Page 10 of Right Hand Of The Reaper
“Wait, does that mean you saw King Douche?” That was our nickname for Magnus.
I sighed. “Unfortunately, yeah.”
“Need to talk about it?”
I looked at my best friend and yes, I wanted to talk about it, but I also didn’t want to admit what happened.
“Not right now. We’ve got bigger things to deal with.” I walked back towards my desk and the offending envelope. “Rafe, meet me back here once the transfer is complete. Make sure Rayne doesn’t kill anyone.”
He grinned like a maniac. “Sure, no killing but maiming is on the table.”
“No, that’s not what I said.” He left my office laughing. “Rafe, you can’t. Come back. Rafe!” But he was gone. “Damn that dick-kicking asshole.”
“Honey, there is so much wrong with that insult.”
“I know, but it made me feel better. Let me know if I need to do anything for Norman to sort out the mess with the vampire.”
“Don’t worry, Roux,” she said with a smile and a wave as she walked towards the office door. “I’ll get it sorted. Let me know how you get on at Thane’s house.”
“Will do.” And with a final wave she was gone, leaving me along with the letter I’d gotten from Atticus.
I picked up the thick letter and opened it up. The Guild crest was emblazoned on the expensive white paper and I took in the words in bold at the centre of the page.
‘Thane, Head Reaper at G.R.I.M, is hereby accused of harvesting souls for his own personal use and energy transference.’
Oh, Thane. What have you got yourself into.
Chapter Four
Roux
Thane’shousewasdead.There were no lights on, no sign that anyone had been here in a while. It was eerie and quiet. Just so quiet.
"It doesn't look like anyone left in a hurry."
“No,” Rafe replied quietly.
Nothing was out of place. If Thane had been kidnapped, it wasn't from here. But there was something lingering. Almost like a memory of something left behind. It was creepy and I felt like I was being watched.
I glanced at the twins. They were doing their weird silent communicating thing. After being with them for a few years, I'd figured out most of their gestures. Some were based on touch, others just a mere glance. I'd found it strange at first. Rayne barely spoke, preferring to merely observe, but Rafe was a bit more impulsive. He'd leap into action before really thinking it through. That trait had landed us in hot water more than a few times.
They were an imposing pair and most people steered clear of them. I both loved and hated that they were overprotective of me. They hated Magnus for what he'd done to me and threatened to maim, torture and kill the guy. At the time, I'd almost been tempted to let them. They enjoyed that kind of thing way too much. And, while I knew what Magnus had done to me was definitely worth the moniker of ‘asshole’ there was always something about the way the twins growled every time his name was mentioned that made me feel that there was more to their hatred of him than the way he’d behaved towards me. There was a story there, a secret they didn’t want to share, which always made me feel on edge because we shared everything.
“We don’t think he was kidnapped,” Rafe said. Not I. It was never ‘I’ with those two. Always we.
“I think the same. There’s something going on here. The papers that Atticus gave me accuse him of harvesting souls for his own personal use and energy transference.” That was a big no no. Reapers collected souls and then sent them on their way. Technically, we could absorb the energy of a soul to gain more power, but that practice was outlawed centuries ago. By Thane.
Rafe and Rayne’s scowl deepened. Gods, they looked intense. And hot. They were total bad boys right down to the leather jacket and tattoos. Their tattoos were the only way to tell them apart from a distance. Rafe had a lot more colour. Rayne’s were all dark, in both colour and theme.
So far, we’d done a search downstairs and found nothing out of the ordinary.
“I’m gonna head upstairs. See if there’re any clues up there.”
I didn’t wait for approval from the twins. I didn’t need it. I was their boss — shit. I was everyone’s boss now.
I could feel the wait of Thane’s scythe in my bones. It was heavy. A burden I didn’t want.
I needed to find Thane, and fast. I wasn’t ready to be the Head Reaper. If I had a heart, I was sure it’d be beating a panicked rhythm.
