Unreap My Heart (The Reaper Series) (5 page)

A corner of Tomas’s lips quirked up. “Balthazar has that effect on people. Don’t mind him, Arianne.”

Balthazar cleared his throat. “Don’t talk about me like I’m not here, old man.”

“Yes, Balthazar,” Tomas said like the conversation was over. “I think you’re forgetting that our Master—”

“He’s not
my
master,” Balthazar barked.

“—has foresight,” Tomas continued like Balthazar hadn’t interrupted him, all the while still turning to face Arianne. “He doesn’t do anything without reason. You should know that more than anyone in this room.”

“I’d like for us to keep chatting,” Death said, “but as you can see, I am more than incapacitated. I would like to get this dagger out as soon as possible. There’s only so much time left and I don’t think I can hold on for long.”

Stepping out of Tomas’s protective space, Arianne moved directly in front of Death just outside the pool his blood made. Barefooted or not, she wouldn’t be caught dead standing in blood. Gross. She shook away the need to shiver and focused on Death.

“Who did this to you?” she asked.

“Good luck getting that out of him,” Balthazar answered.

She scowled at him. “I wasn’t asking you.”

Balthazar’s eyebrows disappeared into the fringe of his hair. Point to her, but she didn’t let herself get smug. She faced Death again and waited.

The beautifully handsome man sitting surrounded by a pool of his blood heaved a weighty sigh. “Niko will not last long if I don’t get out of here.”

Her breath caught in her chest.

“Playing dirty already, D?”

“Balthazar,” Tomas warned. “Shut your mouth before I shut it for you.”

Arianne couldn’t be sure, but in her periphery it looked like the guy wearing way too many buckles gave the Reaper of California the finger. Far too much testosterone in one room—it made her head spin. Something told her punches would fly if she didn’t get this over with, and she was not getting in the middle of that. Not when Death seemed like he was bleeding to death. She hated the pun, but she couldn’t think of anything better.

To hurry things along, she asked, “How can I help?”

“You must find the Redeemer.”

Balthazar’s hiss caused her insides to quiver. She looked at him, but his face had gone completely blank. She glanced over her shoulder at Tomas, but his expression had turned unreadable too.

“You know what I hate most?” she said to no one in particular. “Secrets. Way too many and it just gets really hard to find the truth under all the bullcrap.”

“It’s bullshit, not bullcrap. If you’re going to curse, you might as well say it right.”

“Shut up, Balthazar,” Tomas spat.

“I’m telling you what you need to know and nothing more,” Death said, some strength returning to his voice. Arianne suspected he faked it.

“Okay, so why me?”

Balthazar, ignoring Tomas’s order, answered. “Only a being still tethered to the human world can identify the Redeemer. And from the looks of that red thread, you’re human. I don’t even want to know why you’re here.”

Arianne raised an eyebrow at him before she looked back at Death. “What do we do when we find the Redeemer?”

“The Redeemer is the only one capable of pulling out the dagger,” Tomas said grimly from behind her.

“Okay.” She ignored the fact that too many people were answering her questions. So long as their answers helped her understand the situation and what they needed from her, she didn’t care where they came from. “Where do we find the Redeemer?”

“The Voyeur knows.” Death coughed and more blood spattered out of his mouth.

Arianne reached out to wipe the blood away, but a hand closed around her wrist. She looked up at Balthazar. His face up close looked even more handsome than from afar. He frowned down at her and shook his head.

“Learned the hard way not to touch him,” he said in a dangerously quiet voice, like he mocked her, like she should have known better.

She bit down on her tongue. The pain broke the spell cast by staring at him. She yanked back, but she had a feeling he let her go because he wanted to. Her wrist still felt his fingers circling it. Not bruising, but strong enough that her puny yank wouldn’t have dislodged the hold. His level stare said as much.

She turned on her heel and faced Tomas. “Are you sure I can do this?”

An expression really close to uncertainty crossed Tomas’s face before he hid it beneath a blink. Then he nodded once. “You’re the only one who can.”

“Balthazar knows where to find the Voyeur,” Death said from behind her, his breathing ragged like his lungs struggled to take in air. She had to force herself not to cover her ears.

“I don’t remember saying yes to baby-sitting, D.” Balthazar stepped back and crossed his arms. “Maybe I’ll let you get sucked dry instead.”

In a flash, Tomas had Balthazar by the scruff of his jacket and pinned against the wall. Arianne followed them with her gaze. She didn’t actually see Tomas move from where he stood, just that he already had Balthazar pinned.

“Tomas,” Death said. Although the warning sounded weak, it still brought goose bumps to Arianne’s arms.

“I wouldn’t do that if I were you, old man.” Balthazar grinned down at Tomas. “I might just enjoy mopping the floor with you.”

Arianne’s gut told her Balthazar shouldn’t be goading the Reaper of California. Tomas might have looked all refined, but something about the way he stood now, pinning someone as tall as Balthazar against the wall, said he could take care of business if he needed to.

Arianne understood then. In that room she might be the most insignificant. Yes, they needed her to find this Redeemer, but in terms of being able to protect herself, she played in the little leagues. Maybe even on the special team only.

As much as admitting she needed Balthazar’s help seemed like the worst thing she could do, she forced herself to speak. “Tomas, please, we’re wasting time. Tell me what I need to do and how I’m supposed to do it, and I’ll go with Balthazar. The sooner I go, the sooner I can get Niko out of that coffin.”

As if he had to force himself, Tomas let go of Balthazar and backed away slowly.

Balthazar adjusted his coat and pulled on his fingerless gloves. Then he grinned at her. “You don’t know what you’re saying, little girl.”

Chapter 5

SOL

“I W
ILL
H
ELP
Y
OU
,” she said, sky-blue eyes shining with fear and determination, “but on two conditions.” She didn’t shrink away from D’s deadly grin. Balthazar knew that grin well, having been on the pain-filled receiving end of it.

“I see you’ve learned something from our last encounter,” D murmured. He grew weaker by the minute.

Like a shark, Balthazar scented blood in the water. Well, more like the life force he fed on. D’s smelled oh so powerful. He suppressed his instinct to circle and hunt only because the conversation going on between a puny human and the Master of the Crossroads intrigued him. Shit. The girl had backbone.

He watched them both closely from his corner of D’s office—soon to be his office. He flicked his gaze at Tomas. Damn the old codger for thinking he could threaten him. He’d get the Reaper of California for that when he took his rightful place as the new Death. Balthazar relished the thought for a second before he returned his attention to the dueling fools in front of him.

“Name your conditions,” D said.

Arianne took a deep breath and squared her shoulders. She looked so tiny dressed in that ridiculous black robe. As a human in the Crossroads, she wore nothing underneath. Balthazar pushed the thoughts of her nakedness away with little interest. Teenage girls weren’t his drink of choice. He’d scare her more than attract her, so why even try? But when she spoke, he listened.

“When I find this Redeemer and bring whoever it is here to pull that dagger out, I want you to give Niko his humanity without taking my eyesight or my memories. Our bargain before is erased.”

Balthazar tightened his lips to suppress a grin. He liked her use of “when.” She had guts, this one. Normally, humans hedged their bets by using the word “if.” Less commitment that way. Arianne didn’t know putting something into words gave it power. The fact that she said “when” pushed the Underverse to align everything needed for her to accomplish her goal. From experience though, just because the Underverse aligned didn’t mean the job got any easier. In fact, because Arianne gave voice to the thought, things got more complicated for Balthazar. Now he had to say yes to D’s request for help.

All amusement gone, a string of nasty, unvoiced curses spread through him like a rash. He should have stopped the girl from voicing her intentions. But, since everyone seemed to be committing acts of stupidity today, one more wouldn’t matter much.

His ears burned at the mention of Niko’s name. Could she mean that prick Nikolas? Only one Reaper went by the name Niko, so Balthazar’s assumption couldn’t be wrong. Arianne wanted his humanity. Would she still if she found out the truth about the Reaper of Georgia? Balthazar practically licked his chops. He’d have a field day with the little chit.

His day had just gotten more interesting. A plan swirled to life in his head. If he had to baby-sit the girl, he’d gain something out of it in the end. Nothing was free in the Underverse after all.

“For your help”—D’s breath had an ugly rasp to it now, like he was preparing to hack up a lung—“I will negate our previous bargain and give you what you desire.”

“Niko’s humanity,” she said. “Say it.”

Balthazar’s eyebrows went up. The chit had smarts. Somehow she knew she needed the word of Death for the deal to remain valid. In the Crossroads, D’s word became law, which was one reason why Balthazar wanted the seat in the first place. After he had the minions clean away all the blood, of course.

“Once you return with the Redeemer and this dagger is pulled from my chest, I will give Nikolas his humanity and return you both to the human world unharmed. How is that?”

Arianne stayed silent for a long minute. On her face Balthazar read the way she digested the words. Maybe moving through the Underverse with her wouldn’t be as difficult as he previously thought. At least she wouldn’t be stupid and get them killed. Maybe. He still wouldn’t bet on her. Being human had its disadvantages where they were going.

When she finally agreed to D’s offer, the fear had disappeared and only determination remained.

“So,” D addressed Balthazar, “will you escort her through the Underverse, using all the resources at your disposal to protect her, until she returns with the Redeemer?”

Balthazar grinned. “If she gets to make a bargain with you, so will I. My services aren’t free, D, you know that.”

For the first time, D’s shoulders slumped. This little impromptu meeting was taking its toll on him, more than Balthazar first suspected. He’d make it quick. He may be a black-hearted jackass a majority of the time, but he did have a sense of mercy—a trait he’d gotten from his mother. The jury was still out on whether he thought it useful or not.

“For escorting the girl, I ask that, once you are back to your fighting weight and have put all your affairs in order, you will agree to my challenging you for your seat,” Balthazar said formally. “And everything that results from the challenge. No counter offers, D. This is my price.”

In the Underverse, they didn’t need paper for a contract. So long as you knew how to word things properly, anything spoken became binding.

D nodded. “What about for protecting Arianne?”

“Ah, that…” Balthazar studied the girl. She didn’t flinch under his scrutiny. Another point to her bravery. Foolish since she should be afraid of him. “For my protection and the use of all my resources in the search of the Redeemer, my bargain is with the girl.”

“Arianne,” she said. “My name’s Arianne.”

“All right.” Balthazar raised an eyebrow at her. “My bargain is with you, Arianne, if you want my protection and help.”

Arianne looked to D then to Tomas, who said, “He is the only one who can get through the lockdown, Ari. We’re all tied here until we remove the dagger. I have to maintain order while the Master is incapacitated.”

“No one else can come with me?”

Balthazar almost laughed at the hope in her voice. None of the Reapers would be powerful enough to face anything beyond the Crossroads. In the Underverse only he had the kind of strength she’d need to stay alive. D knew this, as did Tomas, who shook his head at her.

Arianne grew quiet again. A knot formed on her brow. She seemed to be considering all her options. Balthazar was sure she was thinking about what she was getting herself into. She had just negated her bargain with D and now she was about to get into another one with someone she’d just met. The girl couldn’t catch a break today. Balthazar thought of giving her some slack. Briefly. Damn his sense of mercy. He wouldn’t budge for her knowing what lay ahead—facing the Voyeur would already be deadly enough, not to mention the journey to get to her domain.

Arianne swallowed and leveled an unyielding stare at him.