Page 115 of Reaper

“I… I’ve always been afraid to find out who he is because he lost his job because of me. His hearing has never fully returned, so he can’t be a firefighter anymore. I’m worried he’s going to hate me. That he’ll blame me for losing his hearing and losing his job.”

Reaper’s arm tightens around me. “Darlin’, I know you’re not going to believe me until you talk to him, but I can guarantee you that he does not blame you and he does not hate you. In fact, he’s worried that you hate him because he failed to get you out and that by him getting knocked out meant that you got hurt.”

My head whips toward him and I stare at him in shock. He can’t possibly think that… Can he?

Reaper nods. “It’s true, Darlin’. He’s stayed away because he thinks seeing him or hearing his voice might cause the memories to haunt you even more. He hasn’t gone back to the supper club or even the tavern. Hell, I’ve seen him come down the aisle of the grocery store and when he noticed you, he turned and headed down another aisle. He hates himself because you were hurt because of him.”

I gape at him, not sure what to say. Reaper pulls me into him and I rest my head on his shoulder, my mind whirling with what he just said.

Twenty minutes later, the door opens, but I don’t look right away. Reaper tenses and I know he’s here.

Closing my eyes, I inhale and exhale slowly as I try to tame my racing heart. I repeat the process a few times and finally open my eyes.

My vision swims immediately with unshed tears. I had worried the firefighter that rescued me was Erik, Mama Astrid and Odin’s son, and I was right.

Setting my beer down, I get up off Reaper’s lap, step forward and hug Erik.

“Thank you,” I croak out as tears stream down my face.

Hesitantly, he hugs me back and it takes me a bit before I realize he’s apologizing to me.

I shake my head and hug him tighter. “You have nothing to apologize for. It wasn’t your fault. The fault is with whoever started the fire.”

He hugs me tighter at that, and after a few minutes, I pull away, wiping my cheeks.

Reaper stands and places a kiss at my temple. “The guys and I are going to have Church. Take all the time you need.”

I look around and notice the only ones close by are Nathan and Drake who are both stocking the bar and wiping it down. I can see Mama Astrid in the kitchen preparing lunch through the pass through. As if feeling my eyes on her, she turns and smiles. Relief flows through me. She doesn’t judge or blame me for Erik’s hearing loss either.

Nathan comes over and gives us each a beer before taking my empty bottle and throwing it in the recycling bin. Fuck, I hadn’t even realized I’d finished it off.

We sit on the couch and I gnaw on my lip before sighing. “I’m sorry. I know I said everything is the arsonist’s fault, but I still feel like I need to apologize, too. If we hadn’t been home, you wouldn’t have been in the house. You wouldn’t have lost most of your hearing and you’d still be a firefighter.”

He gives me an understanding smile. “I feel the same way and I’m sorry, too. If I would have just moved faster, we wouldn’t have fallen down the stairs.” Then his face hardens. “Lark, what all did Chief tell you about the fire?”

I swallow the lump in my throat. “Someone messed with our security feed. They hacked it and stopped it from recording for two days, both at the house and the supper club.” I take a deep breath, blowing it out slowly. “Chief Riggs said the windows were tampered with, that they were nailed shut from the outside. The wires for the alarms were cut. Multiple areas were found surrounding the house and the supper club where they think there were piles of rags soaked in accelerant. He also said that because of how the building burned, they suspected the arsonist also sprayed accelerant on the walls of the buildings as well.”

Somehow, Erik’s face hardens even more. “That wasn’t all.”

I sit up straighter at that as worry curls in my gut. “What do you mean?”

“The doors were tampered with, too. Emma and Lottie couldn’t get out. We had to bust down the doors with an axe. There wasn’t much of the stairs that survived the fire, but there was enough to show evidence of the supports being cut into both sets of stairs to weaken them.”

I stare at Erik in shock.

Oh my God…

Whoever did this wanted tokillus.

My stomach turns and I cover my mouth as I jump to my feet, running down the hallway toward the bathroom. I hear someone following me, but I don’t look back. Pushing open the bathroom door, I rush to one of the stalls just in time to empty the contents of my stomach.

Hands brush my hair from my face and hold it back for me as I continue to throw up and then dry heave.

A few moments later, I grab some tissue and blow my nose before flushing the toilet. Straightening, I turn, not surprised that it was Mama Astrid that helped me. Erik’s right behind her in the open door and passes me a cold cloth. I check the mirror and wipe my face as it burns with embarrassment.

“I’m—”

Mama Astrid cuts me off with a look. “Don’t you dare say you’re sorry, Sweetheart. Both Emma and Lottie wanted to withhold that information from you initially because they were worried it would push you over the edge while you were healing. Then, I figure they didn’t know how to broach the subject after that.”