More Than Flesh & Bone

Chapter 31

I PUT A SPELL ON YOU

"If we get caught, I'm blaming it on tall, dark, and broody over there," Bree said as we got out of the cat.

"Like I don't have enough shit being dumped on me already," Zed muttered, following behind us.

I walked up to the porch and opened the front door.

Something swished in the air.

A familiar thunk hit the wood paneling next to me.

I sighed.

"Missy?" I called out, flipping the light switch. In between the kitchen and the living room, my aunt sat on a dining room chair with her feet kicked up on a coffee table and her crossbow mounted over her lap.

"What the fuck?" Bree said beside me, peering at the bolt buried in the wall six inches from my head.

"We had a talk about the crossbow," I groaned.

"We have a prisoner," my aunt replied, like that made it any better.

I stepped inside and ushered both Bree and Zed in before closing the door.

"The crossbow?" Zed asked, peering at the bolt still vibrating in the wall. "Again?"

Bree looked between the three of us, her eyes wide. "Again?" she repeated. "This is a reoccurring thing around here?"

"Yeah… so it turns out Missy likes to keep the crossbow in perfect condition for all her solo werewolf hunts," I said, vaguely motioning around me as I walked toward my aunt. "She's way more bad-ass than anyone gave her credit for. Anyways, she's been tracking our werewolf but had to pause because we needed someone to keep an eye on Zayne when we weren't home. I guess part of watching the prisoner translates into Missy becoming our one-woman security system." I came to a stop beside my aunt.

Directly across from where she sat, the basement door was wide open. I walked up to the edge and stared down at my brother's killer.

He had a rag in his mouth, courtesy of Zed who thought that might help the situation. The watery blue eyes that glared at me with hatred made the bile in my stomach turn. Whatever carefree effects the euphoria had on me, they were long gone.

"So… the crossbow…" Bree started.

"For intruders," Missy shrugged. "And murderous little bastards," she added, turning her attention to the basement once more.

"We got it from here," I told my aunt. "Bree is going to help us get this piece of shit to talk." I smiled at him when his already sweaty skin turned a shade paler.

"Knock yourself out. I'll just be up here… sharpening my machete."

Bree gave me a wary look and then pointedly glanced at Missy. I shrugged like my aunt had, not at all that bothered by her eccentricity at this point. After everything that happened, she was the one point of stability in this new world I found myself in.

"Come on," I said to Bree, starting down the stairs.

I approached Zayne, and he struggled in his bindings, not that it did much. He was sitting on the dirty floor, up against the concrete wall. His ankles and wrists tied together in front of him. I grabbed the edge of the cloth and yanked it down.

His mouth contorted as he stretched it.

"Miss me?" he taunted like a smartass. "You just can't seem to stay away from me. My brother must not be keeping you satisfied if you keep coming back…"

"Silence," Bree said, her voice cold. I'd never heard her use that tone before. A shiver went through me as his jaw snapped shut, the muscle ticking as he grit his teeth against her compulsion.

I glanced sideways at Zed. His expression was closed off. Guarded. He motioned for us to continue and then crossed his arms over his chest.

"Have you been working with a werewolf?" she started.

I knew, compulsion or not, this could take a while. Bree had warned me in the car that while we could force answers out of his there were always loopholes, and it was all about finding them.

"Yes," he snarled, his eyes shooting daggers at her.

"Why would a werewolf be willing to work with a zo...reaper?" Bree asked in that same chilly voice.

"I made him an offer he couldn't refuse."

"What offer?" she pressed. I could tell by the slight tightening of her mouth that she was annoyed he was already dancing around her questions.

Zayne's eyes were shining with an odd light as he struggled against the spell. After a tense moment, he finally answered, "If he did what I said, I'd let him live."

"So it was blackmail," I said, earning reproachful looks from both Zed and Bree. "Uh, sorry," I muttered, gesturing for her to continue.

"Up until recently, you've been exclusively targeting your own kind, why?"

"Because they deserved it," Zayne sneered.

"Yes or no questions work better," Zed said softly.

Bree glared at him over her shoulder. "Don't tell me how to do my job Zombie, and I won't butt in on yours, got it?"

Zed's jaw tensed even further.

Bree shifted her position and changed her line of questioning, moving so that Zayne couldn't see around her. "Did you kill Tracey Wells?"

"No," Zayne said with a sickening grin.

From my perch by the wall, I gave a jolt. How was he resisting so well? I'd felt the effects of compulsion. It had been impossible to assert my will. Was this something reapers were trained to do? Like the supernatural version of learning how to pass a lie detector test?

Bree sighed and rephrased. "Did you have the werewolf kill Tracey Wells?"

"Yes," Zayne said, his voice eerily gleeful.

"Did you have the werewolf kill Dale Wells?"

"Yes," he hissed, drawing out the 's.'

Even though I'd guessed at the answer to that one, it still hit me like a blow to the gut. Zayne had been at this for over four years. What could my dad have possibly done to piss off a teenage boy? Or was it less personal than that? Questions continued racing through my mind like lightning, and it was a struggle to keep my mouth shut. My hands balled into fists, eager to feel the now familiar crunch of cartilage beneath my knuckles.

"Did you shred their souls?"

"Yes," Zayne said, his voice triumphant.

Bree's eyes glowed a low golden light. There was nothing warm about it, though, as she narrowed her eyes and crouched down in front of him.

"How does a reaper that hasn't died yet blackmail a werewolf?" she asked him.

Zayne worked his jaw, the muscle tensing as he tried to deny the compulsion.

"I wouldn't know," he answered.

I frowned… Bree did the same.

"When did you die?" Bree asked slowly.

Zayne spasmed. His face turned a deep shade of red as he tried to stop himself from talking.

The compulsion wouldn't be denied.

"Five years ago," he said in a strained hiss.

I shared a look with Bree and then turned to Zed.

"I thought reapers were usually initiated?" I asked him.

His face didn't betray much but the way his eyebrows drew together was telling. "We do…" he murmured. "You're coached through what happens when you die. The initiation is more trial by accident, though. Most reapers die on a patrol or handling other supernatural business in their first year of school. We give them the hardest assignments because the chance of death is higher, but if you can make it through those, you have better offs of making it through the next few years with all your powers."

"That is so fucking backward," I said.

Zed shrugged. "It's just the way it is."

"If he dies five years ago, how did he get that by you guys?" Bree asked.

"I don't know," Zed answered.

We all looked at Zayne.

"Did you fake your death for Zeta Omicron Mu?" she asked him.

The whites of his eyes were starting to pinken. I was beginning to wonder if he'd give himself an aneurysm to get around answering us.

"Yes," he bit out.

"How?"

A moment passed. Then another, before he said in the quietest of whispers, "Werewolf."

"You told them the werewolf killed you?" Bree asked.

"Yes."

"He was on a patrol with another reaper. One that was older, who'd already transitioned. He said they'd been attacked. Thomas died. We'd believed him without question…" Zed murmured. His fists tightened. The knuckles turning white.

"Did you have the werewolf kill Thomas?" Bree asked.

"Yes."

"Well, that explains how he got around it," I said. "But what that doesn't tell me is what actually happened or how I can fix this now."

"How did you die?" Bree asked him, her voice growing harder. Her eyes glowing unnaturally bright.

"Attacked," Zayne said with a cruel grin.

"What attacked you?"

"Werewolf," he growled.

"The same one you now control?" Bree asked.

My pulse raced. My heart pounded. I sensed we were getting close.

"Yes," he said through gnashing teeth.

"Where is the werewolf that killed you now?" she asked, giving him a direct order he couldn't get around. Zayne bit into his bottom lip. Blood welled where his teeth sank into the flesh. With a garbled umph, he threw his head back, slamming it into the concrete wall.

"No!" I screamed, lunging for him.

It was too late.

Zayne's eyes rolled to the back of his head as it lolled, and his body went limp.

"Shit," Bree cursed. "I should have thought of that."

"Fuck," I shouted, spinning around and kicking Tracey's black leather La-Z-Boy. Springs, splinters, and stuffing exploded out of the size-eight hole I'd just created as I pulled my leg back. I really needed to stop taking my aggression out on the furniture.

"What did the recliner do to you?" Bree asked.

I spun around. "It was the chair or the psychopath." I glared at Zed. "And I'm not allowed to punish the psychopath."

Zed's face was blank, but there was a wild pulse in his neck. I knew he was conflicted about his brother, but I was pissed the little shit just got one over on us again.

Missy peered down the staircase. "Everything all right down there? Need me to bring the machete?"

"Just a small setback," I hollered back. "We're all good."

I heard her mutter, "Damn… I thought for sure this time," as she retreated.

Looking back down at Zayne's prone body, I let out a frustrated breath. "We were so close."

Bree lifted a shoulder. "So we just wait for him to wake up and we try again. I'll make sure to give him an order not to hurt himself this time. It'll be fine. You just need to be patient for a little while longer."

I nodded, although the sense of defeat didn't fully abate. This guy had taken almost everything from me, and there was nothing I could do about it. It was infuriating. The worst part was I still didn't know why. Why my family? Had they caught on to him? I'd learned my dad used to be head of the Council. Had he figured it out when Zayne lied about his rebirth and Zayne went after him to protect himself?

Instead of answers, all this interrogation was giving me was more questions.

"For what it's worth, I'm sorry," Zed said softly, startling me. He'd managed to sneak up on me while I'd been lost in my thoughts.

"Sorry for what exactly?"

He ran a hand through his hair and blew out a breath. "I dunno, take your pick? I'm sorry that my brother killed your brother. I'm sorry that I can't be as detached as you want me to be. I'm sorry that I'm letting you down because I asked you to take mercy on the guy that killed your dad."

I reached out and placed my hand on his arm. "Zed, stop."

He did, his mouth snapping closed as his body tensed beneath my touch. It felt like he was bracing himself for an attack.

"It's not your fault. If our roles were reversed, I would ask the same of you. I don't know what the solution is here, but I promise, when the time comes, we'll go through every option available until we find one we can both live with."

What I didn't add was that the solution may not be one that made it possible for us to live with each other, but that was a future Addie conversation. Right now I needed to stay focused. Who knew how long Zayne would be out this time? It could be a long night.

"Addie," Zed started, his voice pained.

I didn't get to hear the rest of what he was about to say because his phone rang.

"Shit… I have to take this," he said, as he glanced down at his phone screen. "It's my dad."

I nodded, watching him walk away as he answered.

Bree let out a soft whistle. "You look like someone just told you your dog died."

"What the hell kind of thing is that to say?" I asked, unleashing some of my frustration on her. "What does that even mean?"

"That you look a little lost, more than a little heartbroken, and like you're going to spend the rest of your life missing something you can never have."

I gaped at her. "I'm pretty sure that's just my face."

She pursed her lips and lifted her brows, daring me to contradict her.

Fucking succubus.

"You're never going to believe what my dad just said," Zed said, unknowingly coming to my rescue.

I tensed, instantly assuming the worst. "Was it about Zayne? Is the Council onto us?"

"No," Zed said, shaking his head. "Nothing like that. He just called to lay into me about why I let you out on patrol by yourself after curfew."

My brows snapped together. "What?"

"That's what I said. I guess someone reported in that you were sneaking around Alpha Psi. I told him he needed to get after whoever gave him the intel because they were wrong. You'd been with me all night."

"Alpha Psi?" I asked, wondering what supernatural house started with an A.

"It's the werewolves. There's not a 'w' in the Greek alphabet, so they got creative," Bree explained.

"Do you think someone in ZOM is trying to get me in trouble?" I asked Zed.

"It could be anyone. You're the only female reaper as far as they know. They might be pissed about the status quo."

"Oh, the poor babies," I said in a mocking tone. "It's a damn good thing females' egos aren't so easily wounded. The world would come to a grinding halt."

Bree snickered.

Zed ignored us, his gaze thoughtful. "Well, regardless, someone made the call. Maybe it was an honest mistake."

Yeah. Right.

When was that ever the case where I was concerned?