Cold Blooded

I turned to watch Ray radiate power into it. The Screamer was strong, but Ray held his own. “I don’t understand, how’s he able to do that? That’s not a normal vampire thing, is it?”

“Non.” Naomi shook her head. “I do not know. It may be that his special gift is to handle the Strigoi? It is a unique gift, but he is … unique.”

“No,” a thin breath whispered in my ear. “Reaper.”

“What?” I asked absentmindedly, moving toward my father, who had lain down again after his brave attempt to help me. I sat, placing my hands into his fur one more time. My body was still recovering from the blast, but I forced as much power as I could into him. Upon feeling our connection, he whined.

The welts had grown in the short time I’d been gone.

“A reaper,” Ben persisted. “Those who claim souls.”

“How can Ray possibly be a reaper?” I asked. I’d heard of reapers from legend only. My brain was still focused on my father. “Ben, can you do something useful and tell me how to help my father and reverse this curse?”

“I know nothing of curses.”

Barking erupted behind me. I brought my head around to investigate and something near the roof of the house caught my attention. Eudoxia stood high atop the house on a widow’s peak I hadn’t noticed before. Her hands were held up to the sky, her dress billowing in the air.

“She’s keeping the ward going,” I commented.

“Oui.” Naomi nodded. “She has stayed the Underworld. For now. But there is much sulfur in the air. I flew up to the sky before we found you. There are rings around the entire perimeter of the Coterie, except for the front. The witches have amassed with your wolves. It is unclear why they have come, but your partner is with them.”

I could always count on Nick. He’d been busy. If Tally had shown, it likely meant Maggie had seen something else, or she’d decided to come find Marcy herself. Either way, it was a bonus. The fact that the wolves were here meant Nick had made contact and had enough time to get reinforcements here. That boy deserved a medal.

“Now you finally die, asshat,” Ray yelled. He was on his knees, hovering over the Screamer, his entire arm inside its back. I watched in fascination as he slowly pulled something out of Conan’s abused body.

It was a shimmery half-formed mass.

Once it was out of the body, Ray struggled to hold on to it. Tyler and Danny barked like mad, clearly uneasy. It was quite a sight.

Rourke stood near me now, a snarl ripping from his chest. “If that thing gets near Jessica, I will kill you, vampire.”

“Hold on to your pants,” Ray grumbled. “This thing is like glue in my hands. I just don’t know exactly what to do with it now.” His eyebrows quirked in concentration. “There isn’t a mind manual for this shit.”

“He must consume the energy,” a breathy voice filtered in my ear. “The reaper must eat it.”

“Ben says you have to consume the energy,” I called to Ray, my hands still deeply buried in my father’s fur. “It sounds fairly revolting, but I’d trust him on this.”

“Who’s Ben?” Tyler asked, running up to us. He and Danny had both changed back once they saw Ray had harnessed the Screamer.

“He’s the resident ghost,” I answered. “He says Ray has to eat the energy to get rid of it.”

Ray said, “I heard him.”

I was beyond being surprised by anything. “I guess if you’re a reaper that would make sense.” My father stirred beneath me. “Ray, you need to get a move on, because my father needs you much more than the Screamer.”

Ray seemed to notice what was going on with my dad for the first time. “What’s wrong with him? He smells like death.” He paced closer, still holding the squirming mass.

Rourke stepped in his way. “Don’t come any closer. That thing is unpredictable.”

“My father’s been cursed,” I answered. “You’re supposed to be able to help, but I don’t see how.” My voice was beginning to edge toward panic. “Ray, please, you have to do something.”

Ray’s voice was somber. “I’ll give it my best shot once I’m done with this.” He turned his head to address the ghost. “How do I get rid of this?”

“You must consume it.” Ben’s voice came out a little stronger. “The Strigoi’s soul must be ripped from its power source. You hold the power source in your hand.”

“How?”

“You must drink it.”

Ray eyed the thing squirming in his hands with distaste as his incisors snapped down and his face started to shift. “They don’t pay me enough for this job,” he muttered as he reared up and sank his fangs into the wiggling mass and sucked.

“That can’t be good,” I said as my lips curled.

“He is dislodging the soul from its shell,” Ben said next to my ear. “Without a host, its energy will crumble and it will be gone.”

“I thought you said there was no way to defeat it before?”

“You never told me you had a reaper in your midst. They are very rare.”

I had no idea I had a reaper in my midst either. Seeing Ray in action was totally surreal. Salvation indeed. He was a maniac.

After a minute Ray unlatched and threw his head back, gasping. He opened his mouth toward the sky and a shimmering mist erupted like hot breath on an icy day and shot skyward. “Hannon,” Ray gasped, still emptying his lungs. “It won’t—”

“It seeks.” Ben’s thin, breathy voice shook with fear. “It still holds too much power.”

“What’s wrong?” I asked urgently. “What are we supposed—”

Before I knew what was happening, Ray dove for my father right as the shimmering mist plunged into his body.

My father convulsed once on the ground and his legs began to kick.

Tyler collided with Ray before I could stop him.

He grabbed him around the throat and dragged him away from our father, moving quickly.

“Tyler!” I shouted, running after them. “What are you doing?”

“He’s going to bite him,” Tyler yelled, his voice full of emotion and panic. It swirled in my veins, his instincts coming to the forefront, more wolf than human. “I can’t let a vamp bite him. My wolf won’t allow it to happen. He’s our Alpha.”

“Tyler, listen to me. You’re not thinking straight. If you don’t let him do this, Dad will die,” I said as calmly as I could. Tyler snarled and gnashed his teeth and I held my hands up. If Tyler broke Ray’s neck, it would take too much time for him to heal. “You have to let him go. That thing is in Dad. Ray is the only one who can help him. And if we don’t hurry, he dies.”

“I can fly, you meathead,” Ray grunted. “Do you want to go for a ride?”

“Shut up,” Tyler spat. “I don’t trust you. You just let that thing go and because of it, it landed in my father. Why should I trust you?”

“Tyler, you need to be reasonable. I know you’re freaked out and I am too.” I injected as much reassurance into our bond as I could. Tyler’s wolf was fighting him for control, rearing up to save his Alpha. “But we have to do whatever we can to save Dad.”

“She’s right,” Danny added, treading cautiously. “You have to let him go, mate. He’s not just a vampire—he’s a bloody reaper. He sucked that thing clean. This is what the child oracle was talking about. This is why Ray is here. He can help us. He’s the only one who can help us. You must release him.”

Rourke eased in behind Tyler.

I nodded once. My brother’s irises swirled in anger and confusion as Rourke took him by the shoulders.

“Get off me, cat,” Tyler snarled.

Let go of Ray.

“The reaper must do his job. The wolf will not last.” Ben’s voice was in my ear. “The Strigoi is too strong, and it’s gaining more power by the second.”

Tyler, let him GO! I hurled power into the words like never before.

Tyler dropped his arms and Rourke walked him backward. Ray lunged at my father, taking him around the neck, sinking his fangs in deeply.

I closed my eyes.

Rourke was next to me before I opened them. “I get it now,” I whispered as I watched Ray, wrapping my fist into Rourke’s shirt. “He’s a reaper, but not a vamp reaper. He’s a reaper and a vamp.”

“You have to be born a reaper,” Rourke said, pulling me closer. “I’ve never heard of one being made. It’s an ancient race.”

“My blood must have triggered something he already had inside. By all rights he should’ve died many times over on that journey. Eamon ripped his neck out and he still had a pulse. And he’s always been immune to persuasion. I thought I’d seen something in him once, but he never smelled like a supe, so I dismissed it.”

“A vampire mixed with a reaper is a deadly combo if you ask me,” Rourke murmured close to my ear. “We’re going to have to watch him carefully.”

Tyler paced ten feet away, his head in his hands. There was nothing I could do to comfort him. We both had to endure Ray as he tried to save our father.

I glanced up at my mate, shivering. I was bone weary and the fight hadn’t even started. I could hear the sorcerers arming themselves outside the walls, and the Queen still stood on the roof, arms raised. We were running out of time. “Do you know what a reaper is exactly?” I asked while we waited. Ray was still hunched over my father. I tried to block out the noises.

“I’ve never known of one,” he answered. “But from history, they are said to have control over souls, sending them to their next resting place when they die. It’s pretty clear he can catch them. Other than that, I don’t know.”

“They can also pull a living soul from a body,” Naomi replied quietly as she neared. “Selene had one in her employ, before she got wary and killed her. They are an asset, but they can also be deadly. A reaper can kill by taking a healthy soul from its host. The stronger the reaper, the bigger the supernatural soul they can snatch.”