Page 115 of Reaper Flame

“Here’s your delivery,” West said, shoving the corpse into the open freezer.

My nose wrinkled at the smell. The bunker was damp, but not cold enough to stop decomposition setting in.

Rocky grimaced, looking down at the Blackbird’s face. “You’ve got a lot of work to do.”

I’m no make-up artist, but Crystal taught me a thing or two. Returning the color to his face should help. I forced the Blackbird’s eyes shut. Having to do this would be bad enough without his stare judging my choice of palette. The guys gathered around to watch as I lined up the products I found in the dressing room.

“You should try to rest,” I told them. This was no makeover show. “You’ll need your energy.”

“I’m not leaving you,” West insisted fiercely. “None of us are.”

“You need to take time to recharge,” I said. West had spent the entire night letting loose like a rampant bull. As much as he looked like a superhero, he was still human! “Hiram will not be there alone, and we need to be at the top of our game. Despite what he said, he won’t call until later in the day. He works at night.”

“We’ll take shifts,” Zander said. “I’ll take the first one.”

Rocky scowled, but I could tell from his heavy eyes that he was exhausted.

“We’ll wake you if we hear anything,” I promised, sensing his hesitation.

The big man pouted but didn’t argue. The two of them respected Zander and his orders enough to follow what he said.

When the others left, Zander sat silently and watched as I checked foundation shades against the Blackbird’s skin to select a good match. I settled for a beige that took out the bluish hue. I used a beauty blender to pat the foundation into the Blackbird’s sunken features. It felt like applying paint to sandpaper, but it was oddly therapeutic. It reminded me of when Crystal and I used to do each other’s make-up. She was a professional, but she let me practice looks on her sometimes. I’d always found it easier to apply on other people.

“You can sleep too, you know,” I said to Zander as I added pink blush to give the Blackbird a lively glow. Nothing seemed to be working. Let’s face it, the ugly fucker would never have made it as a supermodel. “I don’t need a babysitter, and I’m pretty sure you don’t want a contouring lesson.”

“Are you going to tell me now why you made a deal with my father?”

He wouldn’t let it drop.

“I promise I’ll tell you when this is all over,” I said. “All you need to know is I did it for a good reason, and so did Mieko. Can you trust me?”

“I trust you with my life,” Zander said. “But I don’t trust my father.”

“Zander—”

He held up his hand to silence me. “But for you, I’ll do anything. As long as you try not to do anything else stupid without telling me first.”

Tonight showed me what it meant to be part of a team and the importance of working together. Since I’d known the Sevens, I’d constantly defied Zander at every turn. Sometimes it was because I felt I knew better, other times it was because I didn’t want to give anyone control again. Hiram showed me how orders can be used for pain and punishment, but it was different with Zander.

After seeing how he punished himself and the effects of not working together, I finally saw the truth. Zander didn’t give orders and commands because he liked it. He did it because he thought of everyone. He wanted to keep us all safe.

“I’ll try,” I said. “I promise.”

“I don’t want to change you, Candy,” he said, running a finger down my cheek. “But I want you to trust me. I want to do this together.”

I screwed up my nose at the Blackbird’s face.

“Do you think this will work?” I asked.

Zander peered at my handiwork.

“We’ll make it work,” he said. “There’s no other way.”

TWENTY-FOUR

Atext notification made me jump. Why did those fuckers let me sleep?! Someone had moved me upstairs to the comfortable sofas and laid a blanket over me. Rocky, the most likely offender, snored quietly in ignorance at my feet.

“Why did you let me sleep?” I roared, throwing a cushion at Rocky’s face and snatching up my phone. It was noon. Exhaustion must have taken over after the grand makeover was complete.

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