Queen of The Reapers by Jessa Halliwell

Fifteen

Chewing on my thumbnail,I shoot a scathing glance at the receptionist as she shoves another piece of bright red cherry bubblegum into her mouth. It’s her third piece in the last thirty minutes, so either the gum she buys is shit or I’m stuck in some type of psychological torture device. She pops her gum and I flinch, narrowing my eyes at her as I grit my teeth. People who pop their gum deserve jail time.

She notices my reaction and offers me a timid smile. “Sorry.” She says with a tiny wince. “Still getting used to the echo in here.”

She’s new. It makes sense. Though it doesn’t make her grate against my nerves any less.

Why the hell am I even here?

When Atlas told me we were meeting with a team of lethal mercenaries, I expected to meet them in some gritty underground parking garage, or at some shady looking abandoned restaurant. No way could I have ever imagined we’d meet them in some fancy high rise in the middle of the business district.

“You sure I can’t get you a cup of coffee or something?” The receptionist asks again for what feels like the hundredth time.

I get why she’s being so attentive. From what I can tell, Creed Enterprises owns the entire floor, and apart from the two of us, no one has entered or left this ostentatious lobby in the last forty minutes.

“I’m fine.” I bite out, a little harsher than I intend to.

It isn’t her fault I’m on edge. Atlas is the one who abandoned me out here.

As soon as we arrived, Creed and his men came out, gave me a dismissive glance, steered Atlas towards the conference room, and firmly shut the door behind them. I expected Atlas to realize the mistake and circle back for me, but when that didn’t happen, I realized it must’ve been part of his plan all along.

From the very beginning, Atlas was hesitant to let me come with him. I wanted to hear what these specially trained men plan to do to find my sister, but he kept insisting that it would be better if he spoke with them alone. The only reason I could come today was because I convinced the twins to leave me behind. With Ezra missing in action and no one else at home to monitor me, Atlas had no choice but to let me come.

But it ended up being all for nothing. He’s in there, negotiating terms with some of the most lethal mercenaries in the country, while I’m in the lobby alone looking completely overdressed in a red silk minidress that barely covers my ass.

I drum my fingertips against my bare knees and glare up at the clock on the wall. God. Time is moving so damn slowly. What’s taking them so long in there?

I pull out my cell phone and stare at the blank screen. A normal person would call their friends to pass the time, but the only real friend I have is Alex, and her phone is out of commission.

I mindlessly pull up my text messages anyway, needing something to help pass the time. As soon as I do, a text from an unknown number shows up in my inbox. Weird timing. I open the message to get a better look and wait for the grey box to display on the screen.

Unknown Number: The Reapers won’t help you find her, but I will.

My whole body freezes as I stare down at my phone in disbelief. An eerie feeling sinks in, and I look up from the screen and scan my surroundings. It feels like I'm being watched, but there’s still no one else in the room besides me and the receptionist. Who the hell is this?

Who are you?

I type out, but before hitting send, I change my mind and quickly delete the question. I shouldn’t respond to them. At the very least, not until I show Atlas.

Three grey dots pop up in the text conversation and my heart skips a beat.

The eerie feeling creeps up again and I look up from my phone and glance around the room again just to make sure I’m still alone. Could this person know something we don’t?

Unknown Number: The Reapers will always serve The Reapers. If you don’t believe me, ask yourself, would saving her benefit them? If the answer is no, then they aren’t on your side.

Jesus.

I stare at the screen, gnawing on my lower lip, as I think about what to say back to them. There’s no doubt whoever this is knows The Reapers intimately. But what they’re saying is fucking crazy. I know The Reapers and everything they’ve done so far has been to help me. They want my sister back just as much as I do. Don’t they?

“Everything okay?”

The sound of Atlas’s smooth, velvety voice sends my heart leaping into my stomach.

“Y- Yeah.” I stammer, deleting the message chain before he can see it. “I was just playing some silly game on my phone and got distracted.”

Atlas offers me a small smile before gesturing for me to follow him out. I don’t like hiding things from him, but something about what the text said struck a nerve.

The more that I think about it, the more that I realize that whoever sent the message isn’t wrong. The Reapers have always put their own needs above everyone else’s. Lately, I’ve become one of those needs, but that doesn’t give me any guarantees for Alex.

“How did it go?” I ask, standing up from my chair and moving to walk beside him.

Instead of answering right away, Atlas leads us to the sleek metal elevator and waits for the doors to close before continuing.

“According to their sources,” He says, sinking his hands into the pockets of his light grey suit pants, “in the days leading up to the fire, there were a few different men at Hell’s Tavern asking questions about you.”

I grimace. The thought of my name being on any stranger’s lips unnerves me. “That’s weird; but are we sure it’s a lead?”

The last appearance I made at Hell’s Tavern didn't exactly go smoothly, and I’m sure I made a lasting impression on a few of the guests who witnessed the fight between Melanie and me up close and personal.

Atlas locks his eyes on me before answering. “They didn't just want to know about you, they wanted to know about your importance to us.”

“Any idea who they were?”

Atlas hesitates. Not long enough for someone not paying attention to take notice, but long enough for me to question why.

“No. No names. Whoever it was, wasn’t from here, and it’d be nearly impossible to search the cameras. We have unfamiliar faces coming in and out of the club every night.”

“So we’re back to square one.” I say, knocking the back of my head against the elevator wall.

“Not exactly.” He says, watching the floor numbers change as we make our descent. “The Mercenaries will take over the search for Alex from here on out. If anyone can find her, it’ll be them.”

“Good.” I say, with a firm nod. “With all of us searching, we’ll figure out who has her.”

“No.” Atlas says, pinning me with a hard glare. “One of their only stipulations for taking the job is that we aren’t allowed to tamper with their investigation. We can’t go rogue. And any information we receive goes straight to them.”

“But wouldn’t it make more sense to have as many hands on deck as possible?” I ask.

“This is what they do. They find people that don’t want to be found. My brothers and I have our own ways of getting information, but with something like this, we need to leave it up to the experts.”

The surrounding air drops a couple of degrees and I cross my arms over my chest.

“So you’re giving up.” I say, pressing my lips into a tight line. Maybe whoever texted me was right. Maybe The Reapers won't help me.

“We aren’t giving up anything. Nothing is changing. Our men will still keep an eye out, but we need to let The Mercenaries do their job. We’re leaving the search to them. Is that clear?”

“Crystal.” I bite back with my eyes fixed on the elevator doors as they glide open. Without waiting for him, I step out and head straight for the parking garage.

I make my way back to Atlas’ white Porsche in silence. I can hear him trailing a few steps behind me, but I don’t slow down. He says they aren't giving up, that he and his men have done everything they can, but why can’t I shake the feeling I’m being lied to?

“Why did you let me come with you?” I snap, my frustration with him boiling over as I turn around to face him. “What, was I just there to be arm candy and make you look good?”

Atlas stops moving and levels his golden brown eyes on me.

“No.” He fumes with narrowed eyes. “The Mercenaries are a highly sought after team of trained assassins. It was almost impossible to book that meeting with them. It took a lot of favors and a lot of negotiations to make it happen. I planned to go back for you, but they insisted we keep the negotiations between us. It had nothing to do with you.”

I stand there for a moment and stare at him.

“I’m sorry.” I say, and this time, I actually mean it. I'm not sure why, but it's almost like I want to see the bad in him. The bad and all of them, really. But they keep exceeding my expectations. Just when I think they're going to zig, they fucking zag and throw me into a tailspin.

“It's fine. I knew this would be a lot for you to deal with so soon after your sister’s—” He cuts off the rest of his sentence when he notices my glare, but I already received his message loud and clear.

“Here.” He says tossing me a set of keys he plucked out of his pocket.

“What's this for?” I ask, dangling the keys between my index finger and thumb.

“I have somewhere else I need to be.” He says, pulling out his cellphone. “And I’m sure by now you know the way home.”

I do, but I still don’t understand why.

“You’re letting me drive myself home?” I ask, narrowing my eyes at him. “Why?”

“What you said the other night didn't sit right with me. This is my way of showing you things have changed.”

My eyebrows knit together in a scowl.

“You’re letting me go.” I say, cocking a brow at him. “Without an escort?”

“I trust you.” He says, evenly. “Now go. My driver should be here in a few minutes.”

I look down at the set of keys in my hand and grip them tightly as my emotions threaten to surface. He really does trust me.

“Where are you going?” I ask, trying my best to hide the emotion in my voice.

“Hell’s Tavern. I'm due for an appearance. While I’m there, I’ll see if I can catch wind of anything.”

I smirk up at him. “I thought there were stipulations.”

“There are, but if The Mercenaries tried to scope out Hell’s Tavern, people would immediately know something was up. Besides, no one knows the ins and outs of my club better than I do.”

“I’m coming with you.” I say, keeping my head held high. “If your theories are correct, whoever took Alex meant to take me. Maybe seeing me alive will make them realize their mistake and they’ll come after me instead. At the very least I’ll be able to notice if something feels off with someone.”

Atlas assesses me, as if he's trying to decide what to do next. I'm tired of sitting on the sidelines and waiting for something to happen. I need this. Not just for Alex’s sake, but for my own too.

A frown forms on his face before he responds. “I’m not going to willingly put you in danger.”

“Please.” I beg softly, looking up at him with pleading eyes. “If I go back home, I’ll be alone, and if I’m alone too long, I’ll think about her. Doing this gives me purpose.”

Atlas takes a step closer and pulls me into his chest. “Stevie, we’re going to find her.” He says, leaning back to look me in the eye. “Whoever has her, whatever plan they have, they need her alive.”

“I know.” I say, blinking back the tears threatening to well in my eyes. “But there's a lot of damage you can cause to a person before you kill them. That's the part I'm worried about.”

For a moment, we stand in the middle of the parking garage, just wrapped in each other’s embrace. Atlas grips me so tightly it’s borderline painful. Like I’m slipping through his fingers, but if he holds on tightly enough, I’ll never leave his side. And I hold him like he’s the home I never had but always wanted. Like he’s the shelter from the storm that’s been my life. We stand like that for a few minutes, just savoring the moment and feeling the history between us come full circle.

When our hug finally breaks, Atlas is the first to speak. “I hate to admit it,” he says, “but your plan may be the best option we have. In order for it to work, we need to make sure every single eye is on you the second you walk into that building.”

“How do we do that?” I ask.

“I've got an idea.” He smirks as his eyes slowly drink me in. “Get in the driver's seat. You’re well overdue for a grand entrance.”