Page 116 of Reaper’s Wrath

Sirens sound in the distance.

My heart thuds in my chest as one endless second bleeds into another.

Finally, a knock sounds on the door. Adrenaline spikes my blood with electric energy.

This is the fight I’ve been envisioning for twenty fucking years. It’s finally happening, and I’m so goddamn ready.

I take a breath and do my best to mimic Ruban’s voice and accent. “Please, come in.”

The door opens, but Stavros doesn’t cross the threshold. Seeing the empty room, he’s instantly on guard. Before he can unsheathe his knife, however, I swing around and land a punishing punch to his gut.

He wheezes through a laugh as he stumbles back, bent at the waist. “Ah, well played, little Reaper. You got me.” He starts to straighten, using the movement to flick his arm forward and throw a small blade in my direction. He thinks he’s going to catch me by surprise, but I’m ready for him.

I use the years of training he put me through to grab the knife out of the air. It slices into my palm, but I don’t care. A little physical pain is nothing compared to the emotional turmoil he inflicted upon us for years. This kind of pain I can handle.

“You were selling kids for the Greek, weren’t you?” It’s not really a question. I know the answer, but I want him to know that I know.

Stavros stands taller, though he’s still several inches shorter than me. A malicious grin splits his face. “How else do you think we got the money that provided for your lavish lifestyle? It’s not my fault you turned a blind eye.”

I know I shouldn’t let him get to me—he wants me to lose my cool more than anything—but his insinuation that we were willfully ignorant pisses me the fuck off. He hid that shit from us.

“We had no way of knowing what you were doing,” I bark at him, taking a small step forward.

He shrugs, stepping in retreat. “No, you were always a naive fool. That’s why it was so easy to trick you into believing your family didn’t want you.”

His words reach into my chest and clench my heart with a violent fist.

“What the fuck are you talking about?” I demand breathlessly.

The evil in his grin now glints in his eyes. He’s been waiting for this moment as much as I have, equally ready to rain down destruction and devastation.

“It was so fucking easy—a simple call pretending to be from the phone company. I got him to say a few specific phrases and recorded them. When the Greek called me, I played the snippets back for you.”

That call so many years ago when Dad had refused to help me—it was a fake. A manipulation to starve me of hope.

I can hardly believe anyone could be so cruel, yet I know it’s the truth because this man is that vile. And deep down, I always knew it didn’t make sense.

“Why?” I don’t know why I ask.

Evil doesn’t require reason, and this man is pure evil.

“You can blame your friend Kairos—or, his parents, that is. They made themselves enemies of the Greek. Taking Kai from the family was revenge—you and the girl were collateral damage. A way to control Kai.”

I step a few inches forward, my features hardening. “Why come to the city for me, then?”

He shakes his head, sneering. “Always the spoiled shit. What makes you think anything is about you? I’m here to make money. Pissing on your grave is merely a bonus.”

Making money. Trafficking. He’s the one working with the Russians.

It hits me all at once.

“That’s why the boat we came across was planning to stop in Bermuda. You told them to go there thinking we wouldn’t notice.”

“Wrong again,” he hollers. “You’re still too fucking naive to see it. You may have taken the island and the boats, but I kept the business—the real business. That route was one the boats always take; you just never knew because you two were always too soft. We never could train the weakness out of you.”

Jesus.

All those years, and it was happening right behind our backs.