Reaper would have never spoken about Silas’s ability, not only because he had killed Butcher on their property and half-believed what Silas was able to do, despite what he had witnessed with his own eyes, but for the reason that it would hurt Ginny if the secret got out.
Shoving his damp hair from his face, he shivered at the words she had thrown at him.
“Damn, I’m glad I’m not you.” Ezra slung a friendly arm over his shoulders. “When Ginny gets her mad going, watch out. Don’t let her get near your hair, and keep your belongings where she can’t get to them. She jinxed Isaac one time, and he had trouble finding a comfortable spot to sit until the moon came out—she burnt a pair of his underwear in the firepit with a hornet’s nest. Word to the wise …,” Ezra murmured conspiratorially. “Make sure Ginny’s inside the house before midnight.”
Reaper arched a brow at him. “You don’t really believe in jinxes, do you?”
Had he lost what little sanity he had left?
The group of men and the boy surrounding him burst out laughing.
“You’re asking us if we believe in jinxes? That’s fucking hilarious.”
Reaper’s shoulders shook at Ezra’s laughter.
“Ezra, language,” Silas reprimanded, even though his voice was filled with just as much laughter.
“Sorry,” Ezra immediately apologized. “Ignore the F-bomb, Fynn.”
“I think it’s just as hilarious you believe in jinxes,” Reaper said, not appreciating being laughed at.
“Don’t get your pride hurt. You’ll think it’s funny, too, once you can see what we can do—”
“Ezra!” Silas snapped.
The laughter stopped.
“Sorry, Silas.” Ezra dropped his arm. “You have to admit it was funny.”
“I don’t think Reaper is in the mood to be joking around.”
“Oh … because he almost bit the dust?” Ezra asked.
Silas looked like he wanted the dirt to swallow him whole at Ezra’s mentioning the attempt Reaper had made to take his life.
“They know?” Could life get more humiliating for him?
How did they know? Another question just came to him. How had Silas known?
Fynn rolled his eyes at him. “Course we knew. How did you think Silas found you?”
Reaper turned his head to look at Silas. “I thought you were just out looking for me and found me.”
“The wind told him where you were,” Fynn told him.
Remembering how he had rolled the window down to throw the cell phone out of the car so The Last Riders couldn’t track him, he thought back to the burst of wind that had come inside the car as he drove.
“I’ve lost my mind, haven’t I? I’m really in a psych ward, aren’t I?”
“No.” Silas warned him, “But the more you’re around us, I’m sure you’re going to feel that way.”
“If I’m not crazy, then how did you find me?”
“Fynn told you the truth. Because I was near you when you took off, I was able to follow you. The wind told me where you were.”
“Doesn’t look like he believes you,” Jody commented.
“I don’t.”
“Didn’t you show him?” Ezra asked.
“I did, but I don’t think he believes me.” Silas shrugged. “I thought we could break it to him slowly.”
“I bet he’ll believe this ….” Matthew moved closer to him.
Looking down, Reaper saw Matthew touch the sleeve of his jacket. Not seeing anything unusual, he then stared at Matthew questioningly. He was about to ask to borrow Silas’s cell phone to call the nearest mental health facility to make sure he wasn’t a patient, when he felt the moist material warm and slowly begin to dry.
“You have no idea what we’re capable of.”
The austere way that Matthew spoke to him made a believer out of him. The man staring deep into his eyes had flames coming from within their depths.
“Chill,” Isaac told his brother. “He already thinks he’s crazy.”
“He’s not crazy.” Ezra removed Matthew’s hand from Reaper’s sleeve, replacing it with his own. “He’s just tired of fighting against the darkness.”
Shocked at Ezra’s description of what he’d been going through, Reaper felt the shroud that constantly smothered him begin to lift.
“You can’t bury what’s not dead, Reaper. You know better than that. Gavin is still very much alive. It’s his pain you can’t escape from. There’s a much better way to deal with the pain than killing yourself and hurting so many people who love you.”
Already broken, Reaper gave a harsh laugh. “How?”
“Allow Gavin to come back into the light.” Ezra’s low monotone compelled Reaper to keep listening. “Give Reaper your strength to accept what happened to you instead of shutting his