Chapter 14

Reina’s awe over her first sighting of red carpet was slightly tempered by the fact that Augustus was dragging her sister over it, toward a carriage drawn by six white, winged horses.

Natalie was fighting hard but Augustus’s progress didn’t appear to be at all impaired by the fact he’d chosen to abduct the Incredible Hulk with breasts. Nearby, Trinity was facedown on the asphalt, not moving.

Jarvis whipped the steering wheel to the right and Reina’s sweet little Prius ducked between two limos and careened up onto the sidewalk, sending red velvet rope and brass posts flying.

“Hey!” Police officers came running as Jarvis threw open the door. Lights flashed as photographers whirled toward them, snapping pictures.

“I’ll get Augustus,” Jarvis commanded. “You take care of Trinity.”

“Trin!”

She gave a weak wave. “Go get her,” she mumbled. “I’ll be fine in a second. Didn’t quite manage to stop him.”

“I need to get Natalie.” Reina dove out of the car and raced across the cement toward her sister, but they were moving too fast. She’d never catch up before they reached the carriage. “Nat!”

Her voice was drowned out by the click of cameras and the shouts of the policemen closing in on Jarvis. Hello? There was an abduction going on and they were worried about a little reckless driving? Okay, yeah, Augustus was flashing some badge with a star on it, but come on. Anyone could see that her sister was not some deviant that warranted a bounty hunter after her.

Her sister fought harder, and Augustus jerked her head, eliciting a howl of agony from Natalie.

Bastard. You don’t get to hurt the people I care about. Reina’s fingers began to tingle, and black dust began to spew from her fingertips. Hot damn! Nothing like seeing the jerk hurt her sister to provide the right motivation.

“She’s mine!” A Tarzan yell echoed across the night, and the Godfather sped past Reina, wielding a stolen camera tripod over his head. “You do not take her from me!”

Okay, the Tsar of the Next Coming might be her sister’s death wish, but he got big time points for trying to save her from big, bad Augustus. He swung the tripod at Augustus’s head, but the assassin ducked, grabbed the tripod, and then slammed it over the big G’s head.

The Orgasm King slumped to the pavement like a textbook patient in need of Viagra. Dammit! What good was he if his only skill was turning her sister on in a lethal fashion?

Natalie screamed for her fallen boy toy and ripped herself out of Augustus’s grip in a sudden surge of “female must protect her lover” strength.

“Keep running, Nat!” Reina yelled.

But her sister fell to her knees beside the tongue tango expert. “I’m here, baby, I’m here.”

Well, damn. Stopping to moon over a new flame wasn’t going to be one of the building blocks of a successful escape, now was it?

Augustus grabbed Natalie by the ear and hauled her back.

“You’re close enough, Reina,” Jarvis shouted. “For God’s sake, dust him now!”

Just do it. Yeah, baby, she was feeling the fire right now. She could take him down from a football field away. Easy. She wiggled her fingers to unleash the powder at Augustus and his head jerked up. His eyes widened, and she realized he hadn’t noticed her until that moment. “Too late!” She unleashed the dust and it hit him square in the face.

He grabbed for his star and reared back to throw it, and then he got the biggest look of surprise on his face, tipped over, and went to sleep.

Right there.

On the street.

Sound asleep.

“Holy crap.” Trinity stumbled up beside her. “You did it.”

Reina was too shocked to do anything but stare at the snoozing bad guy. “I can’t believe it.” Yeah, Natalie was passed out beside him, due to Reina’s apparent inability to target precisely, but she was okay with that kind of spillage. If she could keep Natalie knocked out for the next week, maybe they could keep Hormone Girl alive long enough to really keep her alive.

“Finish it,” Jarvis ordered her. “Right now!” He had seven policemen at sword point up against her car.

“Wow. That’s really sweet.” Trinity nodded toward Jarvis. “Not many men would risk a lifetime in prison just so a girl can murder someone.”

“He is pretty sweet,” Reina admitted. Then she noticed that his sword was deep purple, like an angry sky before a deadly tornado unleashed its rage upon an unsuspecting town. That couldn’t be a good sign. “Sweet and deadly.”

“Ohh…” Trinity put her hand over her heart. “Just like Blaine. That’s such an appealing combination in a man.”

“Reina,” Jarvis warned. “Harvest him already. It’s not that easy to keep all these cops at bay without causing them permanent damage.”

“Yeah, okay. I’m on it.” Reina slipped the scythe out of her back pocket and unfolded it.

“Stop!” A cop raced toward her, his gun right at Reina’s heart. “Down with the weapon or I’ll shoot.”

Three more uniforms raced over to line up beside the first one. Feet spread, guns up, faces all too serious. Oh, come on. People never noticed when she was there to redirect a soul, but apparently wielding an ancient farm implement in an offensive manner was worth noting. Maybe it was time for a little chat with Death about giving his Guides invisibility skills before they actually became Reapers.

“Drop the blade,” the officer shouted again.

“I can’t do that.” A milky white film was drifting up from Augustus’s inert form. His soul was the lily white of purity? It should be black. How could he have an innocent soul? Oh, damn it, all! Like this wasn’t difficult enough for her already!

Trinity eased up beside her, hands up in an “I don’t have a weapon” stance. “You don’t have time to get arrested, sweetie. Ditch the blade, talk your way out of it, and let’s get out of here. We’ll find Augustus later.”

“Take him now,” Jarvis shouted. “You won’t get a better time. I’ll take care of the cops.”

Natalie groaned, and Trinity knelt beside her. “She’s coming out of it,” Trinity said. “And she’s muttering something about how she’s never going to be able to use her Pocket Rocket again after meeting the Big G.”

“Oh, crap.” Reina was out of time. The moment Natalie awoke, she’d be sucking face with the Sultan of Climax, and the pinnacle of all deaths would be shooting right toward them. She reared back to throw the scythe, and there was a loud crack and pain thudded into her shoulder.

She stumbled, and the scythe flew out of her suddenly numb hand. “Holy crap.” Agony, anyone? Blood oozed from her shoulder and down her arm.

“I hit her,” a police officer yelled.

She’d been shot? Seriously? Had they not heard about the immortal thing? Or the complete liberty of Death and his peeps to reap souls? Without her, souls would be causing traffic jams, stealing from dumpsters, sleeping in alleys, and doing all the other things that those poor homeless unfortunates were stuck doing.

“Reina!” Jarvis’s frantic shout echoed over the din.

The concern in his voice was so sweet and endearing. “I’m okay. Just a flesh wound.” But one that hurt like a mother! “I’m immortal, remember?” Or close enough.

“Immortals feel pain.” Jarvis slammed the flat of his blade into a cop’s head. One down. Six to go. “Hang on. Let me just clean these guys out of my way—” Another shot and then Jarvis was bleeding from his shoulder as well.

“Jarvis!”

“No problem, sweetheart, but I appreciate the concern.” The bullet popped out of his shoulder and clanked on the ground. Well, that was handy. She should really develop that skill.

“Drop the sickle so they stop shooting,” Jarvis commanded as he thwacked another cop and then whipped his sword around to block two more bullets. Then he was hit three more times, and blood was streaming from his chest. “I’ll take care of Augustus for you.”

Oh, how sweet was that? Not many men would be willing to murder for a girl. “Thanks, but it has to be me.” She focused on Augustus’s milky white soul.

“The Godfather’s up!” someone shouted.

The Man of Endless O’s was crawling relentlessly toward Natalie.

“Oh, no, no!” Trinity grabbed Natalie and dragged her toward a potted geranium on the other side of the sidewalk. Trinity’s mom had the ability to transport anyone through vegetation, and if Trinity could get them over there, her mom would be able to suck them out. But the Godfather was moving too fast. “Stay away!” Trinity yelled. “This is one girl you’re not going to get your woody into.”

Reina whirled back toward Augustus, raised the sickle, and another bullet sent agony cascading through her left leg. She yelped with pain as her leg gave out and she crashed to the ground. The sickle spun out of reach on the sidewalk. “Oh, crap.” They weren’t going to let her get to Augustus, were they?

Suddenly there was a ferocious war cry and Nigel came leaping over the heads of the press. “I’m here, babes!” His palms were smoking and he unleashed dozens of tiny blades that hit guns and cameras with unerring precision. He paused when he saw Trinity dragging Natalie across the pavement. “Is Natalie okay? I can heal her.”

“She’s fine.” Reina tried to stand up, but her legs gave out again. “I just knocked her out.”

Nigel started toward Natalie, then spun around when the cops started shooting at him. Blades flew from his fingers, intercepting every bullet before it hit him.

“About time you bastards got here,” Jarvis said. “Too busy getting your nails done?”

“Too busy trying to find Christian. Lover Boy appears to have taken off.” Blaine leapt on top of the Godfather’s limo, lifted his arms to the sky, and a wall of fire burst from his shoulders. “We need to find him after we finish here. Something’s not right with him.”

Blaine unleashed fiery lasers at the cops, their guns glowed red hot, and then all the officers were all screaming with pain and throwing their sizzling weapons down onto the pavement, including the ones who’d been using Reina for target practice.

Taking advantage of the involuntary disarmament, Reina began to drag herself toward her sickle, trying really hard not to think about all the bullets in her body. Yes, they wouldn’t kill her, but they really did hurt. But she still had time for a happy ending. Augustus’s soul was still outside his body. It wasn’t too late. If she could just get there—

“Thanks, man.” Jarvis leapt over the heads of the thronging media trying to pick the metal blades out of their microphones. He reached Reina’s side as flames exploded from the pavement and shot fifty feet into the air, isolating their small group inside a twenty-foot circle, courtesy of Blaine. The scream of reporters, the click of cameras, the shouts of the cops, all went silent. No sound except the roar of flames, the crackle of blue fire, the smell of asphalt burning. She knew Blaine and Nigel were outside the circle, dealing with the cops, but inside, it was a separate world. The flames had created a boundary of protection, so they had to deal only with Augustus and not the interference of humans.

The heat inside the barrier was intense, but not as hot as it should have been. As in, she wasn’t melting and her skin wasn’t blistering.

“Blaine’s controlling the heat.” Jarvis grabbed her sickle then scooped her up. He cradled her against his body, squeezing tightly, as if he were relieved to feel her alive. Reina took a deep breath and let herself lean against him, taking a moment to regroup as he held her.

“Blaine can’t hold the circle for long.” Jarvis carried Reina across the carpet toward Augustus. The assassin’s soul was fainter now, and she knew he was pulling it back into his body. She had seconds left to cleave it.

Jarvis set her beside Augustus and squeezed her waist for encouragement. “Do it.”

The Godfather reached Natalie. “Hey, baby, I’ve got you. Come to me, sweetheart.”

Natalie stirred, and her eyes flickered open. “You’re okay?”

“Yeah, for you.” He bent his head and kissed her, and suddenly Natalie was kissing him back so fiercely, the pavement started to melt beneath them.

“Down, boy, down!” Trinity kicked at the Godfather’s pawing hands. “For God’s sake, wait until you can get a hotel room. Reina! Would you take out Augustus already so Blaine can drop his circle? I need to get to the plant so my mom can get us out of here.”

“Yeah—” Reina felt panic start to build. Dammit. She needed to focus. Needed to clear her head—

Jarvis took Reina’s face in his hands, forcing her to look at him. “Sometimes, the purest thing you can do is murder someone,” he said. “You’re doing the right thing.”

She saw the truth in his eyes and clung to it. He believed in her and in her choices. He might be a warrior who had no problem with killing, but he was ruthlessly loyal and the protector of others, and if he thought she was doing the right thing, then she saw.

She took a deep breath and accepted his support, let it settle in her heart. “You’re right, I know you’re right.” She looked at Augustus’s soul, and in the white mist, she saw the faces of all the women in her family, all the ones she’d ever loved, who had all died. They had been innocent. Natalie was innocent. And it was time for the innocent to win.

And she knew she could do it.

She grabbed the sickle from Jarvis and swung it as hard as she could. The blade hit the base of the white smoky fountain and bounced off. “Oh, no—”

“You’re almost halfway through.” Jarvis pointed to a crack in the vanilla funnel. “Hit it right there again, and it’ll be good.”

“Okay.” She gritted her teeth, tried not to think about what she was doing, and reared back to swing. And as the blade came down, she was hit with the horrifying, delightful, magnificent, self-loathing knowledge that she was going to reap her first soul.

***

The pleasure of seeing Reina achieving her goal was somewhat diminished by the raw agony in her eyes. Jarvis wasn’t used to women who so clearly felt bad about inflicting pain, death, and hell on others. Who knew that kind of anguish in a female’s eyes was such a turn on?

He was adding it to his list of “must haves” on his online dating profile after he exploded and went to the Afterlife. Assuming they had dating there. But hell. What woman could compare with the reality of Reina? Her courage, her passion, and her love for her sister? No one. Reina was it. His only moment in the sunshine, and he was going to enjoy every damn minute in her presence.

He smiled encouragingly at her, supporting her in the endeavor of her heart. “Lovely job, sweetheart.” He grabbed the soul and held it out, like a ribbon, for Reina to cut.

She took a deep breath. “Okay.” She brought the scythe down with impressive force for a woman who was so horrified by what she was about to do. The blade was inches away—

She suddenly dropped the scythe and collapsed to her knees. “Oh, my darling, Augustus! I’m so sorry I almost hurt you.”

Jarvis blinked at her abdication. “What are you doing?”

She wrapped her arms around Augustus and pressed her cheek against his chest. “Oh, sweet man, tell me you’re okay. I could never go on if I knew I stripped the world of a man of your lethal capabilities. You’re magnificent, and I cherish your spirit and the challenge you bring to my life.” She kissed his forehead. “When you recover, please let me buy you dinner.”

“Reina!” Jarvis grabbed her arm, trying to pry her off the crusty old man. What in hell’s name was going on? Yeah, she was a softy in her heart, and he’d been half-expecting her to drop the scythe, but going on a hug-fest with the scumbag made no sense. Had the man hit her with some magic spell or something? “Let go of him—”

“No!” She pushed Jarvis away and focused a loving, adoring gaze on Augustus. The kind of dotty expression one might expect when a woman looked up on a cute little puppy or a newborn baby. It was pure, unabating love. For Augustus? Jealousy ripped through him, and he unsheathed his sword, sudden rage burning through him. He recognized it as hate, and he embraced it, sending it all onto the sniveling bastard who was stealing his woman’s affection and love when all he deserved was her antipathy and—

Love? Love? “Holy crap.” There was only one being on this earth that could force Reina to love a man as despicable as Augustus. The Guardian of Love. Jarvis grabbed Reina away from Augustus and tucked her protectively against him, then vaulted to his feet. He shielded his eyes against the smoke, searching for the man he knew had to be there. “Cameron!” he yelled. “Where are you?”

Out of the flames stepped the Guardian of Love.

***

His brother had never looked so good.

And that was a very, very big problem.

Cam strode past the flames, wearing an Armani suit, slicked back hair, calf-leather shoes, and a huge ass diamond in his ear. Cam, a vegan who wore only synthetic materials so no plants or animals would be harmed in the creation of his wardrobe. Cam, the man who would spend hours stretched out in the mud so he could be one with the song of the bullfrog.

Cam was now a player. A money-grubbing sophisticate who had clearly abdicated from the lifestyle and morals that had made him worthy of protecting love.

Cameron was studying Natalie and the Godfather with great interest, and hadn’t even noticed Jarvis. Again, not an indication that his brother was in alignment with his spirit. “Cameron!”

But his brother didn’t hear him and walked closer to the dating duo, a fascinated look on his face.

“There you go,” Reina crooned to Augustus, hanging over Jarvis’s arm in an attempt to get closer to her new crush. “Your soul will be back in a minute.”

“Shit.” Reina was going to lose her chance. No way was he going to let her down. She’d worked too hard for this moment, and he was going to give it to her.

Jarvis grabbed Reina’s sickle and blasted it through Augustus’s fading soul. A deafening scream filled the air. The weapon turned silver and then disintegrated in his hand as Augustus’s soul slipped back into this body.

“Oh, no! The sickle!” Reina lunged for the particles, but they sifted through her fingers and disappeared. The sickle was gone. Utterly destroyed. Her face was stricken. “I can’t get another one. I can’t reap a soul without it.”

Oh, shit. He’d screwed up. “Reina, I’m so sorry—” Searing pain suddenly ripped through Jarvis’s body and he staggered. He looked down at the hand he’d used to wield the sickle and saw that the skin was blistering and sloughing off. “Jesus.”

“You’ve been poisoned.” Reina grabbed his hand and flipped it over so she could look at it. He expected her touch to provide relief like it always did, but there was nothing. Just more pain, and the beast within continued to get stronger. He was too far gone.

“No one can wield a Death weapon except for an authorized person,” Reina said. “It helps prevent theft and the unauthorized use of our reaping technology. Nigel! Help!”

Jarvis’s body was throbbing so much it kind of reminded him of the time Angelica had tested radioactive acid on his skin to see what his pain threshold was. “Mother of hell.”

“I got this one covered.” Nigel burst through a break in the flames. “The doctor is in.” He glanced at Natalie in the Godfather’s arms, and his face darkened. “That girl deserves better,” he snapped.

“Nigel!” Jarvis barked. “Get your ass over here!”

Nigel jerked his gaze off the ravenous couple and crouched beside Jarvis and grabbed his hands. He frowned as he studied Jarvis’s rapidly disintegrating skin that was turning into a ghastly shade of green. “Fascinating. I’ve never seen this before.”

“He’s been infected with death.” Reina knelt beside him. “We need to get it out of him.”

“I’d agree that would be a good plan.” As Nigel began to work on him, Jarvis hunched over, struggling to contain the hell ripping through his shields, stripping him of everything sane, of everything human, of everything living. Hate began to build, filling the vacuum left behind by the death sweeping his body. “Cameron,” Jarvis gasped, his voice hoarse. “It’s time.”

Napoleon burst through the flames that were clearly a defense only against humans. Blaine was getting soft. Never the same after he’d been murdered by his own girlfriend, apparently. “There you are, you wife-stealer!” Napoleon sprinted across the clearing and shook Augustus’s limp shoulder. “Tell me where Angelica is!”

Jarvis fought for consciousness, barely aware of Reina and Nigel working him over. “Cameron,” he snapped. “For hell’s sake, it’s me. Your brother.”

Cameron’s gaze finally flicked to Jarvis. He blinked. “Jarvis?”

“Yeah, man. I’m going over the edge. Help me out.”

“Help you?” Cameron strode across the clearing in the fire and crouched before him. “You son of a bitch. You left us.”

“I sacrificed myself to save your life. Angelica wanted you.” He gritted his teeth against the fresh onslaught of pain. “Took me instead. So you could be free.”

“Free? Is that what you call it?” Cam squatted as Jarvis’s knees buckled. “Free to watch my own father go off the deep end, terrified for his favorite son? His love for you broke him. The more I tried to save him, the more he wanted to die. I was alone at age eight, you heartless bastard!”

Jarvis’s stomach began to burn. His lungs seared. He couldn’t breathe. The pain was everywhere, the fury, the self-loathing. “Dad’s dead?”

“Yes, he is, brother dear. He tried to fill his heart by finding true love. He married the most wonderful woman, and then she died, too, and that was it. Too much loss of those he loved. He killed himself.”

Jarvis grabbed his brother’s shirt and yanked him down. “Why didn’t you save him? Why didn’t you fill him with love, you son of a bitch?”

“Love was what killed him!” Cam shoved Jarvis off him. “Don’t you get it? Love broke him! Love kills, big brother. Love doesn’t save.”

Shit. How had this happened? Everything was supposed to have worked out when he protected his brother. But he’d fucked it all up. He was supposed to save and protect his family, but somehow they’d all lost without him. His dad dead? Cameron insane? Jesus.

Pain knifed though his gut and he doubled over, gripping his stomach as the hatred spewed through him. Reina set her hands on his forehead, and he fought to concentrate on the coolness of her touch, but he couldn’t access it. Things were raging too wildly inside him. Couldn’t control it.

“But my new mentor has shown me the light.” Cameron leapt to his feet and raised his arms above his head. “I accept that love kills,” he shouted. “I kill!”

Reina grabbed Cam’s arm. “Guardian of Love,” she shouted. “Save your damn brother, now!”

“No!” Cameron began to hula dance in time to the crackling of the flames that Blaine was still holding up. “Let the hate explode! Let it fill the world! It’s not going to hurt anything. Fear is what destroys the world. Love saves it. I am love, I am death, I am everything. I am world peace!”

Jarvis fought to make sense of what his brother was saying, but his mind was scattered. His brain was snapping under the onslaught. Blind hate. Mindless rage. Fighting to take him. “Cameron,” he gasped. “World peace starts with saving the earth from me.”

Reina grabbed Cam’s wrist and tugged hard. “Hey! He needs your help! Stop the hate!”

Cam flung her to the side, and Reina stumbled over her sister and the Godfather, who were still making out. She landed on her knees with a yelp of pain that eviscerated the last shred of humanity still within Jarvis.

Jarvis swore and grabbed for his sword. He ripped it out of the scabbard and had it at his brother’s throat, fury coursing his body like he’d never felt before. “Never touch her like that again.” Pain was bleeding through every pore of Jarvis’s body, he could feel the poison racing through him, but it couldn’t stop him. He was too angry. Too crazy.

Nigel moved up beside him. “Stand down, Jarvis,” he said quietly. Calmly. “Pull your shit together. You can do it.”

“Back off,” Jarvis snarled. It was too late for Nigel to save him. He would poison Nigel if his teammate tried to touch him. “Get away from me.”

“See? You fear that I’m hurting her. That’s what drives the world. Fear of loved ones dying.” Cameron grabbed the blade of Jarvis’s sword, and the sword began to glow black with hate. What the hell? His brother wasn’t taking away the anger? “Think of it, brother. What if Death came in the form of love? It becomes a gift.” Cameron held up his hands, as if he were painting a mural in the sky. “Death no longer becomes something to fear, and without fear, we have peace on earth.” He bowed. “Love’s assassin, at your service. Pleased to save the world. Launch, Friday night at midnight. Tickets are on sale for a hundred thousand per head.”

Jarvis stared at his brother, sudden realization plunging through the disabled rut of his brain. “You’re the assassin Death is launching this weekend.” Son of a bitch. Cam was the one he’d promised to help Reina find investors and victims for. He shot a sharp look at Reina, who was struggling to her feet. “Did you know this?”

“No, of course not—” She caught his glance and her face paled. “Your eyes are so black. You’ve got to stop.” She reached for Jarvis, then Augustus grabbed her ankle and hauled her back toward his carriage.

A new, lethal fury arose inside Jarvis at the sight of that bastard hurting his woman. He shoved his ranting brother aside and sprinted toward Augustus. “Leave her alone.” The snarl coming out Jarvis’s throat was foreign, a noise in the distance.

Augustus whipped out a pink star. Jarvis knocked it out of the air before it hit him. It careened across the area and smacked Cam in the chest.

Cam sucked in his breath. “Oh, dear lord, almighty! That really hurts!”

“Stop!” Napoleon leapt in front of Jarvis. “You can’t kill Augustus before I’ve found Angelica.” Napoleon hurled something small and black out at Jarvis, and amber smoke filled the air. Rich, luxurious, decadent filth that caked Jarvis’s lungs. A black magic spell?

He didn’t care. He didn’t stop. He had to find Reina. He had to prevent Augustus from taking her.

He charged forward, swinging blindly, recklessly abandoning all the strategic thought he’d been trained in. He barely heard Nigel shouting at him to cease. He scarcely felt the swing of his weapon as he thrust to where Augustus had last been.

But he felt the moment his sanity completely snapped and he became the monster he’d been fighting against his whole life.

Oh, yeah. He felt that.