Because I feel like something is watching me, and the feeling doesn’t go away when I get into the house. Or when I close the blinds. Or stop in the rear stairwell, out of the line of sight from any windows. No matter what I do, I can’t shake the feeling.
“Julia got into Claire’s cloud account,” Ethan tells me, bringing me back to reality. “I have her work schedule. She’s off tomorrow, but then she does a double at the salon and the restaurant. We can go check out her house then.”
“Where does she live?”
“She rents a house in the downtown area of Paradise Valley, a few blocks from the salon. It’s a nice area. Lots of young couple with children, and one of the two elementary schools in PV is close.”
“PV?” I raise my brows. “You’re starting to sound like a townie.”
“I’m okay with that.” Ethan kisses me and then pulls me in close for another hug.
“I think I am too, though I prefer Thorne Hill. Technically, it’s where we live. Though I’ll admit it’s nice being more or less in the middle.”
“It is.” He kisses me once more and then we break away so he can show me everything that Claire has saved in her cloud. I spend the rest of the day feeling rather codependent since I’m either glued to Ethan or Hunter’s side, and only feel like myself once I spend a good hour freezing in the barn.
Ethan makes my favorite Tuscan salmon and pasta for dinner again, and I drink way too much wine in an attempt to quell my nerves. It works—temporarily at least. I fall asleep almost immediately after getting into bed, making sure I’m safely snugged between Hunter and Ethan. I’ll get hot fast, but I don’t even care.
I just want to have a decent night’s sleep.
And I do…for a few hours at least. Around three AM Hunter nudges me awake, but he’s not waking me because I’m having a nightmare.
“What is it?” I mumble, still half asleep.
He presses his nose against my face and I get a flash of what he saw when he looked out the window.
Reaper demons.
CHAPTER 21
Are you sure?
Hunter is more than sure, and he flashes the vision of the reapers into my head again. I sit up, pulling out of Ethan’s embrace. Slinking to the ground, I awkwardly crawl to the sitting area’s window and peek into the yard.
Holy shit.
There are at least a dozen of them, just standing there looking up at me. I feel a tug from deep inside of me, as the reapers are calling to me—and they come in peace.
“Ethan!” I whisper, and scramble toward the bed. Hunter lunges forward, shadow form going right to the bed and pounding on Ethan, causing him to stir.
“Ethan,” I whisper again. “Get up.”
“What’s going on?” he mumbles.
“There are reaper demons in the yard.” I’m not sure why I’m whispering. Can the reapers hear me? How good is their hearing? I have no idea, and I’m not ready to find out.
Ethan sits straight up, swinging his legs over the side of the bed. He doesn’t grab his gun or go into hunter mode. Great. He thinks I’m hallucinating again. Hell, maybe I am. But Hunter saw it…and now I’m basing reality off whether or not my dog—who’s not really a dog—can see what I’m supposedly seeing.
It’s not that far off to think I’m fucking insane.
“Shhh!” I hold up my hand and motion for him to get to the ground with me. Blinking several times to focus his vision, Ethan joins me, moving silently and gracefully across the floor. “Hunter can see them,” I hiss. “They’re really there.”
Ethan peers out the window, face going slack when he takes in the sight of the reapers.
“You see them?” I ask, unable to help myself.
“Yeah, I do.”
“Good.”
“No, not good.” He steals another glance and I know he’s thinking about the odds of us fighting—and winning—the reapers.
“Why are they just standing there?” I ask as nervous adrenaline fills my veins. “Does that mean one of us is about to die and they’re waiting to suck our energy?”
“I don’t think so. I’ve never seen this many at once.”
“How much do you know about reaper demons?” I whisper, feeling their presence. Something about it doesn’t feel threatening, which is crazier than anything I’d hallucinated the last few days. The is full of demons. Of course it’s a threat.
“Just what I told you. They travel in packs, aren’t much of a threat on their own, but a group like this is dangerous.”
I bite my lip, mind racing. “Packs,” I say out loud. “Every pack needs an alpha.” I feel the reapers’ pull on me again. They want me to come outside and join them. But not because they want to kill me. No, they want me to tell them what to do. The thought is so jarring it makes me recoil. “That’s what they want.”