Reaper

“Happy Birthday, Charlie!” Noah gushed as he squeezed me.

What? I was confused. It was already sunset – how come no one else had mentioned to me what day it was? It’s not exactly a forgettable.

I gave him an awkward pat on the back. “Uh, thanks, Noah,” I glanced at Mason over his shoulder. Mason just smiled and shook his head. “I actually didn’t know it was today, but… thanks.”

He stepped back, surprised and a little confused. “W-What? But you – you’ve always been obsessed with your birthday. You counted down for a month when you were a kid. We always knew when February 14 was coming,” he joked, patting me on the shoulder and swinging his arm over it.

“Or because it’s also Valentine’s day, Doofus,” I laughed, leaning into Noah’s arm.

“Details.”

He and Mason started leading me toward the dining hall. I followed Noah in stride, my head spinning slightly because I was still so confused as to how it could possibly be my birthday and I didn’t even know. The thought hadn’t occurred to me, even a little bit. I had been so busy with other worries these last few weeks that I hadn’t even bothered to keep track of the day it was, much less how long it was until my birthday. Still, it warmed my heart a little that my brothers had remembered, even if I hadn’t.

I didn’t have much free time around here anyway. I spent all of my time with Sawyer – going to dinner, watching movies, staying up late and just talking to each other. It was a different kind of relationship with him, and not necessarily a bad different, just… different. There was passion, but not the death-defying type that had brought us together. This was much more intimate.

There had been whispers about what went on outside of the compound in the supernatural world, but nothing had come to fruition so far. There were rumors that the werewolves had risen up against the Reapers and the Vampires, but none of us had heard anything for sure. I worried about the others – I hoped they were safe, somewhere out of the fray, if that was what was happening. I knew, somewhere deep in my gut, that they were probably still looking for us, or they knew where we were and were going to try to get us out. As much as I missed them, I knew that they would be risking their lives again if they did so. Plus, I had to admit that spending time with my brothers, Jesse, Fitch, and Sawyer was kind of a pleasant change of pace.

I felt my stomach rumble as we reached the doors. I hadn’t eaten most of the day, and now that started to catch up with me. Thank goodness it was dinner time, I was starving –

“Surprise!”

I stood wide-eyed in front of a sight I never expected to see.

The cafeteria had been completely covered in Valentine’s day decorations – it was all pink, red, and heart-shaped. There were balloons everywhere, and garlands, and so many flowers that I was sure my allergies were going to start acting up. I could see some tiny presents and a cake sitting at the end of a nearby table, and while I was grateful for those, they weren’t what immediately caught my attention.

The room was full of smiling people who were there to say surprise to me.

I scanned the faces in the crowd, feeling my heart warm a little with each face I recognized. Lilly was in the front, probably because of her height. She had her hands clasped excitedly in front of her, a huge smile spread across her cute little face. Jesse stood next to her, his hands spread out in a “ta-da!” manner, grinning like an idiot. Fitch was on the other side of Lilly, smiling shyly and looking slightly uncomfortable.

And then there was Sawyer. He was wearing a white button-down and a dark pair of jeans and he looked incredible. These last few weeks had really been good to him – his wound was almost completely healed, and he had most of the motion back in his arm, so he was becoming used to this new, human version of himself. But being human had in no way taken away his looks. He smiled his million-watt smile and those emerald eyes lit up as they met mine, making the butterflies explode in my stomach all over again.

“Happy Birthday, little sis,” Mason said from behind me, patting me heartily on the back.

I couldn’t help the smile that split across my face. “Wow, you guys – how – you did all this?”

Sawyer came up and hugged me, taking me a little by surprise. I could see Noah stiffen a little – he still hadn’t eased tensions with Sawyer all that much, but we had sat down to a dinner or two without Noah ripping Sawyer’s head off. He kissed my forehead lightly and I leaned into his side for some support, still a little taken aback.

“Absolutely!” Noah said enthusiastically, like he was trying to one-up my boyfriend.

Mason laughed. “We figured you deserved a day that was about you. You know, after everything…”

I nodded. He didn’t have to elaborate – I knew better than anyone what he was talking about.

Still, I couldn’t believe they had gone to all this trouble for me. I felt a warm feeling spread through my chest. They really cared about me. It was so nice to be around people who knew me so well and who wanted me to be safe and happy. No doubt the Reapers had wanted that for me, but they had also wanted Sawyer back more… These were my brothers. They knew me better than anyone.

After a few moments of babbling among the other people and some settling down, I realized there were some people in the back that I hadn’t recognized. I squinted for a second – they looked familiar, but I couldn’t quite place them.

Wait. Oh no.

“We, uh, we also thought Mom and Dad would want to celebrate with you, Charlie,” Noah said nervously.

I couldn’t take my eyes off of them. Those people, they were my parents.

I hadn’t seen them since I moved to New York like, four years ago. I hadn’t even spoken to them since then. I wanted nothing to do with them anymore, especially since I had learned about all this Hunter nonsense that they had shut me out of.

I had so much internal frustration recently that I had pushed that thought aside for the time being. I hadn’t forgotten about it – every once in a while, when I was alone, I’d think about my parents alienating me and throwing me aside and I would feel the rage well up within me. But I also had Sawyer to help, and this was a piece of my baggage that he didn’t need to know about. At least, not while our relationship was coming into this new phase. I didn’t want him to think my family was completely bonkers.

My parents stood across from me once they had emerged from the crowd. My mother looked pretty young for her age. She had the same red curly hair that I’d inherited – Irish through and through. She looked a lot like me, except she was much more tall and lean. Her face was long, sharp, and her clear blue eyes were always disapproving. She was so thin she looked like she was going to blow away, but her muscles were tightened steel. My father wasn’t much different. He had the dark brown hair my brothers had inherited, but he had the chocolate brown eyes that Noah and I had. His hair was streaked with gray, as was his beard, but you could still see the pointed features beneath it, like he was scrutinizing me. He was in constant disapproval of my decisions, but he was definitely the more stoic of the pair.

Together, they had created me, but they had also almost destroyed me.

Then my mother surprised me. She smiled, held out her arms as if she was going to hug me, and said, “Charlotte, my baby girl.”

It felt as though someone had dumped a bucket of cold water over me. The warm, happy feeling of being around my brothers was gone in an instant, replaced only with the cold, bitter feeling left in my chest. I never wanted to see my parents again – especially now that I knew what they had done to me as a kid, on top of what they had done to me as a teenager. I had lived under their constant disapproval for far too long.

Sawyer felt me stiffen, and he looked down at me, confused. He knew I had a turbulent relationship with my parents, but boy, he didn’t even know the half of it.

“What are you doing here?” I asked coldly, staring my mother dead in the eye with a blank face.

She didn’t seem hurt by this, but she lowered her arms and I saw her face falter. No, she wasn’t hurt, but she was embarrassed. She knew everyone else was looking – and now they had something to watch.

“Charlotte, it’s your birthday,” she reminded me, laughing humorlessly, “I remember what happened twenty-three years ago better than you do.”

I balled my fists up at my sides. “Sawyer, you should probably go.”

Now everyone was confused. They had a right to be. But I didn’t want Sawyer to see what was about to happen here. No conversation with my parents ever ended well, and after four years or so, it wasn’t going to be any better. If anything, they had more to judge me on and I had more knowledge to throw back at them, and it just wasn’t a fight I wanted Sawyer to witness because I still cared how he saw me.

My father chuckled. “No, let the man – Reaper – man – whatever – let him stay, Pumpkin,” he said, trying to decide what to call Sawyer. “Nice catch, by the way. We couldn’t be more proud of you bringing in a stray only to find out it’s a monster.”

Oh, holy hell, that’s it.

I took two steps forward, balling my fists at my sides. I’m not entirely sure what I intended to do to my parents if I had gotten to them – probably something stupid, since I was by far the shortest person in the room and really had no physical leverage – but Sawyer grabbed my upper arm and held me back, almost like he knew I was going to lunge at them.

“You wanna talk monster?” I hissed, pulling against Sawyer’s grip but secretly thankful he was holding me back. I could feel the rage flowing through me now. “At least Sawyer wouldn’t live a double life to keep his own daughter in the dark, Dad.” I spat the last word. “I had to learn about the danger I was in completely on my own because the two of you couldn’t be bothered to tell me anything about who you really were! It’s like I didn’t know you at all!”

I think the truth behind it all was that I was really, truly hurt by my parents. They had opened up their world to my brothers because they thought they could handle it. Deep down, I had always felt like they preferred my brothers over me, but it was never so obvious. This was real, physical proof that I was the little girl they never wanted.

They didn’t say anything. They didn’t have to, and there wasn’t much they could say in protest. They had kept this from me, I wasn’t wrong about that.

I didn’t hang around and wait for them to answer. I sent an apologetic glance to Noah and Mason, who both looked solemn and apologetic. I think they understood my frustration with Mom and Dad, even if they hadn’t experienced it exactly. Then I bolted from the cafeteria – I needed some time to think.

I headed straight down the hallway to the bedroom I’d been occupying for the last few weeks. The building was set up with a hallway full of bedrooms, kind of like a hotel corridor. They each had their own beds and bathrooms, so it felt a lot like a hotel, anyway. I turned the corner from the cafeteria, walking briskly down the hallway toward the end, where my room was. Once I got there, I fumbled with the keys for a moment before I finally made my way in.

Inside was another surprise.

The room was dark, except for some dim candles that sat on each of the surfaces. There were enough to make the room dark, but lit with a warm, inviting glow. I could smell some floral scent throughout the room, no doubt because of the candles. I noticed it was cleaned, or at least picked up, and I blushed because I remembered that I’d thrown my underwear on the floor last night.

But the most obvious change to the room was the single rose on the foot of the bed.

I heard footsteps coming down the hallway and I jumped in surprise.

“Charlie, I-“ Sawyer stopped once he realized I’d opened the door, and he froze with his hand on the back of his neck. “Oh, man, I was hoping that – See, I just wanted – Ugh-“

I stared up at him. I could see the way his jaw was clenched in anticipation and his eyes were wide and he looked pale, and suddenly I thought I knew what all of this was for. Oh. Oh.

He took a deep breath to gather his thoughts, running his hands through his hair. “Your brothers told me about it being your birthday – I’m upset you didn’t mention it, but that’s for another time – and I wanted, I wanted…” He trailed off, staring at his hands. Oh, man, he was nervous. I’d never seen him like this before. “After all the trouble I’ve caused you, I wanted to give you something… something special. Something good to hold onto in spite of all the bad.” He finally seemed to find his words, staring at me with those eyes that made me melt.

“I wanted to give you… me.”

And after everything I’d been through, I threw caution to the wind. Hell, I’d been waiting for this moment long enough – I’m sure Sawyer felt the same way, too.

So I kissed him harder than ever before.