Unreap My Heart (The Reaper Series) Read Online Free PDF Page B

“Jerk.”
    A corner of Tomas’s lips quirked up. “Balthazar has that effect on people. Don’t mind him, Arianne.”
    Balthazar cleared his throat. “Don’t talk about me like I’m not here, old man.”
    “Yes, Balthazar,” Tomas said like the conversation was over. “I think you’re forgetting that our Master—”
    “He’s not my master,” Balthazar barked.
    “—has foresight,” Tomas continued like Balthazar hadn’t interrupted him, all the while still turning to face Arianne. “He doesn’t do anything without reason. You should know that more than anyone in this room.”
    “I’d like for us to keep chatting,” Death said, “but as you can see, I am more than incapacitated. I would like to get this dagger out as soon as possible. There’s only so much time left and I don’t think I can hold on for long.”
    Stepping out of Tomas’s protective space, Arianne moved directly in front of Death just outside the pool his blood made. Barefooted or not, she wouldn’t be caught dead standing in blood. Gross. She shook away the need to shiver and focused on Death.
    “Who did this to you?” she asked.
    “Good luck getting that out of him,” Balthazar answered.
    She scowled at him. “I wasn’t asking you.”
    Balthazar’s eyebrows disappeared into the fringe of his hair. Point to her, but she didn’t let herself get smug. She faced Death again and waited.
    The beautifully handsome man sitting surrounded by a pool of his blood heaved a weighty sigh. “Niko will not last long if I don’t get out of here.”
    Her breath caught in her chest.
    “Playing dirty already, D?”
    “Balthazar,” Tomas warned. “Shut your mouth before I shut it for you.”
    Arianne couldn’t be sure, but in her periphery it looked like the guy wearing way too many buckles gave the Reaper of California the finger. Far too much testosterone in one room—it made her head spin. Something told her punches would fly if she didn’t get this over with, and she was not getting in the middle of that. Not when Death seemed like he was bleeding to death. She hated the pun, but she couldn’t think of anything better.
    To hurry things along, she asked, “How can I help?”
    “You must find the Redeemer.”
    Balthazar’s hiss caused her insides to quiver. She looked at him, but his face had gone completely blank. She glanced over her shoulder at Tomas, but his expression had turned unreadable too.
    “You know what I hate most?” she said to no one in particular. “Secrets. Way too many and it just gets really hard to find the truth under all the bullcrap.”
    “It’s bullshit, not bullcrap. If you’re going to curse, you might as well say it right.”
    “Shut up, Balthazar,” Tomas spat.
    “I’m telling you what you need to know and nothing more,” Death said, some strength returning to his voice. Arianne suspected he faked it.
    “Okay, so why me?”
    Balthazar, ignoring Tomas’s order, answered. “Only a being still tethered to the human world can identify the Redeemer. And from the looks of that red thread, you’re human. I don’t even want to know why you’re here.”
    Arianne raised an eyebrow at him before she looked back at Death. “What do we do when we find the Redeemer?”
    “The Redeemer is the only one capable of pulling out the dagger,” Tomas said grimly from behind her.
    “Okay.” She ignored the fact that too many people were answering her questions. So long as their answers helped her understand the situation and what they needed from her, she didn’t care where they came from. “Where do we find the Redeemer?”
    “The Voyeur knows.” Death coughed and more blood spattered out of his mouth.
    Arianne reached out to wipe the blood away, but a hand closed around her wrist. She looked up at Balthazar. His face up close looked even more handsome than from afar. He frowned down at her and shook his head.
    “Learned the hard way not to touch him,” he said in a dangerously quiet voice, like