23. The Seoul Reapers #2
Jax’s gaze shifted from Caleb back to Chloe.
“I won’t force our beliefs on her like my parents did to us…
” Jax tenderly caressed his daughter’s back over the shirt, careful not to get any blood on her sensitive, light brown skin.
“I want her to have a choice. Being a Reaper… will be her choice…” Jax said, finally.
“Regardless… I will love her. Reaper or not.”
With a tilt of his head, Caleb quietly watched his cousin, whose blue eyes bloomed with a raw, innocent love, completely enraptured by his daughter.
Jax had changed.
He was still ruthless. Still dangerous. More monstrous. More violent. More protective.
But there was a tenderness there that Caleb had never seen before. A vulnerability that usually only revealed itself with Chloe or Deja in his line of sight. It seemed to spread to his brothers… and him.
“Jax? Caleb?”
They both looked up at the sound of Deja’s voice as she ran down the hallway. Her face lit up with relief at the sight of them before her eyes widened. “Behind you!”
Flipping his blade between his fingers, Caleb flung it into the neck of a Reaper coming at them from the side before Jax was grabbing another by the neck, crushing their throat between his fingers as blood gushed.
Chloe’s screaming laughter pierced the air. “There she goes again,” Caleb grinned. Deja looked over her shoulder as Ian walked past her, and Keith swung a machete with his wrist as if he were about to charge into battle.
“Listen to my little Reaper! Now that’s a battle cry!” Keith grinned, slamming his machete into the next Reaper.
“Stop! Stop! Fucking stop!”
Everyone froze where they stood before a man with short, wavy black hair, wearing a short leather jacket and a mask, stepped forward. He snapped at several other Reapers, barking in Korean before he set his eyes on Jax.
“What the fuck is wrong with you?! Why are you killing all these Reapers?!” he snapped angrily in Korean.
“Is that a serious question?” Jax asked in Korean. “You attack my woman. I rip your goddamn head off.”
The man looked at Deja, who was staring at them, confused by what they were saying. “Clearly, that was an accident. We were targeting the green-eyed devil-”
“That’s not Jamie Byrnes!” Ian snapped in Korean.
Caleb looked up, confused, only recognizing his brother’s name. “What are they saying?”
“Hold on! Hold on!” Another Reaper emerged next to the first one, holding a large machete over his shoulder. “Firstly… Moladh Roselyn. I am Dak-Ho.”
“Is that civility I hear?” Ian muttered angrily.
“Forgive these Reapers. They are eager and… new. You’ve caught us in the pre-stages of the New Reaper Open Arena,” Dak-Ho said.
Jax tilted his head back knowingly. The New Reaper Open Arena was one of the main reasons Reapers steered clear of Seoul in the first place. “We’ll be leaving then,” Jax said in Korean, motioning to Ian and Keith.
“Jax Donovan… I have nothing but respect for you, your legacy, and the empire you’ve built. But I cannot allow you to just… leave.” Dak-Ho looked at Deja and Renee and smiled. “The women are new Reapers, are they not?”
“Why do I feel like he’s talking about us…” Deja muttered to Renee.
“He’s definitely talking about us. Look how he’s looking at us,” Renee said. “Is this a race thing? Is it cause we’re the only two Black dummies chillin’ with a bunch of crazy-ass, sun demon serial killers?”
Deja snorted. “Girl…”
“We can hear you,” Dak-Ho said in English.
“Oh, so you do speak English, you rude ass mofo!” Renee snapped.
Esme laughed. “Baby-”
“Nah, cause why couldn’t he speak in English the whole time? It’s giving xenophobia,” Renee said.
“She’s right,” another Korean Reaper with a white mohawk and tattoos along his shaved head stepped forward with two swords strapped across his back. “If you’re gonna talk about them… talk to them.”
Jax immediately recognized him. “Kang-Dae.”
Kang-Dae looked at Jax and bowed his head. “Moladh Roselyn, Jax Donovan. What brings you to Seoul, hmm?”
Jax tilted his head back. “Business.”
Kang-Dae smiled knowingly before he looked at Dak-Ho. “Let them go. They have no business with our Reapers,” he said in Korean.
Dak-Ho shook his head. “Being a legendary Reaper doesn’t exempt him from our games.”
“He’s not a legend; he’s an immortal,” Kang-Dae said quickly. “Can’t you sense it? He’s not like us. Leave him alone if you want to keep your head.”
Dak-Ho looked at Kang-Dae mockingly. “Kang-Dae… Don’t tell me you’re afraid.”
“It’s not fear; it’s respect. Leave them alone, Dak-Ho. I’m warning you,” Kang-Dae ordered.
“I’m confused. What’s going on?” Deja asked.
“The New Reaper Open Arena.” Deja looked over her shoulder and saw a woman with short black hair streaked with green highlights step forward.
A shirtless hulking giant covered with tattoos, wearing a black mask over his face, and holding a massive ax over his shoulder, stood behind her.
“We like to play games here in Seoul,” she said with a smirk.
“The New Reaper Open Arena is where we hunt new Reapers. See if they’re worthy of the title. They’re weeded out pretty quickly.”
“Sorry to break it to you, but my wife isn’t doing shit,” Esme said matter-of-factly.
“Neither Deja nor Renee will be participating,” Jax said curtly. “They are under the protection of the Donovan Clan.”
“I’m afraid it doesn’t work like that,” Dak-Ho said. “They will be hunted. Whether they like it or not.”
“Then I will rip you limb from fucking limb,” Jax guttered. “Don’t fucking try me.”
Dak-Ho scoffed, but he swallowed hard, put off by the threat in Jax’s tone and the murderous, inhuman glare in his eyes.
Kang-Dae could sense Jax’s bridling anger and knew Dak-Ho had no true understanding of what kind of beast Jax Donovan was.
He did not want to be in the path of destruction once it was released.
“There’s no need for that,” Kang-Dae said quickly. “I have a proposal.”