Page 53 of Reaper
Chapter Nineteen
Reaper
With Ara’s hand grasped in his, Reaper took a deep breath, and then another, to control the rage that had continued to build the moment Ghost called him aside and told him that they had visitors.Reaper and Ara followed behind the others and they headed downstairs, and he watched as the assassins took their strategic positions around the room.
During the weeks where they had trained Ara, they had also gone through scenarios in which the final confrontation would take place.The common opinion during many of their discussions was the possibility that the note was meant to draw Ara out of the house and away from the assassins.The fucker had waited a month, ready to capture Ara once she left, but he hadn’t counted on Ara finding a family with him and the rest of the assassins.
Ara had grown stronger over time, due to her training, but also because of the relationships that she had formed.She looked to Liv for advice, Jade, Ax, and Gunnar for a good laugh, and the rest for their friendship.Friendships that had changed her.Her need to protect those around her had ingratiated her to the group from the beginning.She cared for each of them in her way and silently, they had dedicated themselves to protect her.
The shifters were fascinated by their relationship.Although shifters were more likely to find a mate than vampires, Ara had been the first true mate of a shifter and it gave the rest hope that they could find someone to love.Lately, their questions had become frequent.Since Ara had become a shifter and Reaper had claimed her as his mate, they wanted to know the nuanced details of his feelings from the moment he stumbled upon her.He couldn’t explain it to them in a satisfactory way, so the questions had become intrusive.He knew that they were curious, and hopeful, so he tried to not let it get to him.In time, he managed to convince them that once they met their mate, they would know it.
Reaper growled when he caught the scent from the front door and he relayed the information to the team.It’s the guy who sent Ara the note.
He glanced around the room.To the casual observer, the assassins were over for a casual get-together, but he could see the tension and awareness in their posture and gaze.Each of them glanced at Ara, and then met his gaze.With a nod, they communicated that they were ready to do whatever they had to in order to protect Ara.
Meeting Kai’s gaze, he nodded and readied himself for the fight.He released Ara’s hand and stood slightly in front of her, to protect her in case they came in, guns blazing.
Kai opened the door and waved in their guests.The suit walked in as if he owned the place, but the mercenaries who followed him were much more hesitant.
Professional mercenaries showed no fear because they knew that each mission might be their last, but these men were wary.
Reaper relaxed a fraction.
Mercs knew how to fight, and they were on par with the assassins when it came to gun and knife handling skills, but these men were hired bodyguards.Their vests and cargo pants were weighed down with ammunition, and by the way they held their rifles, they weren’t adept at using them.And they would die because of their need to make a buck.
He relayed this to the rest of the assassins through the mind link they shared.Although they understood what they were up against, they didn’t relax their ready stances.Experience had taught him that unskilled humans were dangerous.They proved it a moment later when Kai shut the door behind them, and they jumped, pointing their guns around the room.
“Relax,” Kai demanded.
The mercs looked at the suit, and when he gave a small nod, they lowered their weapons.
The suit glanced around the room, and the moment he spotted Ara, he smiled.
Reaper could sense her rage.Before he could speak, Reaper growled at the man, capturing his attention from Ara.He lost it a moment later when Ara reached for his hand, interlocking their fingers together, and gave them a squeeze.His tense muscles lowered a fraction before he squeezed back, but he couldn’t take his gaze from the suit.
Despite the immaculate suit and groomed appearance, the man looked gaunt and sickly.The pale skin and the prominent nose stood out on his face.With an air of superiority, he strolled to a chair near the fireplace and sat without taking his eyes off their hands.He crossed his legs, and although he looked indifferent, Reaper could see the tic in his jaw as he clenched it.
That infinitesimal movement told Reaper everything he needed to know about the fucker.He wanted Ara.And because she rejected him numerous times and even escaped, she had become an obsession that he wouldn’t give up on.
He has a preoccupation with Ara.He doesn’t care about us; he just wants her back.
Around the room, the assassins’ postures went from relaxed to alert in a split second.The suit hadn’t noticed, his gaze still on Ara.
“You looked better when I starved you.You’re too fat now,” the suit said.
Growls and snarls echoed throughout the room, his being the loudest, and he tightened his grip on Ara’s hand.
She took him by surprise, again, and threw back her head and laughed at the man.Her laugh brought smiles from the assassins in the room.She wiped at her eyes before she pinned her gaze on him.
“I don’t give a shit about your opinion of me.I couldn’t get away from you fast enough.”
The man smiled, but Ara’s words affected him more than he let on.His hands clenched the chair until his knuckles whitened and the leather creaked from the pressure, but it was the hatred that flashed in his eyes as they moved over to Reaper that gave him away.
Reaper wondered how long he would have to contain his rage and listen to this fucker, before he could rip his throat out and leave him gasping for air on the floor.
“Why are you not dead?” the suit barked at Reaper.
Reaper shrugged; a smile quirked up the side of his mouth.He didn’t answer the question directly, but Reaper watched the man closely as the minutes ticked by.This man was used to people falling at his feet—he needed that power—but the assassins couldn’t care less who he was or what he had.He had hurt Ara, and killed another shifter, and he had to go.
Another reason that they had to kill him.The man was batshit crazy.He walked into a home occupied by immortal assassins with untrained bodyguards, seeking a woman who he’d kidnapped and held for six months.He thought that she would walk out with him, as if his power alone would compel her to do as she was told.But with Ara refusing, and resistance from the immortals he underestimated, he tried another tack.
“Are you going to come with me peacefully, or do I order my men to kill everyone?”
