shore only to drown on the beach.

Coughing and sputtering, she managed to turn her face upward and twist her body to follow. The waves pushed her further and further up onto the shore with each surge until she finally reached dry land. She turned her head back toward the light. This close, it was bright and blinding.

She blinked repeatedly, trying to clear her vision. Startled awake, she thrashed for purchase once again, until she realized she was in bed. Not a sea of corpses. And Nate was holding her eye open, shining a bright pen light into it.

* * *

She slowly took in the details of the world around her. It was dark outside, and she had an IV in each arm. Bags of fluids hung on a hook over her bed.

“Welcome back.” Nate smiled, hovering over her, his face close to hers.

She was so weak that she wasn’t sure if she could even talk. Her head was still swimming, and it seemed as though her vertical hold was defective. Nate’s face rolled by in frames, as the happy juice slowly dripped into her depleted body.

Ruth tried to puzzle out how she’d come to be in this situation, but she couldn’t remember. It seemed important …

Nate crossed to the other side of the bed and turned off the drip leading to her left arm, removing the needle, as well. It was instant relief. She hated needles. He crossed back to the other side and pulled one of her kitchen chairs closer to the bed and sat and waited.

Ruth tried hard to keep her eyes open. She didn’t want to be back in that sea of the dead anytime soon. The minutes ticked by. The clock on the opposite wall said 11:00 p.m. Once again, she had no idea what day it was. She was going to have to get a smartphone, if only for that reason.

Nate watched her, obviously relieved she was at least sort of conscious. Slowly his image stopped rolling past her eyes every time she blinked. He reached over and took her cold hand in his warm and steady one.

Thankfully, her head did seem as if it was beginning to clear. The fuzziness was lifting. She took a deep breath and let it out in a sigh. Nate squeezed her hand.

“Thank you.”

“You’re welcome.” He smiled at her. He really did have a great smile. “The IV is for nutrition. I didn’t think I’d be able to get a milkshake down you until you were a little more coherent.” He removed the IV needle from her other hand. “I don’t have the magic touch that you and Deacon have.”

Deacon.
That was what was so important to remember. Deacon. The demon. The souls. Where was he?

“Where is he, Nate?”

“I don’t know. He hasn’t been back. I left the circle open for him, but I haven’t seen a sign of him.”

“Kylen?”

“I don’t know the guy, but you haven’t had any demonic visitors. I called your house to see if you two needed anything before I headed your way, and I
realized you were in trouble. Ruth, I’m pretty sure you would have died if I hadn’t shown up.”

“Not died, but close. Thank you.” She was beginning to feel much more coherent, and she suddenly realized that she had to pee like crazy.

“Uh, Nate? Can you help me to the bathroom?”

Nate nodded and reached under her shoulders and knees, lifting her into his arms. He carried her into the cramped bathroom and sat her on the edge of the tub. She really hoped she could take it from there.

Nate stood in the doorway facing the bedroom while she fumbled with her nightgown, trying to get herself situated. She wiggled her panties down and scooted herself the exhausting ten inches to the toilet.
Sweet, sweet relief.
One more water-related dream, and she would have wet the bed.

She took care of business, but then couldn’t get her clothes arranged correctly, let alone stand up.

“Nate?”

He turned, saw her struggle and came to help. When he pulled her upright, her gown fell down to cover her body. With one strong arm around her, he held her upright, while the other hand reached down to pull her panties back up into place.

It was awkward but not sexual. At least not on her part. Nate’s aura was so mixed up and bright that she had no idea what he was thinking, but his face was hot and red. He seemed confused.

Good, that made two of them.

He held her against him and shuffled out of the narrow bathroom. Scooping her into his arms, he made his way over to the bed and set her down carefully, pulling the covers over her.

“I don’t think you need another IV, but you could probably use some real food. Man, I’m going to have to start buying these supplies in bulk for you two.”

A few minutes later, Nate walked back in with a tray full of food. He was becoming quite the housewife. It was still mostly fast food that he’d bought on his way over, but he’d also reheated some lasagna for her. Nate handed Ruth a plate.

“You eat, too. You look terrible,” Ruth said, diving in.

Nate shrugged and pulled out a sandwich from one of the bags.

“What’s going on with you, Ruth? What happened out there? Did Kylen show?”

“Not exactly. Another demon found us. They fought. I got in the way trying to help and was attacked. Deacon took in the demon.” She choked up with emotion and the burger sat like an anchor in her belly.

“You mean he’s like Kylen now? There are two of them loose?”

“I don’t know. He was surprised that the effects weren’t immediate. He sent me away because he was afraid he might hurt me. I didn’t want to leave him again, but he was so…terrifying. Nate, if you hadn’t come …”

“You should have called someone for help, Ruth. Your family?”

“There’s no one to call anymore. I’m all alone.”

“No one?”

“My mother just died. That’s how I met Deacon. He came to reap her, and things went crazy after that. My father died years ago.”

“Siblings? Aunts? Uncles? Cousins?” Nate stuffed a man-size hunk of burger into his mouth.

“Well, my parents do have relatives, but they all live out of state, Florida mostly. I was adopted, and my mother and I were estranged for the past…forever. It’s complicated.”

His eyebrows raised, and he swallowed the barely chewed chunk of meat. “Yeah? I was adopted, too. How old were you when you got your family?”

“I was a baby. You?”

“Not so lucky. Five.”

“And where are they?”

“There’s a coven nearby. They’re still very active, and they live on a property the families own together.”

“Huh.”

“What?

“Sounds a lot like the story Deacon told me about reapers, how most of them live together in groups. It must have been nice, going from no family to tons of family.” She smiled at him.

He nodded. “It beat foster homes.”

A ruckus in the living room had Nate upright and alert in seconds. Ruth struggled to untangle herself from the blankets and food carnage.

Then Deacon walked into the bedroom.

* * *

Even though nothing had happened, Nate looked startled and guilty, and he moved away from the bed. Ruth wasn’t sure how to read that. While she was thankful for Nate, and she liked him a lot, she only had eyes for Deacon. She hoped that she hadn’t somehow sent him different vibes out of naïveté.

“What’s going on here?” Deacon asked, crossing the room in two long paces and placing himself between the two of them. Nate took another step back.

“Nothing. I was just looking after her. She’s weak. She was in an exhaustive coma when I found her. That seems to be par for the course with you two.”

Deacon frowned as he eased himself onto the edge of her bed, stroking her hair.

“What is all of this?” he asked, pointing to the IV bags still hanging above the bed.

“I had to get some electrolytes into her before I could feed her. I also gave her a sedative so that she could rest and heal. The other is IV nutrition. She just came around. It’s been twenty-four hours.”

Deacon shook his head and sighed.

“Did you bring this food, too?”

“Yes, what’s left is in the fridge. She was too weak to eat until now. The IV at least got her kick-started. I’ll go warm something up for you, too.” Nate left for the kitchen, seemingly in a hurry.

Deacon buried his face against Ruth’s neck. “I’m sorry,” he said, kissing her collarbone.

“It’s okay.”

“No, it’s not. Every time I have to leave you, something bad happens.” Deacon reached for her hand. She gave it to him and peered into his eyes searchingly.

“And are you…
you?
” she said after a long moment.

Deacon pulled away from her briefly, and then pressed his lips to hers with such tenderness it was all the answer she needed.

“A miracle?”

“Something like that. Ruth, if Nate hadn’t been here…you could have died.”

“You said we were hard to kill.” She smiled, trying to defuse his anxiety.

“But not impossible. I didn’t expect you to test the boundaries so soon. You aren’t fully a reaper yet. Until you reap a soul,
really
reap a soul, you are mostly human. If your life force gets low enough, you might not be able to be revived with conventional means. Human doctors would think you were dead and pronounce you so. It only gets worse from there.” Deacon stroked her hand and arm. She wanted to pull him into the bed next to her, but she didn’t have the energy.

“Nate did the right thing for you…again. We need him around.”

As if he’d been summoned by Deacon’s words, Nate returned with more food.

“Thanks. Not only for the food. Thank you for taking care of Ruth. She needed someone, and you were there for her.” Deacon reached out his hand. “It’s good to know that someone has our backs.”

Nate shook hands with him. “Eat.”

Smiling, Deacon forked a piece of lasagna the size of his head. “Are the preparations ready for Kylen?”

“Not yet, I’ve been otherwise occupied.” he nodded over at Ruth. “But I can be ready in a few hours.”

“Why was Ruth’s circle down?”

“I didn’t have time to repair it. When I got here, she was in rough shape, and it was wide open. Her energy was so low that the circle would have been worthless even if she’d been able to close it.” Deacon fed Ruth a big bite of lasagna.

“We can’t take any more chances. From now on, let’s assume that there’s always a chance of danger. We have to protect ourselves at all times. Especially Ruth.”

Nate handed her a melted milkshake. It was glorious.

“Now that I know what’s really going on and what specifically you need kept out, I can tweak the circle so that the three of us can enter and leave at will while still repelling intruders. Supernatural intruders anyway. If you had told me the truth in the first place, we would have been better protected,” Nate said, setting the plate aside.

“And would you have believed me, Nate? Besides, I was trying to protect you.”

“
Seeing
is believing,” Nate said. “I’m a believer now.”

Ruth smiled. She wanted them to get along. They needed each other; all three of them did, but in different ways. Nate needed validation for his magic and a cause to fight for. Deacon needed companionship, and Ruth needed someone to teach her how to survive in this new life.

“What about Kylen?” Ruth asked.

“We’ll make our move when you’re back to a hundred percent. In the meantime, you’re staying home. Nate can get things set up, and we’ll all try to rejuvenate so that we’re at full strength when we confront him. We’re going to need it.”

“Where is home, Deacon?” Ruth asked, trying to sit up.

“It feels like it’s here, if you’re willing.” He took her hand in his, and Ruth felt her heart grow tight as her eyes filled with tears.

Stupid girl tears.

The thought of Deacon staying here long-term made her very happy.

Deacon turned to Nate. “Will you help us care for Kylen if we’re successful? You have the expertise, and he’s going to need more help than Ruth and I can give him. And Ruth’s going to need help staying healthy while she learns to cope with her new abilities and this life.”

Nate ran a hand through his hair and let out a sigh. “I already have a fulltime job.”

“You’ll be well compensated. Think it over, Nate. Your medical skills and hospital connections have already come in handy, not to mention your skills with magic.”

“Seems to me that you both have a lot more power than I can summon,” Nate said, picking at the plate before him. “I don’t know Kylen, but I have to assume that he’s equally well endowed.”

Deacon smiled. “Well, I don’t know about that, but yeah, he’s powerful. What do you think, Ruth? Don’t you agree that Nate would be an asset to the team?”

Even though she was still a few Quarter Pounders short of logical thinking, this decision was a no-brainer.

“Yes. Let’s keep him.”

Chapter Twenty-Seven

Deacon somehow seemed more alive since returning from Purgatory. Maybe Ruth was still groggy from too many sedatives and too little food, but she knew something was different. Everything had happened so fast and was such a blur that at this point it was easier to accept things and move forward than to try and understand them all… Still, questions lingered.