The Reaper and the Cop by Mina Carter Read Free Book Online Page A

closed the bedroom door behind me, the soft click making me freeze and listen. My breathing roared in my ears again. How frigging loud does that seem when you’re trying to hear something as quiet as a mouse fart three rooms away?
    Holding my breath, I strained for any sound, or absence of the same that would tell me what I was facing. Lifelines crowded in my vision so thick and fast that I couldn’t help the gasp that escaped me. Red, silver, gold, purple…colors I hadn’t even seen before almost blinded me.
    What the fuck was going on? I’d never seen so many lines, not at the same time. And they blinked in and out, some going dull before flaring up again, but none of them were dying. Which meant I was the only reaper out and about.
    My expression set as I moved along the landing, muting the lines so my vision wasn’t impaired and kept my eyes on the stairs. Whatever was going down in this town was big, and if I was the sole company rep in the vicinity, I’d have to take care of business. Wholesale.
    Fuck. Just what I wanted.
    On the other hand, more reaps in the town meant I might get to stay here a while. With the amount of lines crowding to get my attention, it was going to take me weeks to clear the backlog. If I was lucky, I’d manage it before any of the weird and wonderful brethren started to snack on the human population.
    I reached the top of the stairs and snapped around the bannister post, blades held ready. It was my best full-on Jet Li pose, and a total waste. The stairwell was empty. Not sure whether to be relieved or pissed no one had been there to see my awesome ninja skills, I padded down the stairs on silent feet.
    A red line broke through the suppression I had on that part of my vision. Lycan. If he was inside or outside was something the Reaper part of me didn’t know. One thing I did know, if it planned on getting in here after Troy, it was as dead as a fucking dodo.
    I took the last couple of steps as slow as I could bear. The stairs opened onto a small study area. Arched doorways led to other rooms. Moonlight filtered through the open blinds to bathe the room in shades of silver and gray. Nothing moved apart from dust motes dancing in the shafts of light.
    I eased along the wall. A cold gust of air from the direction of the kitchen clued me in. Cold air meant that was the location of the busted window. Glass crunched, and I froze. Listening. The red line in the corner of my vision throbbed harder than a cock on a porn set. Was it the Lycan from the alley earlier? If so, he was dumber than I’d thought.
    I stepped out into the doorway, easily spotting my prey. Not difficult when he was over seven feet and covered in fur.
    “Oi, Fido.” I whistled between my teeth to get his attention. “Over here.”
    He whipped his head around, shining amber eyes telling me I had all his attention. Good. I wanted this over and done with pronto so I could get back to bed and the warmth of Troy’s arms.
    I edged into the room. From the ragged tear in one pointed ear, it looked like I was talking to the same critter that had jumped me in the alley. My jaw throbbed in memory as a nasty little grin spread over my lips.
    Payback time.
    “Did you not get the message in the alleyway?” I asked, picking up an apple from a nearby bowl and hurling it across the room. He snarled, the air a mass of gleaming claws. Bits of apple dropped to the counter-top. Built in slice and dice. What fun.
    Fun or not, he needed dealing with. Fast. I’d gotten lucky with the breaking glass. Troy had to be the heaviest sleeper I’d ever come across, which was a bit of a surprise for a cop. I thought they were all light sleepers—ever ready for a call to get them back out to put the bad guys away and woken by the slightest thing. Damn you TV for skewing my preconceptions. Right now though, that was working in my favor.
    The Lycan snarled as I lobbed more fruit at him. Apples, oranges, even the bananas. Fruit salad littered the