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When I open my eyes again I’m in an unfamiliar room, clothed in a pair of boxers and an overly large black shirt that are obviously not mine. I breathe in the scent of the blanket next to me, and realize that I am in Sam’s room. He has a distinct scent of sage and citrus that clings to him and I take in a few lungfuls before finally sitting up.
Sam’s room is downright homey. He has a huge plush brown rug, brown and blue curtains, and a huge painting of an ocean hanging on one wall. I’m impressed they have this much of a personal touch up here.
Deciding that it’s time to face the music, I swing my legs over the side of the bed and walk out of the room.Once I step through the doorway, the others stop talking.
“Feeling better?” Mason asks, his face looking tired and worried.
“I’m good as new,” I say confidently, and I realize that my words are true. My muscles aren’t sore, I’m not in any pain, and I feel well rested.
You’ve got to love reaper healing.
“I like you in my clothes,” Sam remarks with a wolfish grin. Glancing down I realize the shirt is his and grin, blowing him a kiss before snuggling into Thea’s side on the couch. Apparently fighting our way out of a demon realm has me refusing to hold back at all with the guys. Seeing how worried they were solidified in my mind that I’m all in with them. This connection is strong and strange, but it’s ours.
“Thanks for cleaning me up, sister,” I say quietly as I wrap my arms around her. “I’m so sorry for getting us into that mess.”
“Shh. You’re welcome, and it wasn’t your fault. You kept usalive,” she reassures me.
“Will you talk now, you brat?” Liam asks Thea, and she snorts at him.
“It’s cute that you think you can boss me around, sunshine. I have to use the loo now anyway,” She smirks at him before standing up to go to the restroom. At this point she’s just taunting him and I don’t bother to hide my own laughter.
“Women,” Liam mutters, but he has a smile on his face. I think they enjoy having her around as much as I do. Once she finally comes back I force myself to sit up properly, knowing it’s time to tell them the full story.
“We were on our last soul of the day when Thea said she had a bad feeling. We opened the portal but couldn’t find a soul, and then a body fell down from the roof or balcony above us, followed by a demon. I panicked and opened the portal again, but it didn’t take us home,” I explain. They all have unreadable expressions, which is oddly comforting at this moment.
“We thought you were taken. Your phone alerted the guys in the tech department that you went out of range. Whichshouldn’thappen. They alerted the council and the council called us. Days of you being gone was…” Liam cuts off and takes a deep, shaking breath. I never realized they track us, though I guess I shouldn’t be surprised. “It was the same thing that happened to the other reapers.”
“I’m sorry. It was a few hours for us, not days,” I admit. Each new detail I drop on them doesn’t help calm the tension any either. I recount everything from the cook, the murders, the corpses, and finally the souls.
“Don’t let her downplay it, she was fucking amazing. She did what she had to do and kept us alive.” Thea’s voice is full of respect and it makes me feel a bit less guilty for throwing us into that mess in the first place.
“Killing is never easy, no matter why you had to do it,” Mason says. The sympathy in his voice does help. I’m grateful someone at least understands where I’m coming from.
“It’s not murder. The demons can’t be killed. She sliced their throats and they still came back to life,” Thea informs the others. They all look completely horrified at the news.Same guys, it was fucked up in person too.
“We need to go to the council meeting, seeing as how we’ve already kept them waiting. You both should come.” Liam tells us.
“I need to change. Can we stop by my apartment first? I doubt they want to see my ass hanging out of this,” I say. They usher us down to our floor and I stop by my room long enough to put clothes on, tucking Sam’s shirt into a drawer for later. I have every intention of keeping it. Of course the asshole notices, giving me a smirk when I walk out empty handed.
The flirty grin falls away as Mason tells us to hurry. None of us speak on the way to the council hall, lost in our own heads.
As soon as we enter, the din of voices quiets down. I square my shoulders and march confidently to the table, Thea close to my side.
“Ladies, I’m so glad you’re safe. Could you tell us what happened?” The Head Councilor speaks up the moment we’re settled. I’m pleasantly surprised to find genuine concern in his tone. It’s a far cry different than the greeting we got on the dais.
With a quick glance at Thea, I launch into my explanation again, giving them every single gory detail just as I did for the guys. Nobody interrupts, aside from the occasional gasp or noise of outrage. When I finish the room descends into stunned silence. Whatever they had guessed was happening to the missing souls, this was clearly not it.
Once the story is out there for the councilors to process, I feel a sense of relief. This whole situation is so far over my head that I’m not sure how to move past it. How can I go out and reap again without the fear of ending up right back in that land, with no souls to help me escape this time?
“Clearly Luz and Thea are not like our other reapers. I think Luz is a new form of Master Reaper,” the Head Councilor muses. “Things are definitely changing. We are thankful you could recover some of the missing as well.”
“I just wish we could have saved the humans who remained,” I add quietly.
“You did what you could,” Sam cuts me off before I can spiral. Several councilmen around the table nod in agreement.
“Their team willstaya team. Furthermore, I think that this has something to do with Luz’s reaper runes. If we can pull out the image again?” The Head Councilor’s voice snaps me back to reality and I see movement as Arianna joins us and hands out the drawing of my reaper runes.
“So far she brings light to the veil. She can communicate through the veil. She can travel through the portals freely. I’m unsure about the others, but I think they describe her extra powers. Other reapers only have the portal rune, correct?” Thea says, shocking the councilors around the table at her analysis. She blushes at the attention but pride burns in her eyes. We’re slowly proving that we’re capable and worthy of being at this table.
