26
ADDIE
“You said you have a family plot on your property?” I asked, as if I was trying to keep the conversation going.
However, I was sure that Bastien knew by now that I was suspicious of him. That first wave of zombies, the ones that tried to throw me out of Cerri’s third-floor window, had come in mass. Maddox and I had discussed where they could have come from, and I’d reasoned that they might have been raised from a family cemetery.
Bastien gave me a look that could have been described asknowing. We both knew where this was headed, but as he pressed on the gas pedal and the speedometer needle rose, neither of us wanted to bring up the truth of the moment.
“Did you know that Reapers die young?” He passed a car going the speed limit.
I gripped the edge of my seat. His information registered, but panic kept me from being able to respond. Once again, he flicked the signal light and merged into the left lane. A car appeared ahead. It honked at us.
Mouth open, I tried to shout, but nothing came out. All I could do was point.
Bastien laughed and merged back into the right lane at the last second.
“I want you to know that I had nothing to do with the scaffolding. That was nature trying to run its course. It’s been after me for a long while now, but I can protect myself better now.” Bastien smiled, so self-assured.
“You call this protecting yourself?” I shouted at him because I couldn’t control my volume.
While we were moving, I couldn’t use my arcana either. While I could have used it to suck the life out of Bastien, that would leave a lifeless man behind the wheel while we were going seventy miles an hour on a back road. It would be suicide.
He did say that Reapers often die young. Fate had yet again put me in a predicament where my chances of survival were slim.
“I’m not ready to die yet,” Bastien informed me. “I have a lot of years left ahead of me that I’m just not willing to give up. Unfortunately, that means I have to steal them from other Reapers. You’re not going to miss much, though. It seems like you don’t have much time left anyway.”
No. I refused. My thoughts turned back to Maddox. He would have a fated mate waiting for him, and a part of me wanted to be that person. I wasn’t going to give up on this life until I knew if I could be that person for him or not.
I straightened in my seat as my defiance bolstered me. While I had Bastien here, the least I could do was ask more questions. I hadn’t been able to access Luca’s library, but it seemed that Bastien had the information that I wanted.
“What is a Reaper, then? If I’m going to die, I might as well know what to expect. Give me that much, at least.” I instinctively reached up to grip the ceiling handle.
While I implied that I was ready for my end, I wasn’t going to give up that easily. I wanted Bastien to believe he’d won, so he’d let his guard down. I had no idea what I’d do once that happened, but I had to work towards the opening while I could.
“Got left hanging?” he asked. “Mommy kick the bucket before she could tell you what you were? I imagine that must have been a bitch to handle growing up. You were a menace to your adoptive family, weren’t you?”
I had the urge to kick him in the side of his smug face, but I kept my feet firmly planted on the floor so that we didn’t go veering off the road and into a tree. If I could stealthily unbuckle his seatbelt before hitting him, then maybe going off the road would work in my favor.
Not at this speed, though. We would both pay the price if we came to a sudden stop. I would have to distract him even more so that he let off the gas first.
Distantly, I wondered where Maddox was. Would he be able to find us? Surely, he’d figured out that his friend—oh god, were they even friends? Had Bastien lied? There was a chance that Maddox didn’t know him at all!
Wait, Maddox had deduced that the killer was someone from the station. That meant that the two of them did, in fact, know each other. I hoped that meant that Maddox would know where this man was going to take me.
I knew. Bastien didn’t have to tell me.
All the dreams made sense. They weren’t symbolic. They’d been a warning.
Bastien was going to take me to his family cemetery.
“You’re the strongest Reaper I’ve come across yet,” Bastien said. “I wouldn’t be able to stop you without the power I took from the others. That’s why I saved you for last. The day I watched you raise a field of fully formed animals, I knew I’d have to grab at least one more Reaper before I came for you.”
“I…didn’t know. I don’t really have a frame of reference. You’re the only other Reaper I’ve met alive.” I paused. “Does something happen to us once we cross over? I’ve never met the ghost of a Reaper.”
His laugh was bold and full bodied, like we were two friends having a good conversation rather than kidnapper and kidnapped. I clenched my fist around the ceiling handle until my knuckles turned a bloodless white.
“Missy, what do you think Reaper means? Are you daft? That’s all right. It’s cute when women are a little slow. That means you’re easy to live with. You’re not one of those gals who spend all their time griping over shit that doesn’t matter to men.”