Page 46 of Reaper's Quest

I dipped my gaze to his bleached hand.Yeah, I don’t think so.

I actually fought a snarl.

I shifted toward Raven, turning my back on the new (irritating) Winter guy. “What’s the deal?”

“I don’t know.” She shrugged. Her gaze fluttered to Winter, and her cheeks reddened. She quickly averted her gaze. “He might have saved my life. Maybe.”

What the reaping fu?

I glanced between them, clenching my jaw as my insides twisted.

I didn’t have time for whatever was transpiring between her and the specter-repellent citizen. Neither did Aldine. We needed to get our elder off the street and into a comfortable bed so we could evaluate his condition.

Pulling Aldine’s arm over my shoulder, then sliding my own arm around his back, I tried to lift the old reaper, even as he made zero effort to help carry himself.

“A little help,” I said between gritted teeth.

Raven quickly responded, and together we pulled Aldine to his feet.

She nodded toward the woman Aldine had tried to reap. “What about her?”

“Leave her. There’s nothing we can do for her right now.” I guided the direction of our linked party back the way we had come.

“Can I help?” Winter shifted next to Raven as if he meant to take her place supporting Aldine’s weight.

To my surprise, she stepped aside without a single word of argument, then she moved several strides ahead, leading the way to the pub. Her back and shoulders stiffened as her hands clenched at her sides, and her head swept from side to side, scanning the path.

Hoisted against my shoulder, Aldine hung as nothing but dead weight. Head dipped to his chest, he didn’t say a word.Nor did I to Raven, Aldine, or the new guy. I said nothing to a single soul.

But my insides… They simmered.

Winter leaned his head across the baggage of the reaper supported between us and whispered, “I’m sensing a strong case of animosity.”

“Don’t take it personally. I generally don’t care for most people.” I tilted to see beyond Aldine’s dipped head. “And there is definitely something not right about you.”

From what little I’d witnessed, Winter could be controlling the specters. And if he was, that would mean he was somewhat responsible for Aldine’s current condition.

Winter straightened, pulling his face from view. “You know nothing about me.”

“I know enough. You may be a stranger, but I saw what you did.” I couldn’t erase the image from my mind of the questionable male draped over Raven’s laid-out body.

The visual made me want to?

I clenched my jaw. Gods below, I didn’t even want to consider what that graphic stirred within me. Or why it stirred anything at all.

But yeah. I didn’t care if I offended the dude. My team and I would always come before the locals of this messed-up place.

Winter snarled. “You forget yourself, sir. This ismyhome. So, exactly who is the stranger here?”

We locked glares over Aldine’s slumped head. I resisted the urge to drop the old reaper and throat punch the prick. But just barely.

13

With the three guys in tow, the return walk to the pub stretched on for an eternity. The tension between Chace and Winter radiated at the back of my skull with an army of razors and swords.

I understood the not trusting, but the hostility… When had that ever served a greater good?

Lure more souls with the sweet than the sour, my mother always said.