Reap & Reveal (The Reaper Series Book 3) (28 page)

Little Stevie would make a fine replacement.

The bus lurched toward him down the gravel road, which led to an open field at the edge of the powerful circle of protection. The bus came to a halt in front of him and the doors folded open. His demons began to arrive as the men made their way down the rubberized steps and gathered in the yard.

“Change in plans. Your services are in need once again.”

Little Stevie spoke for the group. “What now? What do you want us to do?”

“You, dear Stevie, I want to stay right here. The rest of you will walk straight into the small town before you and do what you do best. Destroy and wreak havoc. Have your way with whom and what you find, but make it quick and make it thorough. My associates and I will follow behind you as soon as you’ve cleared a path for us.”

When there was no movement from within the group, Camael bellowed, “Do you need an incentive? Which among you would like to volunteer to be said incentive? Have you already forgotten our last interaction?”

Reluctantly, they moved forward, unsure of what to do without Little Stevie to lead them.

“Go. Do what he says,” Little Stevie said. “We’ll be along.”

The group passed through the magical barrier and disappeared into the city.

“Now what?” Little Stevie turned to Camael and then took a step back, having finally gotten a good look at him in the moonlight.

“Yes, as you can see, my form is failing. That’s why I’ll be taking yours.”

Camael abandoned his host body, letting it crumple to the ground before he slammed his essence into a very surprised Little Stevie. He filled the man’s slightly smaller frame to the max, then stretched inside him, testing his boundaries and liking his new accommodations just fine.

There was nothing better than a fresh host.

The knowledge that this host would be his last made the feeling all the sweeter.

Demons paced the edges of the circle in their host bodies, anxious to please their master, and then his imps arrived, too, bounding out from the inky blackness of the forest and across the grassy field. The entire family was here to play. His remaining minions filled the woods behind him. What a perfect pre-party destroying this compound this would be. A succulent taste of destruction to come.

The screams began to sound like Sunday church bells from within the now breeched circle of protection. But it wasn’t the sound that pulled him forward, it was that something else that he’d sensed earlier. He watched as the aura of magic faltered then sputtered out.

So easy.

Maybe too easy?

Camael sent the imps through first to test the barrier. When they met with no resistance, he commanded the demons through next. They fanned across the city as Camael made his way into its heart, pulled by a force much stronger than magic. Stopping in front of a small house, he walked around the stone fence lining its front yard and onto the porch.

Not bothering to knock, he pushed open the door then closed it behind him against the beautiful sounds of terror and mayhem.

“I knew you’d come for her one day.”

His head snapped to his left. An elderly woman sat in a rocking chair by the window. She held his gaze, her expression defiant, though he could tell that she trembled inside.

“For whom, old woman? Whom do you keep here?”

“I think you know.”

Trepidation curled along his spine. “And do you mean to stop me in my pursuit?”

“What will be, will be.”

Camael scoffed. He hated that sort of godly reasoning. Wanted to smite her for mumbling such nonsense, but there wasn’t time. Something lay at the end of the hallway, something that was waiting for him…and him alone. This close to the source of the beacon that had drawn him here, he was surprised to find doubt creep into the mix.

The hallway seemed to stretch forever in front of him until at last he stood inside the doorway. One more step and he’d have what he’d been looking for. One more step and…

A gasp escaped him before he could fully process what he saw before him. His heart recognized her before his brain caught up. Even deteriorated and wasted away, he knew her instantly.

Or what was left of her.

Elaina
.

Chapter Thirty-Six

Nate set Maeve down on the couch in the opulent reaper lounge in Purgatory. Bo rested his head on her boots. No matter how many times he was here, Nate would never get used to it to this place. He didn’t want to be a reaper. Didn’t want to be a nephilim.

He wanted the people he loved to be safe, secure and happy. A category which none of them currently fell into. Samkiel and Deacon stalked out of the room through the heavy wooden doors—Samkiel to discharge his cargo of wanderers, which trailed behind him in a long line, to the holding cell and Deacon to dispose of his demons in privacy.

Holding cell.

More like a tomb.

Now that Nate knew the truth about where the wanderers were headed, he was less and less impressed with Rashnu and his kin.

Maeve moaned softly beside him. “How do we purge the souls from her when she’s in this condition? How long must she suffer?”

“I can do it.” Rashnu reached forward to place his hand on her forehead, a glow of energy preceding his touch. A bright light like a static charge sparked and bit him before he could make contact. He jerked away from her in surprise.

“I guess it will need to come from her. I can’t seem to facilitate the change. Which means it will take as long as it takes.” Rashnu retreated to the bar. “Unless…”

“Unless what?” Nate shifted and pulled Maeve up and into his lap, cradling her body against his. She drew energy from him even in her compromised state.

“You seem to have no problem sharing energy with her. It would speed things up if you were to push the souls from her.”

“How the hell would I do that?”

“The same way you share energy with her now, only with more intent. Fill her with your light until there is no room inside her for any soul but her own. The rest will flee when pressed. Then she will be free to finish her transformation.”

“Will it hurt her?”

“It will be uncomfortable this first time, but after her transformation is complete, each reaping will make her stronger. She must continue to stretch her capacity to reach her full potential. The first time is always the most painful.”

Maeve moaned and pulled her knees into her stomach. Nate couldn’t stand to see her suffer in any way. If he could help, he would. And the sooner, the better. He needed to get to the coven, but he couldn’t leave Maeve to suffer if he could ease her pain. He pulled her closer, making as much body contact with her as he could, then bent to kiss her. The light built inside of him until his body trembled with the accumulating power and it could no longer be contained.

His energy poured into Maeve, filling her from stem to stern, lighting her chakras up like a string of Christmas lights. When he pulled away from her, his energy continued to flow from every point of bodily contact, absorbing into her like rain into peaty soil. Maeve’s mouth sprang open and her head hinged backward as souls began to stream out of her overtaxed body. White light beamed from her eyes as one soul after another flowed out. Nate watched in amazement and awe.

Soon thirty-six souls were swirling around the exit chimney in the center of Rashnu’s chamber and Maeve collapsed into a faint against him.

Nate’s light diminished and exhaustion overtook him. He fought for consciousness as he watched Rashnu dismiss the souls with a wave of his hand. They streamed up and vanished through the chimney.

“Where will they go?”

“They will be sorted along with the others.”

“Is your alter ego still out there? Sorting?”

“Of course. Death never stops.”

Maeve appeared to be unconscious and oblivious to their conversation.

“Well done, reaper.”

Barely able to speak, Nate couldn’t let the address go unchallenged. “I’m not a reaper.”

“We’ll have to remedy that soon.” Rashnu placed his hand on Nate’s shoulder and pushed a warm glow of energy into him. “Now, recharge Maeve and let’s get back to the battle. Shall we?”

“You’re coming back topside?”

“I wouldn’t miss it.”

Nate started to pulse energy back into Maeve. “Have I chosen the right path? How are we going to defeat him, Rashnu? Is it even possible?”

“All things are possible.”

“Rashnu, if Ruth and I are nephilim and you once sent hunters to kill us…why are we still alive? What changed?”

“Even Heavenly hearts can change. Something that was once misunderstood does not need to be forever feared. Diversity, it turns out, can be a good thing. If you had been captured by our hunters instead of hidden by the coven all these years, the outcome would have been different. You three would have been destroyed as was ordained. But time has a way of either softening or strengthening grudges and fears. When God realized your very existence might be the one thing that could change Camael’s course of action, he called off the pursuit.”

“So he wanted to use us as bait to draw out Camael?”

“More a secret weapon. The ties of family are what drove Camael to the brink. Perhaps they could also bring him back.”

“You think he can be redeemed? After all the lives he’s taken?”

“Redeemed? Perhaps. But not in the way you are thinking. He will not go unjudged regardless of what happens above. He will pay for his crimes against humanity.”

“What am I supposed to do?”

“Whatever your heart tells you.”

Maeve stirred in his arms and when her green eyes opened, relief flooded through Nate’s body. She stretched out long and languid like a cat, then smiled up at him.

“What did I miss?”

“The beginning of the end.”

Nate stroked her face before turning back to Rashnu. “Deacon is going to be back soon. Please find Ruth.”

“Believe it or not, I want to find her just as much as you do.” Rashnu walked behind the bar and poured a drink for himself.

“Is that your answer for everything? A drink?”

“Hardly, but it does open oneself up to possibilities.” He drank the liquid, then set the glass onto the bar, closing his eyes in concentration.

“And what do you call that particular concoction?”

“Bourbon.”

After several minutes passed, Deacon returned before Rashnu delivered any proclamations. Both of them agreed that they’d go after Ruth first. Whatever was happening at the coven would have to wait a little longer. Nate’s parents and the coven board had kept their location hidden for years. Surely with more than four hundred active witches in residence, they could hold their ground for a little longer.

They would need to.

Rashnu, who had been drinking throughout their conversation, lost his balance and slapped his palms on the bar for support. His face twisted into a grimace of pain and his eyes squeezed shut as he began to chant. Nate stroked Maeve’s hair for comfort. His as much as hers.

His nerves, raw and sensitive, snapped at every stroke through her hair, his palm tingling with the exchange of energy between them, crackling like static.

Rashnu fell into a fit of coughing, which drew him back to attention. “I can’t find her.”

“Is she…dead?” Deacon asked, his voice barely a whisper.

“I don’t know. I’ve never searched for a nephilim before. We have people who do that.”

“You mean bounty hunters.”

“Yes. And they are much more adept at such things.”

“Then find us a bounty hunter, angel, before I come unhinged,” Deacon said.

“You had one, but she was sent away.”

“What are you talking about now? For the love of…” Nate said.

“Did we not have this talk already? Watch your words, reaper. Temperance is more than a guardian angel. She’s also one of our best hunters. Unfortunately, we’ve never had to track an angel/reaper offspring before.”

“Why was Temperance sent to guard my child in the first place? To kill it when it was born?” Deacon asked, his eyes blazing with rage.

“Hardly. The goal was to keep it alive. That child is the one being that can undo us all.”

“How?”

“The child is the sacrifice Camael needs to hold open the portal to Hell.”

Nate rose to his feet. “It’s about damned time you started talking some sense. Where would he open this portal?”

“He could open it anywhere. Meridian is the center of a great flow of energy, but he can’t open the main portal there without taking a chance of shorting it out completely. Lucifer will want to control that flow of energy, not destroy it. The permanent portal will be opened nearby, but not inside the city. Somewhere close that he would still consider holy in his irrational way.”

Maeve’s clutched at Nate’s sleeve. “Bolton Cemetery.”

***

Ruth was freezing. She was so cold she was beyond shivering, which she was pretty sure was what happened right before folks who were freezing to death started shedding their clothing and bathing in non-existent sunlight. Her body was so weak that her window of opportunity for flashing had passed even if she were willing to try. She’d never survive the trip.