Chapter Five
The pounding woke him. Snarling, Kieran rolled off the lumpy sofa bed and stalked to the door.
One glance out the window told him it wasn’t Georgia.
The sun wasn’t quite up, but the sky was growing lighter, which meant she was already at work.
He’d overslept. That was her fault. Imagining her naked had kept him awake half the night.
The pounding came again, this time louder. “What?” Naked, he yanked it open. “Shit.”
“Good morning to you, too, brother.” Sam shoved past him without waiting for an invitation.
“Make yourself at home, why don’t you.” Annoyed at being caught both literally and figuratively with his pants down, he stood back and waved to the man waiting on the landing. “Might as well come in,” he told Alexiares.
“It’s good to see you, Kier.”
He swallowed heavily at his brother’s warm greeting. “You too, Alex.” He grabbed his jeans from the back of the chair and yanked them on. “How the hell did you find me?” He hadn’t known where he’d be staying until late yesterday afternoon.
“Malaki,” Sam said with a hint of disgust.
The damn bird was always poking his nose into their business. “Don’t suppose either of you brought coffee?”
“No.” Sam leaned against the tiny kitchenette counter. With the three of them in the small space, there was barely enough room to turn around. “This isn’t a social call.”
“I see.” To give himself time to hide the unexpected jolt of hurt, he took his time and pulled on his T-shirt. It wasn’t as though they were a part of each other’s lives anymore, but seeing them made him realize how much he’d actually missed them. “Then why are you here?”
“Sam.” Alex held up his hand before he could start in where he’d left off yesterday.
“Playing peacemaker?” Kieran sat down on the edge of the bed and put on his socks.
“Not exactly a label I’d apply to myself.
Just trying to keep the bloodshed to a minimum.
” Alex’s grin was fleeting but familiar and sent a wave of nostalgia washing over him.
“Given we’re both in Redemption, I expected you’d show up here sooner or later, but I’m sorry Dad involved you in whatever this is.
I figured if anyone would escape being put to the test, it would be you. ”
“Why would you think that?” Boots on, he stood and faced them down.
He might be the youngest, but at six-eight, he was the tallest of the three.
He wasn’t the kid brother they remembered.
He was a reaper with thousands of years of experience under his belt.
Maybe tougher and stronger than either of them.
“I’ve kept track.”
That both pleased and annoyed him. “Afraid I’d screw up?”
“More worried about you, damn it. You’re my baby brother.” Grabbing him by the shoulders, Alex yanked him into his arms and thumped him on the back. “Good to see you.”
After a slight hesitation, he hugged his brother in return. “Good to see you, too. I’m afraid Sam doesn’t share your opinion.”
Alex stepped back and shoved his hands in his pockets.
Looking at them was like staring in a mirror.
While not triplets, they were all tall with black hair and eyes and similar features.
Sam’s face was lean and sculpted. Alex’s was rough and rugged.
He fell somewhere between the two. It was plain to anyone with eyes that they were brothers.
“Sam’s worried. So am I. He said you’re here to save us.”
“That’s the assignment. Reap my chosen soul and fix the mess you two have gotten yourselves into.”
“Since you’re staying over Georgia Baker’s garage,” Sam said, “I’m assuming she’s been assigned to you.”
“She has.”
“And you’ll have no trouble watching her die and collecting her soul?”
There was a pang in his chest, but he ignored it and shrugged. “Why wouldn’t I? It’s what I do.”
Sam swore and began to prowl the small space. “Maybe that’s a twist in Dad’s game.”
“It wasn’t the same for us.” Alex crossed his arms over his chest, his eyes hardening. “We were drawn to the women assigned to us, got involved in their lives.”
“That’s a big no-no. We observe. We interact, but only on a superficial level.
” There weren’t many rules for reapers to follow, but those they had were absolute.
The other was to not interfere with a person’s destiny.
Failure to do so could result in a ripple in time that could lead to disaster.
Life was a delicate balance that had to be kept.
“How did you get away with it?” It had been bothering him since he’d been offered this assignment.
“Our father isn’t known for leniency or accepting failure.
Why aren’t the women you were sent here for dead? ”
His brothers glanced at one another and then back at him. It was Sam who answered. “I don’t know.”
“I don’t believe you. No one cheats Death.” It went unsaid that those who tried didn’t live to talk about it.
“We’re no longer immortal,” Alex reminded him. “I’m as human as the next man. If I’m cut, I bleed. I died trying to save Cilla.”
Kieran’s heart skipped a beat at how casually Alex discussed his own demise.
To most, it would seem like a double standard not to care about a human’s death while being upset about the idea of the same happening to his brother.
It was a human’s destiny to live, age, die, go to the afterlife, and eventually reincarnate.
Reapers were immortal. If one died, there was no afterlife, no coming back.
It was final. “Cilla? That’s the woman you’re with? ”
“Priscilla Wainwright.” Both his voice and eyes softened, as Sam’s had at the park when he’d talked about Adrianne Sharp, the woman he was currently living with.
These women played major roles in his brothers’ lives.
A larger one than he did. Crossing his arms, he feigned indifference and ignored the burning sensation in his gut.
That was hunger, nothing more. What did he care if these women were more important to his brothers than he was?
Fuck, he was whining like a two-year-old.
“Tell Alex the rest,” Sam prompted.
“I’ve been sent here to give you an out. Reap the souls you were sent here to collect, and all will be forgiven and your powers restored.”
Alex shook his head. “It’s not that easy, little brother.”
“Of course it is. You’re talking about giving up everything for a half dozen decades of life at most. I don’t get it. What’s so important about the woman?”
“I love her.”
Kieran wanted to yell in frustration, but he managed to keep his voice calm and steady.
“Love is a human construct designed to make their short lives more meaningful. It’s nothing more than a release of hormones brought on by a combination of sex and caring, basic human biology designed to ensure the species survives. ”
“It’s more real than anything I’ve ever experienced.”
The fact Alex truly believed that concerned him. He’d hoped that at least one of his brothers would jump at the opportunity he was offering them. “Worth dying for?”
“Yes.” No hesitation, no sign of doubt.
Screw both of them. It wasn’t only their lives on the line. “I’m not ending up in permanent exile or stuck here to live out a human life because of you two misguided idiots. If you’re not men enough to do the job and clean up the mess you made of things, I will.”
The fist slammed into his jaw.
Pain burst through his skull. The backs of his legs hit the open sofa bed, and he toppled onto the mattress, bouncing twice before settling.
He shot back to his feet and worked his jaw, praying it wasn’t broken.
Alex had fists like anvils, and thanks to the limitations imposed on him by their father, Kieran wasn’t sure he’d heal as he normally would.
“I expected that from Sam. I thought you’d be smarter. ”
“And I didn’t expect you to be this stupid. Guess we’re both disappointed. You honestly think either one of us gave up everything for shits and giggles? You have no idea what a powerful force love is, what you’ll do to protect it.”
Kieran touched his tongue to the corner of his mouth and tasted blood. It looked like his healing abilities had been curtailed. “That a warning? Sam already gave me one.”
“I’m sorry as hell you’re involved in this, but—”
Sam interrupted Alex. “He had a choice.”
“Is that true?”
“Yes.” It might make him seem more of an idiot to them, but damned if he’d lie. “I could have left both of you here to rot and gone on with my life. I was under the misapprehension that you’d appreciate the opportunity to correct your mistakes.”
“I can’t say I wouldn’t have done the same,” Alex began, giving him a glimmer of hope, but it died as he continued, “but I’m afraid you’re stuck with your decision, as we are with ours. I’m happy to see you, but I wish it was under better circumstances.”
Kieran glanced at Sam and was met with a silent glare. “I’m sorry you feel that way.” It might alienate them forever, but he was going to find a way to save them, in spite of themselves.
“Don’t put me, or us”—Alex glanced at Sam—“in the position of having to choose between the women we love and our brother. You’re not healing.” He pointed to the blood trickling down Kieran’s chin. “Don’t forget, while you’re here, you’re as human as we are.”
No way could he forget with the current pounding in his head. “What are you saying?” He wanted it spelled out in black and white.
Sam put his hand on Kieran’s shoulder. “He’s saying we love you, brother, but this was your choice. I already gave my life once to protect Adrianne, and I’ll do it again.” Sam pulled him in for a fast hug and was gone, his boots pounding down the stairs.