Keeper vs. Reaper (Graveyard Guardians Book 1) Read Online Free PDF Page A

headstones, through the trees at the crowd gathered around the plot. He recognized the pastor because he held a bible in his hands. Beside the pastor he saw several heads of dark red hair and knew those must be the Estmond Keepers.
    Beyond the Estmonds, the crowd stood silently in the midday sunlight. Even farther, out in the cover of the trees, the souls were gathering to watch the procession. Jack felt his body tingle and his heart beat picked up a few notches.
    He wanted to devour those souls.
    It had been a long time since he’d had an entire soul. The little bits he took from the women were just enough to sustain him. The souls of the dead were far better to consume. Their energy lasted longer, kept him healthy longer, and all in all, just made him feel better.
    The mist of the dead glittered and swirled among the shadows of the trees. It was all he could do not to get out of the truck and proceed to massacre those beautiful auras. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath, his fingers tightening on the steering wheel, trying desperately to maintain control.
    Dammit. He was a fucking soul addict.
    But he couldn’t help it, right? This was what he was. A Reaper. A soul Reaper. Reapers had to consume souls to live.
    Right, like that kind of thinking made this shit any better. He was still a junkie.
    “Son of a bitch,” he muttered out loud and then slammed his fist into the steering wheel. Without giving himself much more time to even consider getting out of the truck, he rammed the vehicle into drive and shoved his foot down onto the gas pedal.
    He peeled out of the parking spot, spraying up gravel and sped off down the crowded back road. The entire funeral procession probably turned to see what the commotion was, but he didn’t give a rat’s ass what anyone thought. At the moment, he just needed to get away from that fucking funeral.
    As he drove, he took long, deep breaths and gripped the wheel so tight his knuckles turned white. He kept his eyes on the road, trying not to think of how amazing that blue, misty energy would feel absorbing into his body.
    He didn’t want to go back to the house . He was far too worked up to go back there and just sit around doing nothing. He passed the city limits, but kept on driving. As long as he kept going, he would get control of himself.
    He slowed the truck considerably as the highway began to slope upward and the turns got tighter. The little creek that ran alongside Summer Hollow could not be seen from the high altitude, but the oaks and pines grew even thicker.
    He followed the twisty pavement for miles and miles until the trees began to thin and vineyards took over the view. As he drove, he felt his body begin to relax and the hunger slowly dissipate. When he reached the crest of the mountain, he pulled over onto one of scenic viewpoints to take it all in. He gazed out at the land before him, awed by its silent power. He wasn’t anywhere very special, but there was still something extremely calming about being so high up, staring down at acres and acres of grapes.
    Beyond the grapes he could see the structures of the wineries. Some were old and antique in appearance. Others were more contemporary, having been built more recently. Farther out, he spotted large homes that were set against the hills.
    Well … now that he was feeling better, maybe he should go do some wine tasting.
    On second thought, nah, he still had to drive back to Summer Hollow, and he didn’t really care for wine all that much anyway.
    With nowhere to go and not caring to go anywhere in particular, he opened the door and j umped down from the driver seat. He grabbed a pack of cigarettes that he rarely touched from behind the seat and crawled up onto the hood.
    Lighting a smoke, he settled back against the windshield and puffed on his cigarette as he stared down at the beauty below him. He knew full well that the beauty of nature was about the only thing that he would come close to loving in his