Page 1 of They Call Him Reaper

Prologue

DANTE

Fury burnsmy skin like I’ve been dipped in acid. The world I’ve accepted as my reality is a big fucking lie. A lie crafted by one devil. I retrace my steps, sneaking out of Andrea’s compound the same way I entered. Knowing him, it won’t be this easy next time. It doesn’t matter, I’ll just use the front door. I’ve proven what I needed to prove, although the threat doesn’t apply anymore. He may have just gained himself an occasional ally.

My warning meeting turned into a reckoning information session. As much as I don’t want to believe it, every bit of information rings true for something Father would do. The betrayal cuts deep on so many levels. I don't bother asking myself why he'd do this to me; I know why. He doesn't give a shit about anything but his agenda and I was a great tool for him to have. All this time, he's taught me to hate the idea of my parents, just so he could feed me whatever bullshit he saw fit.

Even more, he was so bold with his intentions that he never changed my name or led me to believe I was someone else. Everything he's ever said to me floats through my mind like unanswered questions. He was only honest when he was being vicious.

Pulling out my knife, I cut off the zip ties I used on Andrea’s men to free them before I disappear into the foliage surrounding his compound. I begin running only for exertion. My lungs burn by the time I climb into the vehicle I borrowed and left just off his property. I don't own anything; it keeps me fluid. One word repeats in my head.Burn.

Father will soon learn that fucking with me was his biggest mistake. The desolate night swallows me as I drive the lesser-known roads.

My interaction with society is always low, but it's imperative that I avoid people as my mind races. Usually calm and quiet thoughts are replaced with mental chaos. Speeding up, I allow the rush of adrenaline to fuel my insanity. The closer I get to the cliff, the quieter my mind becomes.

My heart pounds until I'm sure I can hear it. At the last minute, I push open the door and roll out in time to watch the car sail through the air. The deafening crash of metal meeting rock does exactly what I needed it to do. I have too much vengeance to deliver to kill myself.

Pain tells me that I've dislocated my shoulder. I scream into the inky night, sending all my anger into the universe. Despite my shoulder, the pain I feel isn't physical. I rise slowly and run toward a tree, slamming my shoulder into it. The radiating pain pulls a grunt out of me, but my mind is calm again.

I’m the absolute worst person for Father to lose. I know too much. Everything I’ve kept close to protect him is now what I’ll use to destroy him. Leaves and sticks crunch and crack under my footfalls as I work my way farther into the woods. I’m not scared of being alone in the middle of the night. Darkness has become my default setting.

A fifteen-minute hike takes me to the clearing I picked earlier. My gear rests exactly where I left it. A little light research pulls me deeper into the pit of vengeful thoughts. I lie down onmy sleeping bag and look up at the stars. Each of them acts as bullet points as I map out my revenge.

It all centers around one key asset; Inaya Wójcik. I'll grab her in a way he'll never see coming and start our descent into madness.

The goldand blue flame flickers in my eyes, then disappears as I toy with my chrome lighter. In the low light, the metal shines and brings significant contrast to the grim reaper etched into the body. I don’t smoke, but I never know when it’ll come in handy, especially if I’m in the mood to burn down some shit.Orejón. I feel the ridges of my engraved last name under my thumb. I don’t exactly consider myself the grim reaper, but I’m capable of bringing death. I’ve done it more times than I can count. Even now, someone is dying by my doing and I cannot find the fortitude to give a fuck.

A gurgling cough of someone bleeding out has me refocusing on the scene before me. I’m sitting at a desk with my feet propped up and crossed at my ankle. Four men are dead as the woman bleeds out from her wounds. She mumbles as much as she can while her blood-soaked hand clutches her neck. Losing blood has her slipping in and out of consciousness, but I wait until her last breath. She slurs for help from anyone, including me, to the almighty, but there’s no help for her; I made sure of that.

I don’t usually target women, but this one was evil to the core. It takes a special kind of bitch to lure unsuspecting females, then send them off to sex trafficking. How can she betray sisterhood? Still, I may hate who she was, but I don’t give a damn about her. I didn’t come here on a personal vendetta; Iwas hired by someone who didn’t have the stomach to pull the trigger. When I found she was the scum of the earth, killing her went from a job to my pleasure. After I discovered that her twelve-year-old daughter was going to be her next victim, the thought of killing her made my dick hard.I’mnot even that kind of monster.

She’s just a step up the chain. I want the man at the top. Antoni Wójcik.Father. That’s what the asshole calls himself. He has a god complex and wants everyone beneath him. No. I’m not trying to be the new head of the snake. I want to kill the whole thing, burn it down, and make it impossible for it to come together again. I don’t just seek revenge. I want annihilation.

The information Andrea Tesio gave me started my deep dive into things he couldn’t access. As I suspected, all his assumptions were correct. Father is the root of all the evil in my life. I’ve been by his side, killing at his whim; just to discover that my loyalty wasn’t earned, it was stolen.

Removing the ring that has the same grim reaper as my lighter, I run fire over it until it’s hot. Moving over her, I press the hot metal to her forehead to brand her with my symbol. The sizzle is satisfying. I inhale the familiar scent of skin burning as she struggles underneath me. It’s futile. I’m not a serial killer like the news believes; my brands are a message to Father. I will find him, and I will eradicate his existence.

Her eyes drift closed as she loses the struggle. “Pudrirse en el infierno, puta.”

I’ll probably rot in hell with her, but not today. Re-covering my face, I stalk down the hall to the closet at the end. Opening the door, I bend to retrieve the terrified child. She's still blindfolded and tied up. Her face holds a greenish tint as it heals from multiple bruises. She’s frail and her hair is a mess. If her mother wasn’t already dead, I’d kill her. I scoop her easily despite her malnourished body’s struggles to get away. I don’tbother easing her fear. She won’t suffer any harm by my hands, but I’m worthy of her fear.

Slipping out back and moving through the darkness, I place her in the trunk. We’re not going far. I don’t want her identifying me or anything about me. Once I get to the shipyard, I place the child in a container and put a combination padlock on the door. Using my burner phone, I send a text with her location and the combination to the lock.

When I’m hired, I don’t take the client’s word of their account. I investigate and act accordingly. Even with my careful look into this case. I still wait nearby with my rifle and scope, just in case. A graying gentleman and a terrified woman inch up to the container and unlock it.

“Magdalena?” I hear him cry out while the woman activates the flashlight on her phone.

“Papa?” the girl cries.

It turns into some mushy reunion bullshit after that. I vanish, knowing the child was rightfully returned to her dad and the stepmother who raised her. That demon of an incubator will not be a problem for them again.

On to the next.

ONE

Inaya

I huddleunder the blanket on my sofa, watching the news like it’s the latest horror flick. It’s not good for my emotional state, but I can’t look away. I’ve recently discovered that I’ve been surrounded by crime and corruption my entire life. I’ve escaped, distanced myself from my family, and changed my name. Still, I feel every major crime story on the news has something to do with him. My dad wanted everyone to call himFather. He’s known for having a harem of women to subscribe to his cult. His easy charm plus our relation had me fooled, but there was no turning back when the blinders were off. We were no longer the quirky family with a free-spirited dad and extra mothers. Instead, I was the daughter of the worst kind of monster for a dad who killed my mother for not continuing to go along with his brand of insanity.

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