Reaper

“Noah,” I said calmly, purring my hands up in a gesture of surrender. “Noah, please, don’t,” I begged, putting myself between Sawyer and the gun.

What the hell is he doing here?

Noah clutched it more tightly in his hand, his eyes wide. “Ch-Charlie,” he stammered, “Get away from him. He’s not human.” His words were full of venom, and he screwed up his face in disgust.

Oh, Noah, you don’t even know the half of it. I stared at him for a second, taking him in. He looked so much older somehow, world-weary, as if being in a battle for the second time was draining the youth out of him at 26. Who knows? Maybe it had. He and I used to look so similar growing up – we had the same big, brown eyes, pale skin, and freckles as our mother, and people just knew that I was Noah Scott’s sister when I went to school before they even read my name off the roll call. The only difference was that my face was slightly less angular than his, and of course, that he had my father’s chestnut brown hair instead of my mother’s red hair. But seeing him here, I hardly recognized him.

“Charlotte,” Sawyer muttered calmly, jolting me out of my thoughts. “Friend of yours?” I could feel the tension radiating off of him, but he appeared impassive.

I swallowed hard. Another round of gunshots ripped through the air, and I felt all of my muscles tense. I ducked instinctively, my heart in my throat, as Sawyer moved to cover me. Noah released the safety on his gun, a warning.

“Hey!” He was shouting now.

“Sawyer, this is Noah, my brother,” I admitted quickly, before he decided to make Sawyer into Swiss cheese. “Noah, this is Sawyer. He’s my… my…” I quickly looked back at Sawyer, wide-eyed. What exactly was he to me? I wasn’t sure what to call him.

Sawyer seemed to sense my anxiety. “I’m her boyfriend,” he said calmly, his eyes never once leaving Noah’s.

I almost snorted. ‘Boyfriend’ hardly covered my relationship with Sawyer, but the middle of a shoot-out was not the right place to be discussing the semantics of my love life with my brother. Under any other circumstances, I would think calling Sawyer my boyfriend was ridiculous, but this situation called for brevity.

I don’t think the introduction helped – Noah only looked angrier.

“That’s not funny,” he seethed, gesturing to Sawyer with his gun. “This thing isn’t a man, Charlie. He’s a Reaper, and he’s one of the most dangerous creatures on the planet. You get over here right this second!”

“Noah, I am in love with this creature, and frankly, you’re the one with the gun!”

Another round of shots were fired.

“Charlie, as entertaining as this little family reunion is, can we get the hell out of here first?!” Jesse roared as he ducked behind Noah, who was standing between us and the doorway to the large ballroom.

Noah narrowed his eyes. “Who’s he?”

I hastily pushed my way past him, fed up. With some guts that I’m not sure I knew I had, I knocked Noah’s gun sideways, away from Sawyer’s chest, and bend his wrist backward. I knew that Noah would normally have been prepared for something like this to happen, if I hadn’t been his sister. He was a trained soldier – and god knows what else, being here – but he was still my protective older brother.

Who had no idea that I had killed a werewolf with Sawyer’s gun. I shuddered at the memory.

“He’s my… Jesse,” I muttered, holding the gun in my hand. Noah blinked at me stupidly, in shock.

And with that, I pushed through the doors to the hallway leading out of the great room.

I was met with thirty or so men that had obviously come here with Noah. They all looked human, and were heavily armored, but not in uniform. I felt my heart pounding in my ears as they all began to shout, obviously ready for battle. I could feel the panic rising within me as Sawyer grabbed me from behind, pulling himself to me so that my face was in his chest, and his arms were wrapped protectively around my head.

“Charlotte, whatever happens, I love you.” His words were a hushed whisper, like a prayer.

Then he shoved me away from him as hard as he could.

And one gunshot echoed through the room.

I knew Sawyer had been hit before anyone else did. The bullet tore through the air like lightning, and the sound was so loud. I felt, rather than saw, the bullet embed itself into Sawyer’s torso, and with a sickening thud, Sawyer dropped to his knees.

The pain was what surprised me. The bullet hadn’t hit me – it had obviously hit Sawyer, I saw it – but a searing pain ripped through my shoulder. I cried out loud, stunned, and gripped it tightly, tears beginning to stream down my face because Sawyer had been shot. And for some reason it felt as though it had been me. I braced myself against the wall with my other hand, my mouth slack.

The world was moving slowly, very slowly, as Noah and Jesse moved behind Sawyer. Jesse quickly bent down to him, worried. Noah looked torn, concerned, as I continued to cry out and hold my shoulder.

“Stop!” I wailed as one of the other men held up his pistol for another shot.

Noah held up his hand. “No!”

The man lowered his weapon, confused. “But, sir –“

I felt my stomach churn, and my head spun. The pain was unbearable. I’m not sure entirely what it was, but boy, did it hurt. I knew, I knew that it was because of Sawyer, and that meant that Sawyer was feeling this pain, which made me cry even harder. Oh, Sawyer! The blood was blossoming slowly over his white shirt, a bloody stain on his left shoulder. He was gritting his teeth, clutching his chest as the crimson slowly spread.

Noah leapt into action. “Get Mason,” he barked at the man holding the gun. When he hesitated, Noah was livid. “Now!”

The man paled. “Yes, sir.”

He rushed off, leaving the rest of the men to anxiously make their way into the fray with the rest of Noah’s men.

The spinning in my head was worse. I couldn’t control it, so I succumbed to it. I could feel myself slipping to the ground, using the wall to slow myself. I could hear Jesse and Noah calling my name in distress, but their voices were so far away. The edges of my vision clouded as I reached the bottom.

The last thing I saw was Sawyer’s empty eyes staring back at me.



Cold water was how they chose to wake me.

I sat up suddenly, sputtering, wiping the icy water out of my face. I was ready to hunt someone down, so help me –

I looked around, taking in my surroundings. I was in a vehicle – a moving one, I realized, given the gentle hum of an engine and a slow rocking. It was a vehicle I had never seen before. It looked almost military in nature, with benches on both sides of a massive interior, all beige and covered with various objects. It was dim, lit by a single light bulb hanging from the ceiling.

Jesse was the first face I recognized, holding a dripping bucket.

“Oh, Charlie,” he breathed, his eyes wide. “Oh, thank god, you’re awake.” He threw the bucket on the ground, pulling me into his arms despite the fact that I was soaked.

“Jess – what – what is going on?”

I glanced over Jesse’s shoulder and realized that Noah was sitting beside me, keeping his distance warily. He looked dirty, and tired, and a little pale, but he was otherwise alright. When my eyes met his, he visibly relaxed, letting the ghost of a smile flash across his lips.

Jesse pulled back, studying me. His face was obviously concerned, his blue eyes sparkling with worry. His blonde hair was covered in dirt, and he had a few scratches on his face. But what made me the most nervous was the blood covering his clothing.

It took me a few moments to realize that it wasn’t his blood. It was Sawyer’s.

“Sawyer,” I gasped.

Noah’s jaw tightened. He looked up, down, anywhere but at me.

“He’s alive, Charlotte. He’s in another vehicle with Mason.”

Oh, thank god. I slumped in Jesse’s arms, feeling all of the muscles in my body relax. As long as Sawyer is alive, I can breathe a little bit easier. I’m not sure entirely what happened to him while he was under Isis’s control, but he was still the man I had fallen for, and the last thing I wanted was him dead.

I moved my shoulder, surprised to feel nothing but a slight tingle. No pain, no burning, nothing.

It was then that I realized there was only one other man in the back of the vehicle. Jesse was sitting in front of me, by my knees, keeping his hands on either side of me to keep me from falling over as the car swayed and bumped. Noah sat next to me, his hands clasped between his legs, resting his shoulders on his knees. But the last man was sitting at the other end of the interior, his back straight, refusing to look in my direction.

Even in the dim light, I recognized him instantly.

“Fitch?” I breathed, moving Jesse aside just a tiny bit.

His jaw twitched. He finally looked at me. His brown hair had grown shaggy in the passing months, and his jaw was covered in stubble. His gray eyes were sad, and he still couldn’t meet my eyes. He nervously fidgeted with his hands, as if he was guilty of something.

I felt my heart start to pound. What was this? Why were Noah, Fitch, and Mason here, of all places? Why did Noah know what Reapers are? And why did he want Sawyer dead?

“Is someone going to tell me what the hell is going on?!” I could hear my voice growing in volume as I spoke, reflecting the rising panic in me.

Noah refused to look at me. He stared down at his hands – hands that I now realized were bloody. He had tried to save Sawyer, too.

“Noah?” My voice was hardly above a whisper.

He thought for a few moments. They were moments of agony as questions whirled around in my head, making me dizzy again. But I tried as hard as I could to push them to the back of my subconscious. I wanted to know just what the hell I’d been dragged into.

He finally sighed, running his hands through his hair. “There’s, uh… there’s something about the family business you need to know,” he said slowly.

I was confused. My parents both worked in a law firm that they had started after graduating from law school. They were often gone for business trips, so much of my childhood was spent with my brothers and the occasional nanny. They always brought back souvenirs for me. When Mason told them he wanted to be a doctor, I thought they would be angry with him, because they had worked so hard to create their firm – but they were happy that he was successful. They were also happy with Noah for going into the armed forces, another noble cause.

I, however, had no intention of being a lawyer, and therefore was branded as a disappointment. That was why I flew my ass to New York, along with my best friends, to try to find myself. Your years into a bachelor’s degree in English, and I still had no clue what I wanted to do. Thus the rocky relationship with my parents.

“The law firm?” I squeaked, still very, very confused. What did that have to do with anything?

Noah bit his lip. “Here’s the thing… it’s not really a law firm, Charlie.” He glanced nervously at Fitch and at Jesse, both of which I assumed must know something I don’t. “Mom and Dad are the two most powerful Hunters in the country.”

I felt the blood drain from my face. After a few moments of trying to organize my scattered thoughts, I finally managed to get out: “H-Hunters of w-what?”

Noah’s face was sad. “Reapers.”

Oh, no.

“D-Do they know about… me?” I stammered. When Noah looked confused, I swallowed hard and elaborated. “About my… ability?”

Noah’s eyes were wide. “What are you talking about?” He shook his head quickly. “Never mind. We’ll talk about it later.” He looked at me again, and suddenly he looked like the brother I had known my whole life. “Charlie, how… how did you get here? Why did someone fake your death? What the hell happened to you when that… Reaper… was shot?”

I knew the answers to his questions. At least, I thought I did. I was here because Sawyer had tried to protect me, and things got out of hand. I believed Isis was responsible for faking my death, but I didn’t know for sure. At any rate, she had the most motivation to. And even though Noah couldn’t even say his name, I knew that something strange had happened when Sawyer was hurt. I had some connection with him that I couldn’t understand, or explain.

But I sure couldn’t tell Noah that.

“Where are we going?” I asked, brushing aside his questions.

He sighed. “We’re going back to base, Charlie. It’s better if you don’t know where it is.”

I didn’t say anything. I just nodded.

I looked back at Jesse, who looked terrible. He was obviously really worried, but there was another emotion that seemed to be dragging him down. I was suddenly overwhelmed with feelings for him – I felt so guilty that he had been dragged into this mess of a world that I didn’t even know I was part of. I curled into his chest, and he instinctively wrapped his arms around me.

I just wanted to go back to my old life. I wanted my apartment in New York, I wanted to bartend with Jesse every once in a while and go to class like a normal person. I wanted to struggle with a career and go out drinking and have fun without having to worry whether or not I was going to live through the night. I wanted a world without Reapers, Vampires, Werewolves, or – holy hell – Hunters. For once, I want everything supernatural to be gone. I want Sawyer to be a normal, human being, so that we could fall in love. Or, who knows, if he hadn’t come along, maybe I would’ve ended up with Jesse, raising a family.

But right now, I was riding in a repurposed ambulance with Jesse, my brother, and my ex-roommate, and Sawyer was bleeding out in front of my other brother because they both wanted him dead.

I was suddenly very, very tired. I felt my eyelids growing heavy, so I snuggled into Jesse’s chest, grabbing a fistful of his shirt so that I wouldn’t fall over while the car was moving. He held me close, and I felt his heart pounding beneath the fabric of his shirt. I had so many questions that I wanted answers to, but I felt the exhaustion rush over me in a tidal wave.

“Sleep, Charlie,” Noah said softly. “We’ll be there soon.”