Keeper of the Peace (Graveyard Guardians #2) (8 page)

Keeping his footsteps light, he entered the
graveyard, keeping close watch on the silver aura of the Keeper. He
wanted to stay as far away from it as he possibly could. It wasn’t
like he was afraid of them or anything, shit, he wasn’t really
afraid of anyone, but it was the way of the Reapers to try and
avoid conflict if at all possible.

The souls hovered above the gravestones,
knowing the shell of their body was trapped within the earth below
them. Many of the graves in the area were tombs, mausoleums, or
vaults. A good quantity of the older plots had above ground
caskets, but now days it was rare for people to be buried above
ground.

He kept to the edge of the cemetery, making
his way to the farthest corner of the opposite side of grounds from
where the Keeper was patrolling. He veered off behind a large
mausoleum, using it for cover. Once he could not see the Keeper
anymore, he paused and scanned the area for souls.

Not too far from him, the swirling mist of a
soul was attempting to solidify. He watched for a moment as the
molecules gathered together and he was able to barely make out the
form of a face and hands. Then, the form fell apart in a burst of
shimmering blue light. After regrouping, the soul tried again. This
time, the form of the face was a bit more defined and the hands
were connected to arms.

He shook his head. Too bad that he was going
to take that soul, it was pretty cool to see the process of how
they learn to take solid form. When they learned to solidify, they
appeared the same as their human shell did.

Oh well.

The soul was so busy with his practice that
he didn’t notice Aiden creeping up behind him. Once he was close
enough, he extended arms, reaching out until he felt that spark of
connection between himself and the soul.

He felt the soul pull away as it realized
what was happening. The shimmering blue brightened as fear
registered within the entity. After he knew his hold was strong
enough, he brought his hands and the soul closer to his body. As
the mist drew nearer, he tried not to think about how it must be
silently screaming, pounding on metaphorical walls, hoping that
someone would save him.

Dammit Aiden, you are a Reaper, quit
being a pussy
.

He had never been in the habit of listening
to the human side of himself, it was the Reaper side that he
favored. Yeah, the one that just called him a pussy. So, he pushed
away the previous thoughts about what he was doing and told the
human side of him, the one who took pity on the soul, to fuck
off.

Unwilling to wait a moment longer, Aiden
parted his lips, let his jaw fall open and let nature take its
course.

The moment the soul entered his body a jolt
of energy spread within him, making its way to almost every nerve
ending. He opened his mouth a little wider, letting in more of the
soul at once, and his upper body jolted with an almost orgasmic
feeling as the last of the beautiful mist was consumed into
him.

Every part of him suddenly seemed stronger,
as it always did after reaping. His blood was pumping hard through
his veins, his muddled thoughts finally seemed to clear and every
muscle in his body ached to be used. He felt like he could lift a
fucking car.

Suddenly, a flicker of silver passed between
the tombs nearby.

Dammit, the Keeper knows I’m here. Time to
go.

Fighting the urge to kick the Keeper’s ass
just for interrupting his high, he took off at a dead run. Dodging
the plots, headstones and all the other types of grave markers, he
made for his car, wanting to get out of there before the Keeper
could catch him.

Yup, always better to avoid the fight, even
when you wanted one.

He passed through the gate of the cemetery
and skidded to a stop in front of his car. With a yank, he pulled
open the driver door and slid behind the wheel. A turn of the key
and his Mustang came to life with a low rumble. He shifted into
drive and hit the gas, leaving the graveyard and the Keeper in the
darkness behind him.

He drew in a long breath and then released
it slowly from between his lips. Damn, he still wanted to punch
something. Another meditating breath in and out didn’t help any
more than the first one did.

“Son of a bitch.” Aiden slammed his fist
into the wheel, causing the car to swerve over the road a little
bit. Sometimes taking a soul had the same effect as snorting a line
of cocaine. Once a thought hits you, you just had to fucking do
it.

Keeping his eyes on the road, he took one
hand off the wheel and struggled out of that damn hoodie. It was
too hot to wear the thing for long, but it was necessary when he
had to go into any of the graveyards.

Instead of going back to the boat, he
decided to head on over to the club and see what was going on
there. Maybe the urge to hit something would dissipate if he
released his tension in a different way.

He parked in the back lot of the club and
headed around the corner where a line took up most of the block.
Some of the patrons waved to him as he strode by them and right up
to the bouncer at door.

“Hey, Aiden! What’s doin?” Little John, the
big, bald, tattooed bouncer held out his knuckles for a fist
bump.

Aiden met the guys extended fist with his
own and nodded. “Not much, or else I wouldn’t be here, now would
I?” he teased.

“Aw, come on now. Don’t hate.”

Smiling, Aiden stepped forward when Little
John unlatched the velvet rope to let him through. “Anything good
in there?” he asked.

“Two brunettes, silver skirt and red
dress.”

“Nice.” Aiden nodded, trusting Little Johns
judgment on the ladies.

He turned his head just in time to see a
couple of ladies in line staring at him and crinkle their faces in
disgust. They had obviously heard the comments between him and
Little John. Once they saw that he spotted them, they quickly put
their heads closer together and the whispering started.

With a sigh, he shook his head and clapped
Little John on the shoulder. “I’ll see ya later, man.”

“Have fun.” The bouncer nodded to him and
clipped the velvet rope back onto the post in front of waiting
customers at the head of the line.

Inside, techno music boomed at an ear
splitting level. The colored flashing lights spun at a rate that
could give a guy a seizure and the place smelled like stale, sweaty
bodies. It wasn’t exactly the ideal place he usually liked to hang
at, but when he was looking for something in particular it was
easier to find it in a place like this one.

He pushed his way through the crowd and up
to the bar. “Hey, Oliver, can I get a beer over here?”

Oliver, the bartender was a dude, but Aiden
was pretty sure he was gay. There were several signs … for example,
he was pretty flamboyant and wore his eyeliner sort of heavy. Aiden
didn’t really care if was or not, but it was one of those things
that you wondered about and just wish you knew for sure one way or
the other.

“What kind?” Oliver called out.

Usually he went with Guinness or something
similar, but this night he thought he thought he should probably
just have an IPA. “Just give me an IPA out of the tap,” he hollered
over the music.

Oliver pulled down a glass and pulled a
handle on the tap, filling it up with hardly any foam on top. “Here
you go.”

Aiden nodded and threw his credit card on
the bar. “Run me a tab, please.”

The kid took his card and ran it through the
machine and then handed it back. “You’re all set.”

“Thanks man.”

He accepted his card back and turned,
leaning on the bar to face the crowd. This place was always
crawling with women who were looking for one night stands. If they
were looking, he was certainly willing to provide.

He sipped on his beer and scanned the club.
The dance floor was an area in the center of the building that was
sunken down two steps from the rest of the place. Tables, littered
with drink cups, jackets and purses formed a ring around the dance
floor. Beyond the tables, where the lighting was dimmer, couches
were formed to look like booths with two facing each other and a
coffee table between them.

It was on one of those couches that he
spotted silver skirt and red dress. Damn, Little John wasn’t
kidding, both ladies were hotter than fuck. The one in the little
red dress had her legs crossed, exposing her tan, muscular legs all
the way up to her thighs.

He grabbed his beer and trudged through the
crowd, making his way over to their table. As he got closer, the
ladies saw him approaching their table. Both sets of brown eyes
gave him the once over. He felt their stares moving over every inch
of his body.

“Hello ladies.” He had arrived at their
table. “Are you having a good time this evening?”

The one in the silver skirt smirked. “I can
think of better things we could be doing.”

He leaned down, setting his drink on the
edge of their table. “Well, if it helps any, I would love to buy
you both a drink.”

Red dress curled her lips into a smile and
moved her fingertips over the condensation on her glass. There
wasn’t a wedding ring on her finger, but she had a blingin’ diamond
bracelet on her wrist. He noticed the matching earrings dangling
from her lobes. “We were just getting ready to leave. It’s too loud
here.” Her voice was soft and silky, as if she had never had to
raise her voice in her life.

He stood up. Not disappointed at all, he
knew that she wasn’t trying to get rid of him, not even a little
bit. “Oh,” he turned as if he were going to walk away. “I suppose I
should probably leave you to it then. But, if you change your mind
about that drink, I’ll be by the bar.”

Before he could even take a step in that
direction, red dress reached out and grasped his hand. “You
wouldn’t happen to know a quieter place, would you?”

Aiden smiled and tilted his head. “Why, yes,
I do.” He switched his glance between the two of them, “you ladies
want to get out of here?”

Both women reached for their purses and left
their drinks on the table. When they stood, Aiden held his arms out
and each of them took an arm as he escorted them out of the club.
He winked at Little John as they passed through the door, out into
the warm summer night. The bouncer shook his head and then rolled
his eyes in response.

Damn, he hadn’t been in the club for very
long before he came out with not one, but two women. This had to be
some kind of record on his part. It usually took longer, since most
women wanted to drink and dance a little first.

“Where to?” silver skirt asked.

“My car is out back.” He led them around to
his Mustang and opened the passenger door so they could crawl in.
“Do you guys have a car here?” he asked, as he opened the driver
door and slid behind the wheel.

Red dress shook her head. “We came in a cab
since we knew we would be drinking.”

“Good choice.” He nodded and fired up the
engine. “Oh, by the way, I’m Aiden.”

“Amy.” Red dress leaned back against the
smooth leather of the front seat. “And that’s Cara.” She pointed
her thumb in the direction of her friend in the back seat.

“Pleased to meet you, Amy and Cara.” With
that, he hit the gas and took off. Ten minutes later, they were
pulling into a parking space in an apartment complex. He kept an
apartment here for sanctuary during hurricane weather. Plus, he
didn’t like bringing women onto his boat. That was his private
place. “Is this more what you were looking for?” he asked them as
he killed the engine.

Another smirk from Cara and she nodded.
“It’s perfect.”

Before he knew it, the three of them were in
his apartment, naked and doing things to each other that some men
only dreamed about.

Amy sat on the leather couch with her legs
spread open and her friends face buried between them. He held Cara
by her hips, slamming himself inside of her while he watched Amy’s
facial expressions.

Hell … fucking … yeah.

He knew he was getting close to release when
his cell, which was sitting on the coffee table beside him, chimed
with the one damn ring tone he didn’t want to hear.

The Empress.

He glanced down at the phone. “Don’t you
dare answer it,” Amy ordered, her voice low and husky. He didn’t
respond, but he had no intention of answering anyway. Just as the
ringing subsided and he was back in the groove, the fucker started
up again.

He withdrew himself from Cara, giving her a
slight push forward. “I have to get that. You two keep each other
busy for few.”

Cara, lips pink and slick, had been on the
cusp of orgasm when he pulled out, so she didn’t hesitate to lay
back and let Amy take care of her for him.

“Son of a bitch.” He pulled his boxer briefs
on and headed for the doorway of the room where he could still
watch the girls. “Hello?”

“Aiden.”

“Empress.”

“When I call you, you are to pick up the
phone.”

That’s what a fucking voicemail is for. “I
apologize, I was using the restroom.”

“Well, I need you to do a job for me.”

Aiden rolled his eyes. What now, did he get
to pick up dog shit off the royal property? “Anything,
Empress.”

“I need you to go back to that god forsaken
town in California, Summer Hollow. Jackson needs to come home. His
father may not make it through the next couple of days and I feel
that he should at least know that he is passing.”

Shit, that old bastard was finally going to
kick the bucket. “Of course. When do you need me to leave?”

“Right now. You can stay at the Napa
compound when you get there. There are cars in the garage as well.
Your flight will leave in three hours.”

Aiden sighed. In a way he wanted to go and
see Jack, but on the other hand, he didn’t trust the Empress at
all. He did not want to have to bring Jack back with him. “I’ll
start packing.”