Silver Reaper

Chapter 4

Chapter 4

Their voices overlapped and it took me a second to sort out what each of them had said.

‘You’re engaged to his daughter? When did that happen?’ I stared at Chris, eyes widening even more at the cautious look in his eyes.

I shifted my gaze from Chris to Killian. ‘I didn’t even know you had a daughter.’ That explained why Chris was using his first name and why Killian listened to him. Still, six months seemed a short time for Chris to have fallen in love and proposed.

‘Was one of the bodies that of a young woman?’ Killian asked, visibly bracing for my answer.

Understanding at least part of his concern, I shook my head. ‘They were both male, but so far the police have not been able to identify them and have no clues as to what killed them.’ I quickly recited what I knew of the ongoing homicide investigation.

There was silence after I finished talking; silence in which the two of them shared looks full of hidden meaning. I squared up to Killian. ‘All right, I’ve told you what I know. Now it’s your turn. Why do you think your daughter might be dead?’

‘Rebecca left the compound two days ago, in the company of one of my men.’ His expression was bleak. ‘A good man, who lost his wings six months ago. He would die before allowing any harm to befall my daughter, but no one has seen or heard from either of them since.’

‘And you think the client whose soul I just reaped is the man who left here with Rebecca?’ That explained the tense and harried expressions both men wore when I entered the room, and the reaction to my announcement of more dead bodies. It didn’t explain why Chris was engaged to Killian’s daughter. But that really was none of my business. If he had found love then I was genuinely happy for him, and would do whatever I could to help him find his missing fiancée.

‘Have you filed a missing person report with the police?’

‘I do not want the police involved.’ Killian’s response was clipped, determined.

‘Why the hell not? If you think she’s in danger, you have to call the police.’

Chris shared another telling glance with Killian before he responded. ‘We don’t know for sure if she is in danger, or even missing. She wasn’t exactly in the best of moods when she left here. She made it quite clear she didn’t want anything to do with either of us. Our inability to contact her could be caused by her simply refusing to answer the phone.’

The woman Killian had sent to check the body of my last client entered the room and strode over to whisper in his ear. I couldn’t hear what she was saying but the relief in Killian’s eyes was evident. He dismissed the Tr’lirian, back straight, and turned to me with a determined look.

‘My soldiers will now travel to the morgue to view the bodies found in that house. We’ll soon know if their deaths are connected to Rebecca’s disappearance.’

‘What about the man whose soul I reaped? Is he one of yours or one of the Davilians who sacrificed their immortality in exchange for being allowed to live? They’d have the same scars.’ My stomach churned just thinking about the agonising cries that had echoed throughout the compound when Cade had enacted his revenge on those who’d fought against him.

Given the choice of death or exile to the physical plane, most of the Tr’lirians who fought for Almorthanos had opted to have their wings ripped from their backs. Doomed to a mortal existence, they would no longer be able to return to their home, Angellin, though they would still be able to access the astral plane.

‘He was one of my men.’

‘I’m sorry for your loss.’

Killian’s eyes narrowed. ‘Why? He was nothing to you. I hardly think you would concern yourself with my sorrow, or that of any other member of my clan.’

I recoiled. ‘No one deserves to die as he did. Alone and cast aside like rubbish. Just because I didn’t know him doesn’t mean his death doesn’t sadden me. All death saddens me.’

‘Then perhaps you had better get yourself a new job, reaper.’

‘Michael, that’s enough. Tyler came here in good faith. You need to treat her with respect.’

Killian glared at Chris before storming out the door without saying a word.

Chris came forward and laid a hand on my shoulder. ‘Don’t take his attitude personally. He’s just worried about Rebecca.’

‘What about you? You seem awfully calm for a man whose fiancée ran out on him.’ I wanted to ask him what it was he and Killian had done to make Rebecca flee the compound in the first place, but now was not the time.

He grimaced. ‘It’s complicated.’

‘I’ll bet.’ My smile was strained as I looked at him. Something was going on here. Something more than a missing daughter and fiancée. ‘Does it have anything to do with why this place is turning into a fortress?’

Chris’s brow creased. ‘A fortress?’

‘Come on. You can’t have missed all the construction work, or the battleground being prepared right outside the front door. From the looks of it, Killian is expecting trouble.’

He ran a hand through his thick hair. ‘When I arrived here two days ago it was in the middle of the night and, honestly, I was so tired I didn’t take much notice of anything other than where and when I would be able to sleep.’

‘And Rebecca, what did she think?’

‘Excuse me?’ He raised one eyebrow.

‘You said she took off two days ago, so two nights ago she would have been here with you, right?’

‘She was already here when I arrived, but I didn’t get to meet her until the next morning.’

I frowned, his phrasing confusing me. Before I got a chance to question him further, Killian walked back into the room, a tight smile on his handsome face.

‘Tyler, you have a visitor.’

Sam strode in behind him, and from the look he gave me he was not happy. His frown deepened when he spotted Chris. ‘Should have known you’d be mixed up in this mess, Bradbury.’

‘Pleasure to see you again, too, Lockwood.’

I moved to Sam’s side. ‘What’s going on? Why are you here?’

‘I should be asking you the same question, but first I’d like to know what the hell two of your goons were doing running around my crime scene?’ He confronted Killian, gaze steady as he waited for an answer.

Killian held his head high, a smirk curving his full lips. ‘I’m sure I don’t know what you’re talking about.’

‘Bullshit. Last I checked you were the only man in town with winged minions at his beck and call. Or is there another Tr’lirian arsehole trying to lay claim to my town? From the way you’re fortifying this place I’m guessing you’re preparing for one hell of a fight.’

‘I can assure you that your town is not under threat.’

‘Then what’s with the makeover, and interfering in a police investigation?’

Killian’s smirk never wavered as he raised an eyebrow. ‘There’s nothing wrong with being prepared. A number of my clan are now stranded on this plane, outnumbered by humans. I’m just ensuring they have a safe place to call home if our presence is discovered. Your lot aren’t exactly known for their hospitality towards illegal immigrants.’

Sam stared at him for a moment longer, before shifting his attention back to me. I didn’t blame him for being suspicious of Killian’s smooth answers. I hadn’t missed the way he’d avoided mentioning the reason his men had gone to the abandoned house. But it was something else he didn’t say that concerned me more.

‘What about the Davilians who lost their wings? Do they have a safe place to call home or did you just cast them out and let them fend for themselves?’ I lifted my chin, determined to get answers.

Killian cast a glacial glance my way. ‘They have been taken care of and are no longer your concern.’

I frowned. “Taken care of” could mean a lot of things, and not all of them good. ‘Where are they?’

‘Gone from Easton, and before you threaten to blast my soul to smithereens I can promise you they are all alive, and will continue to stay that way as long as none of them pose a threat to Clan Godden.’

I sucked in a breath. ‘Do you think one of them has something to do with Rebecca’s disappearance, or the dead Tr’lirian I found today?’

‘Whoa. Back up. Who is Rebecca and when did you find a dead Tr’lirian?’ Sam clutched my arm, eyes narrowed. ‘Is that what his goons were doing at my crime scene? Sniffing out a dead body?’

I nodded, explaining what had happened since I said goodbye to him at the shopping centre. ‘Killian’s people confirmed the deceased is a member of Clan Godden, but not the man who was with Rebecca when she left here two days ago.’

Sam grabbed out his phone. ‘I’ll call in the dead body, and have your fiancée listed as a missing person,’ he said to Chris. ‘Do you have a recent photo of her I can use?’

Chris shook his head. ‘Sorry, I don’t have any photos of Rebecca.’ He turned to Killian. ‘Michael?’

‘I’m afraid I have no recent photos of my daughter. It has been some years since we were in contact with each other, and my soldiers have already taken care of the body of their fallen brethren. Once they return from the morgue we will know if the dead men who were found inside the house are also Tr’lirian.’

Sam looked ready to explode. I stepped to his side and put a hand on his arm. ‘With any luck, Killian’s men will be able to identify them and you’ll finally have more to go on.’

Lips thin, nostrils flaring, Sam shook his head. ‘I’m supposed to just forget they removed a body from a crime scene, and are breaking into the morgue? Are they going to steal those ones too?’

The conflicted expression in his hazel eyes made guilt fizz through me. ‘I’m sorry. I should have come to you first.’

‘Yes, you should have.’ He tempered his rebuke with a squeeze of my hand. ‘But you’re right about one thing. This could be the break the case needs.’