Reaper (51 page)

I mentally moved the mirror out of the way. The reaper jumped. Her hands clasped over Mel’s face, fingers digging into his eyes. Her jagged teeth clamped into his neck and she twisted his head, attempting to snap his neck.

Holy crap. And I thought reapers just went after the weak.

The other reapers moved in. Melcovel fell to the ground. He reached out for the reapers, but his touch had no effect on them.
 
With open mouths, the reapers leaned over the chaos demon, sucking his aura away from his body. The black mist crackled and hissed as it left Melcovel. He let out a harrowing scream of defeat.

Feeling the reapers’ satisfaction, I smiled. It looked like storm clouds were leaking from Mel’s body. The reapers slurped it all up, sucking it all until there was nothing left. The reapers turned to me, asking if it was ok to eat the demon’s flesh.

“Be my guest,” I told them. I turned, not wanting to watch them lick the blood and fat from the strips of skin. I stepped onto the deck.

“I can’t believe it worked,” Ethan said. His brown eyes were wide open. He tore them off the reapers to look at me. “This isn’t a hallucination, is it?”

“God I hope not,” I told him. I reached my hand out for Hunter. He pushed his head underneath and instantly offered me comfort. “We can go inside; they got this.”

Ethan looked at the group of reapers noisily munching on the dead demon. “What are you going to do with them? Shouldn’t you kill them now?”

“No!” I said a little too loudly. “They just did something I couldn’t do and saved me from getting the mad-touch again. If I kill them, it would just be tacky. And I really don’t think they’d like me too much.”

“So you’re going to just let them go? That is wrong, Annie.”

“It is. Seeing how they kill is terrifying. But maybe…” I shook my head at my own ridiculous thought. “Maybe I can control them. Bring them with us on hunts. They are pretty helpful.”

“Absolutely not. They are demons. Soul-sucking, flesh-eating demons. If you don’t want to kill them
tonight
, I understand. I don’t know what goes on in your head when they talk to you, but you have to remember that they are demons too. If you weren’t around, what would stop them from killing me?”

“Nothing,” I blurted. It was true. If I wasn’t directly in front of the reapers, they were dangerous. “I agree. But I can’t kill them tonight. And not only because I feel it’s tacky, but because I’m exhausted. They’ll move on after this; I can see into their minds. And hey, the more they eat the less we have to bury, right?”

Ethan half smiled. “I guess.” He twitched and looked at the reapers. “I do not like having demons in my backyard.”

“Me neither,” I agreed.

“Let’s go in,” he finally said. Placing his hand on the small of my back, he ushered me through the door.

“No way,” René gushed. “No freaking way! Anora, that was amazing!”

“Thanks,” I told her. The adrenaline was wearing off and I was feeling more and more like a ninety year old woman who fell down a flight of stairs. I collapsed on the couch. Nik rushed over and took my hand. He raised it to his mouth and kissed it.

“You are by far the most exquisite being,” he told me.

“Thank you,” I said with a smile. I was too damn worn out to fully appreciate his statement.

“Let me tend to your wounds,” he offered and jumped off the couch.

“That would be nice,” I stated. Ethan sat on the couch next to me.

“It’s over. No more crazy-Annie,” he joked.

I put my feet up on the coffee table. “Guys, I’m really sorry I tried to kill you.” I looked at René. “Can I take you shopping and make it up to you?”

She chuckled. “Anora, you don’t have make it up to me. But if it’ll make you feel better, then yes.”

“What about me?” Ethan said with a smile. “What do I get? You did stab me after all.” He held up his arm, showing off the three in scratch on his bicep.

“Sexy nurse?” I offered.

“I think that will suffice,” he grinned. Nik came into the room with a bowl of warm water. He carefully blotted at the many tears on my skin, gently washing out the dirt. He soaked gauze in the wonderful faery potion and pressed them to my wounds.

“You’re not worried the reapers will get your horses?” René asked.

“No,” I told her, my voice heavy with sleep. “Animals have auras, but the reapers aren’t interested in them.”

“How do you know?” she inquired.

“I kinda just do. It’s like I can download their thoughts. It’s hard to explain.”

“Oh, interesting.” She stood and went to the window. “They’re gone already.”

“Good,” Ethan said.

I didn’t realize I had fallen asleep until Ethan picked me up. “I can walk,” I told him groggily.

“It’s ok,” he whispered.

“You’re still sick,” I reminded him.

“I feel completely better now that Mel is dead,” he informed me. “Honest.”

“Ok, then carry me,” I said with a smile. I opened my eyes and took a deep breath. Buffy was sleeping on the love seat in the family room. “Where’s René?” I asked Ethan and trudged up the stairs.

“She’s in the guest room.”

“Good. She should stay after what she saw tonight.” Buffy lazily got off the loveseat and trotted up the stairs after us. I pulled my dirty dress off and climbed into bed wearing my bra and underwear, too tired to put on pajamas. Buffy put her paws on the bed, unable to jump up on her own. Ethan hoisted her up.

Tail wagging, she wormed her way in between Ethan and me. Hunter joined us, squishing next to me. Physically, I was far from comfortable. But I felt safe…and loved. Two things demons would never feel.

Chapter 20 - No One Like You

I slept in until noon the next day. I woke with Romeo on my pillow, Hunter stretched out next to me, and Buffy lying across my legs. My muscles were stiff and super sore. I bent over to touch my toes and flinched in pain. I’d have to try again later. The first thing I wanted to do was shower. I was covered in a dry sweat and a little sticky from being drenched in healing potion.

As expected, showering was painful. I washed out the cuts on my arm. They looked like deep claw marks. I still couldn’t remember Melcovel ripping open my skin. It didn’t matter now. I turned the water off and stepped out of the shower, wrapping a fluffy towel around my battered body. I looked in the mirror as I combed through my messy hair and smiled.

Though last night did not go as planned, I felt good about what had happened. I pulled on pajamas; I had no intention of leaving the house, therefore I didn’t need real clothes. I grabbed the demon encyclopedia and flipped to Melcovel’s page. I plucked a Sharpie from my pencil jar on my desk and drew a big, fat ‘X’ through his picture. I added yesterday’s date at the bottom of the page.

~*~

René and Keith came over for dinner. Nik made us a traditional Russian dish. I was skeptical at first but ended up having seconds. He and René took turns dramatically telling Keith about how I defeated Melcovel. Keith was glad he wasn’t around, but was a bit jealous that René got to see something like that.

They stayed until nine; René had to work in the morning and Keith had homework. I hugged my friends goodbye and settled on the couch next to Ethan. Knowing that I love popcorn, Nik popped a bowl and asked if we could watch a movie together.

The three of us bickered over what movie to watch; Ethan wanted to watch an old comedy that I’d seen a hundred times. Nik wanted to watch a romantic comedy, and I wanted to watch a documentary on elephants. Feeling like a regular family, we settled for an animated movie about a boy who can see ghosts.

The next two days passed in a similar fashion. I enjoyed the calm…and the peace of mind knowing that it shouldn’t be short lived this time. I was still too sore to ride; I had spent the morning brushing my horses and cleaning my saddles. It impressed me how much I could get done when I wasn’t worried about demons.

Ethan and I had plans to go to Chicago for a fancy dinner. It was his idea; he thought that we should have a formal date night every now and then. He even booked a hotel for us to stay in overnight. I didn’t want to be away from Hunter, but the thought of spending a stress free night solely with Ethan made my heart skip a beat.

My hair was still in a towel and I was picking out a dress to wear to the restaurant when the doorbell rang. Buffy barked; it was the first time she acted protective of the house. Was it odd that made me happy? I took it to mean that she finally felt like this was her home.

“Can you get that?” I yelled down the stairs over Buffy’s barking. I stepped back in my room and opened my jewelry box. Buffy was still barking; no one had answered the door. “Nik? Ethan?” I yelled. I shook my head when they didn’t respond. I yanked the towel off of my head and ran my fingers through my wet hair. I hurried down the stairs and to the front door.

I slipped my fingers under Buffy’s collar and shot back the dead bolt. I put my hand on the door knob and opened the door. A girl, who looked to be about my age, smiled at me. Buffy stopped barking and wagged her tail. Some guard dog she was.

“Hi,” the girl said. “Are you Anora?”

“Uh, yeah,” I answered. The girl had shoulder length thick brown hair, emerald eyes, and freckles scattered on her arms.

“I’m Hazel.” She pulled something from her pocked. My heart skipped a beat when I saw the tattered edges of the piece of notebook paper. “I got your letter.”

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Moonlight

Book three in

The Guardian Legacies series

Released 2013