Page 37 of Reaper
He had sent her a USB drive.He wanted to taunt her, to show her that he had all the power over her.Her instincts screamed for her to wait until she could show it to Reaper, but she refused to be weak any longer.
She slid the laptop on the coffee table close to her and inserted the drive.Her eyes widened as she noticed it contained one video file.Before she clicked on it, she steeled her spine in preparation of possibly seeing her abductor for the first time, and pressed play.
“Solomon.”
A weight in her chest squeezed the breath from her as Solomon came into view.She understood the man’s words now.He had been the one who had killed Solomon.Not by his own hand, but by ordering Dr. Ames and the others to experiment on him.Although she understood that this video was going to show her how Solomon, her friend, died, she couldn’t drag her eyes away from the screen.
The moments passed in excruciating slowness, and although some part of her understood that her friend was dead, she willed the video to show her something else.She held on to that hope until that last moment.
Solomon had seen no way out, and had killed himself.The guilt that had been her constant since he’d disappeared hit her tenfold.She could have fought when they took him from their shared rooms, she could have destroyed them, but she watched him disappear without saying a word.Her chest compressed with pain that made breathing impossible, and hatred for herself equaled her hatred for those who had killed Solomon.
Before her mind had a chance to shut down like she prayed it would, she wondered what this man would do to Reaper.He had to know that she went home with him every night, and knew exactly where to find her and how to leave a message on the night that most of the assassins were out on a mission to find him.
She had to leave, had to put distance between Reaper and herself.She didn’t care whether he killed her, but she couldn’t live if anything happened to Reaper.
She loved him.
But no, she could never tell him, never have a life with him.
The pain and fear made planning her escape sluggish.She needed money, and wondered whether she could ask Liv if she could borrow some, but she had to leave before Reaper and the others came back and she had no idea where Liv was.
“Ara?”
She heard someone call her name, but didn’t have the strength to lift her head.She had to make them understand; she needed help to escape.
“Need…to…go,” she mumbled.
“What?”
She pried her eyes open and flinched as she spotted the rage in Ghost’s light-blue eyes.“Have to get away from Reaper.He’s going to kill him because of me.”
She watched as his eyes glanced at the laptop, and watched as they widened at the image of Solomon bleeding to death on the floor of the lab.
“Fuck, fuck!” Ghost shouted.He reached for her, but she flinched away from him.
She tried again to make him understand.“Please, Ghost.I can’t see Reaper die.If I leave, he’ll be safe.”
“No.If you leave, it’ll kill him.”
Ghost lifted her into his arms and ran up the stairs to a spare room.He settled her under the covers and glanced down at her for a moment.He must’ve made a decision, because he shouted for Liv and she appeared within a moment.“Can you give her something to sleep?”
“What happened?”Liv hovered over Ara, worry evident on her face.
“She watched what you smuggled out of Standard.The bastard sent it to her.She thinks that if she leaves, Reaper will be safe.”
Liv’s face softened as she brushed a strand of hair away from Ara’s face.Ara watched as the woman who had become her friend, her first real female friend, bite her lip as she tried to get the words past her throat.Finally, Liv glanced down at Ara and smiled a knowing smile.
“Reaper will be devastated if you leave him.Although he’s the quiet one, it’s obvious to all of us that he cares for you more than anyone in his life, ever.I know you think that this man could hurt us, but the assassins are the fiercest fighters you will ever meet, and they would never let this man hurt you or Reaper.Don’t hurt him or yourself by leaving,” Liv pleaded.
Truth be told, she understood that she couldn’t survive long without Reaper.The panic started to subside, and she felt a flush of embarrassment at her actions.She let this man get to her, and the more she thought about it, the angrier she became.
“I’ll stay,” Ara said.
Liv smiled at her.“I’m going to give you a small sedative.I’ll let Reaper know what happened as soon as he gets back, but for now, you need rest.”
She barely felt the pinch on her arm, and within moments, she settled back onto the pillows and allowed the blackness to overwhelm her.
