Page 132

Jasper

A woman with a grudge

is the most dangerous brute of them all.

Six months after leaving Bristlebrook

I turn out of the medical bay after checking on Ava, who will finally be able to move back to camp tomorrow.

The burns up her side weren’t bad enough to need grafts, thank God, but it’s taken a long time for her to be well enough to move.

Beaumont insisted on checking my cheek yet again, but it’s healing as well as it can out here.

The thick scar is, unfortunately, unavoidable.

I’m debating whether I should fetch myself some food here or wait until I’m back at camp when a roar of activity by the Reapers’ mess hall stops me in my tracks.

“Yes! Hit her lower, yeah, that’s it! Softer on your knuckles!”

I stiffen as I hear Lucien’s wicked, gleeful shouts. Beside me, Jaykob’s brows slam down, and we exchange a look.

We take off in the next instant. The shouts and the whistles are deafening. It’s right after lunch, the sun is blistering, and it sounds as though most of the Reapers are converging.

My stomach tightens at what that could mean.

But Lucien sounds thrilled .

We turn the corner to see over a hundred Reapers gathered in a wide circle, their cheers a thunderous crash.

It takes another minute for us to push through the crowd, and I flinch as I catch an elbow near my hideous, healing cheekbone.

It’s been a month since I was shot, and thanks to Beaumont’s stitches, the flesh has been knitted back together, but the pink, new-forming scar is still taut and tender.

“ Yes , Eden!” Lucien shouts, just as we burst into the center of the circle.

“Oh, shit.” Jaykob snorts, his worry immediately changing to enjoyment. “That’s it, sugar! Like I showed you.”

My heart rate begins to slow, and I allow myself a single moment to enjoy the sight of Eden’s fist connecting with Akira’s stomach. She’s kneeling on Akira’s chest, wrestling the woman into the dirt, her face fierce and set, her glasses dangling around her neck by their chain.

I know Eden’s temper has been riding her hard lately, particularly since the incident with Bane and Ava and me getting shot, but we’re so close to the end now. It’s unlike her to overplay her hand. What on earth did Akira start with her? Whatever it was... Eden appears to be ending it.

The Reapers are roaring in amusement, making no move to stop the fight.

Though it’s less of a fight, and more of an evisceration.

“Lucien . . . what on earth . . .?”

But he’s not paying me any attention.

He laughs, his hair golden and dazzling in the sun. “Creamed! Go, go , Eden!”

My lips twitch.

She is faring far better than she did in her delightful booty shorts when she sparred with Ava.

But someone should be the adult here.

I step into the circle, shifting around until I’m in Eden’s line of sight. “Eden? Come on now, sweet girl, that’s enough. She’s down. You won.”

Eden throws her head back, her hair a mess and her eyes hot as they find mine. Breathing hard, still kneeling on Akira’s chest, she stares at me for a minute, then, finally, she nods.

I help Eden up off the cringing woman’s chest, eyeing her in concern. Eden has been particularly solicitous toward me since I was wounded, but right now, she’s almost lost in her anger.

Lucien moves in to hug her, and Jaykob lets out a low laugh.

“Nice moves, sugar.” He smirks.

“Well, I’m hardly going to slap her.” Eden’s chin lifts, and her voice turns dark. “She didn’t steal my lipliner.”

Jaykob’s lips curl up, and I begin ushering her towards the truck, leaving Akira on the ground.

We can cool down back at camp.

We’ve had six months of this, and it’s felt far too long for all of us.

“We’ll be done soon, my Eden,” I murmur to her as the disappointed crowd disperses, and as she flexes out her bruised knuckles, she lets out a long, heavy sigh.

“Not soon enough.”