14. A Reaper Is Born
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
A Reaper Is Born
“The traditional family is under attack by the modern masculine woman.”
Lying in the backseat of the parked jeep, stretched out across Jax and Caleb’s laps, Deja rested as Jax traced circles on her exposed midriff. Her legs shifted on Caleb’s lap as he caressed her bare thighs. Her body was exhausted from all the traveling they had done from Georgia to California.
“The number of single, sexless men has more than doubled in the past two years as women continue to choose a selfish, childless life of debauchery and sadism, whoring themselves out to any stranger with the highest dollar. The modern woman will be the downfall of civilization.”
Deja curled her lip in disgust. “This loser is one of Roselyn’s Reapers? Where the hell are The Society’s standards? In the 9th circle of hell?”
Jax smirked as his thumb teased her panty line. From the driver’s seat, Ian snorted as he glanced at her through the rearview mirror. “For some divisions…”
Caleb tilted his head, listening to the podcast blaring from Ian’s phone as his fingers ran along the stretch marks on Deja’s thigh. “I’ve been off the grid for a few years. They’re still letting pathetic assholes buy their way into The Society?”
Nibbling his thumb, Ian exchanged looks with Jax through the rearview mirror. “Much has changed in your absence, cousin…” Ian said.
“Not every Reaper sees eye-to-eye,” Jax explained, tenderly caressing Deja’s lip with his thumb as she looked up at him with those dark chocolate eyes he had fallen madly in love with.
“We may all believe in the same deities and worship the same goddess, but our faith is a vast spectrum on which many of us fall on different levels. And our behavior reflects the level of that belief. Some Reapers have rather… distorted views…”
“Like Jamie?” Deja asked. Jax’s face fell, caught off guard by her question.
Massaging his temple, Caleb shook his head. “Yeah, but Jamie's nothing like this idiot. He’d probably kill him on sight.”
Jax snorted. “He’d kill him just for breathing incorrectly…”
“How do you ‘breathe incorrectly’?” Deja asked, bewildered.
“Tucker may be a moron, but he works for the Society Envoy,” Ian said. “...who we need to make contact with the Board.”
“Tucker is not the Envoy?” Deja asked.
“No, he’s merely a mouthpiece. A walking billboard with an affinity for attracting sheep who can relate to his propaganda.
They become easy targets for new Reapers mastering the art of killing,” Ian explained.
“Tucker works for the Envoy, who has a direct line to the Board. Those who are not born and raised within The Society must seek his approval to become a Reaper.”
“And since the Board rotates with each Winter Solstice, with only him knowing who is on it at all times, our plan is to tell him to inform the current Board of Jax’s resurrection. So they can stop your mentally-deranged father from killing me,” Deja summarized.
Ian smiled, impressed by how much information she had retained. “Yes. That’s the plan.”
“It’s an awful plan,” Jax quipped.
“Why? Because we’re not hacking people to death?” Ian asked sarcastically.
“Reapers speak one language: violence. Telling the Board I’m alive won’t do shit,” Jax muttered.
Ian sighed. “We’ve been through this, Jax. You have always been important to The Society. The retaliation was because your death was broadcast globally. We can’t fight off every Reaper from every corner of the earth.”
“Yes, I can,” Jax said without hesitation.
“There goes that god complex,” Caleb snorted. “Though I’m on Jax’s side with this one. Reapers don’t listen to reason once an Elder gives an order. Have to snap a few spines and smash a few skulls just to get their attention.”
“This is the safest option for Deja. You, of all people, Jax, taught me the importance of diplomacy within The Society to get anything done. I understand you’re feeling invincible. But we weren’t all blessed by the devil,” Ian said, staring at Jax through the rearview mirror.
Deja furrowed her brows, confused. “What’s he talking about?”
Jax’s jaw tensed as he glared at Ian through the mirror. Clearing his throat, Ian sighed. “Just a joke among brothers, sweetheart…” Ian hummed. Deja twisted her mouth at the expression on Jax’s face.
“If your plan doesn’t work… we do things my way,” Jax said firmly.
Ian snorted. “I’m surprised you haven’t steamrolled me yet…”
“There’s still time,” Jax muttered.
“Here we go,” Caleb sighed.
“And what exactly is your way?” Deja asked, putting a calming hand against Jax’s cheek before an argument could ensue.
Caleb was amused at how quickly Jax’s mood shifted at Deja’s touch.
The irritation melting from his gaze as his aggravation turned to uninhibited desire.
Jax’s fingers slipped beneath her panty line, tracing the ridges it left in her skin.
Deja’s impressive ability to tame her Reapers before they erupted with anger was only matched by the speed she was able to rein in an unstoppable juggernaut like Jax.
“My way is… messy…” Jax moved his head to catch her finger between his lips.
Deja grinned. “You love it messy, don’t you, Daddy…”
Jax’s words caught in his throat as his pupils dramatically constricted. Caleb groaned as Ian shook his head, annoyed. “Sweetheart, there’s simply not enough room in this vehicle for you to be saying things that will get you mercilessly railed,” Ian warned.
“I mean, we could throw her over the hood, pin her ass down…” Caleb mused as his fingers danced up the inside of her thigh. She shivered beneath his fingertips, and his grin widened with satisfaction. “...spread her open, nice and wide, play with her until she’s purring, dripping, aching…”
Deja shakily exhaled as she instinctively closed her thighs around Caleb’s hand.
But Caleb pushed her thighs apart again, wearing a cocky grin as his fingers continued their ascent up her thigh.
“Caleb,” she started, when Jax caught her chin between his fingers and turned her head until he held her gaze.
“I like that,” Jax grinned. “Torture that beautiful pussy until she’s writhing in agony.
Screaming with desperation. Crying helplessly and begging us to stop…
” His fingers slid beneath her panties, playfully tugging at her tuft of hair.
Deja anxiously held her breath as she got lost in his intimidating glare.
“But there will be no stopping until someone learns… it’s not nice to tease. ”
“Oh, now it’s not nice…” she exhaled as Caleb teased the crevice where her thigh met her pelvis while Jax’s fingers lingered at the top of her labia. “Poor you…”
Jax’s nostrils flared. “You’re so fucking insolent,” he muttered, spontaneously popping her pussy with a hard slap.
“It’s entirely your fault,” Ian snorted.
Caleb grinned. “She’s just flexing her power.”
“I’ll give her something to flex-” Jax threatened, tugging her skirt and panties down, when Deja grabbed his hand.
“When are you going to tell me more about your father?” she asked. The color drained from Jax’s face as his blue eyes darkened until they were nearly black. Caleb shifted uncomfortably as he looked out the window while Ian absentmindedly dug his switchblade into the armrest.
Feeling the mood shift, Deja sat up between them. “Sorry. I know it’s a sensitive topic for you guys, but don’t you think it’s important that I know more about him?”
“He’s an awful fucking piece of shit. What more do you need to know?” Caleb muttered, gritting his teeth at the mere mention of his uncle, when he felt Deja slide her hand in his. The empathetic look on her face instilled regret as he squeezed her hand. “I’m sorry, babe, I… he just…”
“It’s fine,” she smiled.
“Another time,” Jax said, avoiding eye contact. Deja frowned, not believing him, when the front passenger door opened, and Keith hopped inside.
“Special delivery, bitches!” Keith said, rubbing his hands together over the bag of food.
“What took you so damn long?” Ian scolded.
“Motherfucker, don’t lecture me! The line was long!” Keith snapped.
“Is that blood on your collar?” Jax asked.
Keith paused. “It’s… ketchup-”
“Bullshit,” Caleb smirked. “Who did you murk?”
Deja’s mouth dropped. “Keith! You promised-”
“I promised my baby girl burgers and fries from the best fast food joint in LA because I can’t let my woman go hungry. I did not promise I wouldn’t stab a bitch for cutting in front of me and cursing me out- I’m hangry, alright? Who ordered this nasty ass Vegan burger?”
“I’ll take that,” Ian said, snatching it.
Munching on her burger and fries, Deja listened intently as the men gave her a thorough rundown of the Envoy. Something about the plan worried her. Less concerned about walking into potential enemy territory, and more about her men.
She understood that with each attempt to protect her, they were risking perceived rebellion against an institution that had raised them since birth.
This wasn’t just an organization. This was the systemic foundation of their faith, on which they’ve based their entire purpose and existence.
The rules of The Society were woven into the very fabric of their moral values and how they viewed the world.
She understood the attraction to the deity they worshiped.
Roselyn had become more than a fictional character.
She had become a guilty pleasure. An explanation of the existential question: Why?
Why were people awful? Why was this world dying?
Why did we participate in our own self-destruction?
She justified Deja’s anger and gave her a pot to release the rage she had always been taught to keep inside.