Savior Part 2: Son of Eden (The Savior Series) (10 page)

“There you go again using Reaper to justify your actions.”

“Because it’s true!” Jason insisted. “I killed those guys to keep Reaper from having to do it himself! What do you think would have happened if I hadn’t tripped Reaper when he was about to attack that punk, Howie? As fast as he was moving, he would have killed that guy with one blow and you know it. Ever since Monica stopped him from killing P.J., Reaper has done well to avoid using his abilities to take a life, but can you imagine what would happen if he ever fell off the wagon? Have you ever stopped to think about what would happen if a being as powerful as Reaper ever became desensitized to taking a life? You’re so worried about me that you haven’t even considered the possibility of just how dangerous Reaper could be. You’re right Howie. I am a killer and I was put into Reaper’s life for that very reason—but I wasn’t put here to kill him. I was put here to kill
for
him. I kill… so he doesn’t have to.”

We stared at each other in silence for a few minutes as I contemplated his words. As much as I hated to admit it, what he had said actually made sense. Reaper was strong enough to kill a normal human with a single punch at regular speed, but when Jason stopped him from punching that punk at the restaurant, he was moving at over eighty miles per hour. If Jason had not intervened, there was no doubt in my mind that Reaper would have killed him. The more I thought about it the more I realized that Jason was probably right. It was important to keep Reaper’s hands clean in order to maintain his humanity—otherwise we could run the risk of allowing him to give in to the ever-growing power and darkness that constantly threatened to consume him.

“So what do we do now?” I finally asked.

“What do you mean?” Jason asked.

“Are you going to turn me in?”

“There are cameras in here Howie. What else am I supposed to do?”

“The cameras aren’t an issue. They’re looping footage from last night in here, and they’ll also show me downstairs working in one of the labs.”

“You’ve got it all figured out, huh?” Jason asked, sarcastically.

“Everything except you,” I replied.

“I won’t say anything to Wells as long as you don’t say anything to Reaper about me,” Jason offered.

In my gut I wanted to object because I thought Reaper deserved to know, but I realized that I didn’t have much of a choice.

“Fine,” I finally replied before turning toward the exit.

“And you have to leave the files,” Jason called after me.

“The thumb drive is still in the computer,” I groaned as I continued to exit.

Jason walked over and pulled the drive from Wells’ computer and crushed it in his hands as he watched me exit the room. Jason didn’t know it, but I had already backed up most of the files on the thumb drive to the hard drive in my smart glasses. I was only able to obtain around 45 percent of the information stored on Director Wells’ computer, but I knew that was more than enough information to get some of the answers that Reaper and I had been searching for. In the end, it seemed as though my mission had been accomplished; but little did I know, Wells had been watching the entire thing on a hidden security camera that even I didn’t know about.

9. WHEN THE MORNING COMES

http://goo.gl/f1wVPn
- ♫

REAPER:

- TWO WEEKS LATER

THE “GIRL FROM THE BAR” AND I HAD QUITE A FEW TEXT MESSAGE conversations following the incident at David’s Bar and Grille. She seemed super cool and I loved her witty sense of humor but I was still skeptical about taking it any further than texting at that point. I suppose she must have gotten tired of waiting for me to make the first move because one day she suddenly asked me if I wanted to have dinner. I was initially hesitant about accepting her invitation but after talking it over with Howie an Ace I decided to take their advice and live a little in hopes of taking my mind off of Monica.

Her name was Audrey, and in all honesty, she was so breathtakingly attractive that, as I sat across from her in the fancy Italian restaurant that Howie had suggested, I couldn’t help but wonder if even Monica’s beauty could compare to hers. She was wearing her long scarlet hair pinned back into a stylish updo, along with a form fitting, sleeveless, black dress and a pair of black six-inch heels that made her almost look as tall as I was as opposed to her usual 5’9”. I had chosen a black suit with a white dress shirt, a plain black tie and my shiniest pair of black dress shoes. At first I was a bit worried about being overdressed, however those thoughts completely vanished the moment I saw her. Still, despite my natural attraction to her, I couldn’t help but feel guilty about agreeing to meet her for dinner given that I was still madly in love with Monica despite having not seen her in over two years.

“You’re not very talkative tonight, Adam,” Audrey finally said as she took a sip of the wine in front of her and placed the glass back on the table. It felt weird hearing her call me “Adam” as I had not gone by that name since I had discovered the tragic fate of the real Adam Reaper—the one year old child whom my adoptive father had mistakenly killed in a drunken rage. Without even thinking, I had introduced myself as Adam when I ran into her at the bar and after that there wasn’t much I could do about it. I couldn’t exactly tell her that I had ‘made a mistake’ when I told her my name.

“I’m sorry. I’m just a little distracted by work,” I replied while putting away the phone that I had been using under the table.

“You know, you still haven’t told me exactly what it is that you do,” she said, flashing a warm smile at me that began to melt my apprehension away.

“I just don’t like talking about work,” I deflected.

“Fair enough,” she replied. “I’m just trying to make sure that I’m not getting involved with a drug dealer or a professional assassin or anything,” she continued while flashing me another charming smile.

“I work for the government,” I answered while laughing on the inside.

“Well that’s awfully vague,” she chuckled. “What are we talking? Post office or FBI?”

“Neither,” I grinned as her charm worked its magic on me.

“Well? What is it?” she insisted. “Wait! Is this one of those deals where you’d have to kill me if you told me?”

“Do you ask these sorts of questions to all of the guys you date?” I asked, smiling as I gazed into her glittering blue eyes.

“So this
is
a date? And here I thought you said this was just dinner,” she replied, raising one of her perfect eyebrows.

“You know what I mean,” I replied while fighting back a smile as my face grew warm.

“I know. I’m just giving you a hard time, Adam,” she chuckled.

“If you must know, I work in the intelligence field,” I said. “But not for the agency you might think.”

“Oooh, that sounds dangerous.”

“It keeps me entertained,” I admitted.

“Have you ever had to kill anyone?” she asked, with excitement gleaming in her eyes.

“Almost,” I muttered, as a picture of my hands wrapped around my brother’s neck flashed into my mind. “But I’d rather not talk about it,” I continued before taking a sip of the glass of water in front of me.

“I’m sorry if I upset you, Adam. That wasn’t my intention,” she replied as she reached across the table and softly placed her right hand on my left hand.

“No big deal. Like I said, my work is distracting. And to be perfectly honest, I’d much rather focus on you right now if you don’t mind,” I said smoothly.

“I don’t mind that at all,” she admitted while smiling from ear to ear.

“So what do you do?” I asked.

“Well, I used to work for an investment management firm,” she replied. “But that was before the Stranger Acquisition.”

“What happened?”

“I used to manage our Manhattan office but unfortunately it was destroyed when The Strangers took over the city. I was still in the office when the first explosions hit. Most of my employees were killed immediately but somehow I was fortunate enough to make it out of the building alive. My good luck didn’t last very long though. After I escaped our office building I was captured by The Strangers and held hostage in the Empire State Building for what seemed like forever. I haven’t told anyone this yet but I would actually be dead right now if it wasn’t for The Reaper.”

“Are you serious?!” I asked, doing my best to seem surprised.

“Absolutely. He saved me just before the building exploded,” she continued as she stared off into space, no doubt recalling the horrifying events of that day. “I know you probably don’t believe me with everything they’re saying in the media, but what happened in Manhattan wasn’t just some run-of-the-mill military operation. This was The Reaper. He was there, in the flesh and I owe my entire life to him because of what he did.”

I didn’t know what to say. A part of me wanted to change the subject but another part of me was compelled to tell her the truth—to tell her that I was The Reaper, and that I was the one who had saved her. I wanted her to know because I didn’t want her to think that she owed me anything. I needed her to know that I wasn’t doing it for fame or recognition. I was doing it because no one else could do it, and most importantly because it was what I was meant to do.

“You think I’m crazy don’t you?” Audrey finally asked after a few moments of uncomfortable silence.

“No, I don’t think you’re crazy, Audrey,” I reassured. “I just didn’t think The Reaper was real, that’s all. I remember those viral videos from a couple of years ago but besides that, no one’s seen any sign of him. It all just seemed like a big hoax, you know?”

“I’m not sure why he’s chosen to work from the shadows but as far as I’m concerned that doesn’t make him any less real. We don’t have to see him on a day-to-day basis to believe in what he stands for. Just the sight of his symbol is enough for some people to feel safer in knowing that he’s out there somewhere.”

“Maybe you’re right,” I said solemnly. “But you know what they say about meeting your heroes. Maybe he is out there somewhere but what if he’s not the hero that people think he is?”

“I’d have to see for myself. I’ve never been one to rely on the judgments of others, anyway,” Audrey replied.

“Fair enough,” I said, as my heartbeat quickened while I prepared to ask her my next question. “So have you ever thought about what he would be like if you met him in real life?” I finally asked as she took another sip from her wine glass.

“I
did
meet him in real life. He saved me, remember? I knew you thought I was making it all up,” she chuckled.

“No, that’s not what I mean. I mean what if you were to meet him
personally,
you know? Have you ever thought about what the guy behind the mask is like?”

“As a matter of fact I have,” she admitted, smiling as she spoke. “But I’m not telling you.”

“Really? Why not?” I jokingly objected.

“Because it’s embarrassing,” she giggled, blushing as we continued to gaze into each other’s eyes.

“Come on, Audrey! It can’t be that bad,” I coaxed.

“That’s easy for you to say! You’re not the one pouring your heart out, okay?” she laughed.

“What if I agreed to tell you a secret about me?” I asked as I flashed a toothy grin.

“Okay, okay! Since you
twisted
my arm,” she joked. “This is so embarrassing. This better be a good secret too!” she continued as she rolled her eyes and took a large gulp from her wine glass. I chuckled as she sat the glass on the table in front of her and looked back up at me.

“Well, I’m pretty sure he’s a hottie. I mean, he is a superhero for crying out loud so he’s got to be ripped. He’s probably blonde, but more of a dirty blonde though, not that platinum Hollywood crap. His eyes are either a pale shade of blue or dark green, I haven’t narrowed that one down yet but I know they’re dreamy—the kind of eyes you can just lose yourself in,” she replied as she smiled warmly and peered into my eyes.

Her description couldn’t have been farther from the truth but there was something about the way she spoke when she described her version of The Reaper that was absolutely mesmerizing.

“Sounds like you put a lot of thought into this,” I chimed.

“I might have had a dream or two after he saved me,” she admitted. “But don’t even think about asking about those because there is no way in hell I’m spilling the beans about that!” she giggled.

“Geez I’m starting to wonder if I should be jealous,” I teased and we both broke into laughter for a few moments. When our laughter finally died down she looked over to me once again and raised her left eyebrow.

“Alright, Mister, it’s time to give up the goods.”

“Oh yeah, the secret,” I said, as my palms grew sweaty.

“Yes,
the secret
. You didn’t think I had forgotten, did you?” she mocked.

“Of course not,” I grinned. “Well for starters, I want to reassure you that I never thought you were lying about The Reaper and what happened in Manhattan. And the reason I knew you were telling the truth is… because I’ve seen him too.”

“Okay, now you’re just making fun of me,” she replied, obviously not sure what to make of my statement.

“I’m not kidding. I told you I work for the government, remember? The agency that I work for is a counter-terrorism unit. I’m just an analyst but I’ve worked on joint operations with the same agency that The Reaper works for.”

“I knew it!” she said excitedly. “I knew he was working for the government! That’s why nearly all signs of him disappeared, isn’t it?”

“Maybe,” I lied. “Like I said, I’m just an analyst so those types of decisions are way above my pay grade.”

“So have you ever seen him without the mask?” she asked excitedly.

“I-I can’t say,” I stammered.

“Oh come on, Adam. You can tell me,” she coaxed.

Damn she’s good,
I thought as her charm compelled me to tell her the truth.

“You know I can’t tell you that,” I finally said. “I can tell you that he’s not blonde though,” I chuckled. We both laughed for a few moments and then I decided to change the subject before I found myself giving in and spilling the beans on my
real
secret.

“You must have gotten promoted pretty quickly to have been managing the entire firm,” I finally said in order to change the subject.

“No, I was there for almost ten years. And I wasn’t managing the entire firm—just the Manhattan branch,” she replied.

“There’s no way you were there for ten years! Unless you started when you were five years old,” I laughed.

“Adam, what are you talking about? I’m 28 years old!” she insisted.

“Really? I wouldn’t have guessed that. You don’t even look like you’re 28,” I admitted.

“What, is 28 too old or something? Do you think I’m too old for you, Adam?” she demanded as she suddenly glared at me.

“No… I… I didn’t say that. I—” I stammered but I stopped talking when she abruptly burst into laughter and pointed at my face.

“I’m kidding,” she giggled as she continued to point at my confused expression.

“So you’re not 28?” I asked.

“Yes I’m 28, silly. I was just pretending to be upset with you. You should have seen your face,” she replied, clearly holding back laughter as she spoke. “How old are you by the way?”

“I just turned 18,” I answered.

“Awww,” she cooed, making a cute facial expression as though she was talking to a baby.

“Ha ha ha. Very funny, grandma,” I mocked.

She then dipped her fingers in the glass of water in front of her and flicked a few droplets into my face. We both laughed out loud and we went back and forth like that for the rest of the evening. Ultimately, our first date turned out to be a lot more fun than I had anticipated. The more and more we talked, the more I found myself simply grateful to be within her presence. For the first time in a while I was actually enjoying myself and I realized that I couldn’t have been happier that I had taken Howie’s advice.

In the back of my mind, I knew that I would never be able to truly forget about Monica, but I knew I had to do whatever I could to keep her out of harm’s way. The more I thought about her, the more I wanted to be with her but being with Monica meant pulling her back into the craziness that had become my life and that was the last thing that I wanted to do. In the back of my mind I also felt somewhat guilty about involving Audrey but I took solace in knowing that at least with her in the picture I could finally keep my mind off of Monica. If she wasn’t constantly in my thoughts then maybe I could finally stomach the idea of staying away from her forever.