Reaper's Vow (25 page)

From the sound of that “oh” she wasn't entirely convinced. Thank goodness she didn't know that she had potential as a mate; she was too young for that kind of nonsense, but soon enough it was going to be a factor in her life. And when that day came, she was going to need someone strong to stand for her.

“You know if I'm not around and you need him, Isaiah always has your back.”

She nodded, but she didn't look soothed. He gave her another push, sending her a bit higher.

“You don't seem comforted.”

“He's not always here.”

The way she said that gave him pause. “And when he's not here?”

She shrugged but wouldn't say. He pressed harder. “How is it different when Isaiah isn't here?”

“Everyone changes.”

He bet they did.

“They talk and they fight.”

He imagined so. The Reapers were new to each other. Their society was new. It only made sense they'd jockey for power. “Then you need to tell him about it when he gets home.”

She shook her head. There was only one reason he could think of why she wouldn't tell something to Isaiah.

“Are you worried about getting hurt if you say something?”

“No.”

“Are you worried about your mama getting hurt?”

There was no misinterpreting the kind of stillness that took Wendy over then. He stopped the swing. She jerked her head around as it jostled to a stop. He wanted to hug her, but he wasn't sure if he should. Sometimes she seemed so fragile, this little girl who had withstood so much. She looked so much like her mother, he just wanted to shelter her from everything, but there was only so much he and Miranda could do. And only so much room Miranda was willing to make for him in Wendy's life right now.

Wendy blinked, and he realized those were tears she was holding back. Fuck Miranda's limits.

He squatted in front of her, holding the ropes of the swing so it stayed put. She wouldn't meet his eyes. He didn't let it stop him. “I'm going to make you a promise right now, Wendy. A Cameron promise, and everyone knows a Cameron doesn't break a promise.”

Her gaze snapped to his. Deep inside him the last brick in a wall he didn't know he had crumbled. “For real?”

“You ask Addy if that's not for real.”

She nodded and waited.

“I'm promising you right now that no one's ever going to touch your mom. Or you.”

The “as long as I'm alive” he left unspoken. Wendy didn't need contingencies. She needed something to believe in.

“Do you believe me?”

She bit her lip and didn't answer.

With the back of his fingers he brushed her hair off her temple. “You wondering if that promise is any good?”

She nodded.

“You know your aunt Addy?”

She nodded yes.

“I made her a promise a long, long time ago that if anyone ever took her, I'd come get her, no matter what.”

She blinked. “No matter what?”

He nodded. “And that's why I'm here now. Mister Isaiah took her.”

“But he loves her.”

“I didn't know that, not for sure. So I've been following her for two months.”

Her eyes widened farther. “That's a long time.”

“Yeah, it was snowing when I started out.”

“It's warm now.”

“Yup.”

Another fear entered her energy, marred her expression. “Are you going to take her away?”

Cole smiled wryly. “I don't think Isaiah would let me.”

She shook her head. “No. They're only happy when they're together.”

From the mouths of babes. A few weeks ago Cole would have mocked that as romantic silliness, but now, after being with Miranda, he had a whole new perspective. He didn't know if he could be content without Miranda by his side.

“I agree. So I guess I need to leave her here, but as far as my promise goes?”

She looked at him.

“I want you to understand something. I won't abandon you or your mama. Ever. You're mine now, a Cameron. And that means something.”

“Like being Reaper?” she asked, hope lightening her expression.

He nodded. “Just like being Reaper, being a Cameron is a forever thing, and if something happens to me, you've got uncles that will come for you, too.”

Hope fell flat. “But they don't know about me.”

“I'll see that they do, just as soon as I can.”

“Will they like me?”

“They'll love you.” Of that he had no doubt. Those big brown eyes, that elfin face, that spirit, they'd be wrapped around this little one's finger in a heartbeat.

“I'd like to swing higher now.” If there had been any enthusiasm in her voice, Cole might have taken that for relief, but she said it the way of somebody who needed the distraction, like she wanted to escape.

He pushed her a little at a time, inching her higher, letting her confidence build. Little girls were delicate, fragile, and needed to be protected. Whoever Wendy's father had been, he'd failed her miserably.

Cole pushed her higher than before just to see how far she was willing to go to hide what she didn't want known. If he expected her to back down, he was mistaken. He could feel her fears, old and new, overlapping each other, and it tore at his heart the way it had when Addy had come home broken. She'd been full of fear and without hope, and he'd given her that worry stone to hold on to. The rituals she'd built around it had made her whole. He still had the worry stone in his pocket And in that moment he knew what he had to do.

He stopped the swing again. Wendy looked up at him with those big brown eyes that just tore at him. He took her hand. Reaching into his pocket, he pulled out the stone, feeling like he was giving up the past and changing the future. He put it in her hand. Her fingers naturally curled around the stone. Her thumb and forefinger found the smooth surface the same way Addy's had. She frowned at him, not understanding. And how could he expect her to without knowing the history?

“A long time ago,” he began, “I gave this stone to another little girl who had been very scared of things that had happened and worried about things that might happen again. It kept her safe.”

“It did?”

He nodded. “It kept her safe for a very long time until she didn't need it anymore.”

“What happened then?”

“She gave it back to me.”

And that's precisely what Addy had done when she'd left that stone behind, Cole realized. Nobody had picked it up because it wasn't needed anymore. Addy had saved herself and Isaiah had become her security.

“She left her stone?”

“She knew there'd come a time when someone else would need its magic.”

Wendy held it between her fingers, studying the dull gleam of sunshine off the facets contained within the amber stone. “Is it magic?” she asked, hushed awe in her tone.

He nodded. “Yeah.”

It wasn't a lie. The magic was there for those with the need to believe.

“Is it magic for anyone?”

He shook his head. “It finds its owner. It finds the one who needs it. When it came back to me, I didn't know what I needed to do with it, but I held on to it through everything. I think it's been lonely.”

Wendy looked at him, those eyes going big again in that way that just tugged at his heart.

“No one should be lonely.”

“No.”

Then, “Do you think it will like being mine?”

He closed his fingers over hers, pressing the stone into her palm. “I think it was waiting for you.”

Her expression earnest, she asked, “What magic will it do for me?”

He shook his head again. “That's between you and the stone. Only you and the stone will know that. It's your secret, but when you're worried or you can't figure out what to do, just rub that stone between your fingers and think, and you'll find your way.”

“Promise?”

“I promise.”

It was an easy promise to make because he was never going to leave her alone where she'd have to stumble and rely on a rock for guidance. She had a mother who loved her, Jones and Addy, and all the damn Camerons he could throw at her. But knowing that was a rational thing. And sometimes the only thing that would get a body through was a touch of magic.

Her expression went intent as she rubbed the stone.

“Can you feel it?” he asked. “Do you feel its power?”

She frowned. “It's warm.”

“It's saying hello.”

She licked her lips. “I think it's talking to me.”

“Well, don't tell me what it says. That's just between you and it.”

She nodded. “A secret.”

“Your secret.”

She carefully put the stone in her pocket. Time flickered as he remembered Addy doing the same thing. He knew Wendy wasn't Addy. Wendy was very different, but many of her struggles were the same, and in her own way she'd become a part of his life he couldn't do without. If the stone gave her something to believe in, he didn't see the harm in it, and as her pocket bulged ever so slightly, he knew Addy wouldn't mind that the worry stone had been passed on. She would likely even approve.

Standing, he asked Wendy, “Are you ready to go extra-high now?”

Face set in a determined expression, she nodded and grabbed hold of the ropes. “I'm ready.”

“You know,” he said as he started to push her, watching her feet swing naturally as the swing went up and tuck back as it came down. “If you get real good at swinging, I bet you'll be able to reach up and pluck the sun from the sky.”

Her laugh let him know she thought he was full of shit but didn't care. The sun was shining, and for this moment, she was a kid learning to fly.

He smiled. Now if he could just get her mom out here, he might be able to clear up a few other misapprehensions.

17

It was too much to hope that he would be able to get back to Miranda without interference. These Reapers made the biddies at a church social look uninvolved. What was a surprise was who it was that accosted him halfway back to the house after dropping Wendy off at Addy's.

Cole nodded to Blade. “Afternoon.”

The enforcer grunted and matched Cole stride for stride. The sheer nothingness of Blade's energy told Cole whatever was on the man's mind was weighing heavily.

“Word is that you're planning on leaving?”

“You don't strike me as the type to listen to gossip.”

“It wasn't gossip.”

Cole tipped his hat back. “Just what exactly is your interest in my comings and goings?”

“Everything involving this set of Reapers involves me.”

“Really? Last I heard you weren't even part of this pack.”

“I'm here, aren't I?”

“You seem to be in a lot of places.” Cole folded his arms across his chest. “And from what I'm told, everyplace you show up, so does trouble.”

“You think I bring it?”

“It's a possibility.”

“Maybe I'm just warding it off.”

“Only God can tell what's going to happen before it happens.”

“True, but a man with enough information can make an educated guess.”

This time there was no mistaking the touch of the enforcer's mind. Cole slammed his shut. The enforcer smiled and cut through Cole's defenses like a hot knife through butter. The touch was light, but it said all that Cole needed to know. There would be no secrets from this man. Cole growled under his breath.

Blade growled right back. “You need to make decisions, human.”

Cole stopped and faced Blade. “You say ‘human' like it's a bad thing.”

“Only because you're mated to a Reaper capable of producing children. The mother of a child likely capable of breeding. Keeping them both yours, keeping them both safe, is going to be a full-time job.”

“And you don't think I'm up to it?”

“I don't think any human is up to it.”

“I've already taken out four of your Reapers at one time.”

“Then next time they'll send six.”

“You're saying the pack won't protect Miranda?”

“I'm saying you need to make a choice, either pack or human, but you can't live straddling both worlds.”

“Why not? Seems whatever I am now, it's a nice compromise.”

Blade shook his head. “It's not enough. Not in these times.”

Cole folded his arms across his chest. “So you're saying they'll no longer be pack if they're with me?”

“I'm saying you're going to have too many enemies from within the pack and out. It's not like Clark's going to disappear. He's been ostracized but he's still lurking around. Haven't you felt his energy?”

Cole shook his head. Truth be told, he hadn't felt much besides Miranda.

Blade snorted, “Young lust.”

“Young? You're close to my age.”

Blade looked at him and smiled an enigmatic smile. “So you think.”

“You saying you're older?”

“I'm saying there are a lot of things you haven't considered. Like the fact that Reapers don't age the same as humans, and if you stay human . . .”

Knowing he would age and Miranda wouldn't tore him up, but it wasn't something he was going to tell the enforcer. “I'll cross that bridge when I get to it.”

Blade shook his head. “What I'm trying to make you understand is you're already standing at the foot of it. You don't have a choice anymore. You need to decide where your loyalties lie.”

“My loyalty is always Cameron.”

“And where does that leave Miranda and Wendy?”

“They're Camerons, too.”

“You're one stubborn son of a bitch.”

Cole smiled. “So I'm told.”

“You're going to get yourself killed, and then what's going to happened to them?”

“Again, are you telling me they are no longer pack if they are with me?”

“It's more than pack. Mates are for life and then some. Miranda's life is going to stretch a long time, and it's tough to be lonely for a long time.”

Something flashed in the other man's energy. Cole looked at Blade more closely, but it was gone as fast as it had appeared. There was nothing soft about Blade, dark eyes, dark hair, dark energy, and an expression as tough as rough-hewn steel. Had to be the human in Cole, but he had a nonsensical thought that maybe the man was lonely.

“Considering we don't even know what I'm capable of now as this ‘something different,' I'm not feeling a rush to go all in. This may be enough.”

“One more bite and all doubts go away.”

“You don't know that.”

“It makes sense.”

It did, but making sense didn't make it so.

“The Rogues won't keep hunting Miranda and Wendy if I convert?”

“No, they'll hunt them.”

“Pack won't want to try to take them from me?”

“Yeah, they'll want to.”

“Then how will my problems go away?”

“Because you'll have the power to stomp them into the ground.”

“What makes you so sure I don't have that power now?”

Blade smiles had a definite edge. “Ask me again when you're Reaper.”

“I'll never take that step. I'm a Cameron, I'm human, and that's just how it is.”

Blade growled under his breath, “You don't know what you are doing.”

“Maybe not, but I'm doing it anyway.”

“Stubborn fucker.”

“Takes one to know one.”

Another snarl.

Cole looked down the path toward his house, the little one-room shack he shared with his woman who made it feel like a palace. There wasn't anything he wouldn't do for her except this one thing.

“And that's the only thing she needs from you.”

“Stay out of my head, Enforcer.”

“Wake up before that woman and that little girl pay the price.”

This time it was Cole who snarled. Why the hell did everything have to be so complicated?

Could you live without her?
The thought entered his head.

Cole jammed his hat on his head, before sending back,
No
.

He was halfway to the house when Blade asked one more question.

Do you want her living without you?

He didn't give an answer because he didn't have one.

When he got to the house, Cole's mood had definitely turned sour. He opened the door without preamble. The scents of venison stew and fresh-baked bread surrounded him. Even though he knew Miranda had heard him when he entered, she didn't turn around. He wondered if the others had been working on her as hard as they'd been working on him. He wondered what effect they'd had. Their romance had been more like a tornado sweeping across the plains than a slow, steady affair. Nobody trusted a tornado. Maybe she didn't trust him.

Setting his hand on the back of the chair he said without preamble, “I had a talk with Blade.”

The spoon banged on the side of the cauldron. Miranda's shoulders tensed. “You're leaving?”

Why the hell would she think that? “Turn around, and I'll answer that question.”

He wanted to see her eyes, feel her energy. Despite her promise, she still tried to hide from him sometimes, but she never could when he was looking into her eyes.

Miranda laid the spoon carefully on the shelf by the mantel and turned. She'd unbuttoned the first two buttons of her dress in deference to the heat, revealing the hollow of her throat. He could see her pulse pounding under the soft skin, a few beats too fast to be normal. She was nervous. He couldn't blame her.

“I'm turned,” she said, arms folded under her breasts, boosting those delicious mounds into prominence. He wanted to unbutton each of the remaining buttons, one by one, tasting her skin as he did, until he hit the barrier of her arms. The nerves under his skin tingled.

“We can't stand at war with each other.”

She raised her eyebrows. “I wasn't aware we were.”

“I know what you want.”

“You do?”

“You want me to take that third bite.”

Sighing, she brushed her hair off her forehead. “What I want to be is human, but I can't be changed back.”

“Whatever I am now is as far as I'm going, Miranda.”

He wanted her to understand that.

She nodded. “I understand.” Rubbing her hands down her skirts, she repeated, “Believe me, I understand.”

She said that so fervently. So honestly. Which made what she'd done make no sense. Passion could account for some of it, but Miranda was a strong woman with strong convictions. And she didn't believe in tricking someone without good cause, which could only mean one thing.

“There was another reason you bit me, wasn't there?”

He could feel her building a lie, shielding her thoughts.

With a slice of his hand he cut through the pretense. “The fucking truth, Miranda, for once let's just have it between us.”

There was a long pause in which her anger lashed at him and her fear.

He didn't care anymore what had bound them together, but he wanted that bond set in the truth, not in some prettied-up farce. “Why?”

“Wendy's human.”

“You said that before. Now, finish it.”

The words burst from her as if they'd been dammed up too long. “You're human with family, a home. A future. If anything should happen to me, I want her to know what it's like to go to a social. I want her to know what it's like to play with little girls, to have hopes, to have dreams. I don't want her growing up alone as a Reaper. I don't want her facing men who think they can take her just because she has the potential to mate. I want her to know love. I want her to know happiness.”

It all made sense then. “You want her to have everything you lost.”

She nodded.

“One question.”

She looked at him.

“What makes you think I'm ever going to let you die?”

The smile she gave him was sad, as if she had knowledge she couldn't share.

He took a step closer. “If push came to shove between the two of us, me being human, I'd be the one going first.”

She smiled again but didn't respond, and he knew, son of a bitch, he knew what she thought, why she was holding him at a distance. Why she was all right with him not taking that third bite, and it had very little to do with his wishes.

“You think they are going to come for you, don't you?”

“They will. If not Clark, somebody like him. Or a pack like him or one of the fanatical Rogues who believe that I'm unnatural and a temptation away from the path and need to be burned at the stake, like the witches of old.”

“There're that many sons of bitches out there?”

She nodded. “This pack isn't big enough to fight them all, and eventually they will have to make a choice.”

She'd thought it all out. “You or them?”

“Yes.”

“And you're going to surrender, just like that?”

“No, but no matter how I fight, I'll eventually lose.” She took a breath and added, “And die.”

The knowledge lay between them. Cole took a step forward; she stiffened. He took another. Two more was all it took to get to her side. Reaching out, he ran his fingers down the scars on her cheek.

“It takes a heck of a lot to kill a Reaper.”

She nodded. “But you need to promise me something.”

“I'm not making blanket promises.”

“This you need to promise me.”

“What?”

“If we're in a spot and it doesn't look like we're going to get out, you take Wendy, and you run with everything in you, and you take her home and give her what I can't.”

“Normal.”

“Yes, normal.”

Son of a bitch, just the thought of her in a fight made his gut twist. Leaving her behind to face rape or death? It would never happen. “China doll, there is no way on God's green earth that I could ever walk away and leave you to fight my battles.”