Page 18 of Reaper
Jason’s demeanor shifts in an instant. He jumps to his feet and moves to stand in front of me, his nose inches from mine.
“You could be a little grateful, ya know?” he sneers.
“For what, exactly?”
“I put them to bed for you,” he says, and I snort. “What?”
“You’re their father.” Shaking my head, I scrub my hands over my face. “Putting them to bed one time in I don’t know howlong doesn’t exactly earn you a gold star.” I sigh as if the weight of the world is on my shoulders. “Now, why are you here? It’s certainly not to see them,” I bite out, pointing toward the kids’ room.
“What makes you say that?”
“Because you didn’t just wake up today and decide to be a dad.” I tilt my head and stare at him. “Or did you? Maybe that was your plan. Take me out and come in like a hero for Heidi and Hunter,” I say, putting voice to a thought I haven’t been able to shake since I had a knife to my throat.
“Wait a second,” he demands, beginning to pace. “You think I had something to do with what happened at the diner?”
I shrug. “I don’t know. Did you?”
“Of course not!” he shouts, and I glare at him for raising his voice. “I might be a shitty person and a worse father, but I’m not a monster.”
“Coulda fooled me,” I mutter.
“Do you really think I’d do anything that could hurt them?”
“I don’t know, Jason,” I answer honestly. “I… I don’t even know you anymore so yeah, maybe you would.”
“Wow. That’s?—”
“Just tell me why you’re here,” I plead, suddenly exhausted beyond words. “It’s been a long day, and I want to go to bed.”
He stares at me for a few minutes, and for the briefest of seconds, he looks like the Jason I fell in love with, the man who cared about more than himself.
“Forget it,” he finally says, striding to the door. Before walking out, he glances over his shoulder. “The kids invited me to dinner tomorrow. I’ll see you then.”
With those parting words, he leaves, and I sink onto the couch.
How is it possible that I went from thinking the worst of him to feeling like the bad guy in all of this?
11
Reaper
“Ialready told you… No.”
Heidi pouts like only a teenager can when they’re denied something they really want. It’s the twins’ thirteenth birthday, and both of them asked for time in the fighting ring. I’m all for it as they need to learn how to defend themselves in Valhalla, but Kyra isn’t having it.
“But, Mom,” Heidi complains. “You learned how to fight before you became a Valkyrie. Why is it okay for you and not me?”
“Because I’m your mother,” Kyra says. “And you and Hunter are still children.”
“Uh, babe,” I insert. “I hate to break it to you, but they’re gonna have to learn some time.”
Kyra’s golden eyes burn bright. “And they will when they’re old enough.”
Lifting my hands in mock surrender, I grin. “They just want a chance to do what all the other kids are doing,” I remind her, referring to Viking and Makayla’s son and Inferno and Emmy’s two daughters.
One good thing Odin has done over the years, aside from making sure me and my brothers found love, is make it possible for children to be conceived in Valhalla. Being dead always meant that new life couldn’t be created, but that’s a thing of the past.
“But I only have to worry about my kids, no one else's.”
