Chapter Twenty-seven
S tepping through a hole in the tunnel wall that was roughly the shape and size of the warring reapers, I stared at the scene in front of me.
Saul had Zacharias’ body pinned against the tunnel wall. Zacharias’ clothing was hanging in ripped tatters, while Saul had only a single rip in the sleeve of his black dress shirt.
Zacharias and his skin looked like Saul had replicated every injury that had been inflicted on me, and then some. I’d known Saul would be on the warpath when he saw what Zacharias had done, but this version of Saul was one I hadn’t met. This was Avenging Death. He was judge, jury and executioner.
“I don’t know if I want to kill you now, or if I want to keep you alive so I can make you relive the pain you inflicted on my soulmate over and over,” Death snarled. His shadows writhed around him, like Medusa’s serpents, as they ripped at Zacharias’ clothing, skin, and hair.
“Are you sure you aren’t just angry to realize I was always smarter, and you were too dumb to see what was under your nose?” Zacharias had balls to taunt Death, although with the way the shadows were lashing out, I wasn’t sure how long he’d get to keep them.
“I am not weaker because I allowed myself to trust, grieve, and love. Those are the things that will make me a powerful and respected Basileus. I have my soulmate to thank for teaching me that.” Death spun Zacharias around and pressed his scythe against the weaker reaper’s throat. “My beautiful soulmate who would be uninjured if I’d followed my first impulse and crushed your throat at the club. I showed mercy because of our shared past. Thank you for this final lesson. In the future, I will show no mercy to anyone who even coughs in my queen’s direction.”
“She’s a weakness! Why can’t you see that as long as she can be used against you, it is impossible for you to reach your full power?” Zacharias spat.
“You fool. She isn’t holding me back. She’s making me more powerful than you can even imagine.” Death laughed, the sound a haunting, melancholy sound that lured one’s soul to their demise. “My soulmate is the anchor keeping me grounded. If I lose her, the darkness will be all that’s left. I will torch the Earth—not because I want to punish innocents, but because I will be lost. Right now, I’m in control of the power, but if she dies, I will be helpless to stop it.”
“Philetus and you were the crowning achievements of your family line and the pride of the reaper court. You both threw it away for what?”
“Love.” My voice was sharp enough to cut glass as I continued, “Don’t mention Philetus. You aren’t worthy to say his name.”
“What do you know about Philetus? You didn’t know him!” Zacharias’ eyes burned with hatred as he glared at me.
I met Death’s eyes as I answered. “Philetus held my hand as I died.” My chin wobbled, and I swallowed hard, not wanting to lose control.
“You lying wraith!” Zacharias struggled against Death’s grip, not caring that the scythe cut his skin.
“ You don’t deserve the power you have. It’s wasted on you .” I repeated his words back to him. “That’s what you said to Philetus before leaving us both to bleed out in that alley.”
Death might as well have been carved from stone as he struggled to process the nuclear bomb I’d dropped in his lap.
“I couldn’t see your face since I was struggling with my shirt, but I heard Philetus plead for you to spare my life. At the time, I didn’t understand what I was hearing, but now I know that even though he was fatally wounded, he found the strength to protect me the best he could.”
Zacharias shrugged. “He wasted his effort.”
“He apologized that he couldn’t heal me. He was dying and felt bad he couldn’t do more for a human stranger.” A tear slid down my cheek and I looked back toward Death. “He wished he could tell his wife and brother that he loved them just one more time. Until tonight, I didn’t realize it was Philetus who had comforted me while I died. I’m sorry I couldn’t have told you sooner.”
Movement behind me caught my attention, and I glanced over my shoulder to find Rhodes, Evander, and Lochlan standing directly behind me. They held knives and stood ready to provide whatever backup I might have needed.
Zacharias used Death’s distraction to grab something from his pocket and jab it into Death’s chest.
“Saul!” I cried as he pulled the syringe from his chest, then staggered to the side and slid to the floor.
We rushed forward, but stopped when Zacharias held out his hand and his scythe appeared. He curved the blade around my soulmate’s neck.
“The dose of Epolir I gave Philetus kept him too weak to fight or heal. Saul just got triple the dose. One well-placed, deep cut, and you’ll get to watch Death as he dies in front of your eyes.”
The pounding in my skull grew louder, like a drum calling me to war. It stirred that tiny flame of energy inside me until I could feel it doubling, then tripling with each steady drum beat.
I wanted to rush forward, but something held me back.
Patience.
Control.
The words had an eerie calm settling over me, as though I had a plan and the skill to execute it. All I had was the inability to stay down when I was knocked on my butt, and rapidly reproducing energy I wasn’t sure what I was supposed to do with.
Wait.
Zacharias began to laugh. “This is so rich. You have been such a nuisance, it’s truly satisfying to know I was the one who killed you.” He kept his scythe on Saul’s neck as he delivered a savage kick to my soulmate’s ribs.
Thump. Thump. Thump.
The barometric pressure in the room plummeted, and the lights from the hallway exploded.
Now.
I didn’t need to be told twice.
My foot connected with Zacharias’ scythe, sending it clattering across the room before anyone realized I’d moved.
Oh, yeah! I could get used to running if it was easy like this.
I slammed my shoulder into Zacharias, knocking him backward. Pulling energy from the swirling orb inside me, I leaped onto Zacharias’ falling body and released the energy straight into his chest.
Zacharias teleported away from me, clinging to the wall to stay upright. His chest had twin burn marks, and each breath he took was a struggle.
Good. He’d left Philetus to die gasping for air. Let him taste firsthand what that was like.
“I will not be beaten by a damaged ghost!” Digging deep, Zacharias called his scythe back to his hand and charged at me with the impressive speed only reapers could manage.
Until now.
I ran at him, reveling in the weightlessness and freedom of being a ghost, but equally enjoying the pure energy flowing through every molecule of what made me, well… me.
Zacharias grinned in anticipation as he lifted his scythe and swung it down, intending to slice me in half.
The clang of metal on metal as his scythe slammed into mine echoed around the room.
His eyes were wild as he stared at me. “How?”
“Philetus,” I hissed. “You tried to steal his power so you could level up, but even as he lay dying, he found a way to keep it out of your hands so you couldn’t hurt people with it.”
“You are human! Reaper energy would have killed you instantly!” Zacharias protested, unable to accept that I, a defective ghost, had the thing he’d been willing to kill for.
“I guess it was a good thing you took care of killing me, huh? Philetus hung on long enough to time the energy transfer right as my heart beat its last and I began to separate from my humanity.” I let the energy fighting to be released flow into my scythe, and watched in awe as it began to glow.
“What are you?” For the first time, I saw fear in his eyes.
“I don’t know. Death’s pet? Girlfriend to the Knights Baudelaire?” I mused.
“Will you marry us?” Lochlan shouted from where he was helping Saul to his feet.
“Yes!” I grinned and turned back to Zacharias. “Correction, Fiancé of the Knights Baudelaire, smut reader extraordinaire, library ghost, Saul’s soulmate.” I shrugged. “But those aren’t the ones you need to worry about.”
“I’m not scared of you.” Zacharias’ muscles flexed as he tried to force me to lower my blade.
“You should be, because today I’m fighting to avenge Philetus.” I sent my energy pouring into the scythe, heating the weapon until it glowed hot.
Zacharias’ blade groaned and cracked as his scythe shattered.
“You tried to take Philetus’ scythe, so I’ve taken yours!” I shouted in victory, proud to have honored the man who’d unknowingly given me a second chance at life.
His power had merged with my ghost form, giving me the ability to produce new energy like a reaper. It was the reason I hadn’t faded like every other ghost. I was guessing it had altered my body’s makeup, allowing me to move in the reaper realm, and to give Saul a soulmate mark.
Who knew what else it had done? I was going to have a lot of questions for Saul.
But now I needed to finish this. I pressed my blade to Zacharias’ neck and reminded myself of all the terrible things he had done and why he couldn’t be allowed to escape again.
Zacharias curled his lip in disgust. “You saved the ghosts and you can kill me. But in five minutes, the reapers will be wiped out. You lose.”
“What?” I asked, not understanding.
“Saul thought we were just creating a distraction with a harmless explosion. But I wanted to make all the reapers pay for blocking my efforts to rise to positions of power within the court. But even after my allies accepted bribes to lock the file about Philetus’ death, they refused to recommend me for a seat in court.” He spat the words with such venom I wondered how he’d managed to hide his true self for so long.
“Our species has grown too soft, too lax. None are worthy of wielding a scythe. Right now, all the reapers are sitting down to eat the yearly feast, and my parting gift will go off and wipe the embarrassment we have become from the Earth.”
“Where is it?” I moved to push my scythe at his throat, hoping it would encourage him to talk faster, but the scythe vanished.
“Axelle! You don’t put down your weapons in the middle of a battle! Get it back out!” Lochlan and Rhodes ran toward me.
“I don’t know where it is?” It came out sounding more like a question than a statement.
“What do you mean? Where did you put it?”
I threw up my hands. “If I knew, I’d get it back out. Maybe it went to the same place all my hair ties and favorite pens disappeared too.”
“Well, find it!” Lochlan shouted, looking at me expectantly.
“I’m new to this! Cut me some slack!” I shouted back.
“I’d love to! Do you have a blade handy?” Lochlan quipped.
“You can’t even wield your weapon like a proper reaper.” Zacharias’ cackle was cut short when Saul appeared behind him.
“I can though.” With a swift swipe of Saul’s scythe, it was over. “My soulmate doesn’t have to lift a finger if she doesn’t want to,” he muttered, leaning against the wall, still fighting the effects of the drugs.
“I’ll be right back.” My announcement was met with a chorus of angry shouts.
Probably because they knew where I was going, and that I might not come back. But I wasn’t ready to bet against myself. Hex! I was starting to think the bookworm might have been hiding a warrior’s heart.
Still, I was beyond ready to get cozy with my sweatpants and smut—I mean, my research on the effect hormones had on social behavior in forced proximity settings.
#
Ninety seconds after I hopped to the reaper plane, crashed their feast, and figured out how to absorb enough energy to power a theme park for several months, I re-materialized in the exact spot I’d left.
The men were still in their same spots, alternating between arguing over what they could do to help and threatening to cuff me to the bed and keep me there if I was going to keep them stressed out.
Wasabi scampered over to greet me, but it took thirty more seconds for my circle to realize I was back.
They fell silent, their eyes slowly taking in my appearance.
“You guys look like you’ve seen a ghost—oh wait, you have!” I laughed, then hiccupped. “I think I have indigestion.”
“You’re glowing.” Evander stepped forward and brushed his fingers down my glowing skin.
“Odd, right?” I turned my hands, mesmerized by the soft, moon-like glow of my skin. “I’m like a human glow stick, or those weird caterpillar dolls with the human face, and when you squeeze them, they light up from the inside.”
“No wonder you hate scary movies if you slept with toys like that as a kid,” Lochlan muttered.
Rhodes pulled me into his arms and kissed me. “I have no idea what happened here today, but you were awe-inspiring.”
I hiccupped again, then turned away from him to cover my mouth and muffle my burp. “Maybe I should sit down. I’m not feeling so good.”
Saul stepped forward and rested his forehead on mine. I knew what he was doing, and I saw the look of stark fear on his face when he reeled back.
“Get over here! She can’t hold this much energy. If we don’t get some of this drained from her, she will disintegrate from the strain on her body.” Saul’s mouth was already brushing mine. “I’ve never fed off someone’s energy, but I want you to pour as much as you can into me.”
“You’re still too weak from the concoction Zacharias shot you up with!” I protested.
“Stop worrying. I’ve been handling reaper energy far longer than you have. I will redirect it to burn any traces of the injection from my blood and heal any damage it might have done.”
His mouth captured mine, and I slowly pushed the energy into him like I had with Rhodes when he’d been injured in the tunnels. Saul was a fast learner, and it wasn’t long before he was eagerly sucking it from me.
“We’re going to undress you so we can use our mouths and hands to siphon energy as fast as possible.” Rhodes explained.
At my nod, Lochlan, Evander and Rhodes removed my clothes, leaving me bare in front of them. This time, instead of the lights overhead flickering, I began flickering.
“Sugar, you have four men in your circle. You’re going to need to get used to us wanting to see, touch, and taste your gorgeous naked body… because it’s going to be hard keeping our hands off you.” Rhodes’ fingers trailed down my spine.
Saul broke the kiss, long enough to pant, “Grab onto Axelle. I’ll take us home. Someone grab Wasabi.”
All the guys had accepted that he was part of the family without me saying a word or needing to plead my case for why I should get to keep him. It made me fall in love all over again.
Saul teleported to his bedroom, the one I’d accidentally tumbled into when I’d been feeling overwhelmed.
“His bed works way better than ours,” Evander commented.
He was right. Saul’s bed took up as much space as two king-sized beds. “ Our bed. I’ll leave it up to Axelle, but if you’re all comfortable here, we can make this our home when we aren’t working. If you prefer something different, just find what you want and I’ll have the money transferred to purchase it.”
I laughed. “Just like that? You make it sound like it’s as easy as buying a pair of pants.”
“I spend more time with my tailor than I did with the agent while buying this house.” He raised an eyebrow at my stunned expression. “Pet, I’ve walked this Earth for a while and I’ve amassed significant wealth, and that doesn’t count the inheritances that were passed down to me from my parents’ and grandparents’ fortunes. If there’s something you want, I’ll have it here within hours.”
I’d never been comfortable accepting gifts, but there was one thing I wanted.
Saul sat down and pulled me onto his lap. “I saw that look. What made you so excited? A boat? A plane? An island? A castle?”
“Not even close.” Evander’s soft chuckle quickly turned into a full belly laugh. My chest warmed, seeing him comfortable enough to laugh without trying to hide it.
Saul huffed. “Alright then, what has her practically drooling, and her eyes sparkling just thinking about it?”
“My coc—” Lochlan was cut off by the pillow Rhodes smashed in his face.
“A brand-new Kindle,” Evander answered, wiping tears from the corners of his eyes.
“Done. I’ll have it here by morning.” Saul moved to kiss my lips, but I leaned back.
“But how will you know which one to get? There are different sizes, various colors, some are waterproof?—”
“I was going to have my assistant send one of each color and style. Then you’d get the exact one you want.” Saul’s violet eyes glowed with so much love, it took my breath away. “Besides, I figured since we claimed a book girl, each of us should probably start reading more.”
“I have a list!” Lochlan offered, shooting me a wicked grin.
“You read?” Rhodes gasped in exaggerated shock, then plucked Lochlan’s knife from the air as it sailed by his head.
“Yes, I’ve found boo’s favorite books are quite educational,” Lochlan answered with a straight face. “I didn’t realize reading could be so up lifting and really raise your spirit. A few have helped me to see things from a new position and enlightened me on how a group can really come together.”
“He’s reading romance books, isn’t he?” Saul whispered loud enough for everyone to hear.
“Enough talk. We only siphoned off a little of the energy, and I’m starving.” Rhodes pulled off his shirt, but left his pants on to my utter disappointment.
Saul traced his finger along my slit, then brought it to his mouth and licked it clean.
“So sweet,” he purred, knowing the effect it had on me. “I think Rhodes would enjoy a snack.”
Saul scooted back on the bed, setting me on the edge of the mattress between his legs. “Open your legs, pet.”
When I opened them a few inches and stopped, Saul gently pulled them open, offering me to Rhodes. It was intoxicating, and a wave of slick heat rushed between my thighs, and I knew in my current position, all four of my men could see how soaked I was.
Rhodes dropped between my thighs and began to lick and feed as though I was the first meal he’d had in weeks.
“Ooh!” I gasped, struggling to keep my heart from bursting through my ribcage.
I froze.
“My heart is beating,” I whispered in confusion.
It hadn’t been a migraine pounding in my head.
Rhodes hummed his acknowledgement, but his mouth continued to lick and suck.
Lochlan, Evander, and Saul simply nodded in agreement.
“You knew? How? Why?” I gasped the last word thanks to Rhodes’ skilled tongue.
Lochlan was the first to respond, “We’re collectors and Saul is a reaper. Ghosts are our specialty, and we can feel them in a room before we see them. Plus, we are even more in tune with you, so when your heart started beating, it was hard to miss.”
“We don’t know why it happened, though. You still don’t have a flesh and blood body on the human plane, so you’re a ghost. We know that ghost organs don’t really function, since they are no longer trying to keep the person alive. You’re the only ghost to have a beating heart.” Evander ran a hand through his hair. “It started trying to beat at the same time your body was struggling to heal from what Zacharias did to you. My guess is that you were only getting a trickle of the power Philetus hid inside you, and when your body was in crisis, you yanked a little harder and released the full power.”
Evander gave me a smile. “Maybe one day we’ll understand the details of how the reaper power blended with your ghost form, or maybe you’re just a one-of-a-kind original.”
“I’ve been thinking about that.” Lochlan moved to kneel by my left side, then began to kiss his way up my ribs and toward my breasts. “Since you aren’t exactly a ghost, and you aren’t exactly a reaper, how about we call you a greaper?” Lochlan lifted his head to look at me, his lips twitching. “I can see by your expression you aren’t feeling that one. Okay, how about rhost?”
I pulled his face up to mine and caught his bottom lip between my teeth, giving it a gentle nip. “I have learned to tolerate boo, but I will kick you out of the bed if you try to make either of those happen.”
“But—” Lochlan began.
Rhodes cut him off. “No, you’ve lost your naming privileges.”
The men fell quiet after that, Rhodes bringing me to the edge of release over and over, but denying me each time. Lochlan’s mouth and tongue were lavishing attention on my left breast, while Evander did the same to my right. Saul was massaging my back with his magic fingers while he kissed my neck and continued to feed from my energy. I’d occasionally feel him rock his hips, grinding his erection against me. It was a promise of what was to come, and I couldn’t wait.
Surrounded by so much love, with my men draining the energy to levels I could handle and at the same time driving me wild with their every touch, I knew it wasn’t possible for life—or death—to get any better than this.
And if I was totally honest, I wouldn’t mind if all our missions ended this way.