Reaper Mine: A Reaper Novel (25 page)

Tabitha burst into her room, hitting Elle with the door. “Why are you standing so close to the door?” Tabitha demanded.

“Why don’t you knock?” Elle demanded.

Tabitha glowered at her. “Why are you so grumpy? It’s not like you.”

“You don’t even know me! So how can you even make that assumption?” Elle asked. Turning from Tabitha and grabbing her duffel bag, she started throwing in her things. Anything to keep herself from bursting into tears.

“He’s coming back Elle,” Tabitha said, almost being kind. Stopping Elle in her tracks.

“Why do you suddenly care?” Elle snapped.

“I’m not heartless. It obviously means something to you…” she hesitated. “He…I mean the Reap… Victor means something to you.” She tried to smile but it looked more like a grimace.

Elle slumped down on the bed. “Tabitha why is it so hard for you to show any emotion other than hostility?”

Tabitha took a step back as if she had been slapped. “I have other emotions.”

Elle shook her head. “No you really don’t. I’m an Empath. I would be able to feel them. Your primary emotion is hostility. Even when you’re trying to be nice, hostility is the emotion you’re emanating. What happened to you…”

Tabitha looked like she wanted to kill something. “Nothing happened to me, Elle. I am a trained killer. Hostility is what I do.”

“Tabitha, you are not a killer. You might have killed, but a stone-cold-blooded killer?” Elle regarded Tabitha. “I don’t think so. You chose to be hostile or not. Take Marcus for example. He has a darkness in him, simmering just below his surface. He could bring an apocalyptic-like death upon the mortal plane. A palpable darkness and hostility that he controls, and only the gods know, how he does it. But he chooses calm, not hostility.”

Tabitha snorted. “Marcus is a Fallen Angel, and a love sick fool.”

Elle smiled, feeling a slight lift in the antagonism bearing down on her. “Yes, but it is so wonderful. He chose’s to not be hostile; you can chose to not be hostile.”

Tabitha snorted again adding an eye roll. “I am neither in love nor a fool, Elle. I apologize if my hostility affects you because of your frail emotional state. However, this is who I am. Who I have trained to become, and I am not going to change, not in the thirteenth hour. Are you ready?” she asked motioning to the duffel bag.

Elle was not going to let Tabitha’s brutal honesty hurt her, but she had to admit her words did. Elle sighed and finished cramming what little she had left of her own into a duffel bag. She was going to get Tabitha to relax if it was the last thing she did, damn it. Celeste was waiting for them in the hall. “So where we headed?”

Elle knew better than to argue with her, and she looked over her shoulder at Tabitha. “What do you think?”

“Safe house in Houston,” Tabitha said glowering at Celeste and back to Elle who glared back. She wasn’t going to argue with Tabitha about it either. Celeste and Marcus were coming with them, if Tabitha had a problem with it them Tabitha would just have to suck it up. They all had to work together.

“What about everyone else?” Elle asked walking down the stairs.

“Skylar is coming with us,” Celeste said making Tabitha swear under her breath. The Tracker and Tabitha rubbed each other the wrong way. But at least they spoke to each other. It wasn’t pleasant words, and most of them were four letters. But they were words. Tabitha had completely ostracized all the other Trackers by day four.

“If you didn’t make the other Trackers hate you we wouldn’t have to bring Skylar with us,” Elle told her dropping her bag by the front door.

“Hate is a strong word.” Marcus said, he was ever the diplomat.

“We don’t have to bring any of the Trackers with us,” Tabitha snapped.

Elle just rolled her eyes. “It’s not up for debate, Tabitha. We are all in this together. What about the other Reapers.”

“Garrett and Christian are with the Trackers. Nathaniel and Hunter are here as well,” Celeste explained.

“More Reapers?” Elle asked surprised.

“Yes, would you like to meet them?” Celeste asked. “I know they would like to meet you. They don’t get out much. So you might have to excuse their bad manners,” Celeste said laughing. Making her expressive violet eyes shine.

Elle allowed Celeste to lead her into the large great room where everyone was gathered. The sun was just rising, the Trackers were sprawled on the furniture. Ryder held Kyra who was curled up asleep.

The Reapers stood in one corner, and like every other time they took her breath away. They were just so good looking. But this time there were four of them and damn if Celeste hadn’t been holding her arm she would have stopped dead in her tracks and just stared at them. All tall and broad shouldered they were a mix between GQ, old Hollywood and the best in bodybuilding. Dressed in jeans and tight t-shirts there was so much hard masculinity and dark hotness it was male beauty personified.

They all turned to her and Celeste, and Elle actually caught her breath. They shared the dark eyes of Victor. The hard, chiseled bone structure. How did they keep woman from throwing themselves at their feet?

“Nathaniel, Hunter, this is Elle.” Celeste introduced her. The two Elle didn’t recognize, stepped forward. One with sandy blond hair brushing his shoulders bowed his head, but didn’t extend his hand.

“I am Nathaniel, I rule over Lust.” His voice just barely above a whisper.

“He doesn’t touch. It’s a Lust thing,” Celeste said. Elle nodded back and gave him a smile.

The other Reaper stepped forward; he had dark hair cut close to his head. When he smiled at her it didn’t quit reach his eyes and she noticed a scar running the length of his face from his left eye along his hair line to below his jaw and disappeared into the collar of his black t-shirt.

“I am Hunter, I rule over Treachery.” He extended his hand. And Elle took it, the moment his fingers touched her she felt something kick her in the chest. Bands of steel wrapped around her chest and started to squeeze making it impossible for her to breathe and she stumbled back gasping.

The moment Hunter released her, the feeling went away. “What the hell?” she gasped. “What was that?”

“Interesting,” Hunter said calmly. Like they had been discussing the weather.

Tabitha pulled a knife from a boot and held it to the Reapers throat. “What the fuck was that, what did you do to her?”

“I did nothing to her,” Hunter said. “I apologize, Elle. I had no idea my touch would affect you so.”

Elle shook her head and grabbed Tabitha. “It felt…” She tried to put it into words.

“Like lies, betrayal, treachery perhaps?” Hunter asked leaning forward just a little. His eyes if possible turned a shade darker than before. Elle saw shades of black shift in his eyes, like clouds passing over the moon. It was breathtaking and Elle wasn’t sure if she should be terrified or mesmerized.

Elle caught her breath and looked up at him. “Yes,” she gasped.

“Again I apologize. Some of us…” He motioned to his brothers and sighed. “…are a little closer to our work than the others. We are more Reaper than man, mortal or beast. Or at least that is the case with Nathaniel and me.”

Both Reapers stepped back and shadows seemed to blur their edges making them seem more ethereal then real. And Elle had to shake her head to bring them back into focus. Hunter stepped forward again and smiled. “However, these Freaks and the uniqueness of the situation, Elle…”

The way he said her name sent chills down her spine, and she would have stepped back, should have stepped back but dammit she couldn’t have moved if her life depended on it.

He quirked one eyebrow at her and smiled. “…require our intervention.”

Elle gave him her full wattage smile. “Well thank you very much. I’m very grateful for both of your unique gifts. And if you see Victor would you mind telling him to get his ass back here?”

Nathaniel and Hunter both burst out laughing, and Elle finally felt like the rope which had held her in place snapped and she stepped back and looked at Celeste who was shaking her head at Elle.

Celeste took ahold of Elle. “Told you they don’t get out much. But they wanted to help.”

“Why?” Elle asked never taking her eyes off the two Reapers. Her feelings immediately went to Victor. “Is Victor okay? Where is he?” she demanded for the hundredth time.

“He will be here when he can,” Celeste said but the way she said it gave Elle the chills. It was more the way she said it. And Elle recognized Victor couldn’t come to her. What had happened to him?

She jerked her arm free and glared at the smaller woman. “You are going to tell me right now where the hell Victor is.”

“He is in the Infernos,” Celeste told her without blinking.

“Dammit.” Elle wanted to shake her. “But why can’t he be here.”

Marcus stepped around his mate and gave Elle a reassuring smile. “Elle please don’t ask any more questions. We are all walking a very tight line. Victor would be here if he could. In his absence, he has sent his brothers and sister to protect you. Those he trust beyond any other. He will explain and has asked that we say nothing because he wants to be the one to explain. That is all we can tell you.”

It was more information than anyone had given her in the last week. They still weren’t the answers she was looking for, “It’s not enough Marcus.”

He gave her a reassuring smile, before continuing. “We have all agreed moving out of Louisiana is the best course of action. Let’s concentrate on doing that right now.”

“I want some answers,” Elle snapped.

“And you will have them as soon as you are safe,” Marcus said taking her by the elbow he led her toward the front door. Celeste at his side, Tabitha on her other.

Elle wanted to fight him, but everyone had a sudden sense of urgency she hadn’t sensed before.

“Gods something is going one,” she said as the front door was thrown open.

“One of my vampire spies said there is a movement of Freaks down by the river an hour ago,” Marcus said quietly, pushing her through the door. “Something has them moving and all riled up.”

“But they have never attacked during the day,” Elle said swinging her pack over her shoulder.

“Never say never,” Celeste said, scanning the open space between the door and the cars lined up on the dirt path about twenty five yards from the house. “I never liked this house. It’s just too out in the open.”

“That’s what makes it great, no neighbors for five miles,” Skylar said jogging toward the SUV.

“He means no witnesses.” Marcus tried for a smile but nobody laughed. They had wards up and it had kept the Freaks out but they weren’t holding and a couple had gotten through last night. It had kept them all on edge and nobody had slept.

They climbed into the SUV with Marcus behind the wheel. “It’s about a four hour drive. I don’t want to get pulled over so get comfortable. We all love the speed limit.”

“It would be faster if we could just use portals,” Sky grumbled.

“Don’t be a dumbass,” Celeste said rolling her eyes she slapped him upside the head.

Sky rubbed his head and mumbled an apology to Elle who just shrugged. “You didn’t have to come with us.”

Sky laughed. “You would miss me horrible, if I didn’t come with you, sweetheart. I couldn’t hurt you like that. Having you cry yourself to sleep every night pining for me just wouldn’t be right.”

“Do you ever get tired of hearing your own voice?” Tabatha asked.

Sky gave her a blinding smile. “Nope.” He folded his arms over his chest and settled back in his seat he looked ready to argue with Tabitha the entire ride to Houston.

“Don’t make me pull this car over children,” Marcus warned from the driver’s seat.

Elle narrowed her eyes at Skylar who winked at her. She just knew the Tracker wouldn’t be able to keep his smart mouth closed.

“She started it,” Skylar said with the best pouting voice.

“Just shut up,” Tabitha snapped at Skylar.

“Sweetheart, it’s going to take you and an army of Daughters of Eve to do it.” He shrugged dragging his eyes over Tabitha. “But you can try.”

Tabitha launched herself over a row of seats to attack him. “I’m truly going to kill you this time,” she snarled. Elle climbed into the cargo area as Marcus maneuvered the SUV to the side of the road. The two fought on, never noticing as Celeste and Marcus attempted to pull them apart.

They hadn’t even made it an hour into the trip. It was pitiful really. Soon Celeste was swinging at Skylar and Tabitha, swearing like a sailor at them both.

“Really?” Marcus shouted at the trio. Which Elle was pretty sure none of them heard. The fight spilled out onto the road. Since they were just using their fists, Elle was sure they were more blowing off steam and frustration then actually trying to hurt each other. As she watched, she had to admit, it was almost entertaining.

Well except for Tabitha she might in reality want to hurt Skylar. But most people wanted to hurt Skylar. But since she hadn’t pulled out a knife or a gun, Elle was pretty sure the Tracker was safe for the moment.

Marcus stuck his head into the car. “You okay?”

Elle smiled. “Yeah.”