Cheaper to Reaper Read online

  Hmmm… well, ain’t that a kick in the britches.

  “So,” Gio says, breaking the tense silence, “it seems that we have all staked a claim on this fabulous female,” he purrs as his arm slides across the back of my neck, pulling me toward him, even though Toru still has a hand on my other shoulder.

  Samuel and Toru both growl then, but before I can voice my opinion on the matter, Samuel speaks up. And I want to slug him.

  “She’s a distraction for all of us,” he snarls as he glances at me, making me feel like the ant that showed up to the church picnic.

  “And one we need to avoid at all costs.”

  Oh no he did-ent… If that jackass thinks he can just dismiss me that easily, then he has another thing coming. It’s time that these afterlife jackasses learn that they have barked up the wrong tree.

  Before I can say anything, Samuel turns and stomps off. He was acting angry, but I caught the look of hurt on his face and I feel instant guilt, like I tossed him aside for the two guys here with me. Instead of kicking his ass, now I want to chase him down and tell him he’s wrong.

  We watch him as he moves in the direction Azrael had gone. Despite his harsh words, and basic dismissal of me, it feels like a piece of me just left and it takes everything in me not to run after him, which is crazy, cuz one, I ain’t running after any guy; and two, I remind myself that jackass doesn’t deserve my good graces. My foot up his ass, now that he deserves.

  But still… my mind screams at me to chase him down, to beg him to give “us” a chance, teacher-student relationship be damned.

  The boys must sense my inner turmoil, because Gio’s hand moves to my neck and Toru’s slides down on my low back, both of them gently massaging me. It feels so good, so comforting that I moan softly.

  But the heat coming from them is almost too much to bear and I step away from them. As soon as we break contact, it’s like I come to my senses and remember we’re in the middle of a big crowd and all eyes are still on us.

  I glance over at the bitch table and see Delia whispering something to her cohorts and they all keep glancing over at me. I use my middle finger to rub the side of my nose, making them all scowl, then I turn back to the boys, whose eyes are still on me.

  It’s odd to see Gio’s beauty next to Toru’s gruesomeness. They’re both dark, but Gio is so handsome that he practically glows. I haven’t really seen any other Fae, so I don’t know if that beautiful perfection is common among all of them, or if it’s just a blessing bestowed on him only.

  But maybe his good looks are a curse.

  Gio is bad news. Judging by all the stabby eye daggers I’ve gotten from all of the female population so far when I’ve been with him, beauty boy here has planted his seed in an awful lot of gardens. He’s the last type of guy I need in my life.

  My mind knows this. My heart knows this. But my body says, “Well, who the hell cares? Let’s jump him!” My lady bits are fist pumping the air and jumping up and down. Lady cave rave going down again.

  Apparently, I have an inner slut trying to rip her clothes off and tie panties on heads.

  Then there’s Toru, who is so intimidating that he makes the normal person cringe just to look at him and makes them want to scamper away like a terrified mouse from a tom cat. But I’m not normal and the big sweetie pie just makes me want to climb his giant-sized body and rain kisses all over that awful face.

  I’ve managed to give myself away — my mind is on Samuel, my body wants Gio, but my heart longs for Toru.

  In less than twenty-four hours, I’ve managed to draw the attention of the entire female population; piss off a being that even giants are wary of; set my mind on a man who happens to be my teacher who has made it clear he won’t — and can’t — have a relationship with me; decide to give my V-card to a guy who not only doesn’t deserve it, but who probably has a whole library of V-cards; and fall in love with a guy with a face nightmares are made of.

  And I have at least a year to go here at Afterlife Academy.

  I’m so screwed.

  Epilogue

  SAMUEL MACKENZIE

  I really can’t believe that girl! She’s so damned frustrating that for the first time in a very long time, my temper is about to explode. I ache to punch something. No, I ache to punch somebody.

  Namely, Gio.

  Some students are coming out of class and I nearly barrel over them as I stomp down the hall. I apologize, then try to get my infamous temper under control. But it’s difficult. Too difficult.

  I take a deep breath as I exit the main building and head toward the Reaper complex. I can’t believe Chloe is falling for that skirt chaser. She deserves so much better than him. She deserves someone who will appreciate her sharp wit, her adorable accent, that quick mind and the fact that her train of thought derails so much the body count is astounding.

  That Fae man-whore isn’t going to treat her right, isn’t going to have a care for the innocence that you can practically smell on her. He’ll snatch her up, take what he wants and discard her in the closest rubbish bin.

  Just as he does all females.

  My heart clenches at the reminder of one particular female that Gio used and abused. Lyra. And even after knowing the lass held my heart, he chased her down. After getting what he wanted, he tossed her aside like all the others.

  And now she’s gone. Forever.

  I’ll kill him before I let him do that to Chloe.

  I reach my office then and walk in, stopping short when I see that my desk chair is already occupied. By the last creature I want to see. Hell, I’d rather have that Fae gigolo paying me a visit than the being in my chair.

  He’s another one I don’t want around Chloe. I’d do anything to keep her away from him, but unfortunately, there is no way I can. I’m powerless to stop him.

  He motions to the chair across from my desk, the one I reserve for visitors. I sigh heavily and sit.

  “What can I do for you, Azrael?”

  He steeples his skeletal hands together as he rests his elbows on the chair’s arms. I’ve never seen his face; no one has. Legend has it that whoever does see his face will be sent directly to the pit of Hell to spend eternity. While I’m curious about what he looks like under that thick black hood, I’d rather not take any chances on where I’ll be spending eternity.

  His voice is even raspier than usual when he speaks. “This girl is a problem. I want her… gone.”

  It takes everything in me not to react. I know what the Angel of Death means when he says “gone.” He means terminated. The afterlife version of death.

  And I’ll be damned — probably literally — before I let that happen to the wee lass who’s already burrowed under my skin.

  ∞

  GIOVANI PISANI

  More than anything, I want to push that ugly bestia’s hand off of her. I hate him and do not want his filth on the prezioso Chloe. She is too pure, too delicate, to be pawed by the likes of him.

  And she does not even realize how disgusting he is, what a cretin he is. She is innocent of such things and needs protection.

  My protection.

  I met this tiny girl just hours before, yet she has somehow moved to the center of my world. For the moment. I am not the type of man to stay faithful. I have well earned my nickname, Gio Gigolo.

  But Chloe… she occupies my thoughts. I left her last night after a kiss that scorched me with the fire she possesses. I intended to find another to ease the ache that Chloe stoked within me. I have many women at my disposal who are always willing to help me with my feverish libido. But none of them would do.

  I just could not bring myself to touch another, not after holding such sweetness. It is incomprehensible for me to be faithful to only one, but for Chloe… I could see myself doing so.

  What has she done to me?

  ∞

  TORU MAKIO

  The warmth to my frozen existence; the softest lamb’s fleece draped over my icy heart.

  A blinding lig
ht, drawing me from the smothering gloom that has been my existence for so long.

  The breath of life that has cracked my heart of stone so that it might beat once more.

  Once only a dream I kept tucked close as precious gems; now I have seen you with my own eyes.

  Chloe.

  The others, they see only the curse that has clenched me in its greedy talons for so long. They turn away, gasping with revulsion… or worse, gazing with pity. None can see what I truly am, that I am not the curse and the curse is not me. The curse that I do not deserve but am forced to carry.

  The world on Atlas’ shoulders.

  But my angel, she sees me. The true me. How I wish to voice what I desire to say to her, to tell her of the salvation she has brought upon me. Upon the others as well.

  No one knows the depth of misery that has surrounded me for so long. They look and only see the monster I have become. They do not know that the monster I hold inside is far more gruesome. The one that would send them screaming to hide under rocks.

  They may not know the truly terrifying monster inside, but they were going to be introduced to him. Hell’s wrath would have been the easier path for them than what I had planned.

  My vengeance was moments away from being unleashed… a few heartbeats in the fabric of time. Destruction such that had never been seen was struggling against its chain, straining to be unleashed.

  But then a tiny angel smiled at me. At me, malevolent horror personified.

  My world shifted.

  I can no longer go through with the plan. That plan would blot my angelic sunray from existence, and that is unacceptable, not when she has just begun to shine. Especially not since she chose to shine so brightly on a monster like me.

  She saved the worlds with a smile. She calmed the monster with kindness, then softened him with a touch.

  But she sealed her fate with a kiss.

  Now she is mine. Not to possess, but to cherish. The very cells within my body have had her name carved upon them. My blood flows within my veins only because she exists. My lungs fill with air scented with her essence and my heart beats to the sound of her voice.

  She is mine, and I am hers.

  It saddens me that she shares her touches. Those soft, delicate hands should only brush against my skin, and no other’s. I want to wrap her in my strong arms and run away with her, carrying her far from the troubles these worlds contain, away from all others. So that she will only have me.

  I am selfish.

  She does not know what she means to me. That I would worship before her if she would but allow it. How I yearn to dress her in the finest silks from my homeland and carry her so that her tiny feet never have to touch the soil. How I want to lie her down beside a mountain spring and caress her in places I know no one has ever seen. I would be as gentle as a butterfly’s wings and I would take her innocence as the precious gift it is without any pain coming to my beauty.

  Chloe will feel no pain. That is my rule.

  She will never know the depth of my feelings for her, a spark that started with a smile and exploded into an entire universe in which she is the center. It has been but hours, not even a full sun cycle since the creation of that universe, but no measure of time is relevant when a life is changed.

  I cannot voice what is deep within me. The curse prevents that. The words I have managed to obtain were hard-won and not without cost. My face attests to the price. Until the curse is but a memory, I will suffer the humiliation of appearing the imbecile. I only hope my actions will convey my thoughts and feelings to my angel.

  Of all the words I wish to say, if the curse was released from me, the first I would speak would be those of warning. Though all appears normal, evil is creeping along the belly of our world, devouring the unsuspecting.

  I am just one of its victims.

  I do not doubt that there will come a time when those who want only darkness will want to contain her light, to control her. Or extinguish her. But I will gladly give up my life for hers, to exchange my pathetic existence in order to keep her precious light shining in this ugly world.

  Chloe will be safe. I will make sure of it.

  The series continues with Jeepers Reapers, due mid December 2019. Follow my author page for updates!