The Rift

The Reapers: Book Three

By

Smashwords Edition

Copyright © 2014 by Katharine Sadler

All Rights Reserved.

The press of bodies forced me closer to the
stranger dancing with me, and I laughed with a happiness that
almost felt real. The music pulsed and throbbed around us, and I
lost myself in the feel of his hard body and smooth skin, his
breath on my ear. The guy, what was his name? I couldn’t remember
so I dubbed him Guy, ran his hands under my blouse, his calluses
rough against my skin. I shivered and smiled up at him, to find him
watching me. His eyes were warm with desire, and I took a moment to
just enjoy the rugged attractiveness of his face. If I’d known
Varius had its own warded night club, and that it would be so much
fun, I might have signed on a whole lot earlier.

“I hate to interrupt,” Henry whispered in my
ear. “But your fans expect a show.”

I sighed, but I knew he was right. I reached
up, grabbed Guy by the back of the neck and kissed him hard. “I
have to go,” I said. “But I’ll be back, soon. Will you wait for
me?”

“Girl, I’ll wait all night for you if I have
to.” I gave him a full wattage grin. The wider and more
enthusiastically I smiled the shittier I felt, but I hadn’t found a
better way to get through the day, yet.

I turned, walked off the dance floor and took
the drink Henry held out. He looked awfully fine, in jeans that
cupped him in all the right places and a polo just on the verge of
being too tight. In the flashing lights of the club, his blue eyes
sparkled and he moved his tall, lanky, yet muscled, frame to the
music even off the dance floor. His blonde hair flopped into his
face, and he pushed it out of his eyes and grinned. He always
enjoyed my show. I threw back the drink, climbed up on the nearest
table and started gyrating to the music. I wore a loose,
peasant-style top and black pants, and I moved to the beat with all
the confidence I could muster. I didn’t have to show a lot of skin
to get attention, I just had to move well, and try not to fall off
the table, and pretty soon I had the interest of most of the people
off the dance floor and some of them on it. It had bothered me
once, to have so many eyes focused on me, but I’d learned to forget
they were there and lose myself in the music.

After the song ended, Henry jumped up on my
table. He gave me a kiss that, while technically fantastic, lit no
spark in me, and started to dance. Someone in the crowd whistled,
and Henry smiled and pulled me closer, moving his body against mine
in a slow grind to the music. More people in the crowd whistled and
cheered. Everyone loved Henry, and I couldn’t help but share the
glow of his popularity.

I woke up the next morning with a heavy arm
on my waist, an aching head, and a dry mouth. I really should have
had more water the night before. I lay in bed wondering if
something more than exhaustion and dehydration might be wrong with
me, because the pounding in my head kept getting louder and almost
sounded like…“Shit, the door,” I said. I pushed the arm off, slid
my feet to the floor, my head spinning as I stood, and wrapped a
robe around me. Guy mumbled something about my ass and rolled
over.

I opened the door, not bothering to run a
hand through my hair. Who cared about appearances when my one and
only goal in life had become having a hell of a good time and
getting fired? I threw open the door to find Jed with a bored,
annoyed expression on his fine face. He didn’t have bedhead, and he
wore a crisp button-down and slacks that made him look nothing like
the easy-going guy I’d met almost five months ago. I swallowed my
smile and tried to look as bored as he did. I should hate him, I
really should, but my body warmed and a sense of relief washed over
me. A little voice in my head kept whispering,
thank God he’s
back
, and I couldn’t stop staring at him, from his neatly
combed hair to the way his shirt strained over his chest and biceps
to the… The memory of the last time I saw him flashed through my
mind like a movie and reminded me why I couldn’t want him.

It had been three months ago, when I’d only
been an employee of Varius for a few days. He stopped by because he
needed to talk, and I invited him in to play a new video game. He’d
looked so good, and I’d felt so lost. We had fun and when I beat
him at the game for the third time in a row, he told me I was
awesome and looked at me with what I thought was warmth of the
romantic variety. I assumed he wanted to kiss me, so I made the
first move. I’m usually more of a fifth move kind of girl, but I
just…it didn’t matter why I kissed him. He pulled away from me and
explained that he was there on an errand from Yvonne, his mother
and the CEO of Varius, and he tried to convince me to give in to
her demands and be more compliant. I got angry and said some things
I shouldn’t. He remained calm and told me that he’d be out in the
field for a while, but I could call him if I needed anything. He
left before I could say anything else, and I hadn’t seen him
since.

“Jed, what’s up?” I asked, trying to sound
like I didn’t care and sounding a bit like a frog. I still needed
that water.

“We need to talk.” He made no attempt at
sounding anything other than rude. “Can I come in?”

Guy, god bless him, chose that very moment to
walk out in his boxers, and he wore them well. In a dark night
club, it’s not always easy to judge someone’s looks, but Guy was
just as hot as I’d thought. His body was every bit as masculine and
attractive as his face. “Babe,” he said. “You got any coffee?”

I wondered if he had christened me Babe
because he didn’t know my name, and I almost laughed out loud. I
knew I should feel bad about going to bed with a complete stranger,
but I just…didn’t. “Yeah, I was about to make some,” I said, over
my shoulder. “Give me a second.” I looked at Jed and found I liked
looking at his face even more than I liked looking at half-naked
Guy. I really hated myself. “No, you can’t come in right now. If
you’d like to talk, maybe we can meet in one of the conference
rooms in an hour?”

Jed’s eyes were pinched at the corners and
his jaw clicked like he was grinding his teeth. “You and Henry
break up?”

I remembered then the one reason I should
feel bad about Jed seeing a man walking out of my room. “Henry and
I are fine,” I said, my heart racing. “We’re fine and if I hear
even a hint from anyone that we are less than fine, I’m going to
blame you.” Not that I really thought he’d care if I blamed him,
but I had to try.

“Got it,” he said. “I’ll text you the time
and place for our meeting.” He turned and walked away without
another word. I pushed down all of the little voices in my head
that told me I should call him back and try to explain myself. He’d
hurt me and let me down too many times, and my continued attraction
to him was a sign of my impaired mental state.

I turned, shut the door, and walked into my
kitchen. My head suddenly hurt worse and all I wanted was to be
alone. “My bad,” I said. “I’m actually out of coffee. You should
probably get some from the cafeteria.”

Guy shrugged like he didn’t care where he got
coffee or who he got it with. I pushed away the little spark of
disappointment that yet another person could take me or leave me so
easily. “I was thinking about getting a shower before I left. You
wanna join me?”

“No, thanks. I think I’m going back to
bed.”

“I can dig,” he said. Who actually said that
anymore? Who had I brought home? I couldn’t complain, though, when
he gathered his clothes, got dressed, and left without another
word. I flopped back into bed and covered my head with my
pillow.

I wasn’t asleep more than ten minutes when
Tucker started screaming in my ear. “What the hell were you
thinking, Kelsey? What if someone had seen you?”

I swatted at my ear like it would make a
difference. “Henry was okay with it, Tucker, and he made sure no
one saw. I left a good twenty minutes before Guy, and he promised
not to mention our night together to anyone.”

“And how about that kiss on the dance floor?
Did no one see that? Did you discover a spell for
invisibility?”

Oh, yeah, that. That was a mistake. I removed
the pillow from my head and looked up at Tucker. I was ready to see
anger on his face, but the hurt and worry I did see cut me to the
quick. “I’m sorry, Tucker. That shouldn’t have happened. I was just
so…it shouldn’t have happened. Maybe Henry and I could have a huge
fight at lunch today, then make-up in front of everyone?”

He sat on the edge of the bed and shook his
head. “No. No fight. Just be extra touchy, like if there was any
problem you made up, okay?”

“Sure. Okay. I’m really sorry.”

“Are we asking too much of you, Kelsey?”

“No. God no, Tucker. I want to do everything
I can to keep Henry safe and allow you two to be together.” Henry
was Tucker’s boyfriend. Tucker was a reaper, a ghost, who’d been
hanging around earth for over a hundred years waiting to meet the
true love a psychic had predicted he’d find. I might not believe in
the psychic’s prediction, except I’d seen Henry and Tucker
together, and I knew that what they felt for each other was real.
Heart-achingly, jealousy-inducingly real and I would do anything to
make sure they got to stay together.

“Are you sure, Kelsey? I know it can’t be
easy for you, pretending Henry’s your boyfriend and then being
present for our physical encounters. You can take a break or stop…”
Henry worked for Varius, but Tucker didn’t. We were both certain
that if Yvonne, Jed’s mother and the CEO of Varius, discovered how
much Tucker loved Henry she’d use Henry to force Tucker to work for
her. Not to mention that Tucker had plenty of enemies among the
reapers who’d take advantage of any opportunity to cause Tucker
pain. So I was pretending to be Henry’s girlfriend, which allowed
Tucker and Henry more opportunities to be around each other without
raising suspicions. I was also the only way Tucker and Henry could
physically touch or kiss or…do other things. When Tucker pulled on
my energy to become corporeal and touch his lover, I closed my eyes
and tuned them out as best I could. It wasn’t always comfortable
for me, but having seen how much they loved each other, I couldn’t
deny them the opportunity to touch.

“No. I don’t want to stop,” I said. “I won’t
screw up again. I just felt…it doesn’t matter. It won’t happen
again.”

Tucker pulled himself against me, staying
ghostly, and linked his hand in mine. “It does matter, Kelsey. You
aren’t just a tool to us. Henry and I love you and we want you to
be happy, too.”

Tears filled my eyes and I swallowed them
back. “I’m fine,” I said.

“No, you aren’t. The Kelsey I knew in
Briarton never would have brought a stranger home to her bed. Do
you even know his name?”

“Of course I do.” I feigned indignation, and
hoped I’d gotten to be a better actress. “How dare you
insinuate—”

Tucker raised his eyebrows.

“Guy. His name is Guy.”

“No. His name is Antonio, and he works on the
pharmaceutical side. I checked into him when you brought him home,
because Henry and I were worried about you.”

“Fine, so I didn’t know his name, what
difference does it make? I had fun, Tucker. He made me feel good
and he made me forget—”

“You should go back and see that shrink
Yvonne set you up with, Kelsey. You are one step away from the
edge.”

Anger raged up to replace my fear,
loneliness, and helplessness, and I welcomed it. “Thanks for the
vote of confidence. I’ve been holding it together.”

“I know and you have, but—”

My phone beeped with a text message and I
lunged for it like the life preserver it was. “I’ve got to meet Jed
in half an hour. I should get a shower and make myself
presentable.”