The Revolt (The Reapers: Book Two) (29 page)

Thad took a drink, closed his eyes for a
moment to savor it, and looked at me. “I’m glad you couldn’t sleep,
tonight. I hate to drink alone.”

“You shouldn’t drink at all,” I said.

He waved me off. “Don’t be like that. Yeah,
we have to be careful and, yeah, we have to go off and save
humanity from reapers, but we also have to take moments like this
to enjoy being alive or what’s the point?”

I nodded. “Then let’s pretend I didn’t
completely forget about Christmas, because I’ve been held captive
by reapers who want me dead. We’re just ordinary folk,” I said the
last bit with a southern lilt.

He smiled and nodded. “Then I should give you
something.” He reached into his coat pocket, which was hanging on
his seat back and handed me a small package. “This is from Jed. He
asked me to give it to you when we had a quiet moment. I’d rather
not, because he’s a dick and it will diminish my chances of getting
laid tonight, but since it’s Christmas…”

I took the package. It looked like it was
professionally wrapped, in shiny silver paper with a perfectly tied
bow on the top. I unwrapped it by sliding the bow off and unpeeling
the tape. I didn’t want to mar its beauty. My favorite part of any
gift is the anticipation. Imagining what it might be is usually
more fun than the reality. I couldn’t believe he’d actually gotten
me a present.

I lifted the lid and stared at what was
inside in confusion. It was a laminated plastic card attached to a
lanyard. I picked it up slowly, hoping it was an all access pass to
one of the metal festivals, hopefully featuring Rob Zombie, Five
Finger Death Punch, and In this Moment. I turned the card over to
discover it was an all access pass to Varius, and it had my name on
it. Pain zinged in my chest and tears sprang to my eyes. How could
I have been such an idiot? All he cared about was getting me to
work for Varius.

I dug around in the box for a note of some
sort, something that said oh, I don’t know, maybe,
I’ll be on
your side no matter what you choose
, or something. But there
was nothing.

I looked up at Thad, and he met my gaze with
a somber frown. “Not what you were hoping for?”

“Did he give you any sort of message to give
me with the box?” I asked, hating the sound of desperation in my
voice.

The tears started when he shook his head and
said, “Nothing, just the box.” I hated myself for being that girl,
crying in a bar on Christmas, but I couldn’t stop the tears.

Thad put a hand on my shoulder. “Hey, hey,
I’m sure he didn’t mean it in whatever way you think he meant
it.”

I ran through everything Jed had ever told me
about Varius and tried to imagine the gift in a better light. “He
means he wants me to work for Varius.”

Thad’s eyebrows rose only slightly. “You
don’t want to work for…? Okay, maybe it’s not the most personal
Christmas gift, but it means he wants you to work with him and see
him on a regular basis, right?”

I nodded, looking for the best possible
meaning. “Yeah, yes, I mean no. Jed and I aren’t dating or
anything. Obviously he just wants to be the one to bring me in to
Varius.” I knew I wasn’t being entirely fair, but it was Christmas
and I felt terribly, horribly alone.

Thad took another swallow of his drink and
spoke without meeting my eyes. “You really shouldn’t be talking to
me about this, Kelsey. I think the guy’s an uptight asshole and I
want to say his gift is terrible, especially since I want you to
come work with me. But, more than that, I want you to stop crying.
I think Jed really cares for you.” He looked at me and smirked.
“Otherwise, why would he tell me to leave you alone?”

“Because he didn’t want you to convince me to
work with you and steal away his hot new recruit.”

Understanding lit in his eyes and he nodded.
“Oh, yeah, I can see that. It still doesn’t mean he doesn’t like
you for you. Why do you care so much?”

I looked down at the laminated pass in the
box and tried to figure out why the gift bothered me. The truth was
that I missed him and I’d come to depend on his opinion and his
support. “I don’t know. I don’t have a lot of friends, and I
thought he was one of them. It’s pretty clear Varius comes first
with him.”

Thad nodded. “Yeah, but cut the guy a little
slack, his family is there and he’s lived there his whole
life.”

I wasn’t in the mood to try to understand Jed
or his motivations, much less my own motivations and desires. I
picked up my beer to take another drink and discovered it was
empty. “Do you think I could get another one?”

Thad flagged down the bartender. “I’ll take
care of you.”

Once I had a beer in front of me, I relaxed a
bit and decided I was overreacting. It was Christmas and I was
overemotional. Jed and I were no more than business associates, and
he was offering me a business opportunity. There was no reason for
me to take offense, and I promised myself not to think about Jed or
his gift any more. I took a drink to seal that promise to myself
and ignored the sour rumble in the pit of my stomach.

“So what about you?” I asked Thad. “What made
you decide to work with my dad?”

He spun around on the barstool to face me.
“Christmas isn’t the time for sad stories. I’ll tell you this much,
though, I love working with Len. He never backs down. They’ve
killed him, but I don’t doubt for a moment that he’s still out
there fighting. He’s the best boss I’ve ever had and I
abso-fucking-lutely love my job. I’m living the life I’ve always
wanted to live.”

“Fighting reapers and living on the run is
the life you’ve always wanted?” I asked. It came out sounding
snider and more disbelieving than I would have liked, but I
honestly couldn’t imagine anyone being happy with his life.

“Well, when you put it that way…” He flashed
me a smile that lit up his entire face and made me incapable of
taking my eyes off him. “Hell, yes. I’ve saved people, Kelsey. I’ve
saved good people who deserve the life they have more than any
reaper.”

“How can you be so sure? Cat told me the
person she reaped was a drug addict close to death.”

“Hmmmm.” He rubbed his chin. “That’s a point
I’ve never considered. I’ve never heard of a drug addict recovering
and living a meaningful and valuable life.”

“Well, yes. Obviously, some people do
recover, but if Cat was sure the woman wasn’t going to –”

“How could she be sure? None of us can see
the future. Maybe Cat could have borrowed her body long enough to
sign her in to rehab and get her through detox and then moved on.
Cat reaped because she wanted to live again, and she justified it
by convincing herself and everyone else that it was okay.”

“She convinced Varius, they signed off on
it.”

“And Varius never does anything based on
selfish desires or political motivations,” Thad said, the sneer in
his voice practically palpable. He took a drink and forced a small
smile. “Look, I don’t want to badmouth Varius to you, since you may
be working for them soon. I also don’t want you going in there all
wide-eyed and naïve and getting hurt. You seem like a good person,
Kelsey, and most of the people who work there aren’t.”

“What do you know about it?” I was starting
to get angry at him. He wasn’t saying anything I hadn’t already
thought myself, but anger felt better than self-pity.

“More than I’d like.” He slapped the bar and
shook his head. “But no arguing allowed on Christmas. Let’s talk
about something else.”

“What about my dad? Would you be willing to
let him reap someone?”

He swallowed hard. “I wouldn’t even let your
dad reap someone.”

“Even if he could save the world from
reapers?”

He patted my knee. “That’s what we have you
for.”

After two beers and enough Christmas music to
make me glad I hadn’t realized it was the holiday earlier, Thad and
I walked back to the hotel. For a brief moment, I felt like an
ordinary twenty-something girl walking back to her hotel after a
fun evening out with a great guy.

A man and a woman were leaning against a car
in the parking lot, and Thad moved so that he walked between me and
them. They watched us pass, but said nothing.

We headed back to my room in silence. Thad
was still tense next to me, his head moving slightly as he scanned
the hall. I started for the elevator, but he took my elbow and
pulled me toward the stairs. I was tired, slightly buzzed, and I
really didn’t think climbing stairs and getting my heart racing was
going to help me sleep but I followed him without complaint,
because he was the more experienced one and his attitude was
beginning to make me nervous.

He took my keycard when I pulled it out and
motioned me back down the hall before he slid it in and opened the
door to my room. He took a step in and froze for a moment. The look
on his face told me something was very, very wrong. I started
toward him, but he pushed me back, and disappeared into the room,
pulling the door closed behind him. After several long moments, he
emerged and hurried me back down the hall toward the stairwell.

“We need to go,” he said, propelling me down
the stairs. “When we get outside, get in the car and lock the doors
behind you, no matter what.”

I forced out words around my heart, which had
risen into my throat. “What happened?”

“Someone working for the reapers found us.
They attacked Rooster and Isobel. I’ve called someone in to help
them, but we have to get out of here.”

“We can’t just leave them.”

Thad’s face twisted. “It’s not an option.
Getting you away from here quickly is what’s most important.”

“I’m not more important than Rooster or
Isobel.”

Thad stopped on the stairs and took me by the
shoulders, giving me a little shake. “There’s no one else in the
world who can do what you can do, Kelsey. You keep saying you want
to beat the reapers, and we need
you
to do that. You getting
killed in a hotel room in the middle of nowhere, does nothing to
further our cause.”

I nodded, having little choice but to agree.
Then my heart clutched. “Tucker?”

“I’m here,” he said, suddenly next to me.
“Rooster and Isobel won’t be fighting any time soon, but they’ll
live.”

Thad spared a glance for Tucker and relief
filled his face. I was pretty sure he’d thought they were dead or
close to it. They must have been beaten up pretty badly.

“What the hell happened?” he asked. “Where’s
Holly?”

“Assholes got past me. Holly’s gone. I’m
pretty sure she’s the one who told them where to find us. I was
with Caleb in the lobby, keeping watch, but somehow they got into
Rooster’s room and beat him up. He got a call in to Holly and I
shot up to check on him, but by the time I got there, whoever had
hurt him was gone and I couldn’t find the ladies anywhere. There
has to be a warded room here somewhere. I got attacked by three
reapers, but all they wanted was Caleb, so they didn’t hurt me too
bad. I still managed to take one of them out. Then I couldn’t find
the two of you, either. I’ve been going crazy worrying about
you.”

“We were at the bar,” I said.

“It must be warded. I can reach you through
wards, Kelsey, but I have to know where to look, unless you call
for me or are sending out strong emotions. Someone in this town
knows about reapers and is friendly with a witch or two.”

Thad nodded, his face deceptively blank.
“That’s why we came here. Jed told me Varius uses this place as a
safe house when they have to.”

Tucker groaned. “So of course they could hide
from me. What I want to know is why nobody told me.”

Thad shook his head. “Jed asked me not to say
anything and I promised I wouldn’t unless I had to. Varius doesn’t
have very many uncompromised safe houses left. I would have told
you if we’d used the warded room, but with Caleb… I didn’t think
they’d find us tonight. I was lazy and overconfident, I won’t let
my guard down again.”

“You better not keep information from me
again either, or I’ll borrow a body and kill you myself,” Tucker
said.

“You won’t have to,” Thad said, his face
pale. “What I saw in that room will haunt me every time I close my
eyes. Right now, we’ve got a couple of people waiting for us
outside.”

“You should let me help you fight,” I said as
we came out into the lobby.

“She’s right,” Tucker said. “Now’s not the
time to play the hero, Thad.”

Thad looked like he’d eaten something sour
and he threw Tucker a glare I hoped I was never on the receiving
end of. “Fine. Let me take the lead, though.”

The couple we’d passed on the way in were
still where we’d left them. They smiled at us triumphantly when we
left the hotel. They’d been joined by two big, burly guys who
looked like they ate car tires for breakfast. I looked around
hoping for some help, since we were in the middle of a public
parking lot, but none seemed forthcoming. The bar across the street
was closed and dark, and not a single car passed on the street.

“Don’t fight,” I whispered to Thad. “I’ll go
with them.”

He gave me a look that somehow managed to be
insulted and snide at the same time. I dropped down into a fighting
stance and prepared myself for pain.

The big guys came at us first. They
approached slowly, giving me plenty of time to think. My guy
reached out to grab me and I kicked up, landing a solid blow to his
balls that I figured would hurt any guy, no matter how big. He
dropped to the ground and rolled. Next to me, I heard grunts and
slaps from Thad and his guy, but I didn’t have time to look and see
how he was doing.

While the big guy was down, the guy who’d
been standing next to the car jumped in. He led with a punch to the
jaw that staggered me. I managed not to hit the ground, but I
wasn’t prepared when he wrapped his arms around me and started
dragging me back to his car.