More Than Flesh & Bone

Chapter 26

BEHIND ENEMY LINES

"You think he'll still be alive when we get back?" Zed asked as I pulled into the lot beside Zeta Omicron Mu.

"I give it fifty-fifty odds. She likely won't listen about leaving him alone, but I don't see her killing him just yet. She'll just maim him… probably." I pulled into one of the only open spots and cut the engine.

Zed sighed. "Let's get this over with."

I climbed out of the driver's seat and slammed the door shut behind me, jogging a couple of steps to catch up with Zed, who was already halfway to the back door. The craziness of the last forty-eight hours was taking its toll on him. I could tell by the strain in his shoulders as he opened the door and held out a hand for me to go first.

"Being a gentleman now?"

"Just go through the damn door," he said.

I lifted my hands in mock surrender. "Touchy…" I muttered under my breath.

"Tired," he corrected, following behind me. "Come on." His fingers skimmed the small of my back as he stepped around me. We walked through the kitchen and toward the lounging area on the other side of the house. From just outside the doorway I could see reapers piled on the couches, sitting in the chairs, and milling around the back wall. Standing in front of a massive flat-screen was none other than Zevon. AKA, Zed's dad.

"There have been multiple sightings…" he was saying but stopped at the sight of me. "Addison, Son… I'm glad you both could find the time in your very busy schedules to join us," he said sarcastically. Now I knew where Zed got it from.

"Yeah. It's not like we were in the middle of…" I paused, right about to say kidnapping, but the look Zed's face had me correcting course, "...things. Doing things. Important things like…" I stammered, looking for an excuse. My face lit up when I found one. "Running. Today was leg day."

A few brothers let out a chuckle, though Zevon didn't look amused.

"Right…" he said. "I'm pleased to see that you're taking you're training seriously. However, now that you're a reaper you need to be more involved with the Brotherhood. Zed can train you separately, but you'll be expected to patrol and attend all meetings, the same as any other brother."

"I'm sorry," one of the guys sitting on a couch interrupted. He leaned forward and motioned to me. I recognized him as the nice guy from the other night when I was looking for Trace. "But you just said reaper… She's a girl."

Well then. Apparently even the nice ones were misogynistic.

"I did," Zevon said, stepping forward and adjusting his cufflink. Did he dress in suits all the time? That didn't exactly seem practical for doing… reaper stuff… then again, her dad had always dressed in suits as well. "Brothers, this is Addison Wells. She made the transition to reaper several weeks ago, although the Council was only recently made aware. She'll be officially joining the Brotherhood once she finishes training. As I was saying..."

"But sir," the nice guy whose name I couldn't remember continued, shooting me an apologetic look, "how is that even possible? Never before has there been a female reaper. Why now?"

Around him, other brothers gave a few nods of agreement.

Zevon looked truly annoyed by the second interruption. "You should be less concerned with what's between her legs, and more concerned with the very real threat we're facing."

Nice dude flushed and sat back in his seat. While I appreciated the sentiment, if not the words themselves, I wasn't comfortable with Zevon's complete dismissal of my transformation. For these guys, it was a pretty big deal. They deserved answers… even if the answer was, I have no fucking clue.

The head of the Grimms continued speaking, impervious to the feeling of unease growing around him. "The werewolf has gone completely feral, as far as we can tell. There've been three more murders in the last week alone. That's a massive escalation. This time two vamps and a fae girl were attacked. Their leaders are calling out for blood. We face a full-scale uprising if we can not gain control of this situation immediately."

Bucky the Fuckface pushed away from the recliner he'd been leaning on. "We're increasing our patrol rotation. No one goes out alone. It's all hands on deck. Until this dog is caught, we're on call around the clock. If you're not on patrol, you're here looking through the evidence and trading theories. Is that understood?"

The reapers nodded, none of them looking please by the announcement.

I shot a look at Zed, and he was shaking his head. He knew me well enough by now to know what was coming, but I was already raising my hand.

Bucky snorted. "What?"

I scowled at him. "That's going to be a problem for me."

"Of course it is. What's the matter, sweetheart? You afraid to break the curfew?"

There were a few snickers, and Bucky's smirk grew.

"Nope, but seeing as how this is A, a frat, and B, I don't live here, it's going to be pretty fucking hard to explain to my aunt why I just suddenly disappeared. Unless, of course, you want me to let her in on our little secret?" I gave him a smug smile.

It was a gamble, but I was hoping what both Zed and Bree had said about not letting humans in on the supernatural world being the most important rule would buy me some breathing room. There was no way I could stay here. Not with Zayne in my house, and definitely not with the question of how my powers were going to continue to evolve.

"There are no exceptions to that rule," Zevon said. "However, some allowances will need to be made in your schedule, regarding the obvious." He gave me a single nod, like that would suffice in terms of explanation. I could already tell this whole foot-soldier-taking-orders thing was going to get old real fast.

"Following that, the Council will be imposing a curfew until further notice. All houses aside from ZOM will be barred from going outside from sundown to sunup. The attacks seem to be happening largely at night, for the moment. Until this thing is caught, it's best if we limit the number of potential targets."

Welp. Bree wasn't going to like that news. I needed to get in touch with her as soon as this meeting was over and I was off of zombie property.

"How exactly do you plan to enforce this curfew?" Zed asked, hands in pockets.

His father regarded him shrewdly for a moment before saying, "Brothers will be assigned to houses to monitor their activities and make sure rules are being followed."

At that, another murmur went through the crowd of me.

"We're not hall monitors," a guy I didn't recognize complained.

"No," Zevon said. "You're reapers. The only thing standing between the supernatural world and the human one. Just as we're supposed to make sure our laws are enforced with our fellow supernaturals, we're also supposed to protect them from threats like this."

"Um, sir," I raised my hand again, stepping forward. "Zevon-Supreme Reaper-Grimm Wizard Extraordinaire…"

"Addie, what are you doing?" Zed whispered.

"Asking a question. What's it look like?"

Zevon sighed, and I was beginning to see the resemblances between him and his son. Well. This one. So far he hadn't shown me any crazy. Although, that could be in there somewhere too…

"Yes, Addison?" he asked, already sounding tired of me.

"Well, I was just thinking. If we're going to need someone to patrol the other supe houses, then it might be best if you used me for the sororities. I'm a girl, so they'll probably be more comfortable with me being around, so there will be less discord…" I said, leaving out the bit that I could recruit Bree, and they'd never know the difference then. "I'm also new, so I'm probably not as good at fighting a werewolf," I added. Not because it was true, per se. More that their fragile male egos would like that.

Judging from the nods in the crowd, I was right.

"That's an excellent idea," Zevon said, looking more than a little surprised. "You and Zed can be in charge of handling that."

Zed sighed, clearly not thrilled with this idea, though for the life of me I couldn't understand why. His dad was happy. We had an excuse to be hanging out. I could see Bree. Things were really starting to shape up.

They spent the rest of the meeting assigning partners and divvying up patrol routes. When it was all over, Zevon dismissed the room.

"Not you two," he said.

I paused mid-step and looked over my shoulder. "Us?" I asked.

He nodded.

Zed and I turned and walked back into the lounge. I swallowed hard. My palms were sweaty, and I tried not to be obvious as I wiped them on my pants while sitting down.

"Have you heard from your brother?" he asked.

I bit the inside of my cheek, trying hard to keep my expression blank while waiting for Zed to answer.

He laughed. "That's funny."

Zevon looked confused. "I don't see how."

"Really? When was the last time you ever saw Zayne and I doing anything besides fighting? Why would you possibly assume that I would hear from him before you would?" I knew Zed was lying, in the sense that he knew exactly where his brother was right now, but the amount of anger and years-old pain in his voice could not be faked. The relationship, or lack of one, between the brothers was a definite sore spot for Zed.

I let my hand brush against his in a silent show of support.

Zevon looked down and scratched his fingers along his jaw. "Fair point. It's just so unlike him to not report in. He's always so eager to join in."

"I'm sure he's just blowing off some steam. He'll be pissed when he finds out he missed a meeting… And that he got partnered with Bonzo."

Zevon let out a soft laugh. "You're probably right… although that does improve his chances of finally transitioning. That green hair dye he's been using has been ruining your mother's linens." He looked back up, his eyes landing on where my hand was still touching his son's before lifting to my face. "How are you holding up?"

The question was so uncharacteristically nice that I couldn't have been more shocked if he kneed me in the crotch. "Uh… fine?"

"Is that a question?" he asked, a smile eerily like his son's ghosting his mouth.

"It's been a lot to take in. Zed is a good teacher, though."

Zevon nodded. "Yes, he is. One of the best reapers I've ever seen. His recovery record is the highest we've seen in decades."

"Recovery record?" I asked, looking between the men as Zed shifted uncomfortably.

"Ah, I see that my son hasn't gotten around to explaining the lingo yet." Zevon smiled like he was sharing a joke. "Recovery is our preferred way of saying that a soul has been eliminated.

"You mean shredded?" I asked.

Zevon nodded. "Yes, exactly."

I looked at Zed, having trouble picturing him as a merciless destroyer of souls. "I guess I'm in good hands, then."

"Yes, the best. Speaking of which, where are you at in your weapons training?"

"Weapons training?" I asked. "I mean, I haven't started beheading people with scythes yet…"

Beside me, Zed groaned.

Zevon didn't quite hide his amusement. "We tend to save the antiquated weapons for more advanced studies. How are you with a gun? Or even a bow?"

Zed cut me off before I could answer. "We haven't made it to the range yet."

I side-eyed him, settling back in my seat.

"Make that a priority," Zevon said. "You shouldn't be handling a weapon without the proper training. I don't want to see my son needlessly injured because of a rookie mistake."

Any softening I'd felt for Zed's dad crashed and burned at the implication that I would be the one causing said injury. "Oh? Do you not know which way to point the gun, Zed? The shooty end goes away from you," I deadpanned, purposefully misunderstanding his father's meaning.

Zed shot me another warning look. "We'll head over there right now. She also needs to be properly outfitted before we go on patrol."

"Good call," Zevon said, checking his watch. "You should probably get going."

Zed stood and nodded at his dad. "You ready, Addison?"

"I think the better question is, are you?" I corrected under my breath as I walked past him.

Now this was a training session I was looking forward to.