Reaper (Valhalla Rising MC #3)

17. Reaper

17

Reaper

“ I don’t wanna do homework.”

Kyra left a half hour ago, and I’ve been struggling with the twins from the moment she walked out the door. It’s not their fault though. They’re just being the six-year-olds that they are. I’m the one making it more difficult than it has to be, and I recognize it for what it is: I miss my own kids.

“No homework, no playtime,” I tell Hunter for the third time.

Heidi glares at her brother. “I wanna play Candyland. Stop being a brat.”

“I’m not a brat.”

“Yes, you are.”

“Am not.”

“Are to.”

“Am not.”

“Are—”

“That’s enough,” I bark, and both of them whip their heads in my direction. “We’re going to do your homework, end of story. Now, get your backpacks and bring them to the kitchen table.”

Hunter looks like he wants to argue some more, but he wisely chooses not to. After they’re both sitting at the table, I sit across from them to help if they need it.

“This is stupid,” Hunter complains ten minutes later. “Why do we even have to know how to spell? It’s not like I’m gonna write anything when I grow up. I’m gonna be a zookeeper. Animals don’t care how I spell things.”

“A zookeeper, huh?” I ask.

He shrugs his little shoulders. “I like animals.”

“Me too,” Heidi says. “But I’m gonna be a Barbie when I grow up.”

“You can’t be a Barbie, dummy. They’re dolls,” Hunter counters.

“Don’t call your sister names,” I admonish, and I’m instantly reminded of a very similar argument I overheard Paul and Erica having.

Sadness washes over me at the memory. I try to shove the emotion into the lockbox in my brain, but it doesn’t work like it normally does. What the Fire Pits was I thinking trying to help out with Kyra’s twins? I should’ve known that it would bring up things better left under lock and key.

“Reaper, I’m done,” Heidi announces a few minutes later. “Can I go play now?”

“I’m done, too,” Hunter says.

“Uh, yeah. You can both go play.”

“Are you gonna play with us?”

“Maybe later. Right now, I’m gonna whip us up some dinner. How does macaroni and cheese with hot dogs sound?”

“Sounds yummy,” Heidi says as she hops off her chair and vanishes to their room.

“And you?” I ask Hunter.

He nods and follows after his sister. An image of Paul pops into my head. He was such a great kid, a happy kid. And then his mom and I divorced. Paul became a little boy with a chip on his shoulder. I see that in Hunter. Not quite as much, but it’s there, nonetheless.

I carry their backpacks into the living room and set them near the front door so they’re ready when it’s time to go to school in the morning, and then I head into the kitchen to make dinner.

“You okay?”

Whirling around, I arch a brow when I see Skuld standing near the end of the counter.

“Dammit, don’t do that,” I snap.

“Do what?” she asks sweetly.

“Sneak up on me like that. What if I’d pulled my gun on you?”

“I’m dead, Reaper,” she reminds me unnecessarily. “And please tell me you don’t have your gun on you while you’re watching Kyra’s children.”

I narrow my eyes. “No, I don’t have it on me. It’s locked in my saddlebags out front. But I could’ve had it.”

“Again, I’m dead.”

“Yeah, yeah,” I mumble. “What are you doing here?”

“Checking on you. The last time we spoke, you were, shall we say, less than thrilled about this assignment. I just wanted to make sure you were okay.”

“I’m fine.”

“Liar.”

Heaving a sigh, I fill a pot with water to get the macaroni started. “If you know that then why are you asking?”

“Because it’s my job.” Skuld pauses for a moment before continuing. “And because I care.”

That’s all it takes to let the floodgates open.

“Why would Odin send me here only to end up craving what I can’t have? It’s cruel.”

“Viking and Inferno thought the same thing.”

“This is different.”

“How so?”

“There weren’t kids involved!” I whisper shout. The last thing I need is for Heidi or Hunter to walk in here and see Skuld. “When all is said and done, it’s those two who are going to be hurt.”

“I showed you what you can have, Reaper,” she says, reminding me of my dream. “You’re the only one standing in your own way of that.”

“Hate to break it to you, but I’m not the only one. Pretty sure Kyra has a say in this.”

“Ah, yes, Kyra.” Skuld smiles, and there’s an ethereal glow surrounding her. “You’re right, she has a say. I think I made it clear that she’d say yes.”

“Yes to what?” I snap. “In order for anything to come of this, she’d have to die. And what about Heidi and Hunter? I can’t ask her to leave them behind or to agree to their death.”

“Can’t or won’t?”

“Does it matter?”

“It does.”

“Fine, both.”

“Stubborn Warrior,” Skuld chides.

“Look, I’ll complete Odin’s assignment,” I tell her. “I’ll do everything in my power to keep Kyra safe from whatever threat is out there. The twins too. And as soon as that’s done, I’m coming back to Valhalla… alone.”

“Can I ask you something?”

“Is it something you already know the answer to?” I counter hotly.

“It is. It’s also something I need to hear you say out loud.”

“Go ahead.”

“What do you want, Reaper? Deep down, what would make you happy in your afterlife?”

I think about her question, about how to respond without giving too much away because what would make me happy is impossible. And she knows it. Rather than give her the honesty I know she’ll pluck from my mind anyway, I lie.

“I’m happy to spend my afterlife serving Odin and protecting Valhalla.”