14. A Reaper Is Born #3
“If I have to stand from this chair,” Jax finally spoke calmly. “I will send your body back to your mother in pieces in a box wrapped with your own skin.”
The color drained from Tucker’s face as he caught that infamous Donovan glare. The threat was absolutely horrifying, and yet it still hit Deja’s clit, making her throb with need.
Loud clapping abruptly pierced the air as a dark-skinned man with silver cornrows down his back and a septum ring, wearing an Aetherian green suit stepped into the room.
Tucker stepped back with a bowed head as Faraji shoved his hands into his pockets and looked at Deja.
“Now where… did you find… her…” Faraji spoke in a deep Ghanaian accent.
“Are women allowed to speak here, or does the ‘Reaper I’m fucking’ need to answer for me?” Deja asked, annoyed.
A wide smile spread across Faraji’s face as he looked at Jax. “I like her.”
“She’s mine,” Jax said reflexively.
Faraji burst into laughter. “But of course! I value my head, Jax Donovan! And my skin!” The way the men shifted informed Deja that this was the Envoy they had been waiting for.
Faraji looked at Tucker. “...leave us.” Tucker’s jaw tensed as he glared at Deja before he quickly walked out.
“You Donovans… always causing trouble,” Faraji said, looking out the window.
“That’s not entirely true,” Ian said.
“Ian Donovan. The Charmer. Legendary kill: orchestrated the massacre of the British parliament during elections. Death toll: 87.” Deja’s eyes widened in shock as Faraji continued.
“Keith Donovan. The Wild Animal. Legendary kill: 5-day killing spree, wiping out 11 police precincts across Alabama, Mississippi, and Tennessee. Death toll: 143,” Faraji recited.
“Good times,” Keith smiled, twirling his blade.
“Jax Donovan. The Scourge…” Faraji turned to Jax. “Legendary kill: the infamous slaughter at the United Nations Oil Treaty Summit. Death toll: 227.” Deja nearly swallowed her tongue.
“That was a work of art,” Ian smiled.
“Truly his best work,” Faraji grinned. He looked at Caleb, confused. “...I’m afraid I don’t have much information on you, Caleb Byrnes. Your work barely shows up in our database.”
“I’m off the grid. I’d like to keep it that way,” Caleb quipped.
Faraji smiled as he looked at Jax. “I figured the rumors were true. I’m assuming you want me to tell the Board you’re alive and well so they can reinstate you.”
“No,” Jax said. “I do not want to be reinstated. I want them to call Mad-Blood off.”
Faraji looked at him, surprised. “...your father?”
“He’s targeting Deja,” Ian clarified.
Faraji looked at Deja curiously when he noticed Jax holding her hand. “Oh… I see… Did you birth his child too…?”
Deja looked at him, caught off guard. “Faraji,” Jax warned.
Faraji smiled at Jax. “I will relay your message,” he said, walking away before he stopped. “Word of advice. If you truly want to protect her… make the mother of your child a Reaper.”
“She’s already a Reaper,” Jax said.
Faraji turned to face Jax and smiled knowingly. “Jax Donovan… you know what I mean…”
“No,” Jax said simply.
“What is he talking about?” Deja asked.
“It doesn’t matter,” Jax said.
“She understands our teachings better than most Reapers-” Faraji started.
“I will not scar my wife!” Jax growled, startling Deja.
Faraji stepped back defensively. “I didn’t know you were married…”
“We’re not,” Deja said, confused.
“Yet,” Jax quipped.
Faraji smiled and looked at Deja before he pulled down his collar, exposing his scar. Deja swallowed hard as it finally registered what he meant. “Moladh Roselyn… Ms. Deja Louis…” Faraji said, walking out.
“Jax Donovan is an example of a good man who was taken advantage of by the modern woman. All the good he’s done in this world just to be abused, killed, and stolen from by a gold-digging, no-good whore who can’t keep her legs closed.”
Francesca turned up the podcast as she scanned her laptop, littered with candid shots of Deja. “You’re still listening to that weirdo?” Carter yawned from the couch in the small motel.
Francesca shushed him. “I think he knows Jax Donovan. This episode sounds personal. Like… they went to the same school or something.”
“Okay? And?” Carter asked, grabbing a beer from the fridge.
“If I can get in contact with him, he’d be a huge source of knowledge for this story,” she said.
Carter shook his head. “I’m telling you that Donovan gives me the creeps, Fran. I really wish you would drop this story.”
“Fuck no,” she snapped. “This story is a gold mine. If you’re too pussy to follow through, then fine. Leave. More money and fame for me. Otherwise, shut up and go through those tapes until we find something we missed.”
Carter twisted his mouth in frustration as he grabbed his camera.
The car ride back to the LA hotel, where they were temporarily staying, was quiet. Sitting between Jax and Caleb, Deja’s eyes darted between the branding on Ian and Keith’s necks. The scars had always disturbed her. But now…
“I want the branding,” she said suddenly, breaking the silence.
Ian sighed. “No,” Jax said firmly.
“Hell no,” Caleb said simultaneously.
“Why not?” she asked. “You guys wanted me to be a Reaper.”
“It’s not necessary,” Ian advised.
Deja sighed. “You guys can’t make me the exception to your rules.”
“Yes, we can. End of discussion,” Jax said dismissively.
Grabbing Jax’s hand, Deja held his gaze as she tenderly kissed his fingers. “I can’t explain it… but I feel like I need to do this…”
Jax searched her eyes and saw something he had always hoped he’d see from the moment they first met.
Watching Deja realize who she was was like watching the birth of a universe.
To Jax, she was so much more powerful and special than she could even begin to comprehend.
Watching her accept what he knew to be true all along ignited joy, relief…
and apprehension as he sighed in resignation.
Deja patted his hand with a smile. “Keith,” she said.
“Yeah, baby girl?”
“I want you to do it,” she said, startling them.
Suddenly, the car screeched to a halt before Ian turned around in his seat. “Why are you so infuriating?!” Ian snapped.
“Someone’s jealous,” Keith grinned. He quickly dodged as Ian’s blade lunged into the seat.
Deja tried not to laugh at Ian’s tantrum. “I want you to take care of me after,” she insisted. “I like your gentle touch, Dr. Donovan.”
Just like that, Ian’s jaw relaxed, his anger already melting as he looked at her like a man under a siren’s spell. “I should be doing the whole procedure, but fine…” he muttered, starting the car again. “I will take care of you after the buffoon tries to butcher you.”
“Fuck off,” Keith laughed.
Sitting on a barstool at the kitchen table, Deja anxiously pulled at her fingers. Wearing just her bra and skirt with her hair in a braided bun on her head, she anxiously waited as Keith heated a hot iron over the stove burner.
“May I ask why you chose Keith of all people to do it?” Ian muttered.
“Because he’s the only one who didn’t protest,” Deja said, looking at Keith. “And I know he’d do anything I’d ask without it conflicting with how he feels about me…”
“I’d slaughter a whole town with a chainsaw for you, baby girl,” Keith grinned.
“That’s not necessary, Keith,” Deja laughed.
“And can I ask why you folded so quickly?” Caleb asked Jax, annoyed. “Why are you okay letting her scar herself like this?”
Jax hesitated to speak as he looked at Deja. Ian’s face fell once it clicked. “Jax-” Ian started.
“The prophecy,” Jax said suddenly. Caleb raised his brows, confused, as Ian sighed.
“Crazy alert,” Keith said.
Deja looked at Jax, perplexed. “...what prophecy?”