Reaper Unexpected: Deadside Reapers book 1 Read online

  Fight.

  I had to fight.

  The heat of rage burned away my terror as I bucked and lashed out at the monster. Its hand landed on my throat, pinning me. I couldn’t move. I couldn’t fucking move. Its stinky breath wafted into my face. No, no, no. Tears of impotence leaked from the corners of my eyes. Fuck you, monster. I hope you bloody choke on me.

  The monster’s mouth came at my face, and the scream locked in my throat finally broke free, but the bite of teeth never came.

  The weight on me was gone. I was free.

  I scrambled to my feet.

  The monster was several feet away, and a man—tall, broad-shouldered with a tapered waist, dressed in wicked black leather—stood between us. His hair was golden, gleaming in the moonlight. I wanted to see his face. I needed to see it. Forgetting the danger, I took a step closer to him.

  His shoulders rippled with tension, but he didn’t turn to me. And why would he, for fuck’s sake? There was a bloody monster to deal with.

  “Hello, mouth,” the man said in a smooth chocolate voice.

  Mouth? Was he addressing the monster? Apt name, if he was.

  “Out of my way, demon,” the monster said in a sibilant rasp. “Unless you wish to be my meal. You’re no match for me.”

  “Seems like the human managed to get in a few good punches,” golden boy said. “I don’t think you’re as tough as you make out.”

  “That?” the mouth hissed. “I was playing with it. The fear and adrenaline make the flesh taste so much sweeter.” Its maw pulsed eagerly. “You, I won’t play with.”

  “What about me?” another male voice said.

  A figure floated down into the alley. This man was all long dark locks, dark eyes, and angry brows low over an aquiline nose. But the thing that had my attention was the huge black wings rising behind him. They vanished as his boots touched the ground. The moon slipped behind a cloud again, and his face was hidden by shadows.

  The word reaper blazed in my mind.

  “How do you want to do this, Peiter?” the golden-haired dude asked the one with dark locks.

  Peiter reached over his shoulder and drew a huge fuck-off silver sword. “Painfully.”

  The mouth let out a warbling scream that was cut short as the golden-haired dude and the reaper rushed him.

  Black liquid sprayed, and a horrific aroma hit me, and then wispy silver shit was rising into the air. My paralysis broke. I turned and ran but didn’t make it far before tripping over the box of stuff I’d spilled and hitting the ground with an oomph.

  “It’s all right,” the smooth chocolate voice said from behind me.

  I took a deep breath and pulled myself to my feet.

  The golden-haired guy approached, his hands up in a placating gesture. “You’re safe now. We won’t hurt you.”

  The moon came back out, and the shadows dropped away from his face. My breath stalled in my chest, and heat rushed to my face because wow, what a face. Eyes so blue they looked like gems against his creamy skin, lips just short of being pillowy enough to be feminine, and a hint of blush across his high cheekbones that spoke of exertion. His lips curled at the corners slightly. He was amused. I was amusing to him.

  Shit, could he tell I’d peed myself a little?

  “Conah, just get on with it,” Peiter said.

  “Are you hurt?” Conah asked me, his voice soft.

  I stared at the blond Adonis, wanting to speak, but finding that my tongue was stuck to the roof of my mouth, I settled for shaking my head.

  He gently took my wrists and studied my bloody palms. “You’re lucky this is all the damage it did,” he said.

  The heat from his fingers seeped into my chilly skin and up my arms.

  “Conah?” Peiter urged.

  Conah let go of my hands and smiled. Oh, fuck, take me now. “Look. It’s probably best you don’t go around telling people about this.”

  “The monster?” Thank God, my voice was back. “Yeah, I doubt anyone would believe me. Hell. I don’t believe me.”

  His smile dropped, and his expression sobered. “Yes, true. But aside from that, we don’t want to incite panic. These creatures thrive off fear and panic.”

  I stared warily at him. “The mouths … the monsters. Monsters that eat people.” Fuck, I was still wrapping my head around it.

  “Conah, let me,” Peiter said. He grabbed my shoulders and turned me to face him. Shit, he was tall. Rugged. Kinda scary. “You didn’t see anything.” His voice was a pleasant reverberation in my mind. “No monster. No reapers. You tripped and dropped your things. You’ll pick them up and then go home where it’s safe.”

  What? What did he mean?

  But he was backing away, and then they were both launching themselves into the air. One with wings, the other with the force of a leap, and in a matter of a second, they were gone, and so was the mutilated body of the dead man.

  I stared at the spot the monster had been. It was gone too, as if it had never existed, except it had. It had been there, and the reapers had killed it so hard there was nothing left.

  I’d seen two reapers.

  I’d seen a monster.

  It didn’t matter what the Peiter dude said. At least my pulse was back to normal. Hell, if not for my skinned palms, I’d be inclined to think I imagined it all. My trembling bladder said differently, though.

  I picked up my box and quickly gathered my stuff. I needed to get home and change out of my pee pants.

  Chapter Four

  My house was a tiny, three-story, five-bedroom affair with a twenty-foot garden I rarely used. The residents in this part of town were older, one-foot-in-the-grave kind of people. It hadn’t always been this way, but over the last decade, the younger people had moved out, and the older ones had moved in. Aunt Lara used to joke they were moving closer to Soul Savers so they could get into the queue quicker once they died.

  But it wasn’t just old people that died.

  Life didn’t work that way.

  I climbed the steps to the porch, blinking against the outdoor lights, and let myself into the cozy, warm foyer. Thank goodness for timed heating. Shoes and coat off, I ran up the stairs to change.

  My bedroom was the attic room, fully decorated and adapted for my use with an ensuite bathroom and plenty of space for my many books. Shelves dotting the walls were piled with fantasy and romance novels, but my all-time favorite books held the prized position on the bookcase opposite my bed. Mysteries and thrillers were my go-to preference. I loved the whole investigation process, the clues, and the lead-up to the big reveal. I’d grown up on Nancy Drew and Poirot and then devoured anything that felt similar. Video games were piled on the floor by my desk. Now, for these, I preferred role-playing games. Monsters and warriors and magic. I’d shelled out a bucketload on the best gaming console and even fitted surround sound so Cora and I could have some hardcore gaming sessions on the weekends. Right now, we were exploring Chaos Dimensions, a game of portals and realities.

  Monsters.

  Fuck.

  I’d seen a fucking monster today.

  I’d almost died.

  I exhaled heavily, allowing that knowledge to wash over me, allowing my brain to wrap itself around what had happened tonight. A monster had wanted to eat me, but I’d been saved by reapers. Real live reapers. Cora was going to flip out when I told her. Although she wouldn’t be home for a few more hours, so no home-cooked meal for me. My bedside clock showed it to be almost four-thirty in the morning. But this was supper time by my standards. A large majority of people in Necro worked the nightshift, and the city accommodated the nocturnal. Cora and I were used to sleeping during the day and being up with the moon. We’d adapted to the shift patterns Soul Savers demanded.

  Ten minutes later, slippers and PJs on, I grabbed the cordless phone and padded into the lounge. The lights were off, but a steady amber glow emanated from Cyril’s enclosure, which took up the whole of the back wall. My albino ball python lifted his head, watching
me as I approached.

  “Pastry House, how can I help?” a bored male voice said down the phone.

  “Hey, Teddy. I need food.”

  “Ah, the lovely Fee. The usual?”

  “Yes, please, sexy.”

  He chuckled. “Hardly. But thanks. It’ll be with you in thirty.”

  “You’re the best.”

  “And don’t you forget it.”

  I ended the call, dreaming of the flaky, buttery pastries that would be delivered shortly. Teddy was the best damn baker in Necro, and at almost five in the morning, it meant the pastries would be fresh out of the oven. Yummy.

  I dropped onto the sofa by the enclosure. “How you doing, big guy?”

  Cyril brought his head closer to the glass, tongue flicking out to taste the air.

  “I hope your day was better than mine.”

  He seemed to study me with his beady eyes, as if to say not much to get up to in a glass box with air holes.

  “You want to know or not?”

  His head lifted a little more.

  “Okay, well …” I filled Cyril in on the events of the day. “So, you see, Cora is now me, and I’m … well, I’ll be hanging out here a lot more over the next two weeks.”

  He’d kept his head up the whole time I’d been speaking, his eyes on me, listening. Okay, so that was ridiculous. He was a snake. He didn’t understand what I was saying, but ever since Aunt Lara had bought him for me four years ago, I’d felt a connection to the creature. Be it his stillness, his calm aura, or the way he would take the time to stalk his dead prey before devouring it. He was a fully-grown male ball python, around four feet in length and perfectly chill. I loved him.

  “You want a cuddle before my food gets here?”

  His head came up even more, as if he was eager to get out. It had been a couple of days since I’d handled him. I unlocked the enclosure and slid the glass across to let him out. Cyril slid out slowly, aimed for my lap. He coiled himself onto my thighs and then laid his head on my chest, tongue flicking out as if asking for a kiss.

  It always astounded Aunt Lara how relaxed we were together. How he never seemed to get agitated or threatened around me. What she didn’t understand was that being around Cyril had a cathartic effect on me too. It was like all the trials of the day were being sucked out of my body—the anger, the fear, the confusion, it all melted away.

  Ten minutes later, he slid off my lap and back into his enclosure.

  “Had enough already?” I closed up the enclosure. “Thanks for listening, big guy.”

  There was a knock on the front door. Twenty minutes. That had to be a record, even for Teddy. I grabbed my purse on the way to the door, ready with a tip.

  “Well, that was qui—”

  The man on the doorstep smiled shyly at me. “Hey, Fee. Miss me?”

  My heart shot up into my mouth. “Lucas? What the fuck?”

  He arched a brow. “That’s it? I roll back into town after five years, and that’s all you have to say?”

  Lucas was here. My buddy, my bestie. The guy I’d been in love with forever, the one who’d broken my heart by falling for someone else and then moving out of town to be with her five years ago, was back.

  Rein it in, Fee. “It’s five in the fucking morning, Lucas.”

  “I came by during the day and then again in the evening … I figured you were on a night shift …”

  This was his third visit? I staunched the flutter in my stomach. “No Grace?”

  I looked over his shoulder as if expecting her to be there, except hell would freeze over before Grace came to see me. For some reason, she hated me. I didn’t get why. I’d been nothing but nice to her. Given them both space and all that shit when he’d started dating her, despite how hurt I’d been. I’d even hung out with them when Lucas asked.

  “No Grace,” Lucas said. “Grace and I are over. Grace was a mistake.”

  Ouch. “I’m sorry.”

  “Um, Fee, I’m freezing my balls off out here.”

  Oh, shit. “Yeah, sure, come in.”

  What was I doing inviting him in? Cora was going to kick my ass when she found out. No. No, it was fine. I was inviting him into the house, not back into my life. I was fine. We were fine. I was no longer in love with him.

  He stepped over the threshold, bringing his familiar scent with him. He still wore the same aftershave, the brand I’d bought him years ago. It didn’t matter. It didn’t mean anything.

  But he was done with Grace, and he was here. Why was he here? I followed him into the lounge.

  He stopped by Cyril’s enclosure. “You got a snake?”

  “Lara bought him for me.”

  He nodded slowly. “I’m sorry. I should have been here.”

  My chest tightened, and a bitter tang bit the back of my tongue. “Yeah, you should have.”

  He sighed. “I wanted to come. I was all packed, and then Grace …” He blew out a breath. “I should have come to the funeral. I should have been there for you.”

  But he hadn’t come. He hadn’t even sent flowers. And just like that, all the good feelings his appearance had elicited died. He’d left five years ago, and he hadn’t looked back.

  “She was your mother too.” Those hadn’t been the words I’d intended to say, but they obviously needed to come out.

  “She was a mother to a lot of children. Look, I didn’t come here to dredge up the past,” he said. “I made a mistake, and I realize that. I should have been there for you when she died.”

  Lara was the only mother I’d known. My foster carer from age three to six and then adopted mother after that, although she’d always asked me to call her Aunt Lara. All the children who’d passed through this house had called her Aunt Lara, but Lucas and I had stayed the longest. He’d come to us when he was ten, and I’d been nine, and we’d clicked immediately. We’d become best friends, and as the years went on, well … I’d fallen for him. But Aunt Lara hadn’t adopted him, and he hadn’t stayed past the age of eighteen, moving out as soon as he could. Our friendship had continued, and there had been so many times when I’d thought, this is it, he’s going to make a move, and he had. Just not on me.

  And now, he was back.

  Sans Grace.

  But why? “What do you want, Lucas? Why are you here?”

  A strange look crossed his features, a mixture of guilt, remorse, and determination. “I’m here about the house.”

  “You’ve lost me? What house?”

  “This house. Aunt Lara left it to the both of us, remember?”

  She had. Along with a neat sum of money each. “What about it?”

  “I need the money, Fee.”

  Money … “Aunt Lara left you money.”

  “It’s gone.”

  “Oh … So, you need a place to stay? You want to move back in?” I was so confused.

  He sighed in exasperation. “No, Fee, I want to sell the house.”

  The silence was a roar in my ears. “Sell my house.”

  “Our house, Fee. Even though I have no idea why she fucking bothered putting my name in her will. Guilt probably. I mean, I was the kid she failed to love.”

  My mind was whirring, putting together the pieces of what he was saying, what he was intimating.

  “Lucas … You think she didn’t love you?” I stared at him incredulously. “Was that why you moved out as soon as you legally could?”

  His smile was bitter. “You were always her favorite. Perfect Fee. The one she adopted.”

  He was delusional, blinkered. But then it had taken me a while to figure out her reasoning too. “Lucas, she didn’t adopt you because she didn’t want to label us brother and sister.”

  He stared at me, wide-eyed.

  Oh, God. He was going to make me say it. “She hoped we’d be … together.”

  He slow-blinked, and it was almost painful to watch him process the concept. “You and me? Together?”

  He said it like it was an alien concept that he needed tim
e to wrap his head around, and what was left of the hope in my heart croaked and died.

  I cleared my throat with a laugh. “Yeah, well, she was obviously mistaken.”

  He smiled, but it looked uncomfortable on his face. “Yeah, I mean … You were always the little sister I never had. She should have asked me. She should have given me the choice.”

  I felt sick. “You want to sell the house.”

  “My fiancée and I need to put a down payment on a house, and—”

  “I thought you and Grace were over?”

  He looked sheepish. “Yeah, I met someone else. She’s great, you’ll love her. I really want you to meet her. Grace was always so negative about you and me. Jealous.” He rolled his eyes. “I have no idea why.”

  My stomach sank a little more. Yeah, he was clueless, and I’d been a sap about a lot of things, but he wasn’t having my house.

  “No.”

  “What?” He had the audacity to look confused.

  “I’m not selling.”

  He balked. “Fee, I don’t think you understand. You don’t have a choice. If you refuse to cooperate, I’ll take you to court, and then there’ll be those legal fees and …” He trailed off and closed his eyes. “Look, this place is worth half a mil, you can buy a nice flat with your share. I mean, it’s just you, isn’t it?”

  He glanced about, and for the first time in forever, I wished that a hot guy would walk in toweling his hair, PJ bottoms slung low on his hips. He’d pause at the sight of Lucas and frown slightly before walking over to my side and pressing a kiss to my forehead and asking, Fee, babe, who’s your friend?

  “Fee?” Lucas prompted.

  “No, Lucas. This was Aunt Lara’s home, her legacy. Her parents lived here and their parents before them.”

  “And they’re all dead. She’s dead. But we’re not, and we have to live our lives.” He had the audacity to cup my shoulders and look into my eyes with pity. “Live your life, Fee.”

  Anger burned away my control, and my fingers curled into my palms, nails biting flesh. I shrugged him off. “Get out.”