Reap & Reveal (The Reaper Series Book 3) (24 page)

Nate filled him in on the status of the replacement reapers, and then hit the highlights of his trip to the coven with Maeve. There wasn’t time to get into the nitty-gritty, but the bombshell about Elaina Carter and Ruth possibly being his sister would be enough to throw Deacon off balance. Not to mention the incendiary fact that Maeve knew how Camael could be defeated.

“Finally we catch a break. Unbelievable. I can’t wait to hear more. We need to shut this shit down…and now we can. He’s going to try to accelerate his plan.” He nodded at Nate. “Here comes your girl.”

Nate cringed. He doubted Maeve would appreciate being referred to that way and he doubly doubted she was anywhere close to being his girl, despite their night together. Things had seemed much clearer while they were cocooned together in his basement room. Now he had no idea where they stood.

Maeve looked shaken as she walked toward them, her jet-black hair swaying between her shoulders.

“What is it?” Nate asked, concerned by the vacant look in her eyes.

“I found your reapers.”

“That’s great. Where are they?” Deacon asked, searching the street behind her.

“Dead. In Maple Park Cemetery.”

“What the hell?” Deacon exploded in a fit of rage.

Nate took hold of her shoulders, forcing her to look at him. “Are you sure?”

“They’re holding their heads in their laps. So, yeah, I’m sure. There’s more.” She looked back at Deacon. “Ruth sent Temperance away. She’s pissed off and home alone. I didn’t want to leave her, but Olivia wasn’t back from the food kitchen yet and I knew I needed to find you, Deacon. She was talking crazy before I left. I think I talked her down, but…”

“Crazy how?”

“Like she-might-leave-the-compound-to-find-her-mom crazy. She wanted Nate to take her, and then she asked me when she realized he was already gone. I told her there was no way I was going to take her.”

“Deacon!” Dardariel called as he and Ouriel emerged from a nearby alley.

“For the love of God, what now?”

“Something’s going on at the prison. The place is coming apart at the seams. At first we thought it was a riot, but it’s demons. The place is three-quarters empty. The only humans who are left are dead.”

“Any more good news for me?”

“Raguel is missing.”

***

Camael was pleased to see the bus pull down the long driveway after what had seemed like an eternity. The prisoners’ arrival was a good omen. By now, the prison would be empty and the city would be full of wanderers and criminals. That should keep the Authority busy for long enough for him to collect what he needed and get everything into place.

His remaining demons would be busy ferrying the prisoners’ souls to Hell. Soon the final portal would be open and they would all be free to play.

The bus came to a stop outside the circle of protection and Camael skirted the edge of the woods toward the vehicle. The door folded open and the first of twenty-four men walked down the steps and gathered in a group before him, several of them clearly evaluating all possible escape routes.

When one rather scrawny specimen started running toward the woods, Camael flashed over to him and tore his head off with a flourish. The man’s body crumbled to the ground. Camael lifted up the head by the hair, careful not to get any more schmutz on his host than necessary, and walked back to his troops. There were no more runners after that.

Heads roll and people start paying attention.

An unusually tall, well-muscled human stepped forward. “What is this place?”

“Your name?”

“Little Stevie.”

“Well, Little Stevie, this is the boonies, and if you can manage to accomplish a very simple task,
this
will be your ticket to freedom.”

“If it’s so simple, why don’t you do it yourself?” A few prisoners grunted their approval from behind him.

Camael tossed the head at Little Stevie’s feet. “Do not worry your pretty little head, dearest Stevie. I will be doing more than my fair share in tonight’s activities. Now, are you in? Will you claim your freedom by fulfilling this one small task or will you join the friend whose head is currently resting at your feet?”

“He’s not my friend.”

“Choose.”

Little Stevie gave the head a sturdy kick, punting it away from him like a soccer ball. “What do you want us to do?”

Camael pointed toward the trailer where Ruth was holed up. “See that trailer? The one with a light on? All you have to do is go over there and bring the woman who’s inside it here…to me. Nothing else.”

“Why can’t you do it?”

“Again with the questions? If you bothered to ask this many questions in your previous life, you would most likely not have been incarcerated in the first place. Do it or do not. It’s your choice, but you will join your non-friend if your choice is no.”

Little Stevie turned to the men behind him, evaluating his odds. “Let’s do it.”

Camael smiled as they crossed through the circle of protection without so much as a hiccup. So easy.

They walked toward the trailer, some using cover as they could. Two others traipsed right up to the front door and one turned the handle. The hellhound was through the door before the second man’s foot touched the bottom step.

Their throats torn out, they didn’t stumble far before dying in a gurgling pile in front of the door. Several of the other men stepped back, reevaluating their resolve.

“If you come back empty handed,
I
will tear your throats out. I suggest you proceed.”

Little Stevie split the prisoners into two groups, one to deal with the dog and the other to make another attempt on the trailer. The first blast blew through the doorway as the next man breached the trailer. The dog swept through the distraction crew while five more shots blasted through the trailer door. When the shooting stopped, Little Stevie lunged through the doorway, reappearing a moment later with his hand around Ruth’s throat and a blade pressed to her stomach.

The dog hunkered down and watched him as he brought her down the steps.

Little Stevie eased them back through the yard and toward Camael, using Ruth as a shield. A few more feet and Camael would be free to inflict some pain if need be.

“Camael, I assume,” Ruth said.

“Yes, dear. It’s wonderful to see you again.”

“You have got to be batshit crazy to kidnap a pregnant woman.”

“Oh, you are much more than that. Where is the other soul?”

“What are you talking about?”

“Another soul is near. Who and where?”

“What you see is what you get, Camael. There are no others.”

She did not appear to be lying, but Camael could still feel the fourth soul nearby. “Put her on the bus.” The demons grabbed hold of her and walked her up the stairs of the bus.

Bo charged toward the circle of protection after the straggling prisoners as they made their retreat. The great beast pinned the last man to the ground.

Camael watched with amusement as the man screamed for help, then summoned his demons to return to him. Before they could, Little Stevie walked up to the hound and sliced its soft underbelly with the blade he’d held to Ruth’s stomach seconds before. The dog wailed and retreated, hunkering against the frozen ground, apparently helpless to leave the circle of protection without Ruth. Panting, the beast whimpered softly as blood pooled around its sides.

Killing the hound had been easier than he’d imagined. Camael laughed in admiration. “You are perhaps more helpful than I anticipated, Little Stevie.”

Camael turned and walked back toward the bus when a glow behind him brought his attention back to the dog. The beast was radiating an aura.

What the hell?

As the glow grew more intense, the hound’s panting increased as well. A bright explosion of light flashed, temporarily rendering Camael blind. When his vision cleared, the angel Rashnu crouched naked beside the hellhound. The fourth soul.

“Now things are getting interesting. Everyone onto the bus, you know where to go. Do not stop for anything. I’ll be along shortly.”

The bus cranked to life, turned in the yard and disappeared down the long driveway.

Camael stared at the angel as he found his bearings and stood.

“Naked as a newborn. So you’ve been hiding in the hellhound all this time?”

“Not hiding. Observing.” Rashnu rose to his full height and stretched. First one wing then the other unfolded behind him, his aura glowing bright pink around him.

“You can’t take Ruth, Camael.”

“I already have. Or are you blind as well as stupid?”

“She’s not the one you want.”

“You’re right about that. It’s the soul inside her. Her child is the one I want.”

“No. You’ve miscalculated. I’ve seen both possible paths, Camael. You won’t win.”

“I already have. Your premonitions are useless as always. You’re just too dense to know when to give up.”

“She’s still alive, Camael.”

Camael stilled, the words pinning him to the ground as sure as shackles.

He knew to whom Rashnu was referring, of course, but it was a trick. The angel would say anything to stall him until help arrived. He was trapped within the circle of protection and couldn’t do anything until he was freed.

Camael turned to leave, refusing to acknowledge the statement.

“And the child is your grandchild.”

“Liar.”

“Have I ever lied to you, Camael?”

“You’ve done worse than lie to me, brother.”

“You brought all of this upon yourself. None of us wanted for this to happen. The moment you lay with the reaper woman, you sealed your fate.”

“As have you. Stay on Earth a while. You can watch the show.”

“It doesn’t have to end this way. You can still change course. You can be redeemed. Maybe even…reinstated.”

Camael laughed, his chest aching with the effort. “
Reinstated?
Is that your best offer? I seriously doubt you have enough authority to make that happen. Besides, as I mentioned before, I know you to be a liar.”

Camael turned away and walked toward the driveway. He was finished with Rashnu and his ridiculous claims. Grandchild, indeed. The mere thought of it was preposterous, but it was a button Rashnu would know to push.

These were tactics used by his new boss, too. Tricks he’d used himself.

Still, the angel’s words had their intended effect and burned a torturous hole through his gut all the way back to the cemetery.

Liars.

Chapter Thirty

Ruth sat in a middle seat of the bus as it pulled onto the highway. The pitching and bouncing along the long gravel road left her nauseous. Her thin nightgown wasn’t enough relief against the cold. Curling her legs and feet up underneath her body, she wrapped her arms around herself, shivering from the temperature as much as the unknown.

One of the men noticed her and removed his prison issued sweatshirt, offering it to her. She took it.

“Thank you.”

“Sure.”

“Where are we going?”

“Ma’am, you know as much as I do. An hour ago I was behind bars doing time. Now I’m here. Ain’t that a deal?”

“Are you a demon?”

“I’ve been called a lotta things, but never no demon. Nah. Is that what he is? That dude back there?”

“He’s an angel.”

“Damn. I thought they was the good guys.”

“Shut up.” Little Stevie made his way to them and motioned for the friendly man to move to the front of the bus. Once he was gone, Little Stevie took his seat.

He stared straight ahead, ignoring her. She took notice of her surroundings. The padded bus seats and tiny half windows didn’t offer much in the way of potential weapons or escape routes. Allowing one’s self to be moved to a secondary location during a kidnapping was the worst possible scenario. Few people survived the abduction from that point onward.

And she had the hours and hours of true crime television she’d watched in the past few months to thank for that nugget of info.

She didn’t even have decent shoes for God’s sake. Leaning against the side of the bus, she rearranged herself so her arms were wrapped around her knees and her feet were angled against the seat. If the best weapon she had was kicking, she’d use it if need be. So far everyone was keeping their distance.

A few of the men were recounting their victory in the front of the bus. The men in the rear seemed more subdued. Ruth got the feeling that none of them knew what they were in for, herself included.

She prayed. Hard.

How she wished that she’d never sent Temperance away. She regretted taking her protection for granted, but she was determined to survive. Whatever Camael planned, she knew that the full force of the Authority was about to come down on his ass. And sitting helpless inside the bus while Rashnu appeared next to Bo? She didn’t even know what to think of that.

A tear leaked from her eye.

Poor Bo. Such a good hellhound.

Nate would be heartbroken. Ruth reached up, surreptitiously wiping away the tear. No way was she crying in front of these assholes. The only thought that consoled her was that most of these men weren’t possessed.

Yet.