Page 74 of Talon

Talon hesitates before turning to me.“His is … God, how do I explain it … Reaper can control death. Well, not really control it. He can bring things back from the dead.”

“What?”

“I saw it once. When we were in the basement.”

“What happened?”

“My favorite rat had eaten some poison. Blackstone had the guards put poisoned traps around the ranch to kill my friends. He didn’t know I could talk to them, but he knew I liked them, so he tried to kill them all.”

“Bastard.”

“One managed to get to me before he died. He told me what happened, and then he just fell over and went stiff. I screamed, and Reaper came over. He looked at the rat, then at me. Then he held his hands over it. At first, nothing happened, but then its whiskers twitched. A paw moved. And then the rat woke up.”

“Holy shit.”

“He can also speak to the recently deceased.”

“Like a medium?”

“Exactly. But his powers are limited. He’s not exactly sure how long he’s got before he can’t bring them back. We know for sure that his power won’t work on anything that’s been dead longer than a day. But if it’s only been an hour or two, he can bring them back.”

“Do they come back the same, or are they like zombies?”

“Fortunately, they return completely intact. Confused, but they’re still who they were when they died. My rat friend, the one Reaper brought back, helped us escape. He lived in Nina’s barn until he died a year later.”

“I’m sorry you lost him.”

“I cried a lot, but he lived longer than most rats. Their lifespan is usually only about two years.”

“Still, it’s sad to lose a pet.”

“He wasn’t a pet. He was more like a friend. And he helped save our lives. He was one of the lookouts the night we escaped.”

“After you got out, how did you end up in Nina’s barn?”

“We wandered around for a while, but then it started snowing. Winter was coming, and we knew we had to find shelter. Her barn was huge, and we figured she wouldn’t notice us if we were careful. But she did.”

“Thank God for that.”

“I do. Every day. She was the angel who saved us after we escaped the devil.”

“She’s a good person. I can tell.”

“Winchester was, too. He was a decent man who always did right by us until the day he died.”

“You’ve been through so much in your life.”

“I have, but I don’t let it get to me. There are so many people out there suffering who need our help. When we found out what Winchester did with the club, we begged him to let us join. He wouldn’t let us until we got old enough to prospect. We didn’t get any special treatment. Had to earn our dues like everyone else. But we made it and got patched in.”

“Did Scar take over as president after Winchester died?”

“He did. By then, everyone else looked up to Scar. Many of the older guys who rode with Winchester retired after he died. They knew we could take over and continue their legacy. And we have.”

“How many people have you rescued?”

“No idea. We don’t keep count.”

“How does it work? I know you don’t work with law enforcement … but what do you do?”