Inhuman - Reaped Pt. 02

I was reeling. I reached up and touched the mark. Did I marry a grim reaper on accident? Charos touched my hand, then asked, ~"Who are you? I do not recognize the name Vine."~

Laughter that left me covered in goosebumps and wanting to hide under the covers came through the phone. "I am Timoria, boy. I ride the flayed horse, but I didn't get all the fame with the Big Four. I'd say it's not fair, but they have people constantly trying to summon them and have no privacy." Then he sighed, and it sounded like wind through trees. "When she goes, Charos, Thanatos will be the only one who can take her home. It might be a very long time before you find her again. Do you understand that?"

His arms tightened around me as Vine spoke. "Yes."

"Take comfort in the fact Atropos cannot have her, the other three and even I cannot have her. She is for you. Little one, did the mark hurt?"

"It ached and burned a little. What do you mean I'm his? Like he owns me?"

"Did it hurt? Did it knock you unconscious with the pain it caused? Did you cry out when it appeared and etched its way across your skin?"

"Not really. I mean, it ached. It burned like there should at least be a welt, but I didn't pass out or scream or anything. What do you mean I'm his?"

"She's as stubborn as you, Rowan," Vine muttered far enough away from the phone his voice almost disappeared into the dry leaves and thunder sound instead of words. "Each of the Horsemen has reapers for different things, but their biggest, most precious work goes to a chosen few. Charos and Moira are those chosen two for Thanatos. Each of them has a single moira for their own, whose soul comes and goes. A soul that cannot be reaped except by the Horseman. You are his. You are always his, whether you find each other or not. If he were alive right now, you might say you were soulmates or some other New Age term. Yin and Yang, the other half, the missing piece. Call it what you will, but you are his and he is yours."

"Okay, Moira said some reapers go more than one to a moira. That doesn't add up with what you just said."

"You can see and touch and hear both Charos and Moira. If you were the moira for a reaper who takes souls from those who die of natural death, you would be able to see and touch and hear some two thousand reapers. Only one of them would be able to mark you, but chances are more than one wouldn't feel bad to touch. I'd wager that touching Moira isn't your favorite thing?" I made some affirmative noise and he continued, "That you can see the reapers who take the souls of violent deaths, the reapers under Thanatos himself, meant you had a fifty-fifty chance that one would mark you and the other wouldn't be able to stand touching you. There are not that many violent deaths that fall under Thanatos's quadrant, so he doesn't need many reapers for it. The same department under War is massive. It's more a supply and demand thing than a clear cut rule that you can only stand touching one of them."

"And my soul always goes to Charos?"

Vine laughed softly, "Beautiful, isn't it? Romantic? Sappy as fuck? Two souls fated to be together through time immemorial. But the universe is nothing without her balance, little one. Your soul and his are tied together for all time, but there are billions of souls on this world and you have to find each other every time one of you dies. That gives the universe balance because it doesn't make this easy. The Fates, though, are some cruel bitches. Charos will always reap the souls of violent deaths, and the both of you will always die violent deaths. He and Moira both will watch you die, little one, and they won't be able to take your soul home because your soul belongs to Death himself. When you see that rat bastard, tell him Rowan wants to discuss stud services with his horse."

The line went dead in my hand. How are you supposed to react when something who claims to be a Horseman tells you you're going to die a violent death? Me? I stood there and shook while Charos held me. "I just talked to a Horseman on the phone, I think."

~"There are several Horsemen."~ I can feel the stubble on his jaw catching in my hair as he speaks. ~"I believe they are thought of as demons now, bound to the other side of the veil. I did not know you knew a summoner."~

"I didn't think of her until you said there were many ways to talk to the old gods. Death wasn't always just a Horseman, I know that's just the Christian interpretation of something far older than the Christian God. I did not expect her to have a Horseman at her disposal."

~"She must be bound to him, which means she is powerful. The Horsemen do not lightly tie themselves to this side of the veil."~

"You said there are several Horsemen? War, Pestilence, Famine, and Death are the ones from the Bible. If Vine is Punishment, who are the others?"

~"Justice. I reap the souls of the dead, the same as every other reaper who answers to one of the Four. There are numerous kinds of punishment, and Punishment prefers to dole out his own remedies and has no reapers. Justice weighs and measures the souls and dictates where they go in the afterlife or if they will reincarnate. I bring them home, but Justice sends them on. He is the only Horseman to rarely set foot on the living side of the veil."~

I turned so I could face him and let my forehead rest against his chest. "Is all of that true? About us dying violently?"

His arms came up around me and one of his hands held the back of my head, ~"I do not know for you, but it has been true for me. Every one of my lives has ended in violence and emptiness." ~

"Empty?"

~"I never marry. I never have children. I live and die by violence, the last time as a Gaul enslaved to Rome and killed in the Colosseum. It has been lonely, but the only thing that kept me from losing my mind was hope that I would find my moira one day. I have found you, and I could go through a thousand violent deaths knowing you are out there for me."~

I look up at him, taking a half-step back and pursing my lips. "What if I'd been a guy?"

His eyes flash orange and then bleed to green as he laughs and pulls me back in against him. ~"I would have been just as happy."~

Then he pulled me even closer and kissed the shit out of me again.

===

I hate going in to the office. Not because I don't have a desk and they all think I'm crazy, but because I hate having to dress in business casual. I had exactly one business casual outfit. Black slacks, a silky white shell, and a black blazer with the sleeves artificially rolled to my elbows. I was pretty sure if I tried to unroll the sleeves, I'd get about two inches of fabric before hitting a raw edge and then I could be bum chic. I twisted my hair into a bun low on my head while it was still wet so it would stay behaved and then stepped out of the bathroom.

Charos stood off to the side of the bed as I went around gathering my laptop and the few notes I'd printed out for the meeting. ~"You covered the mark."~

"Hm? Oh," I looked at my shoulder. "They have a dress code at the office, and I have to wear the jacket." I shrugged out of it enough to show that the shirt underneath was a tank top and just sheer enough to show the hint of color on the left side of my ribcage. "I'll have to keep the blazer buttoned just so this shirt doesn't flash my bra."

~"Your what?"~ His eyes swirled gold as he stepped around the bed to stand in front of me.

I hooked a thumb under the shirt at my shoulder and pulled my bra strap out. "Unfortunately, I have to wear one with this outfit, but even the nude color shows through this shirt. At least it's a comfy one."

I grabbed the small stack of stuff I'd put on the bed and slipped around him into the living area. Jake was sitting on the couch, looking amused while I made sure my camera was charged and got it stowed in the bag. "Were you talking to the grim reaper about your bra?"

"The last time he was alive, they didn't exist." I glanced at the door to my room and watched as Charos stalked out of the room and did his best to stay as far from Jake as possible. "I'm ready when you are. Thanks for the ride."

Jake got an almost dreamy look on his face, "That must have been a wonderful time to live."

"He died in the Roman Colosseum. I doubt it was wonderful."

"But the breasts just there, able to move," Jake clasped his hands over his heart and let out a not-fit-for-public noise.

~"He is not wrong."~

I looked between the two of them and sighed. "Spare me the male bonding over boobs."

Jake laughed, "What did he say?"

"That you're not wrong."

~"May I go with you?"~

"Uh," I looked at him. "I'm not sure how that would work? I don't mind, but don't reap anybody by accident."

"Outside this apartment, you need to act like you're on your phone to talk to him, Becca," Jake pulled his keys from his pocket and went to the door.

I waited for him to step outside before turning and almost bumping into Charos. ~"I will not be hurt if you do not want me to go with you."~

I leaned into him, "I want you to come. I just don't know what will happen if you're walking around out there when you're not working."

His eyes glowed green under the hood, ~"I will keep my hands to myself and no one will die. I do not want Thanatos or Justice coming after me for needless souls."~

"Okay." I followed Jake's route out the door, locking it behind me and then leaving the building. Jake was already in the truck, and so was Charos who was sitting like a shadow behind the passenger seat. Weird.

"It's so weird smelling him in here and not being able to see anything," Jake says as I get in and buckle my seatbelt.

"So he smells different from me?"

"Yes and no." He gets us out on the road, and I glance back to see Charos's hood swinging from side to side as he looks around. "He smells like you, but more. Like he completes your scent."

"Huh. I called Rowan the other night and had a very interesting conversation with her boyfriend."

"What made you call her?"

"We were talking about the mark, and Charos said they used to be called gifts from the gods. Then he said there were more beings that had been considered gods and more than one way to talk to them, and I thought of her. She talks to things on the other side of the veil, and apparently one of them lives with her."

"Vine," Jake grumbled. "Scary mother. What did he say?"

"Charos is the other half of my soul, Vine is a Horseman but didn't get the spotlight, and I will die a violent death."

~"Not the other half,"~ Charos chimes in. ~"Destined to find each other, always searching, but not two halves of the same soul. That is what you would call twins, I believe."~

"Okay, not the other half, but soulmates. What do you mean twins share a soul?" I look back at Charos.

~"When souls go home, sometimes Justice sees fit to let them have another life. The soul itself can decide to divide into multiple pieces of the whole. That is when multiples are born. For us, think of it more as two sides of a coin. How are we moving so fast?"~

"What's he saying?" Jake asks and gets us up on the interstate to take us downtown.

I told him what Charos said and repeated the question about going fast, and Jake laughed. He got to explain combustion engines because I didn't have a clue. I rode and repeated Charos's questions, letting them talk and just enjoying that at least someone knew I wasn't crazy.

Jake was still talking when I felt Charos slide his hand between my seat and the door to touch my side. ~"I must go."~ I nodded and he disappeared.

"He's gone," Jake said, interrupting his own sentence. "It doesn't hurt anymore?"

"It didn't really hurt before, just an incredible feeling of loss. I think as we've spent more time together the last couple days, it's gotten easier to ignore because I know he'll be back in a few minutes."

Charos popped back into the back seat just as Jake asked, "You gonna sleep with him? Fuck."

My face was burning as I scrunched down into the seat. ~"I do not need sleep."~

I laughed. Jake looked uncomfortable. "Sometimes I'm really glad you don't know all the modern terms and phrases, and almost every time I also really hope you don't ask her about it."

"Her?"

"I can't say her name or she'll show up and then I'll have to explain what you just said," I feel like all of my blood is in my face as I say this. "He said he doesn't need sleep, though."

~"I know the last thing he said is a curse. Can you explain the rest?"~

"Oh my God I can't go into this meeting blushing this much," I cover my face. "Can I explain that when we're back at my place? And "fuck" is so much more than just a curse. It's an art form in four letters."

"I'm so sorry, Becca," Jake manages to get out around his laughter as he pulls into the parking garage closest to the office. "Don't forget your phone for talking to him while you walk, and text me when you're out of there."

I grumble as I get out of the truck and then pull my phone from my pocket as I start walking, Charos a silent shadow at my side. "I can't talk to you when we get there."

~"Why did he ask if you would sleep with me?"~

"That's still not a conversaton I can have in public." I walk up the steps and into the office building, nodding at the guy at the front desk and hitting the button for the elevator. A couple of men stopped next to me to wait for the car, but I ignored them as Charos stepped behind me and put his hands on my hips. His grip was strong, and it might have felt better if I wasn't sure he was using it to make sure he didn't accidentally reach for someone.

~"They are not good men. Their souls are heavy."~ I made some humming noises like I was agreeing to something on the phone and stepped onto the elevator, hitting my floor button and then wedging myself into the back corner with Charos behind me. I wondered if there was actual space between me and the wall when the men glanced at me.

"No, the meeting is just for a normal serial pitch. No big deal, and I've got all my notes with me." I was spouting nonsense and felt more insane than if I had just been talking to myself.

The car made it to my floor and the men turned to go down the hall in the opposite direction. ~"There are more of them in this building. These are not souls Justice treats well, Rebecca."~

I pulled the phone from my ear and looked down at the black screen as I went into the reception room for the paper, "Aww, that's adorable. I have to go now." I tapped nothing on the screen and stuck the phone back in my pocket. "Hey, Ryan." The receptionist looked up at me, "I have a meeting with Bobby in a few minutes. Do you know if it's in his office or one of the conference rooms?"

"Should be in his office, honey," Ryan looked at the screen of the computer on his desk. "I don't have a note for anything else."

I head down a hallway and tap on an open door. Bobby, the editor, is hunched over his desk muttering to himself about comma splices. He glances up and nods at the chair across from him while he finishes scribbling furiously on the page in front him before setting it aside as I sit down.

I start opening my laptop, but Bobby holds his hand up, "I don't need to see anything, White. I want to know how many articles you think you can stretch this into?"

"I have five written already, and can probably get between five and ten more before the serial would have to end."

"Great. If you can do a fifteen article series, that would be perfect," he says. "For some reason, your articles about grim reapers at crime scenes, and those spooky-ass photos, have been incredibly popular online. To the point where people have been writing in asking for more about the reapers. I want to try to milk that for all it's worth. I don't even care what you put in the serial as long as the arc closes out clean. What I don't want is --"

He's interrupted as we hear what sounds like gunshots from out in the reception area. Charos blinks out, but a few seconds later I feel him back in the building. Bobby gets up to go to the door, but it opens outward and he'd have to reach into the hall to shut it, but it doesn't matter. One of the men who were on the elevator with me comes around the door and starts yelling at us to get up and out into the main office.

"Keep your hands on your heads and go join your friends."

I'm suddenly very glad for the deep pockets on these slacks. I slip into the back of the group, watching as Charos and Moira both stand over two bodies, the glowing souls dissipating as they pull them from the bodies on the floor. Charos's eyes are glowing red, larger than they should be from across the room. Moira's are a sickly blue as she looks between me and Charos next to her. I sink down on the floor and reach into my pocket as the gunmen turn to go check more of the offices, leaving us with one man who isn't looking at us. I dial Jake, waiting for the screen to show he's answered and I start whispering.

"Four gunmen, in the news office, sixth floor. Two dead." And I repeat it until the line goes dead and I just hope he heard me and is getting help. None of the hostage situations have been stopped, but maybe my call will help this one.

I get the phone back into my pocket as the last of the people from the offices are brought into the room. Another gun shot rings through the office, and Moira disappears. Charos just stares at me, his eyes blazing red, and I remember what Moira said about reapers going off the reservation. I wondered if anger would be enough to push him over that edge. He starts raising his hand and Moira is there, holding it down and leaning into him so close I can't tell the difference between both of their robes.

"What are you looking at, lady?" One of the gunmen is kneeling next to me and I hadn't even noticed him walking over here.

"The grim reapers having an argument over there," I nod toward Charos and Moira, knowing nobody else will see anything.

"You're kinda cute for a crazy bitch," the man says, and reached down to pull me up by the back of my jacket.

Charos pushes away from Moira hard enough she actually falls back, disappearing before she hits the floor. His hand comes up, and the man holding me falls to the ground. The soul that comes out of him doesn't glow. Instead, it stretches out of him like a black sludge, dripping from Charos's hand before dissipating like the others.

I look down, mouth hanging open, at the very dead man who had been alive a second before. Then fire rips through my right shoulder and I watch in slow motion as Charos leaps over the people in front of me. I see the gunman aiming again, then everything stops. I look around, frightened faces staring at me, the gunmen with their mouths open in shouts that are silent. Moira pops back in as Charos kneels in front of me, but then something else is in the room behind him.

His robes are white with an odd green undertone, and his hands go behind his back. He doesn't move any closer than the ten feet that separates us.

"Fuck, this hurts," I groan, my hand going to my shoulder and feeling blood. "Thanatos, I presume?"

~"Yes, little moira,"~ his eyes flash green. Great. Death is laughing at me. ~"It is not your time yet."~

"Police are on the way," I gasp and move my arm so I'm hugging myself. That seems to be the most comfortable way to hold it. "Is it too much to ask that you hold this pause thing until they get here?"

~"They are waiting for the rising box."~ I snort. Oh, my God. He was worse than Charos.

"It's an elevator," I supply the word. "So I'm not dying?"

~"No. But these souls should not have been here."~

"I think I'm supposed to give you a message. Rowan wants to talk about stud services, or something." I lean forward against Charos, feeling a little lightheaded. I hoped the police brought some medics. I can hear them in the halls now. "They're here."