“I will when the time is right.” He smiled crookedly at her. “I’ll start working on my happiness once Reaper and you are.”
“Why don’t you call him Gavin like I do?”
“I refer to him as Reaper for a good reason, just like everyone else he comes into contact with, Ginny.” Silas’ direct stare had her wanting to look away, yet she didn’t. “Don’t let your love blind you to what type of man was created when he was kidnapped.”
“He just needs time to heal, to learn to trust me.”
“It’s going to be a long and lonely road before Reaper can reach that highway home. Right now, all he is thinking about is reaping a vengeance on those who hurt him. Until those roadblocks are cleared or he finds something more important, he’s never going to see the exit sign.”
“You believe he’s on a quest to pay back the people who hurt him?”
“Yes. I’ve heard his nightmares, same as you. I would too.”
Ginny recalled what Killyama had told her, and she agreed with Silas. Gavin had an endless pursuit before him to find the numerous people responsible for committing or watching the atrocities done to him. However, what he was seeking was unattainable. The dark web protected its own.
“Most quests fail.”
“Unless a hero is sent to help him.” Silas quietly stood, staring down the hallway toward Gavin’s room. “He’s asleep. Go do what you’ve been waiting to do. Give him a few hours of peace.”
Feeling stiff, Ginny used the bannister to help her to stand. “With the luck I’ve had today, he’s still awake,” she whispered.
“It’s after twelve; it’s a new day.”
“That reminds me, you don’t happen to have a four-leaf clover, do you?”
“No, but I have a horseshoe.”
“I can’t keep a horseshoe in my pocket.”
“I’ll have Isaac make you a charm to wear on your bracelet.”
“Can you do me another favor?”
“What?”
“Pretend you want to kill me … at least until Gavin falls in love with me?”
“Ginny, that’s the only thing in the world I wouldn’t do for you,” he said firmly.
“Not even a little?” she pleaded teasingly.
“Not even a little.”
Ginny warily waited for the bed to stop swinging after he had rolled over. Every attempt to climb onto his bed failed because of his tossing and turning. The way her endeavors were going, Gavin would wake up and spot her before she had time to lull him into a deeper sleep.
Exhausted, sore, and nerves on edge at her failures, Ginny gave up. Taking a step backward, she started to retreat. That was when Gavin changed his sleeping position, turning onto his back to claw at his throat.
She couldn’t leave him to suffer in his nightmare any longer.
Walking back to his bed, she muttered to herself, “Be brave. What’s the worst that could happen?”
“He could freaking kill me,” she answered herself.
“Nothing gained, nothing lost,” she muttered back.
“That’s easy for you to say—you aren’t freaking real.” Her common sense urged her to run.
Before she could talk herself out of the insane idea, she reached out, waking Gavin.
Finding herself lifted, Ginny braced herself for the impact of hitting the floor.
“I told you so,” her common sense gloated, ending when Ginny felt the mattress under her instead of the floor.
“Gavin, it’s me!” Ginny yelled, trying to bring him to his senses.
Glaring down at her in the darkness, Gavin seemed just as vicious as the dog that had bitten her the day before. “What in the fuck are you doing in here?”
“I’m scared.” She pretended to whimper at the loud crack of thunder. “I’m afraid of storms. Can I sleep with you? I promise not make a sound. You won’t even know I’m here.”
“Go back to your room.” He grunted, rising up into a sitting position.
Widening her eyes at another boom that had the windows rattling, she begged, “Please? I’ll go back to my room when the storm blows over.”
He gave in, scooting over. “Your ass is out of here when it does.”
Ginny raised her hand. “Scouts honor.”
“I know everything about your life. You were never in the girl scouts.”
Ignoring Gavin’s baleful stare, she climbed under the covers. “No, Freddy wouldn’t let me. He didn’t want me selling their cookies. He said he would have to take a mortgage out to pay for the cookies that he and my brothers would eat.”
Snuggling down onto the mattress, Ginny gave a heartfelt sigh at the comfort surrounding her. “This is the best mattress in the whole house. I wore a hole in this side.” Turning on her side, Ginny settled the pillow under her cheek. “Good night,” she yawned out.
“I hear plenty of sounds coming from your side of the bed,” he snapped.
Ginny didn’t respond, pretending to be asleep. She was so sleepy that she didn’t even have to pretend for long.
The swinging motion of the bed woke her. Half-asleep, she turned and saw that Gavin was asleep and having another nightmare. She groggily threw herself down on his chest, feeling Gavin come awake under her.
“What in the fuck are you doing?”
“Trying to sleep,” she muttered against his chest. “Go back to asleep.” Patting his chest, she resumed the sweet dream she was having.
“Roll over.”
“My back hurts.” Patting him again, she snuggled tighter against his chest. “I was going to get my ice pack out of the freezer before you went to bed, but you were so mean to me that I didn’t ask.” Ginny threw one of her legs over both of his.
“You’re snoring.”
“Sorry,” Ginny muttered, placing a hand under her cheek. “That better?”
“Yes.”
“Good, now go back to sleep and quit waking me up,” she groused.
“I’m waking you up?”
“Yes!” Sleepily, she patted him again. “I need to get some sleep. I have to be up early.”
“Why?”
“I have to bury the mirror.”
Chapter Forty-One
“This is the most asinine thing I’ve ever done in my life,” Reaper complained when his boot sank into the mud. It better be mud.
“Shh … you want to get us shot?”
He almost ran her down when Ginny turned to glare at him.
“The Porters aren’t going to shoot us.”
“Yeah right. I’ll remind you of that on the ambulance ride to the morgue,” she quipped before turning around to resume walking.
Dunking his head to avoid a low-lying limb, he nearly went flying over Ginny. His hands went out to catch himself, managing to grab the limb that had almost decapitated him.
“What in the fuck are you doing!”
Sitting on her bottom, Ginny glared up at him. “I’m trying to be sneaky, and you’re not helping.”
“This rid—”
“Will you please lower your voice?” she hissed. “Better yet, go back to the house. I’ll be there in a bit.”