21. Insatiable Reapers
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
Insatiable Reapers
“If you’re gonna be a Reaper, be Roselyn’s fucking Reaper!”
Leaning back against the wall, Ian took the elevator to the top floor as he scrolled through several recordings of Deja sent to him by multiple Reapers across The Society. Deja was gaining popularity. Fast.
It worried him. Unsurprisingly, she was developing a cult-like following of young, impressionable Reapers who seemed inspired by Tucker’s murder. But Ian knew the real trouble would come from the Reapers who mattered most: The Elders.
Deja exuded an influential intelligence that intrigued him. She had the makings of a powerful leader, and it seemed to him she was gradually coming to that realization. Pausing the recording, he zoomed in on her face. She was perfect.
His jaw clenched. She also angered him. Her ability to penetrate the mind of a killer and consume his thoughts left Ian stumped.
Never had he fallen so hard so fast. Deja had invaded his heart and taken permanent residence.
She was his first and only love. Yet, instead of rejoicing that someone took the time to break down his walls and love him with raw emotion the way he deserved…
he obsessed over the fragility of their love.
Deja made it difficult to protect her. She was stubborn and unruly, but then, most Reapers were. Her recent antics could be seen as manipulative. But truthfully, there was absolutely nothing he wouldn’t do for her. And that terrified him.
The elevator dinged, snapping him out of his thoughts. Holding the bag of food, he headed for their suite. Jax pulled a white t-shirt over his muscular chest just as Ian entered and raised a curious brow. “Where’s Caleb and Keith?” Jax asked.
“Taking a walk,” Ian said, placing the food down. He paused to stare at Deja’s cum-stained panties, sitting on the stool.
“You came back without them?” Jax asked.
“Am I my brother’s keeper?” Ian said bitterly.
Catching his curt tone, Jax glanced at Ian staring at Deja’s panties, and cleared his throat. “I’ll heat the food,” Jax offered.
“It’s fine,” Ian said, opening the bag.
“Ian… go to her,” Jax said. Ian looked at his brother, confused. “I know you miss her…” Jax added. Ian’s gaze abruptly shifted from Jax to Deja stepping out of the bedroom. He swallowed hard as his eyes quickly glanced over her naked body, barely hidden beneath Jax’s shirt.
Deja bit her lip under Ian’s heated gaze.
But the moment his eyes caught hers, his face changed.
She frowned with confusion. “Why don’t you take Deja reaping with you after she eats?
” Jax suggested, breaking the silence. “I believe you identified a few offerings upon our arrival? The banker, right?”
Ian looked at Jax, startled not just because he was suggesting bringing Deja reaping with him, but that he even remembered the offerings Ian told him about. Most times, it didn’t seem that Jax was paying much attention.
“I would love to see you in action,” Deja said, catching Ian’s attention again. “If you don’t mind…”
Ian found double meaning in her words as he caught her demure look, which pierced his defenses. He shakily exhaled. “Sure… Of course…”
Deja’s heels clacked against the pavement as she followed closely behind Ian. Walking down an empty sidewalk, she remained relatively silent. Ian was clearly annoyed with her. “Stay close,” he warned.
She stared at the back of his broad shoulders, draped with his finely tailored jacket. “Why are we hunting a banker?” she whispered.
“He’s more of a merchant…”
“...and that’s… bad?” she asked.
“When he’s interrupting my channels by breaking protocol with live human stock, yes,” Ian said curtly.
Deja blinked, confused. “...was that English?”
Ian stopped walking and turned to face her. “Organ trading is very profitable. It’s my expertise. My skills are so proficient that I’m well-known and sought-after in the industry.”
“Your humility is your most attractive trait, Ian,” she teased, but he did not take to her joke.
“Everyone in the industry knows I don’t do business with those who trade living people. Especially those underage,” he continued.
Deja’s eyes widened. “He’s trafficking kids?!”
“Speak louder, sweetheart. I don’t believe the people down the street heard you,” Ian said sarcastically.
Deja sucked her teeth. “That’s fucked up! Wait, you’re not really reaping him as an offering to Roselyn. You just wanna get rid of him for your own selfish reasons,” she smirked.
Ian snorted as he continued walking. “I didn’t know you were such a purist.”
Deja’s smile fell. It seemed like none of her jokes were sticking. Arriving at a small apartment building, Ian pulled her to the side, keeping themselves hidden. She stared at him as he looked past the wall. “...Ian-”
“Stay here,” he cut her off as he turned the corner.
Deja heard a slight scuffle before Ian returned with a balding, older gentleman.
With his hand wrapped around his neck, Ian slammed the merchant into the wall.
“Darling, take notes. This is Donald Ley. We worked together quite well in the States before he started making backdoor deals with my clients,” Ian said calmly.
“M-Mr. D-Donovan,” Donald choked out.
“Hush, now. I’m trying to mentor a fellow peer,” Ian smiled. “Mr. Ley not only broke protocol, but instead of discussing it with me, thought he could escape to Korea as if it would go unnoticed. Which… I suppose it did, as my mind has been preoccupied with more important matters.”
“Like me?” Deja smiled flirtatiously.
Ian looked at her. “Yes, y- Stop, Deja,” Ian lectured. Deja sighed as Ian refocused on Donald. “What transactions have you made tonight?” Ian asked.
Donald coughed, trembling in Ian’s grip. “T-two hearts. Two lungs. A-and a kidney.”
Ian snorted. “Selfish. Sweetheart, would you grab the shears on that stoop?”
“M-Mr. D-Donovan-” Donald started before Ian violently slammed his head into the wall with a loud crack.
“We’re done talking,” Ian said casually. Rolling up a hand towel, Ian stuffed it into Donald’s mouth. “So he doesn’t break my focus,” Ian explained to Deja as he dropped Donald to the ground.
“By talking?” she asked, watching him pull on a pair of gloves. She cringed as Ian effortlessly snapped Donald’s arms at the elbows as Donald screamed into the towel. “...oh…”
“So he doesn’t interrupt my work,” Ian added as he bound Donald’s ankles together and used a metal bar to hold his legs down.
Sitting on her knees, Deja watched Ian rip Donald’s shirt open, exposing his chest. She quietly observed as Ian used his scalpel to slice open Donald’s chest like he was cutting into a steak.
The towel muffled Donald’s screams. She admired Ian’s skill, but his demeanor still put her off.
“...Ian?”
“Hmm…?”
“Are you upset with me?”
Ian looked at her and his lips tightened. “No… of course not…”
Deja gave a small smile. “You’re a bad liar, Ian.”
He snorted. “Just with you, apparently…”
“Why are you upset with me?” she probed.
“I told you-”
“You’ve been distant.Cold. Even when you’re trying to be affectionate. I can feel it…”
Ian watched her hug herself as her brows furrowed, wrinkling the space between her eyes the way he loved. Her bottom lip jutted out in a pout, and he wanted to suck it. Bite it. Slide his-
“Ian?”
He blinked out of his thoughts. “I’m sorry… I didn’t mean to make you feel anything but loved…” he said.
Deja smiled. “It’s ok-”
“But you do aggravate me.”
“Oh!” she said, startled.
Ian paused with a sigh. “I love that you’re so free-spirited, Deja. I truly believe you’re going to change the world.”
She twisted her mouth. “...but?”
“But you’re so careless, naive, and unruly, and quite frankly a bit arrogant. It’s that type of behavior that gets a Reaper killed.”
Deja looked at him wide-eyed. “Damn, Ian! Tell me how you really feel!”
“I’m sorry,” he sighed.
“No,” she chuckled. “You’re important to me, Ian. I know how you feel about me, and I know I haven’t exactly been a… good girl…”
Ian smirked. “I like a bad girl, but she seems quite monopolized by my brothers.”
Deja laughed. “You sound jealous.”
“I am very jealous,” Ian said seriously, staring into her eyes.
“Deja, in just a few months, you have become the single most important person in my life. You breathe, and it’s my lungs that expand.
You speak, and my heart suddenly remembers how to beat.
I can’t… fucking function without you. And it doesn’t make any goddamn sense- For fuck’s sake, Donald!
Stop whining! I can’t even hear myself think! ”
While Ian shoved the towel down Donald’s throat until he gagged, Deja couldn’t help but smile. She loved the unique ways her Reapers loved her and how it manifested so differently in how they treated her.
Keith’s love was chaotic and untamable, burning everything in its path. Caleb’s love was unfiltered and unapologetic, blindly falling into a pit of devout loyalty. Jax’s love was strong, firm, and unwavering, an unmovable brick wall yet violently explosive at the slightest hint of a breach.
And Ian… Ian’s love was deep, consuming, and profound, like he wanted to wrap her in a cocoon of devotion and shower her with raw intimacy.
But it was also sensitive and fragile. As if he were afraid that at any moment she would change her mind and give him back his bruised, bleeding heart with blood-stained hands.
“Can I help?” she asked suddenly.
Ian looked at her cautiously. His pale blue eyes lingered on the way she bit her bottom lip, and he felt himself throb. “Come here…” he said, holding out his hand.
Standing up, Deja walked to Ian and sat down in front of him next to Donald’s body.
She pulled on the gloves he handed her, then grabbed the scalpel.
Ian’s firm chest pressed against her back as his arms encased her in his protective embrace.
She inhaled his subtle yet intoxicating cologne, and her stomach fluttered.