Chapter 17

“Love is pain, boy, and you’ve got to snap out of it,” Damien was saying as Jarvis walked into the sunlit room.

The sight of the boy on the canopy bed was not what he’d expected. Rocco was so pale that only his eyebrows and lips were noticeable against the white sheet. Damien was sitting in a foldable chair, staring intently at the boy. The boy was dying. Jarvis knew that instantly. “Damien.”

The older vampire’s face lit up. “You came!”

Jarvis snorted. “It’s not a smart man who looks that happy to see me.”

Reina hurried over to the bed, startling Jarvis. She knelt down beside Rocco and touched his forehead tenderly. “He’s like ice.” Her voice was so full of concern for this stranger that Jarvis’s throat tightened. How was it possible to be as loving as Reina? How could she really exist?

“Don’t touch him, lady!” Sylvan grabbed a pencil from a nearby table and brandished it like a dagger. “Get away from him!”

“Don’t threaten her.” Jarvis yanked the kid back with a growl. “She’s not like other women, kid. She’s all good.” As soon as the words were out of his mouth, Jarvis knew he meant it. Despite all he’d learned about women being ruthless, evil, and untrustworthy, he’d put his life in Reina’s hands without hesitation. In fact, he kinda already had.

Her worry about Rocco was evident in the gentleness of her touch, in the kindness of her voice. Reina was bent over the dying vamp, her hair falling over her shoulders as she whispered to him. She didn’t even know the kid, and she was there, giving her heart to him. She wasn’t like the women he knew. She wasn’t like anyone he knew. She was beautiful. She was sheer, angelic radiance, and he knew his world was forever changed because she’d been a part of it.

She looked up then, as if sensing his perusal. He smiled, and she smiled back, her eyes lighting up in a way that made something inside him melt just a little bit.

“You’ve come to make Rocco hate the girl? His father returns tonight.” Damien leaned back in his chair. His eyes were shadowed, his body gaunt.

“If he hangs around me long enough, he’ll hate everyone.” Jarvis trailed his hand over Reina’s hair as he passed her on his way to the window, as if the breeze could take away his stench. “I’ve got an offer for you.”

“I knew it!” Sylvan beamed at him. “You’re going to help! I knew it!” He raced toward Jarvis. “High-five, man!”

“Stop! Don’t touch me!” Jarvis pointed his sword at the kid, stopping him in his tracks, trying not to notice the crestfallen expression on the youth’s face. “It’s not you, it’s me,” he tried to explain. “I’m the problem.”

Sylvan shook his head, his face starting to glow again. “No, dude, you’re awesome. You’re the most powerful being in the universe, and you’re here to help. You’re a god, man. A god.”

Reina looked up, and he saw her smile. “Keep telling him that,” she said. “He doesn’t believe it.”

Sylvan whirled around, fingers curved into claws. “Get away from Rocco, woman!”

Typical kid. Thought he had it all figured out, and he had it all wrong. Had his faith in the wrong damn place.

Damien set his hand wearily on the youth’s shoulder. “Sylvan. Take a walk. I need to talk to Lord Hate.”

“No! I won’t leave.” Sylvan broke free and raced to stand beside Jarvis. He folded his arms over his chest, checked out Jarvis’s stance, and then mimicked it perfectly, down to the distance between his feet and the angle of his hips.

Something shifted in him at the sight of Sylvan imitating him. “I’m hell, kid. Trust Damien.”

“No.” Sylvan folded his arms and moved closer to Jarvis.

“Let him stay,” Reina said. “He seems to be unaffected by you, and every time he speaks, Rocco’s eyes roll back in his head. Rocco knows he’s here.”

Sylvan tossed a suspicious look at Reina. “You’re just saying that so we’ll stop watching you, and you can stake him.”

“No more hostility toward her,” Jarvis warned. He set his hand on the kid’s shoulder before he could remember not to. “I trust her, and you will respect her or you will leave.”

Sylvan looked up at Jarvis, then over at Reina, and indecision flashed on his face. Finally, he gave a reluctant nod. “Okay.”

Okay. Just like that. Jarvis had spoken and the kid had ditched a lifetime of lessons about how women weren’t to be trusted. Shit. He didn’t know what to make of that. Didn’t these people get that he was the bad guy?

Damien shoved back from the bed, walked across the room, and poured himself a glass of milk from a small fridge. “You have a deal,” he prompted.

“Yeah.” Jarvis gave up ditching Sylvan. He could knock the kid out if he went over the edge. He nodded at Reina. “Reina’s the one who can make the offer.”

Both vampires turned toward Reina in surprise. “The woman?” Sylvan sounded disgusted. “We can’t trust a woman!”

Jarvis flicked the kid in the head, and then he spoke to Reina. “Have you heard of the Sisterhood of the Fairy Tale Hero?”

Reina nodded. “Of course. It’s an organization of women who have Princess Gatherings and believe that the men of today aren’t as manly and heroic as the ones in the fairy tales.” Her gaze flicked to Sylvan. “They are particularly irked by the vampires who refuse to follow their calling of being violent, blood-sucking warriors, thereby depriving women of their birthright to tame real men.”

“They’re a bunch of witches,” Sylvan snapped. “This girl, Sarah Dutton, met Rocco at a fairy picnic, and she totally seduced him. They went out a bunch of times, and he fell in love with her. So, I double dated with them, you know, ’cause she had this friend who had this great rack…” Sylvan paused to catch his breath and Jarvis could feel the heat rising from Sylvan, his anger, his fury.

Instinctively he put his hand on the kid’s head, then pulled away. Seriously, Jarvis? Trying to ease a hotheaded reaction with his touch? The kid needed Reina, not him.

“And then, after dinner, we were on the beach and getting all up close and personal, you know, the way chicks like, and then Sarah whipped out this mug of blood and threw it all over both girls.”

Reina sat up. “She was trying to get you to attack her?”

“Yeah, man!” Sylvan moved closer to Reina. “Totally disrespecting that we aren’t that kind of vamp, you know? And Rocco almost snapped, and then I got him down, and he was pissed at her for not respecting him. I mean, trying to get us to bite them! We don’t even know them! It would have been empty, meaningless, blood sucking, and that’s just crap. Can’t do that, can’t go there, you know? It’s got to be blessed by the Holy Spirit and be all about love and eternal commitment and shit. You know?”

Reina raised her brows. “Um, yeah, okay, I guess blood sucking would be best done that way—”

“Damn right!” The pencil snapped in Sylvan’s hand. “I got him out of there, and I thought we were good, but then she got so pissed at him for refusing to rip her throat out, and she broke up with him by text. Rocco didn’t think she meant it, I mean, seriously, they’d been dating for like two months, and she’d ditch him just because he wouldn’t give her the action? Is that right?”

Reina shook her head. “No, of course not. You deserved to be honored for your choices about who you are.”

Sylvan blinked. “Really?”

“Of course, really.” She was rubbing Rocco’s hand in a gesture so tender it made Jarvis think of how she’d done the same to him. He wanted her back by his side. Touching him. “So, then what happened?”

“We don’t have time for this,” Damien interrupted.

“We do,” Jarvis said quietly. “This is part of the deal.”

Sylvan moved closer to Reina, as if entranced by her willingness to listen. Of course he would become captivated by her. What male could possibly be immune to her aura and her spirit? “So, then, she wouldn’t talk to him. Wouldn’t return his calls. Nothing. He went to see her, and she asked if he’d attack her, and he tried, he really tried, and he even got his fangs to extend, and then he couldn’t do it. So she staked him. Said that if he loved her, staking him would make him attack.”

“And he didn’t?”

“Nope.” Sylvan sighed and looked at Rocco. “She left him to die. I found him, brought him back here, but he’s given up. Can’t live without her, can’t be the man she wants him to be.” His voice broke, and he went down on his knees in front of Reina. “Can you save him, ma’am? Can you?”

She looked at Jarvis. “You can, can’t you?”

He shook his head. “I’m not inflicting myself on anyone.”

“What is going on?” Damien slammed his empty milk glass down on the dresser. “Who’s got the deal for me?”

Jarvis nodded at Reina. “Make the offer.”

She stared at him, and then comprehension dawned. She turned to Damien. “I work for Death, and we’re launching a new Reaper this weekend. We’re looking for investors who would like to sponsor the event.” She hesitated, and Jarvis could see her discomfort with the rest of it. “And we’re seeking recommendations on souls to reap.”

Damien blinked. “You’re asking me for money to pay you guys to wipe out the Sisterhood? You guys do contract work? Shit, I had no idea. I thought we all just died when we died.”

Sylvan frowned. “You’ll kill the Sisterhood? That’s not right.” He leapt to his feet. “No one should kill or inflict harm on others. Ever!”

Reina blanched, and Jarvis’s heart softened for her. Reina was never going to be the brutal hard ass she had to be to make this happen. Fortunately, he was fucked up enough not to have the same limitations. “Here’s the deal, kid,” he said. “Everyone dies at some point, and the Afterlife is a bang up place for eternity. Death manages the processes and keeps a balance.” Well, Death kept a cash stash in his pocket, but Jarvis didn’t think now was the time to mention it.

“People fear death,” Reina said. “And there’s no reason to, really. The Afterlife is really wonderful.”

And with those words, Jarvis got it. He understood why Death wanted to use Cam, why Cam wanted to do it. “And since the new Reaper is the Guardian of Love, everyone whose soul is reaped by him will experience the love and inner peace that’s been eluding them their whole lives. They will go into the Afterlife with purity in their hearts.”

Reina looked at him. “No more taking five hundred years to rid your heart of the stains from being in the physical world. Instant peace.”

“Instant peace,” Jarvis repeated. Like the kind Reina gave him, only it would last forever.

“It makes such sense,” Reina said, staring at him with understanding on her face as well. “It takes away the fear.”

“World peace.” Holy shit. It did make sense. In a completely fucked up way, of course, but it still made sense.

“So what?” Sylvan got in Reina’s face. “Death is still death, and just because it’s this ultimate high doesn’t mean it’s right to pull the trigger early. You can’t do that! It’s wrong!”

“It’s all right, kid.” Damien leveraged himself off the desk. “Sometimes you gotta stand up.”

“But you’re part of the Tribe! We believe in peace and—”

“Survival.” Damien ran his hand through his hair. “People abuse us, knowing we won’t strike back, and now that the Sisterhood has their claws onto us, we won’t be safe. They’ll be jumping us at intersections and staking us at red lights just to get us to become their fairy tale heroes.” He gestured at Rocco. “These two are my best altar boys. They believe in our philosophy in their deepest of hearts, and look what they get for it.”

“No.” Sylvan stomped his foot. “We can do this with love, the right way! The world can be at peace. We’ll have a vigil for Rocco.” He ran for the door. “I’m getting my friends. We can do this without violence. I know we can!”

The door slammed shut behind him, leaving the three adults alone.

Damien sighed. “I appreciate the utopian view of the youth, but I can’t let more boys suffer like Rocco. Women like that can’t be allowed to run around staking young boys before they’re old enough to handle it.”

“They need to be protected. Killing off the Sisterhood would do it.” Jarvis saw Reina’s indecision. Her discomfort with the whole notion of what they were talking about. Hello, woman? They weren’t actually going to allow Cameron to assassinate anyone, even murderous fairy tale princess wannabes. “Reina.”

She met his gaze. “What?”

He gave her a look of impatience, and her face cleared as she realized his point. That they weren’t actually going to do it. “Oh, right. Great.” She stood up. “It’s three billion dollars, and it’ll be done by Friday.”

“Three billion?” Damien pulled out his checkbook. “That’s a bargain.”

She raised her eyebrows. “You have three billion dollars at your disposal?”

“Of course.” Damien’s pen flew over the paper as he filled out the check without hesitation. “We got the church in a deal with the Vatican.”

“So?”

“So, how much money does the Catholic church have?” Damien ripped out the check. “They share well when threatened with vampires on their holy turf.” He winked at her. “We might not believe in ripping the throats out of dainty young maidens without provocation, but we’ve got no problem taking money from an organization who tries to convince the world that we belong in hell.” He set the paper in her hand. “My boss is going to love this idea,” he said. “How is this going to work?”

Reina took the check, turning it over in her hand, as if unable to believe it could be that easy to solve her problems. “We’ve rented out Foxboro Stadium Friday night. How many seats do you want?”

“Three boxes for the royalty, and then maybe a couple thousand for the others.”

“Done.” She tucked the check in her pocket. “It’s been lovely doing business with you, and I appreciate the opportunity to reap on your behalf.”

Damien grinned. “I must say that I’m really pumped to see the Guardian of Love at work. It’s really a monumental moment for all of humankind. I’m impressed as hell with the idea.”

Jarvis felt his good humor disappear. “It is top secret,” he said. “No one can know Love is involved, or you forfeit your money.”

Damien swore. “Then I need to retrieve Sylvan. He’ll share that information freely.” He glided for the door, and then turned. “But if Rocco isn’t on the hate parade by the time I get back, I’m stopping payment. Take care of him, Lord Hate.”

The door slammed shut before Jarvis could reply. “Fuck that—”

Reina caught his arm. “Don’t you get it? Rocco has given up hope. Hate gives him something to live for—”

“Then he’s better off with a visit from Cam.” He grabbed her hand and laid it over his heart. “Can’t you feel that? It’s black in there, sweetheart, and it’s a hell of a way to live.”

She splayed her hand on his chest. “Rocco can’t get to love from where he is. Give him hate. Not enough to kill her. Enough to give him a reason to live.”

He pulled her hand off. “I’m hell, Reina. You don’t understand how bad that is because you can’t feel it. I’m an insidious poison and—”

“Stop it!” She shoved at him. “Stop talking about yourself like that. You guard hate. That doesn’t mean you are hate. Give Rocco a jump start, and you’ll see that there are times when a little negative emotion is a good thing, even if it’s not where you ultimately want to end up. You said yourself that hate can be transmuted into love, but apathy and depression can’t get translated into anything!”

He wanted her words to be true. To believe he was some great balance in the universe, that this shit inside him wasn’t wrecking him. That an explosion that would decimate the emotional well-being of the world wasn’t ticking away inside him.

But that would be denial, and there was no time for that. Denial didn’t change the truth.

Only action would.

Rocco coughed, and he looked over at the boy. At his pale features, at the hopelessness on his face. The kid looked like shit.

“He’s dying because of love,” Reina said softly. “Give him some hate and a reason to live.”

“It’s not a reason.” He shoved his sword into his scabbard, pissed as hell that he couldn’t help this kid. He hated leaving Rocco like that, but he wasn’t going to inflict himself on anyone, despite Reina’s delusion that he simply wasn’t that bad. “Let’s go find Augustus. Part One finished. Part Two, and we’ll have this festival in line.”

“No!” She folded her arms over her chest. “I will not leave him here to die when you can save him. For God’s sake, Jarvis! I’d have given anything to have the ability to save those I love from death, and you could do it right now. How dare you walk away from that? How dare you reject that gift?”

“Gift? You think it’s a fucking gift? Fine. You want a gift. I’ll give you a gift.” He stalked across the room, grabbed Rocco, and swung the kid over his shoulder. “I’ll have Nigel bring him to the festival on Friday night. Once I find my brother and knock some damn sense into his brainwashed head, I’ll have him infuse Rocco with some warm and snuggly feelings so he can feel better. Happy now?” Hell, that was actually a brilliant idea. So much better than leaving this poor love-struck sod to disintegrate into the mattress.

Reina made a sound of exasperation. “He needs you, not your ego-maniac brother who suffers from such delusions of grandeur that he thinks he can save the world by killing it.”

He yanked the door open. “Don’t malign my brother.”

“He’s the one who should be maligned, not you.”

Jarvis whirled around and stalked back to Reina. She lifted her chin as he neared. “Don’t diss him.” If love wasn’t worth admiring, then what the hell was he?

“Protecting your brother is not what gives you value,” she snapped. “And quite frankly, I’m getting a little tired of you being so melodramatic about what a bad guy you are.”

“Are you deluded, woman? I’m Hate.”

She rolled her eyes. “For God’s sake, I can’t reach you, you bullheaded cretin.” She snatched her car keys out of his hand and stalked out the door.

He scowled as he shifted Rocco and headed after her. It was time she stopped arguing and accepted what he was, and what he wasn’t. He might not like it, but at least he accepted it.

He stepped out into the hall and saw the roomful of vampires salivating at the sight of Reina stomping her way through their midst, muttering about obstinate and asinine warriors.

“Dude,” a younger vampire muttered. “If I was going to break my vows, that chick is the one I’d do it for—”

Jarvis whipped out his sword and had the tip of the turbulent, purple blade at the kid’s throat before the youth could finish his thought.

The boy’s eyes widened, and his friend grabbed his arm. “Dude,” he whispered. “That’s the Guardian of Hate. He’ll blow your vows for good—”

The kid’s eyes flared red, and Jarvis swore as the room filled with the sound of popping corn. He turned to see fangs popping free left and right. Eyes turning red, and they were all fixated on Reina. “Yeah, welcome to my world, Reina. I’m like sunshine every time I walk in the door.”

She looked around, and he saw the sudden tension in her shoulders. She slowed her walk, easing slowly toward the door, clearly trying not to make any quick moves.

Jarvis had no such qualms. He broke into a run and sprinted for her. Caught her around the waist a split second before a roomful of vamps pounced like kitties on a catnip mouse. He swept her out of the way, put his sword into action, and headed for the door.

Reina held on tightly as he fought to get them out.

“Nice effect I have them, eh?” He couldn’t keep the smugness out of his voice. “Still think I’m a gift?”

But when he saw her sadness, he didn’t feel quite as smug anymore.

Which just pissed him off even more.

Which was good, because being a little insanely violent helped him take down another five vamps.

Which was bad, because as God was his witness, he was damn tired of feeling pissed off and insane.

Maybe he’d offer himself up as Cam’s first victim. As long as he was going to go, wouldn’t it be better to experience a moment, just one freaking moment, of love before he died, instead of going out in an explosion of all the blackest parts of his soul?

He dismissed the notion before he’d even finished the thought. What kind of crap was that? He’d fought off death for a hundred and fifty years. He sure as hell wasn’t going to offer himself up to it now. He was hanging on for as long as he could.

He sprinted to the car, threw his cargo inside, and gunned the engine, hitting the road as the gang of vamps spewed out into the dusk. He glanced in the backseat and saw Reina holding Rocco’s head in her lap, her face full of love and concern. Hellfire and damnation, what he’d give for one moment in that light.

“We can’t go after Augustus yet,” Reina said.

He peeled around the corner toward his place. He should have known she wouldn’t be able to pull through. “Hey, babe, I know you don’t want to—”

“No. My sickle was destroyed.” She patted Rocco’s head and then climbed back through the seats. In an automatic move, almost unconscious, she plucked his hand off the gearshift and held it between her palms.

His tension eased. Just a bit. He wanted to haul her onto his lap and breathe her in, but there was no time. He’d never craved anything the way he craved Reina’s touch. It felt good, but at the same time, it was unfathomable torture to have her that close and not be able to take her. “So, we get another sickle from your boss.” Excellent. It would give him a chance to check out the property for his brother.

“No.” Reina traced the lines on his palm. “He won’t give me another one. He put me on leave, remember? I need to get one from someone else.”

“Where else are you going to get a sickle designed for harvesting souls? Death’s got corner on that market—” Then he realized what she was saying. “You want to hit up the original Grim Reaper?”

“He must have spare ones lying around that will work for me.” She massaged his palm with her knuckles, as if she could dig out the hell that stalked him. “Death has to send him pictures and a snail mail letter on the first of every month to show he is adhering to the terms of their agreement.” She held up her phone, showing a contact page for the Grim Reaper. “I write the letters, so I have his address. He doesn’t live far from here.”

Jarvis whistled under his breath. “I’ve heard he’s a crazy bastard. He’d kill you in a minute.”

“I know.” She turned off her phone and put it away. “It’s the only way.”

“I’m going with you.” No way was he letting her face the Reap unprotected.

She smiled at him, relief evident in the way she squeezed his hand. “Thanks.”

Thanks. Thanks? That word made him want to be the man he’d never be. A man who actually deserved a smile and a nod of appreciation. Not the man who was going to rain all over the parade of every living being in existence. “Then let’s do it.”