Chapter 12 Crypt
Ifelt antsy all night. My Reaper was mostly the cause. He kept prompting me to stand guard in front of Rachel and Rylee and not let them out of my sight. So, I did.
The only time I left them was when Hannibal was there.
It had been a week since we arrived at the cabin.
We spent the days in the water and the nights by the campfire.
It should have been relaxing, a vacation away from all the chaos.
And when I was buried inside Rachel, it was fucking perfect.
I knew I was falling hard for her, and walking away was never going to be an option.
I cared about her and Rylee. That little girl was a firecracker just like her mom. She made me laugh. I loved being around her and getting a taste of fatherhood. If given the chance, I’d do right by Rylee and give her the best life I could.
Hannibal wasn’t glaring at me anymore. He made peace with the fact that I was with his daughter. If he knew we had fucked multiple times already, he didn’t act like it.
I sat across from him in front of the campfire, sipping from a beer while Rachel went inside to use the restroom.
It took a minute for me to realize she hadn’t come back out.
Hannibal noticed around the same time that I did. Rylee was in bed since she had been falling asleep around eight after swimming all day. There wasn’t a reason to linger in the house unless she woke up. “Crypt?”
“Yeah. I feel it.” I set my beer down on the ground and stood, approaching the house with caution.
My Reaper shouted in my head. He was so pissed that I couldn’t understand what he was trying to say.
By the time I reached the sliding glass doors that led into the kitchen, I knew something was wrong. Someone moved within the shadows, and they had Rachel.
My lip lifted in a snarl as I saw two figures emerging from the cabin. The first was Rachel. She had a knife pressed to her neck. The blade was sharp, and moonlight glinted on its surface. I didn’t recognize the man who held the knife.
“Don’t move any closer,” he warned.
“What the fuck do you want?” I asked, pausing my steps so he wouldn’t cut Rachel.
“What’s owed to me,” he hissed.
For fuck’s sake. Why does every entitled asshole out there think they can steal what they want?
“Drop the knife and let her go,” I ordered, keeping my voice level and calm.
My Reaper wanted to burst from my skin and take his soul, letting Rachel see how well he could protect her.
But not yet. This asshole might hurt her in the process. I had to be careful.
“I’m not doing shit. Rachel is coming with me.”
Why? What did he need from her?
She turned fearful eyes my way as she spoke. “I told you I don’t know the combination to Doyle’s safe, Tilton.”
Tilton? Who the fuck was he?
“Drop your hands and move away from my daughter, Tilton,” Hannibal warned.
I felt his presence before I saw him. Hannibal had entered the cabin from the other side, and now he was behind Tilton. His Reaper was as pissed and agitated as mine. This wouldn’t end well for Tilton.
“Last chance,” I warned.
Rachel gasped as Tilton pressed the knife closer to her skin. I saw a drop of blood appear on her skin and growled. He would pay for every tiny mark he inflicted.
I was about to rush him when I heard Hannibal tell him his time was up. At first, nothing happened. But then Tilton started to twitch. His eyes widened as he dropped the knife. A strange sound came from his lips like he was slowly being strangled.
Rachel ran away from him and into my arms. I hugged her close as we watched him convulse. His mouth opened, but no sound came out. I laughed, but it wasn’t me. The noise came from my Reaper.
He was enjoying this, watching Tilton suffer.
It was dark out, but the outdoor lights provided enough illumination for me to see everything. Maybe that was partially due to the Reaper, since he boasted about his abilities in my ear as Tilton collapsed on the ground.
“Is he dead?” Rachel asked, clinging to me.
“No.”
I could feel that he was still alive. My Reaper sensed it. He knew Tilton would live until we harvested his soul. That knowledge slipped into my mind easily, freely shared by my Reaper.
Excitement rippled along my spine.
It was time.
Hannibal exited the cabin, and I kissed Rachel as I felt my body lift off the ground. I held her tightly against me with one arm, leaving the other hand open to receive my scythe. It sang as it appeared, filling my palm as the wails of thousands of souls lingered on the blade.
“Don’t be afraid, my beautiful one. No harm will come to you.”
Rachel trembled as I turned my head to stare into her eyes. I knew she was seeing the Reaper more than me. He wanted her to get a good look, to know that she was protected. Her gasp and wide eyes betrayed her fear. It filled the air and soured it.
But nothing was as foul as Tilton’s soul.
It was an inky blot that stunk like sulfur.
His crimes flashed through my mind, and I growled as I saw what he had done to innocent children.
How he helped form a vile organization called The Sect of Primordial Light.
They believed sex with children brought them favors and success.
I felt nauseous and choked on his memories, staring into his face with loathing. “You took from the innocent. Now, I will force every vile memory and harm you did back onto you.”
I didn’t know how it was possible, but I reversed those memories, pushing all the pain and suffering from his crimes into them so they filled his body, tormenting him with every foul thing he’d ever done. Tilton’s cries were so loud and numerous that Rachel covered her ears and whimpered.
“I’ve got you,” I promised. “You’re safe.”
Hannibal joined me as the ground began to quake beneath us. It split open into several fissures, cracking across the surface until one giant chasm opened up below our feet. Black robes billowed over my body, and the same robes appeared on Hannibal as he hovered in the air directly across from us.
“Dad?” Rachel asked, staring at him with shock.
“This is what we are, my daughter. Every Graven Bastard. Now you know our secret.”
She blinked, and I could feel her accepting his words, experiences during her childhood, and the years since providing answers to questions she never knew she had until now.
Tilton finally stopped screaming. He was nearly a husk now.
All that kept him alive was his tainted soul.
I lifted my scythe at the same time as Hannibal, and we swiped through the air, tearing it from his boy and slicing it into pieces.
The fragments fell into the fissure, sucked in by the hungry bowels of hell and Lucifer’s domain.
I watched the fissure begin to close, and the ground no longer rumbled. It returned to normal as we slowly lowered. Our feet rested on the grass and dirt as if they had never moved.
What remained of Tilton’s physical form crumbled into ash and blew away in the wind. He was gone—no longer a threat.
I swiped at the blood on Rachel’s neck, relieved to find that the nick was superficial. It would heal quickly.
She glanced between her father and me. I wouldn’t make her choose.
“Go to him.”
She kissed my cheek and ran to Hannibal. He caught her in a fierce hug. His face and body were normal now, no longer controlled by the Reaper. I could feel it was the same for me.
After she hugged her father, Rachel returned. I slid my arm around her, tugged her close, and claimed her mouth like I planned to do every day as long as she wanted me.
“Stay with me, Crypt. Be a part of my family.”
I answered her with another kiss, suddenly turned on and needing her. Inside, Rylee slept. She was unaware of what had happened.
We can shield the area during a reaping. No one will see or hear anything unless we want it to happen.
Ah. That made sense.
The Reapers wanted her to see. She was a witness.
And they blocked Rylee to protect her.
“Tilton was Doyle’s best friend.” Rachel shook her head. “I didn’t know what he did. I never knew he was hurting children or that Doyle would try to give him our daughter.”
“There’s no way you could have known,” Hannibal told her as he approached us. “Even we didn’t see it all until the Reaper showed us. Crypt’s Reaper is a memory keeper. He reverses them on our prey.”
My chest puffed with pride.
“This makes so much sense now. All the club secrets and the rumors. It’s all clicking into place.” Rachel seemed a bit overwhelmed, but I sensed she could handle it. “I’m in awe.”
“Of the Reapers?” I asked.
“Well, yes, but all of it. I’m terrified but also fascinated. It was the most amazing and horrifying thing I’ve ever seen.”
I had to agree. My gaze shifted to Hannibal. “My Reaper no longer feels agitated. He’s calm.”
“That’s how you know there’s no longer any threats nearby,” he explained. “When you feel it next time, you’ll know what it means.”
Good to know.
“Congratulations, Crypt. You reaped your first soul. Lucifer will be proud.”
The devil got a nasty one, that was for sure.
“I’m going inside. Rylee gets up early, and I need sleep.”
Hannibal entered the cabin and shut the doors, leaving us alone.
Rachel was staring at me. “He winked at me.”
Huh?
“The Reaper. That part of you. He winked at me.”
He did?
“I think he wanted me to know that he’s a part of you and nothing to fear.”
My chest rumbled as the Reaper agreed with her assessment.
“It’s a bit odd, but I think I like it.”
My mind became flooded with sexual images, all of Rachel. Her legs spread wide. Pussy wet and welcoming. Her ass in the air as she climbed on the bed, staying on her hands and knees. And fuck, her mouth open and waiting for my cock.
“Oh wow, you’re turned on.”
She could tell? “Yeah.”
“Then you need me.”
“I really do. Right now.”
“Then take me to the lake and let me ride you in the moonlight.”
I didn’t have to be told twice. Scooping her up, I tossed her over my shoulder, slapped her ass, and fulfilled her every wish.