This guy was a fucking joke.
I held onto his shirt and nearly dragged him to the exit. Once we left the strip club, he shrugged off my hand, but only because I let him.
“I know what you are, what you can turn into,” he bragged. “I saw it.”
How? We scrubbed video feeds all over Tonopah, Vegas, and anywhere else a Reaper rode. No one saw shit we didn’t want them to see. We could hide ourselves from anyone we wanted.
Did someone expose a Reaper without us finding out?
“You don’t remember.” He shook his head. “I’m not surprised. It happened so fast.”
“Remember what, you little shit?” Chrome asked, clearly agitated by what this asshole said.
“The warehouse where you killed Gorbachev. Didn’t realize you missed one, huh?”
What the fuck was he talking about?
“But I saw Nylah. How she’s a prisoner to your Reaper.” He spat at me. “I can free her and make her mine.”
I couldn’t hold back my Reaper. He took hold of Tony by the neck and lifted him off the ground, slamming his back into a nearby wall. I already knew Xenon was watching, so he’d find the video and scrub it like he did with all the others he uncovered. No one ever had video proof of a Reaper.
Chrome shook his head. “You’re one dumb sonofabitch.” He slapped my back. “I guess we’re not making it back to The Crossroads, huh?”
“Nope.”
We were reaping this fucking soul right here, right now. Fuck him. He wasn’t worth another wasted second.
My brother picked up a rock and threw it at a camera above our heads. It shattered on impact, dropping to the ground in a dozen pieces. “Xenon will find the rest.”
I already knew that.
“Hold on. I got something that might help.” Chrome placed his palm on the brick façade as it began to tremble. The lights around us exploded, sending shards of sharp glass raining down onto the dirt and shrubs. The bricks began to transform, splitting apart at a molecular level as they reformed around Tony’s body.
He began to scream, but no one would hear him. The music was too loud. Outdoor speakers boosted the volume of the tunes played inside the strip club.
Blood bubbled from his lips as his eyes widened to the point I thought they might actually pop. My Reaper snickered at the idea. The Berserker? He wanted more suffering. More pain.
“He doesn’t have long.” Chrome looked at our prey. “You’re going to die soon. The bricks are slowly crushing every cell in your body inside the wall. In another few seconds, you won’t be able to breathe.”
A panicked look stretched across Tony’s face.
“Let this be a lesson. Nobody touches my ol’ lady and lives.”
Since Lucifer had been kind enough to give me the ability to send souls to hell without opening up a fissure in the ground and using my scythe, I decided to use it. Hellfire flew from my mouth as I opened wide, letting it rush out and surround Tony’s body. He writhed and tried to break free, but there was no escape.
I watched him take his final breath, only finding vindication once I knew the hellfire had consumed him and sent him to Lucifer. When I heard that bastard’s laugh, I knew he received his gift.
“Well, that was anticlimactic.”
I shot my brother a look. “He fucked with Nylah.”
“Hey, I’m not saying I wouldn’t have done the same. I just feel cheated. I wanted torture and mayhem. More screams. More blood.”
Yeah, he was my blood brother. We shared DNA. This was another instance that proved it.
“C’mere.” I hugged him to me, smacking a kiss on his cheek. “Love you, Chrome.”
“More than reaping souls?” he joked.
