Page 5 of Reaper and Ruin

Whip pushed up to his feet wearily. “Well, as fun as this has been, can we get the hell out of here before the cops show up? That explosion might have been written off as thunder, but it’sonly a matter of time before the sun comes up and people start noticing there’s a whole chunk missing from the side of the cliff face. And I don’t think we need any more attention coming our way.”

I agreed and got myself beneath X’s arm, even though he was supporting his weight just fine by himself. I just needed to be near him, to have the reassurance of his arm around me.

Whip coughed pathetically, and I reached my free arm out to him, but he just squeezed my fingers as he passed, leading the way back up the path I’d come down. Levi fell into step beside him, his arm jerking every time Whip stumbled, like Levi was just waiting to catch him.

I eyed the two of them from behind, worry for and gratitude to both of them filling me all at once. But X’s mouth clearly hadn’t been damaged in his fall, and it was running at a million miles an hour.

“Isn’t this beautiful?” he asked. “What a wonderful night.”

I squinted through the rain. “It’s pouring. It’s freezing. We’re all soaking wet, and you nearly drowned.”

“But I didn’t! Twice now I have been brought back from the dead! I’m like Jesus, Violet.”

“Maybe those bobblehead Jesuses they sell at the gas station for your car dashboard,” Levi muttered from a few steps ahead of us.

X ignored him. “I have risen from the dead!”

“More like lugged from the ocean with sand in your ass crack,” Whip countered. “And the only thing rising is my blood pressure.”

X acted like they hadn’t even spoken. “Look at the stars. They’re so bright! Feel the wind on your skin!”

“I feel it,” I agreed. “It’s freezing and miserable. Can we just get back to your van?”

X turned on me, clutching my upper arms tight in his fingers. “It’s a miracle.”

Levi sighed. “The only miracle is that Whip hasn’t killed you yet.”

But nobody was putting a dampener on X’s apparent new lease on life. “I was saved tonight, you guys. Saved!”

Whip trudged on, his grump mode resurfacing. “If you thank the Lord for his divine intervention after you nearly fucking drowned me, I swear, I’m going to cut you.”

I glanced at Whip sharply. “He nearly drowned you?”

Whip waved his hand dismissively. “I’m fine.”

I wasn’t so sure. He coughed violently, and I knew I was right to be concerned.

X pointed at the dark shadowy trees. “Look at that tree. Isn’t it just beautiful?” He glanced back down at me. “I’ve been given a second chance at life. I’m going to use it so well. I’m turning over a new leaf. Being a better person.”

Levi glanced over at him, vague amusement in his tone. “So you’re saying your life flashed before your eyes and now you’re a changed man?”

“Yes! Exactly that! You see me, Levi! Thank you!”

Levi squinted at him. “I see you being crazy. You think you’re going to stop killing and live on the straight and narrow just because you swallowed some seawater?”

X made a face at him. “What?” He snorted on a laugh. “I’m not giving up killing. Are you crazy?”

All three of us stared at him.

He grinned back. “I’m going to get a nose ring!”

3

LEVI

The bluffs swarmed with Slayers by the time we reached the top of the long, winding path that snaked its way up the side of the cliff face from the beach below.

Fang strode right past me, beelining for his sister. “Violet!”