Page 16 of Gods and Graves

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

ZAID

T hea is gone.

And so is Krys.

“They couldn’t have gone far,” Everett growls, pacing.

He rakes his fingers through his sandy-colored hair, causing it to stand straight up.

Rafe sits on the bed, a dagger in one hand as he cuts the palm of the other.

Blood wells, dark red and glittering with magic, and he closes his eyes, concentrating.

I know he’s attempting to perform a very complicated tracking spell.

The problem is, this spell only works when the caster has an intimate relationship with the person they’re trying to find, whether that’s romantic or platonic.

And considering Rafe has only known her for one day? And that he has the emotional capacity of a damn cabbage?

“I’ll see if I can pick up their scent,” Everett says abruptly, and his eyes flutter shut.

I know he’s about to shift, but the last thing we need is his monster loose in the motel.

Everett and his beast are a lot like Krystian and Krys. They’re the same person, but one is contained by societal norms and empathy. The other? They only have two modes—fuck or fight—and there’s no guarantee which one it’ll be.

“Don’t.” Rafe’s eyes snap open, and blood floats in the air, a trail of it leading out the door. “I have it.”

My brows shoot up at that, but I don’t bother to question it. All that matters is finding Thea…before Krystian—or Krys, as Krystian likes to call him—does something he regrets.

I don’t think he would intentionally hurt her, but Krys is careless with people’s feelings and well-being. He doesn’t think before he acts. If shit hits the fan, he won’t hesitate to leave Thea behind in order to save himself.

It makes him immensely dangerous on missions.

The three of us stalk out of the motel room and into the parking lot—directly to an approaching car.

“Who’s fucking car is that?” Everett bites out, his hands forming fists by his sides.

“Who knows?” I strain my eyes to see better, but as a wraith, I don’t have enhanced senses like the others.

All I can make out are two blurry silhouettes.

“It’s them,” Everett tells us, and relief floods me instantly, the force of it taking me by surprise.

I didn’t realize how attached I’ve become to the five-foot-nothing spitfire until she was gone and I was left fearing the worst.

It’s terrifying to care about someone who isn’t a member of my team—someone whose past is too nebulous to define and shrouded in mystery. Her entire story raises a thousand different questions.

What, exactly, is she? She claims she’s a reaper, and that may be true, but why is her upbringing different from the others?

Why is she trapped?

How is she here now?

How long will this last?

To the east, the sun rises above the horizon, reaching out with spindly arms to paint the surroundings in red and orange.

As soon as the car pulls to a stop, Thea pops out, dressed in that hideously oversized shirt that belongs to Krystian and pants that may have been mine at one point. She smiles brightly when she sees us, unaware of the panic her disappearance caused.

She waves and skips forward. “You guys are up early!”

Rafe is in front of her instantly, his hands on her shoulders as he takes in the bruises darkening her cheek.

Rage like I’ve never felt before barrages me, pulling me into a tidal wave I can’t hope to escape from.

“Who. Did. This. To. You?” Rafe growls out, each word crisp and concise.

At the same moment, Krystian stumbles out of the car, appearing confused and disoriented.

“W-what?” He blinks at us. “Where am I? How did I…?” He finally seems to notice Thea and Rafe, and all of the color drains from his face. He swallows convulsively. “Please tell me I didn’t do that to you.”

His voice is practically a whisper.

“You?” Thea draws her brows together. “No. Of course not. You took care of the one who did.”

“What the fuck were you thinking?” Everett bellows, storming up to Krystian and grabbing him by the collar of his shirt.

“It wasn’t me!” Krystian insists, frantic. “I would never put her in harm’s way. Never.”

“Obviously you fucking would!” Spit flies from Everett’s mouth as he hauls the other man into the air.

Krystian pales even more.

None of us like to bring up the truth—that Krystian and Krys are the same person, driven by the same desires and motivations.

Krys acts on everything Krystian will never consciously do, whether that’s accept odd jobs as a mercenary or murder someone who harmed him or fuck a pretty girl who gave him googly eyes.

Krys represents every one of Krystian’s darkest desires.

The light elf doesn’t fight back against the shifter as he turns desperate, beseeching eyes Thea’s way.

“I’m so fucking sorry.”

“Why would you be sorry?” She blinks, seemingly at a loss for words. “It was my own idiotic fault for jumping into the fray when you told me to stay back. But in my defense, I did save you from getting stabbed.”

“Fray?” Rafe growls out, still studying Thea’s bruised cheek intently.

“Stabbed?” I parrot.

“What the fuck did you two do?” Everett exclaims, finally releasing Krystian.

The elf drops to the ground on all fours, his head lowered in shame.

Thea steps away from Rafe and folds her arms over her chest. “I’ll tell you…if you apologize to Krystian.”

“What?” all of us exclaim at once—including Krystian, who finally lifts his head to spear Thea with an unreadable look.

“You heard me.” One of her feet begins to tap impatiently.

“I went with Krys willingly. He told me to stay back, but I chose to involve myself in the fight. If I’d listened to him, I never would’ve gotten hurt.

And as soon as he saw me go down, he ran in front of me and tortured the guy who hurt me. ”

I blink at her, unable to believe what I’m hearing.

Apparently, I’m not the only one.

“Krys protected you?” Krystian sounds incredulous.

“Of course he did.” Thea arches an eyebrow. “He’s you, isn’t he? And you would protect me, right?”

Krystian opens and shuts his mouth repeatedly, but apparently, he has no rebuttal.

“But your fucking face,” Rafe growls out, once again reaching for her. His fingers graze her mottled skin, and when she winces, he drops his arm back to his side. Whirling towards me, he snaps out, “Fix it!”

“Let’s get some ice on that,” I tell Thea gently, guiding her towards my room.

Guilt gnaws at my stomach like fire ants. It was my job to watch Krys, and I failed. Yes, he created an illusion that made me believe he was still in the room with me, but I should’ve seen through it, through him .

Everett hurries to the ice machine and returns a few minutes later with a bag, handing it to me. I gently rest it against Thea’s face, cringing sympathetically when she winces.

“I know it hurts,” I say soothingly. “But we need to get the swelling down.”

“Stupid shifter.” She pouts, and I shouldn’t find it as adorable as I do.

“So what exactly happened, sweetheart?” I reposition the ice on her face then hold it there.

I have no idea what healing abilities a reaper has, but I guess none. If she did, she would’ve healed by now, or at least started to.

Everett, Rafe, and Krystian are all listening intently, but I keep her attention on me, pretending we’re in a world of our own.

“It’s as I said. Krys came to my room, and we left together. He brought me to this seedy bar, where we accidentally destroyed a bunch of motorcycles.”

Everett—who owns a bike—winces at that, but Thea doesn’t notice, her eyes intent on mine.

“And then?” I press, desperate to know how she got this injury…and if the person who did it to her is still breathing.

“And then Krys stormed inside and demanded his money back,” Thea explains.

Krystian frowns. “His money?”

“That’s what he said, but I think he was full of shit,” she confesses, her tone flippant as if this isn’t the part of the story she wants to focus on.

“Anyway, all of the supernaturals attacked him at once, and he shot arrow after arrow at them. It was really freaking cool, if I’m being honest. Sexy, even. ”

A tiny blush stains her cheeks at her impromptu confession. Krystian, I notice, stands a little straighter, absently brushing at a strand of his unruly blond hair.

“I saw a shifter sneaking up on Krys from behind, so I intervened. Stabbed the fucker in the shoulder. He turned around, backhanded me, and then Krys dismembered him.”

She sounds oddly…blasé over the fact that Krys tortured a guy in front of her.

Then again, nothing seems to perturb her. In some aspects, she’s as sweet and innocent as a newborn baby. In others, she’s hardened and fierce, a warrior goddess in her own right.

“He’s dead?” Rafe asks darkly.

Thea shakes her head. “No.” At our looks of disbelief, she hurries to elaborate. “I was afraid the arrival of a soul would force me back to the world of the dead, you know? Didn’t want to risk it.”

The air turns somber.

“She’s right,” Everett says gruffly, breaking the silence. “We can’t risk sending her back. That means no killing around her.”

“No killing around her?” Rafe asks.

“Correct.”

Rafe focuses on Thea. “Do you remember the bar you were at?”

“Ummm. Yeah. It was called Lacey’s Jugs or something along those lines. About twenty minutes in a car.”

“I’ll be back,” Rafe says darkly, stalking out of the room and towards the borrowed—stolen—car.

Thea watches him leave with a quizzical expression, but I quickly reclaim her attention before she can ask questions.

“And you’re okay, right? Besides your face, of course.” I didn’t see any other injuries on her, though it’s hard to tell with her clothes so baggy.

“I promise I’m fine.” She tries to smile, though I can tell it causes her pain. “I’ll be good as new by tomorrow.”

I don’t have the heart to tell her it’ll take at least a week to heal.

“And I don’t blame you, Krystian,” she adds, glancing at the sullen elf. “You know that, don’t you?”

Krystian lowers his eyes to his feet, seemingly unable to meet her penetrating gaze.

“Krystian…” Her voice is a growl.

“You never should’ve been there in the first place,” Krystian finally explodes, snapping his head up to stare at her. “If I was still in control…”

He can’t seem to find the words to finish that sentence.

“You want to know the biggest difference between the two of you?” Thea asks, canting her head to the side.

She doesn’t wait for Krystian to respond before continuing.

“You both look after and protect me, but Krys doesn’t treat me as breakable.

I think you know, at least subconsciously, that a tiny punch to the face won’t get rid of me that easily. ”

An uneasy silence permeates the air as we all process her dogmatic proclamation.

A punch may not have gotten rid of Thea…but that only begs the question—what will?

How can we protect her from threats we can’t even begin to comprehend?

We need to find Aphrodite, and fast. If anyone will have answers, it’ll be her.

I just pray we won’t be too late.