I woke sitting straight up, covered in a cold sweat, and bellowing. The sound stretched, moving over the island, traveling with the wind. I didn’t know the extent of my voice, how far it journeyed, how it moved, only that it held power. I could do things with my voice, unimaginable things. So when I woke up screaming, the entire reaper race knew something was wrong.
Zane was beside me, his hands framing my face, until my eyes finally focused on him. My gaze moved around the room as I slowly put together where I was and what happened. The dream? TJ? Alarm raced through me, my eyes going wild. I wanted to jump out of the bed and run down the hall to his room, but then I remembered I was naked.
“Piper?” Zane spoke my name gently. “Is everything okay?”
I blinked. It was mid-day. The sun was beaming through the windows, and there was a relaxing breeze, bringing in the scent of flowers and sea. “I-I’m not sure.” My hand went to my scratchy throat. It was raw and hoarse after the screaming. “I had a dream.”
Worry leapt into his dark eyes. “You’re bleeding,” he stated, swiping a finger across my lip.
I licked the edge of my mouth. Pain seared at the open wound. “I’m fine.” Or so I hoped. I didn’t need him to tell me it wasn’t normal for a dream to draw blood. I could still taste it. The horror. The blood. The sheer fear. “God, what was that?”
His brows furrowed. “I was going to ask you the same thing. Tell me.”
I relayed the events of the dream, from being back in my old apartment to being surrounded by hallows and getting choked up when I told him what happened to TJ.
“Your banshee abilities are coming in hot,” he said when I finished. “It won’t be long until they’re at full force.”
“Joy. Don’t tell me my dreams might actually mean something? Am I suddenly going to levitate and be able to spin my head around like an owl?”
His lips curved. “Not entirely. It could be the dream was nothing more than a caution. Or it could be someone was sending you a warning.”
“Are you sure?” I asked, feeling anything but confident.
He shrugged. “At this point I am only sure of one thing.”
“And what may that be?” I prompted.
“How I feel about you,” he murmured, pressing his lips softly to mine.
I sighed. Zane wasn’t a hearts and flowers guy, so when something sweet left his lips, it meant that much more.
He fingers pulled slightly at the ends of my hair. “Your abilities are ingrained inside of you, even in your dreams. They’re tied to your soul. It doesn’t matter what realm you find yourself.”
“And therefore tied to you,” I added, and he nodded. “But that doesn’t explain why I couldn’t use my powers then.”
“It could have been fear,” he suggested.
I pinched him under the arm. “That wasn’t it. I could feel my powers, but nothing happened. It was like I was shooting blanks.”
The corners of his mouth twitched. “Even when you’re alone, you’re not. If you had called for me, even in your dream, I would have been able to help. You’re a banshee. The laws of nature don’t apply to you. Don’t be skeptical of your own abilities.”
Wrapping a sheet around my body, I scooted out of bed. It was silly. Zane had already seen me naked, but I couldn’t repress the modesty. Things between us were still so new and fresh. “I need to see him.”
“Who?” Zane asked.
I rolled my eyes. He needed to keep up. “TJ,” I replied. “If my dreams are as prophetic as you imply, I need to make sure he’s okay, that he’s safe. I need to tell him the truth about me.”
He tossed me a shirt. “Put this on first. I don’t want your brother hurting himself by trying to give me a black eye.”
He was right— not about the black eye, that was laughable—I couldn’t go traipsing through the house in nothing but a flimsy sheet. Slipping his oversized t-shirt down over my head, I was swathed in his scent. tugged on a pair of cotton shorts I found tossed over the desk lamp and combed my fingers through my tousled hair.
Shirtless, Zane stood in a pair of dark denim. “You ready for this?”
“To tell my brother I’m a banshee? I don’t think I’ll ever be prepared, but I need to tell him. Keeping him in the dark could put him in more danger. As much as I’m dreading this conversation, everything inside me is pushing me to do it. Immediately.”
Zane followed me into the hall as I went to find my brother. It wasn’t a difficult task. Just follow the sounds of whooping and hollering and the smell of week-old food. TJ whipped open the door a moment after I knocked, a cookie dangling between his teeth. His light brown hair was too long, but to my surprise it looked clean. “Did you just wake up?” he asked, cookie bits crumbling to the floor as he bit down.
I was so relieved and happy to see him looking unharmed that my worry turned to irritation. “You know, you’re going to get ants.” I plucked the other half of his uneaten cookie and plopped it into my mouth.
He frowned. “Did you come to eat all my snacks or yell at me?”
Zane leaned in the doorway behind me, snickering.
I put an elbow into his gut, only making his smirk stretch. Someone was feeling pretty damn pleased with himself. “Neither,” I replied, moving past TJ into his room. Parker was there, sitting on one of the beanbag like chairs, a game controller in his hand.
Parker pushed up his glasses. “Hey, Pipes.”
“Hey,” I automatically responded, and then turned around to face TJ.
He had his arms crossed. “Come right in,” he mumbled. TJ glanced between Zane and me and back to me. “Is he just going to stand there and keep guard?” he asked, being a smartass.
“Yep.”
“Did you two…” He made an obscene gesture with his finger and hand.
Parker cleared his throat, turning an adorable shade of crimson.
I hadn’t come here to talk about my sex life. “That’s none of your business, and not what I wanted to talk to you about.”
He let out a whoosh of air. “Thank God, because I never want to think about you doing the nasty with anyone. Ever.”
“Glad we got that cleared up.” I wrung my hands together and began pacing the room. This was a lot harder in person than it had been in my head. I opened my mouth and then quickly snapped it shut.
“Oh, boy. Here comes the lecture,” TJ said, flatly.
“Yep,” Parker agreed. “She’s definitely got something on her mind.”
I paused in my aimless circles. “Will the two of you stop talking about me as if I’m not in the room? This is kind of important, and I need to find the right words to tell you.”
“Does this have anything to do with what I told you? About what I saw?” His voice got quieter.
“Yes,” I exhaled.
Now it was his turn to fidget uncomfortably. “Are you sure we should be talking about this with an audience?”
“It’s fine. Parker and Zane already know.”
“You told them?” he blurted, looking like a wounded puppy. His brown eyes were big and filled with accusation, as if I’d broken a sacred sisterly vow.
The expression on my face softened. “It’s not that I told them. Both Parker and Zane have seen them, too.” I didn’t want him to think he was alone in any of this craziness.
His eyes narrowed in skepticism. But he had no reason to believe I was lying. If there was one thing TJ knew, it was that I wasn’t a liar. “Are you going to tell me what the hell is going on now?”
I crossed my arms. “That’s the plan.”
“Good, because I’m tired of everyone acting so weird. What was it?”
“A hallow,” Zane supplied, shifting so he was no longer at an angle, but was facing us, his back pressed into the wall.
Parker perked up, understanding dawning in his amber eyes. He set aside his controller and spun around in the chair, giving me a nod of support. He would back me up.
“And that means what?” TJ asked.
Having Parker’s approval gave me a boost of confidence. I had people who cared and supported me. “It’s essentially a restless spirit who has unfinished business here on Earth.”
“A ghost,” he deduced. “So I was right?”
“There’s a first for everything,” I mumbled, falling back into old habits.
“I’m going to ignore your snide comments, only because I want to know more about the ghosts. How can we see them?”
His enthusiasm worried me. “Normally, we can’t, but because our life has been touched by death, it weakens the glamour that hides them from human eyes.”
“Mom,” he mouthed.
He was taking this far too well, but I guess deep down he’d had his suspicions and I was confirming he wasn’t going crazy. I knew the feeling. “It’s complex. She wasn’t killed by gang members, that’s for sure.”
Tossing the controller aside on the bed, he said, “Piper, this is seriously messed up. Okay, I don’t understand. Why would a ghost kill mom?”
“It’s complex.”
“Is this why you wouldn’t let me stay in Raven Hallow?”
The questions kept coming. TJ had a young, curious mind. “I had to. Things weren’t safe for you here and only got worse when Rose died.”
His eyes darted around the room. “How do you guys know so much about this stuff, anyway?”
I tugged at the hem of Zane’s shirt, and my gaze habitually moved to Zane. He gave me a winked that said, you can do this, Piper. My gaze returned to TJ who was anxiously waiting for an answer. “This isn’t easy for me to tell you,” I started. “I’ve been trying to figure out the right words, but there aren’t any.”
TJ’s eyes narrowed. He could see how jittery I was. “You’ve never had a problem speaking your mind before.”
“There’s more. Ghosts aren’t the only thing in our world. There are reapers who are essential for death to occur, and they hunt the hallows.” I tried to put it in simple terms without going into too much detail.
“Reapers,” he echoed. “Let me guess, your boyfriend is one of these so called reapers.” He was being sarcastic, but he was dead on.
“A death reaper to be exact,” Zane interjected.
TJ threw his hands in the air. “I’m glad you guys think this is a joke.”
Parker leaned his elbows on his knees, giving TJ a straightforward look. “It’s true, man. Zane is a reaper. I’ve seen what he can do.”
Zane drew to his full height. “Do you require proof?”
TJ turned to Zane, his brows drawn. “What could you possibly do to make me think you’re anything beyond the guy macking on my sister?”
Zane stepped into the room and did his thing. First, the dark veins webbed around his eyes, spreading down his jaw before covering his chest and disappearing beneath his jeans. Then the shadows gathered. From the dark corners of the room, from underneath the bed, and beneath the doorways, darkness responded to Zane, congregating at his feet. He held out his hand, and on call, the shadows morphed into a weapon—a scythe. As always, I was fascinated by him, my soul called to him.
“Holy shit,” TJ gasped, bug-eyed.
Zane twirled the scythe in a complete circle. “And so were clear, I’m not macking on your sister. I love her.”
My heart skipped. Hearing Zane express his feelings never got old. Actually, he didn’t say it enough. I wanted to hear him say those three little words hourly. I’d settle for daily.
“Wow.” TJ shoved a hand through his hair. “I’m not sure you being a reaper makes dating my sister any better.” He eyed Zane leeringly. “How did you do that?”
Zane’s face twisted into a serious scowl. “You’re still not entirely convinced I’m a harbinger of death.” He wasn’t used to not being taken serious.
“It’s a lot to process. Ghosts. Reapers,” TJ reasoned.
“It is,” I agreed. “Trust me, I get it, but I need you to take this serious. Things are about to get…hairy.”
Hairy, Zane mouthed.
I shrugged. It was all that I could come up with at the spur of the moment. It wasn’t like I had a speech rehearsed.
TJ was watching me curiously. “Piper, you’re glowing. Like glow-worm glowing.”
I tucked my hair behind my ear, gazing at the ground. “Um, about that. There’s something else I need to tell you.” I choked up a moment before finding the courage to look at him. “I’m a reaper, a banshee.”
“You’re a banshee?” he echoed. Then he did the most annoying brotherly thing. He burst out laughing. “Yeah, right. And I’m Superman.”
“TJ, this isn’t a laughing matter, you little twerp.” I flicked him in the ear. “I’m trying to be open and honest with you. You’re in danger. We’re all in very real danger.”
Since no one else in the room saw any humor in the situation, TJ’s condescending smirk vanished. The silence made him rethink the possibilities. “What kind of danger?”
“The kind that will put you six feet under and me in the very crushing position of having to release your soul. You’re the only family I have left, TJ. I’m telling you all of this, because I can’t lose you.” The lines on his face changed. It was the same expression I’d seen when he’d been younger and there’d been a thunderstorm. Fear. “I’m not trying to scare, but caution you. I came to the conclusion that your ignorance was no longer bliss, but a hindrance, a crutch. If we are going to survive this apocalypse, you need to take your blinders off and see the real world.”
“Uh, so if you’re a reaper, does that mean…” I knew where this was going. “…am I one too?”
Now that had this burden off my chest, I took a seat on the edge of the bed beside him. “Here’s the deal, it’s a female thing. The banshee gene is passed to the firstborn who indefinitely happens to be a girl.”
“But Zane is a—”
“Death reaper,” I finished. “And not of our bloodline.”
“The banshee or White Raven is an elite reaper,” Zane said. “She’s responsible for keeping the balance between the living and the dead.”
“That’s such a crock of shit,” TJ swore at the injustice.
“Tell me about it,” Parker grumbled. One of fifty manga t-shirts in his closet stretched across his lanky shoulders.
I angled my head and shot him a you’re-not-helping look. “Being a reaper isn’t a walk in the park. And I’m not exactly doing a bang-up job of keeping the equilibrium between realms.” I reminded Parker. “People are dying because the veil that protects them from the dead is gone, and I’m entirely responsible.”
Zane locked eyes with me. The dark veins had receded, and his shadows dissipated back into the hidden crevices in the room. “You’re being a little hard on yourself, princess. This battle started long before you became the White Raven. You just happen to take the reins in the middle of the stampede.”
For a moment I’d forgotten that he was shirtless and barefoot. I repressed the urge to stare. “Nice analogy, Aristotle. Still doesn’t change the fact that all the sectors will hold me responsible. I ultimately have one job, and I managed to screw it up minutes after being inducted as the White Raven. Guinness World Record.”
“But you have a plan, right?” TJ asked, suddenly onboard, ready for action, and looking to me for all the answers.
That was my role. His big sister who fixed everything, not just the scraped knees or the spilled milk. I couldn’t disappoint him or let him see how scared I really was. “I’m working on it. But I don’t want you doing anything heroic or rash. I didn’t tell you this to put you in the middle, but to protect you. Make no mistake, if you get any half-baked ideas, you’ll be confined to these four walls.”
No doubt about it. TJ wasn’t pleased, and knowing my little brother, he was going to be a nuisance. It was a good thing Parker was here. He’d just been assigned babysitting duties. And they were both getting security detail.
“Hey Pipes, can we talk later?” Parker asked as I got up to leave.
I glanced over my shoulder. “Sure thing. Should I be worried?”
He shook his head. “Nah. I just want to run something by you.”
I nodded.