The Revolt (The Reapers: Book Two) (3 page)

“Hi,” I said.

“Go home, Kelsey,” my father said.

I turned and looked out the glass front of
the store, expecting to see him there. He wasn’t. “How do you know
I’m not at home?”

“All that reading auras shit is for pussies,”
he said. “I’ve learned to get to know someone and anticipate their
habits very quickly. That’s the best and most certain way to know
if someone’s been reaped. You’re predictable.”

“Thanks a lot.”

“You’re welcome. Now, go home.”

“Okay.” I had every intention of going home
after my shift ended.

“Now, Kelsey. This isn’t a game.”

“No? Because it sure feels like one.”
Angelica was watching me, so I chose my words carefully.

“Cat is dead and it’s not safe for you to be
out.”

“It’s never been safe for me. It never will
be safe for me. I’m not going to hide every time…” I looked at
Angelica and stopped. Her eyes were wide and her face had
paled.

“This isn’t just a one-off, sweetie. The
reapers have taken out other corporate operatives across the
country and they’re serious about starting a war. I don’t think
they’re going to take the time to come after you right now, but I
don’t want you caught in the crossfire.” He sighed. “Just stay in
the store and go straight home after your shift. Okay?”

“I will.” I had every intention of doing just
that, but you know what they say about intentions.

The day dragged on like it had been dipped
and rolled in molasses. Angelica tried repeatedly to start a
conversation with me, but I was saved by a customer every time. It
wasn’t until after lunch that she found her opening.

“I think Bruce is cursed.”

I was leaning on the counter next to her, and
I did my best not to laugh. Bruce had said the same thing to me a
few weeks before and, after the morning I’d had, it still seemed
silly to me. “He’s just different than you. He has a different
outlook on life.” I sounded so very mature and grown-up, I almost
didn’t recognize myself.

“No, I don’t mean that. I mean he’s seriously
cursed. Like by a witch. Generations of his family have been
cursed.”

“What makes you think that?”

“His sister, Rose, told me about it and it
makes sense. Some weird stuff—”

“His sister? The one who’s
schizophrenic?”

“Yes, but she takes meds and she’s really
smart. The only reason she stays at the hospital is because she
chooses to stay there.”

“What did she say the curse does?” I
asked.

“I don’t know, but she said it would be bad
for me and I believe her. I’ve fallen down the stairs twice this
week and I slipped on the ice and hit my head yesterday. Three
times in one week, I fall just walking around? Nothing like that
has ever happened to me before.”

Angelica had always been the type to want to
believe there was more to life than we could see. She could read
auras, which is a rare skill, but she had wanted more until she
found out about reapers. The curse just seemed to me like her
looking for trouble where none existed.

“Is everything okay between you and
Bruce?”

“Yes, everything’s great. I tried to ask him
about the curse, but he wouldn’t talk about it. I thought maybe… if
you tried?”

“You want me to ask him? If he hasn’t told
you, I don’t see why he would tell me.” Bruce and I tolerated each
other, but we’d never be good friends. We’d probably never hang out
at all if it weren’t for Angelica.

She looked down at the counter and picked at
a hangnail. “Um, yeah, I just think he might be more honest with
you. You know, since…”

“He doesn’t really like me?”

Her big, blue eyes widened and her bow-shaped
mouth bent in an uncharacteristic frown. “He likes you, Kelsey. I
just meant that you two seem to be able to be more honest with each
other for some reason.”

“It’s okay. I’m not going to lose any sleep
over whether or not Bruce is a member of my fan club. I’ll talk to
him if you think it’ll help, but there’s no way he’s going to
believe I’m doing this on my own.”

“I told him we’d all meet for dinner after
work at El Banditos. Just tell him I got held up by… um…”

“I’m a terrible liar, and you know what
happens if I try to improvise.”

She grimaced, which on her face was an
endearingly cute expression. “Right. Shit. Then just tell him the
truth, Kelsey, but promise him you won’t tell me what he says. You
don’t have to tell me. I just need to know there’s nothing to worry
about.”

“I have to tell her,” I said to Bruce over
tacos.

He frowned at me and shook his head. “It’s
silly. It’s nothing but coincidence and there’s no reason for her
to worry about it.”

“She’s already worrying about it, and it
doesn’t sound silly to me. There’s a curse on your family stating
that anyone you love romantically will die an early death and your
father and grandfather both died before forty and you don’t think
you should take this seriously?”

He shrugged. “It’s a coincidence. The curse
is a family myth. It’s not real.” He met my eyes and I saw his
features harden. “Don’t you think I would have left her a long time
ago if I thought it was real?”

No. I really didn’t, because I was pretty
much an expert on ignoring reality to keep doing whatever it was I
wanted to be doing. Just like how I was out to dinner with Bruce
after I’d promised my dad I’d go straight home. Still, I knew
saying anything like that to Bruce would only make him angrier,
which would make him clam up and I needed to know more. “Of course
you would,” I said. “And I’m sure you’re right, but maybe it would
make Angelica feel better if you told her the story of the curse.
What is the story anyway?”

He glared at me. Normally, Bruce had a kind,
laid-back demeanor, but around me, he was usually just angry or
annoyed. He didn’t find me amusing, and I was pretty sure he
thought I was hopelessly weird. We’d had a few good moments in the
past, but he’d obviously noticed the distance between me and
Angelica. I was pretty sure he blamed me for it, even though he
knew nothing about reapers or my relationship to them. “None of
your business.” He took a bite of his taco that made me feel a bit
sorry for the taco.

I saw a reaper, a pretty girl with a mop of
messy, blonde curls and bright green eyes, drift down behind him
and smile at me over his shoulder. I blinked and she was gone. I
shivered, and wondered if I’d made a mistake not going straight
home.

“You really think it would help if I told her
the whole story?” He said, saving me from panic.

“I don’t know, Bruce. How bad is the whole
story?”

“Kelsey? Kelsey is that you?” a familiar
voice said behind me. I tried not to groan as I turned and faced
Jed.

He was standing directly behind me, so I had
to look up to see his face. That he was smiling his usual
room-brightening smile just annoyed me, since he’d had the bad
taste to show up when I was about to get Bruce to talk. “Hey, Jed,
it’s good to see you. Bruce and I are kind of in the middle
of—”

“Sure,” he said, pulling up a chair from the
empty table next to us and having a seat. “I’d love to join you.”
He stuck a hand out and offered it to Bruce. “I’m Jed.”

“Bruce.” Bruce looked happier than I’d seen
him all night. “I think Angelica mentioned you.”

Jed nodded, looking every bit the nice guy
who has no clue he’s just interrupted something. He’s a big guy,
but it looked like he’d lost a bit of the extra weight he’d had on
him the last time I’d seen him and replaced it with muscle. He
still had dark purple eyes, a sporty tan, and the aforementioned
bright smile. I wanted to punch it off his face, but I restrained
myself. Training with Cat had made me more violent than I’d
realized, or maybe Jed just had it coming. “Sweet girl. How’s she
doing?”

I tried not to roll my eyes as Jed and Bruce
discussed Angelica, the ski season, and the stock market, of all
things. Bruce left as soon as Jed finished eating and Jed got up
with him. I followed them out of the restaurant, and debated
kicking Jed in the shin as soon as we got outside.

Jed’s smile vanished as soon as we said our
goodbyes to Bruce. His body tensed as he scanned the dark street,
threw me a glare I’d never have expected from him, and started
walking. “Try to keep up,” he growled at me. “I don’t want to deal
with the paperwork if you get reaped on my watch.”

He was a good six inches taller than me and,
though his walk looked casual and easy, I practically had to jog to
keep up with him. “What are you doing here?” I asked. He ignored me
and kept walking. “Your timing stinks by the way, I was just about
to—.”

“Stop talking and walk,” he said, his voice
deeper and growlier than I’d ever heard it before. I had plenty of
things I wanted to say to him, but we were alone on a dark street
and he was just a teensy bit scary. I contented myself with fuming
at his back, getting more and more furious with each step.

We were a block from the condo, when I heard
footsteps behind us. Jed didn’t pause, but he spoke in a voice
almost too low for me to hear, “Stay low.”

Since I was already looking silly trying to
keep up with him, I muttered a curse, but I wasn’t annoyed enough
to stop and risk facing the strangers behind us. We were away from
the lights and foot traffic of downtown on a dark shortcut that led
to the condo complex. I tried to tamp down my rising panic and
breathe normally. Despite all my bravado, I really didn’t want to
die.

A shadow loomed in my peripheral vision and
something hit me hard on the shoulder. I tripped over my own feet
and fell gracelessly to the hard concrete with a grunt and a whine.
“Ow! What the hell?”

Jed stopped and turned. He didn’t bother to
look at me and make sure I was okay, he looked at the guy who’d
pushed me. The guy who was moving toward Jed, his fists raised. I
rolled and started to get up, but a boot caught me in the shoulder
and pinned me to the ground. My attacker kneeled on my stomach and
dug his knee in. “You should have stayed at home, little girl,” the
man said, his breath hot and reeking of garlic against my
cheek.

Garlic Breath straddled me as I struggled
against him. I was so scared my heart was trying to beat its way
out of my chest. I couldn’t give in to fear this time. I had to
fight. I bucked up and he fell forward, giving me enough leverage
to trap his arms with my own and use all of my body weight to roll
him off. The next step would have been to straddle him and throw
some punches, but he rolled away and stood too quickly for me to
act. He kicked me, hard, in the side, and dropped back down onto my
waist. His face low over mine, his breath making me want to gag.
“I’m going to have some fun with you,” he said, as though he were
original.

I rolled my eyes and did my best not to look
terrified at the thought. “I’m pretty sure no woman who’s ever been
under you has had fun.” My body might freeze up when I was
threatened, but apparently my mouth worked just fine.

He laughed, but there was an edge to it that
told me I was getting close to pissing him off enough to make him
even dumber than he already was. “I’m going to prove you wrong,
sugar.” I took a moment to glance at Jed and saw him standing, his
face calm, watching us. The other guy was on the pavement, eyes
closed, not moving. Terror spiked through me, as I realized Jed
wasn’t going to help me.

I returned my attention to Garlic Breath.
“Really? Because it feels like you don’t have a whole lot to
offer.” I directed my eyes toward the object of my insult and
laughed. He hit me before I’d finished laughing, but I was waiting
for it. I felt him change his balance to wind up for the punch and
I bucked him off, elbowing him in the groin as he fell, and rolled
to my feet. His punch landed on my temple with considerably less
force than he’d intended, but it still hurt and gave me an instant
pounding headache.

Jed finally moved and punched Garlic Breath
hard in the face. While he was on the ground, clutching his nose,
Jed grabbed my hand and pulled me back to the condo at a run.

Once we were back, behind a locked door, and
I’d caught my breath. I managed the energy to glare at him. “What
took you so long?”

He shrugged from his seat in the armchair. “I
wanted to see what Cat taught you. Besides, I figured you deserved
it since you were stupid enough to leave the condo. After having
seen you fight, I’ve raised my estimation of your stupidity.”

“Gee, thanks.” I would bet he also wanted a
little payback for me tattling on his brother, but I knew better
than to say it. “So why’d you bother using your fists? Couldn’t you
have just knocked him out with your mind?” Jed’s a powerful
telekinetic, or so I’d heard. I’d never actually seen him move
anything without his hands.

“They were regular humans. I didn’t see any
sign of possession and I couldn’t risk them running around blabbing
about the guy who beat them up with telekinesis.”

“Uh-huh.” I wasn’t sure I believed him. He’d
been incredibly rude to me and believing him seemed a politeness he
didn’t deserve. “So why are you here anyway?”

He widened his eyes and shook his head.
“Someone’s got to keep you from getting yourself killed. What the
hell were you thinking putting yourself out there like that?”

That made me even angrier, because I knew he
was right and because pretty much every part of my body hurt. “I
was thinking I’ve been threatened by reapers before and I’m not
going to stop living my life or give up what’s important to me
because of them.”

“I would think you would have the sense to
realize this is different. Cat was killed in front of you wasn’t
she?”

His words brought the scene back to me and
the room went lopsided for a moment. “Yes,” I said, unable to keep
the tremor out of my voice. “But they let me go. If they’d wanted
me dead, they could have killed me then.” I didn’t tell him they’d
threatened to kill me later. He didn’t need an excuse to lock me
away.