The Revolt (The Reapers: Book Two) (35 page)

“Angelica,” I said. He nodded and was gone. I
used every bit of energy I could find and focused as he walked over
to her and put an arm around her shoulders. He would take care of
her. Relief filled me and I fell. Strong arms caught me, lifted me,
and carried me away. I let the darkness take me.

Someone was arguing.

“You sent her in there blind, and you’re
going to punish her for not playing by your rules?” That was Jed
and he sounded pissed, but he kept his voice low.

“She signed a contract and that means she’s
on our team. What she did put her in opposition to us. She must
learn—” Yvonne sounded calm and didn’t bother to lower her voice. I
wondered if she wanted me to hear.

“She was trying to help her friend. I’m sure
she didn’t have any idea of the implications—”

“You were well aware of the plan before we
left, and you didn’t alert me to any potential problems. Perhaps
she isn’t the only one who should be punished.”

Jed sighed. “I didn’t know Bruce would be
involved, and I sure as hell didn’t know you were going to kill
him.”

Yvonne gave a snort that sounded
uncharacteristic. “You tell yourself whatever you want to believe,
Jed. I’ve got actual work to do.” I heard the sound of heels
clicking out of the room and a door opening and shutting.

I wanted to go back to that dark, cool place
I’d been in since I passed out. I didn’t want to wake up in a world
where Jed had any knowledge of what we’d be walking into in
Briarton. That thought replaced my exhaustion with anger, hurt, and
betrayal. I forced my eyes open and looked at him.

He stood next to my bed, staring at the door,
as though he could burn it down with his eyes. Then he shook his
head and slumped back down in a chair next to my bed. He looked at
me, without seeing me, his thoughts somewhere else. Dark circles
ringed his eyes and his face was lined with exhaustion. Then he
focused on me and his expression changed and lightened. He reached
for my hand.

I pulled away from him. It hurt to do that,
my shoulder screamed in pain, and my heart ached. I wanted to ease
his worry, but I couldn’t. He’d abandoned and betrayed me.

None of that mattered now, though.
“Angelica…?” I croaked.

He poured me a glass of water from the
pitcher next to my bed, lifted my head, and helped me to drink.

Once I was done, my head back on the pillow,
he sat down and didn’t try to touch me again. “She’s alive. She’s
here, and working for us.”

“After what you did? Why would work here?” I
knew he didn’t do it directly, but he’d referred to Varius as an
“us” first.

He didn’t try to deny anything, but his
expression darkened and he sat back in his seat. “I would imagine
my mother offered her something she desperately wanted.”

“Bruce.”

He nodded. “Probably.”

“He didn’t cross over?”

Jed stared out the window over my bed. “We
don’t know for sure and, as far as my mother’s concerned it doesn’t
matter. We promised Angelica a chance and she took it.”

“Shit.” I really wished I could go to sleep
and wake up to find this had all been a nightmare. “Thad? Len?
Tucker?”

“Len and Tucker are fine. The wards here are
about ten times stronger than the ones on the condo, so Tucker
won’t be able to visit you, unless he’s developed some sort of
superpower. Thad broke a few ribs and got his face beat in again.
He wanted to come here and make sure you were okay, but Yvonne
wouldn’t let him anywhere near you. He came pretty close to
punching her.” Jed paused. “I heard that you and he are…”

“What?”

“Nothing. I’ll let him know you’re awake, but
he’s already back out fighting in Vermont.”

“Does Varius own Briarton?”

“Sort of.” He grinned. “They have control of
the town and the power that goes with it, but since you saved Bruce
from Abigail, there’s still the chance that he, or one of his
descendants could claim it or that Abigail could decide to
reinstate the curse and take the power back.”

“He’s dead.”

“He doesn’t have to stay that way.” Jed
looked almost happy. I couldn’t imagine Bruce would ever be willing
to take another person’s body, but I was beginning to doubt
everything I thought I knew about people.

“Did you know?” I almost felt bad about
wiping the smile off his face.

“That they were going to kill Bruce? No.” He
rubbed his face with his hand. “But I’d heard enough about curses
from our experts here to know that breaking the curse would require
some sort of blood sacrifice. I should have told you, Kelsey, but…
I believed my mother when she said they planned to stop the
ceremony. I should have known better.”

“What about Caleb?”

“He’s still working for Varius, but I don’t
think he’ll be bothering you anymore. My mother, at least, doesn’t
approve of the two of you getting together, and she’ll do
everything she can to keep him away from you. There are people
working on finding him a new body, and he’ll be in charge of
negotiations with the reapers in Briarton.”

I shouldn’t have been surprised, but the news
still hurt me. “When will he ever do enough for Varius to disown
him?”

He looked at the floor. “I can’t prove he had
anything to do with the reaper infiltration here and most people
believe he’s a good guy. He’s got a lot of friends with a lot of
power.”

“He never really had any skills,” I said. “He
couldn’t even sense reapers. When he poisoned me, Tucker popped in
and Caleb had no reaction.”

Jed’s eyes widened for a moment, and then he
nodded. “Yeah, I’ve wondered in the past, but I always thought…
he’ll screw up again, Kelsey, and he’ll leave proof and we’ll get
him.”

That wasn’t enough for me and, as much as Jed
had hurt me, I didn’t take any pleasure in what I said next. “If he
doesn’t have any skill why did your father send him here? Caleb
implied… the things he said made me think your father is still
angry about being sent away from here and from your mother and that
he sent Caleb in to right that wrong. Caleb is probably still in
touch with him and…”

“Shit,” Jed said, his voice breathy. “It
makes sense, but I never thought… it doesn’t matter. I’ll look into
it.”

My anger started to fizzle, but I needed more
answers. “Were you ever really my friend? Or were you always
recruiting me?”

He winced. “I’ve always considered you a
friend and I still do.”

I was glad for his words, and I hoped he
would continue to be my friend, but I was pretty sure his
friendship with me came second or third to his job. “What does your
mom want from me?”

“Things have gotten pretty bad out there. The
reapers have taken fifteen towns and cities, and they’re moving to
take more. The unskilled living are starting to get suspicious. She
wants me to be the good little soldier I’ve always been and she
wants…” He looked at me like he was trying to memorize my face,
then he nodded like he’d decided something. “She wants to break
you, Kelsey. She doesn’t like anyone who stands up to her, and she
wants you on the team doing whatever she wants, whenever she
wants.”

I felt like I might throw up. “Fuck her.”
Inside, I was a five-year-old girl lost in a department store,
looking for a friendly face, but I no longer trusted Jed enough to
let him see that.

“Yeah,” he said. “I shouldn’t have let you
sign that contract. I should have found some other way to help you.
I’m sorry.”

My throat was suddenly tight and I had to
swallow hard to speak. “What do you want?”

He looked at me, his gaze steady, and for a
moment I thought he might tell me. Then he shook his head and
looked away. “What I want doesn’t matter. It never has.”

“It matters to me,” I said. I was angry with
him and I wasn’t sure I trusted him, but I still wished him
well.

He didn’t move or respond. “You’re going to
be fine by the way. You lost a lot of blood and your shoulder’s
going to be sore for a while, but they got the bullet out.”

“Why didn’t you go back to Briarton with
me?”

“I wanted to, Kelsey, more than I can
probably ever make you believe, but I couldn’t… I had
responsibilities here and…” he paused, and I saw it in his face, I
saw that he was pushing me away again. He closed me out and walled
himself in. “I’ll do what I can to keep you safe here. It might not
always seem like it, but you’ll have to trust me when I say that I
will fight for you. Did you get that pass I gave Thad to give
you?”

I nodded.

“That will get you anywhere you want to go
around here, but be careful how you use it. It will show up in the
system as me, so if I’m not here, don’t use it unless you have no
other choice.” He swallowed hard. “It will be best if we don’t talk
again or let anyone here know we’re friends or have ever been
friends.”

Then he left me alone with myself. And, it
seemed, alone was how’d I’d be for a while. Fortunately, my
well-being wasn’t on the top of my list of priorities. I had
Angelica to look out for and, if I could, I’d help her find Bruce.
Then there was the little matter of doing everything in my power to
stop the reapers from taking over more territory. Yeah, they were
going to have to pay for screwing up my life, yet again.

Tucker popped in before I sank any further
into my morass of self-pity. “What do you want?” I asked. I wasn’t
in the mood to be friendly.

“Just wanted to make sure you were well
enough to keep your promise to me.”

I rolled my head and glared at him. “Do you
need to talk to me to verify my physical condition?”

“No, but our conversations are always so
charming and stimulating.”

I finally gave in to the smile that had been
threatening to break through. “Everything got royally fucked up,
Tuck. I’m sorry.”

“I’m going to ignore the fact that you called
me Tuck to tell you that I don’t love you any less. At least you
tried, and that’s a hell of a lot more than anyone else did.”

“You’re just trying to butter me up so I’ll
help you touch your boyfriend.”

Tucker placed his hand over mine. “Don’t be
crass, Kelsey. You’re better than that. In polite society we ignore
those sorts of uncomfortable truths.”

I rolled my eyes at him and he grinned.

“Rolling the eyes is also uncivilized, but I
will lower myself to say that while I do want you to help me, I
also meant what I said and that, when the time comes for me to
finally choose a side, it will be yours. Every time, Kelsey, I will
choose your side.”

Tears pricked my eyes and I smiled up at him.
“I love you, too,
Tucker
, but I think it’s going to be a
little while before I can help you with your boyfriend.”

Tucker’s eyes sparkled. “You just have to get
healthy, Kelsey, and that shouldn’t take too long.”

“Except that I’m stuck here for the next
three years.”

Tucker tapped his chin. “Didn’t I? Oh, I
guess I forgot to tell you that he works here at Varius.”

Tucker left before I could question his
memory lapse any further, and I couldn’t help the small smile that
curved my lips. I might be stuck in Hell for the next three years,
but at least I wouldn’t be there alone.

Thank you to everyone who helped me along the
way in the process of completing this book. Thank you to my
wonderfully supportive husband, for never complaining about all the
time I spent writing, and who helped me to format the print version
of this book. Thank you to first reader, Angela Harwood, whose
insight and thoughtful critiques are truly invaluable. Thank you to
beta readers, Carrie Cooke, and Natasha Soderberg for their
willingness to read my work while it is still messy and for their
helpful feedback. I would write every day even if I never published
a word, and it is the support of my family and the readers who have
enjoyed my books that has given me the push I needed to start and
to continue publishing my books. For that, I am more grateful than
words can express.

Katharine Sadler lives with her husband in
North Carolina. She’s been writing since she was ten and has wanted
to be a writer even longer. When she’s not writing or otherwise
gainfully occupied, she reads like it’s an addiction, exercises,
skis whenever she gets the chance, and adds more books to her
Amazon wish list.

THE REAPING (Book 1 of The Reapers
Series)

ON A WHITE HORSE (Short Story; Vol. 1.5 in
The Reapers Series)

I would love to hear from you!

Facebook:
www.facebook.com/katharinegsadler

Twitter:
@KatharineSadler