Page 83 of Finders Reapers

I held my hands up. “Political incorrectness aside,” I glared at them both. “Can you get to the point?”

“There is no point. You are Reaper. That was fluke because you are new.” Rome clicked his tongue against the roof of his mouth. He stopped and frowned, patting his pocket. “I am vibrating.”

“Take the call,” Maddox said through gritted teeth. Once Rome had left the room with his phone to his ear, the commando spoke. “Did Charon say anything to you when you were recruited?”

Jamal brushed his thumb against his lip. “You mentioned that you didn’t get the same promotional package rundown that we did.” He pointed out to me. “You know, the heaven bonus.”

I nodded. “Charon implied that he had to find a place for me until the heat died down. I assumed he meant until the archway to hell was fixed.”

“We need to see your soul contract.” Fletcher declared, looking down at his nails. “Maybe there is something that will explain why you’re special.”

I shrugged. “Charon just said my father sold my soul.”

Fletcher patted me on the back. “Dad’s are shit sometimes.”

I didn’t disagree.

“Valentina is not a demon; she could not be a Reaper if she was.” Maddox cleared his throat. “I believe that Charon or Oriax has either made a perilous and strange choice.” He continued, not looking at me as he spoke. “Valentina’s soul is not connected to her Reaper body.”

I held out my hands. “But I’m inside of this body. It walks, talks, ears. The whole shebang.”

“A Reaper body is an entity of the universe. We often do not control the magic of what we can do. The universe does it. When we need to be seen, we are seen. When we try to intervene with the way of things, we will always fail.” Maddox stated plainly. “Your soul and body, together, is what the universe recognizes. There must have been a moment where you came unglued. Thus you were able to lace.”

“The universecanstop me, though,” I retorted. “Like in Asylum, or when I went to see my father.”

Fletcher nudged me. “Maybe you could only do it if you were in danger or scared?”

“Why would Charon create a defective Reaper?” Jamal squared his shoulders and faced Maddox. “Oriax does as he’s told. He might flaunt the rules, but he follows them.”

“I have no idea.” Maddox held out his hands.

“Is there a way to test this theory?” I interrupted, brushing my damp palms down the fabric of my leggings. “I mean, if I’m defective, does that mean that God is going to sweep down and do a factory reset on me.”

Fletcher barked a laugh. “Who or what you consider God disappeared when the devil did. We’re alone in this.”

“That’s worrying,” I sat back.

“You’re telling me, love,” Jamal said out of the corner of his mouth. “Don’t even get me started on fallen angels and demon Kings.”

“What does it mean for me?” I knitted my fingers together and pressed my closed fists against my thighs as I turned to Maddox. “You said that Reapers are bonded together. We’re a Grim. What does that bond mean exactly? It affects our emotions and makes us feel connected, doesn’t it?”

“Correct.” Maddox nodded.

“Okay,” I pulled my bottom lip between my teeth. “That explains a lot.” Like my comfort around all four of the guys and my not so pure thoughts. What better way to connect a group than through the exchange of bodily fluids.

My vagina needed to calm down the F down before I ended up on the bottom of a four-man dog pile.

Before I could ask another question, Rome appeared in the archway from the kitchen.

Rome held up his phone with a frown. “The second victim had a contract. Their soul belonged to the devil.”

Maddox and Rome decided that it would be better if I stayed at home while they went to HQ to speak to Sasha and track down the file for Antwan, the second victim.

I couldn’t say that I was particularly heartbroken about having to stay home, especially after having information flung at me over the past couple of days. HQ meant possibly running into Mr. Bub, and I had no desire to come face to face with a demon that had a leash around my soul, or Charon, who was up to something as well.

One of the guys had given up their room so that I could lay down and rest. Judging by the My Chemical Romance posters and FunkoPops, I guessed that Fletcher had taken one for the team.

Fletcher was definitely a plant-daddy. Almost every inch of the room had greenery, and the window was obscured by the giant leaves of a Fiddle Leaf Fig. (My knowledge courtesy of Jenna Marble’s plant house tour from years ago.)