Keeper of the Peace (Graveyard Guardians #2) Read Free

It was a male Reaper
and he obviously had seen her or he wouldn’t be running.
    It was a stroke of luck that she was faster
than him and she caught up with him in no time. As they neared the
barbeque pits, she matched pace with him, then kicked her leg out
and tripped him.
    He tumbled to the ground and rolled, causing
mud to stick to pretty much every part of his body.
    Hannah wasted no time. She was on top of him
in a flash, the knife in her right hand pressed against his throat,
ready to slice him open if he made even one wrong move. “Were you
watching me?” She stared down at the Reaper, waiting for her
answer, but he only widened his eyes in response. “Tell me,” she
ordered.
    The Reaper answered in a whisper, “Of course
I was watching you. Why else would I be out here in this
shit-hole?”
    Hannah dropped her other knife on the ground
and wrapped her fingers around his bicep. She ignored the burning
sensation which ignited when her skin came into contact with his
and pushed him to the ground. “Did the Empress send you?”
    The Reaper’s only answer was a twitch of the
lips, like he was trying not to smile.
    Dumbass , she thought. “Yeah, that’s
what I thought,” she muttered in response to his non-answer.
    This Reaper had dark blond hair and watery
blue eyes that didn’t have any depth. They were the kind of eyes
that just seemed … empty.
    Suddenly, the Reaper bucked his hips,
sending Hannah forward, her knife slid across his throat
involuntarily. Caught off guard, she pulled her knife hand away
from his neck in attempt to steady herself.
    Even with blood seeping out of the wound on
his neck, the Reaper took advantage of the moment. His fist flew
up, connecting with her cheekbone. She felt the crack and for a
moment, her world went fuzzy.
    Mere seconds later, the Reaper had the
tables turned. Reapers were naturally a bit stronger than the
average human, since they fed on human souls, but she was a trained
Keeper and it was rare for one to get her in a position of which
she couldn’t escape.
    And that is just what happened.
    He was on top of her before she knew what
happened. The knife flew behind her, out of her reach. He pinned
her arms above her head. She felt the mud encase her extremities,
molding itself around her skin.
    “Not such a tough Keeper now, are you?” the
Reaper taunted with a sick grin plastered across his face.
    “Shut up.” Hannah bucked beneath him in a
petty attempt to get him off of her. “The Empress won’t win
this.”
    He shook his head. “You have no idea what
she is planning, and even if you did, it wouldn’t matter because
you aren’t going to be around long enough to tell anyone.” He
dropped his face down close to hers so that their lips were only an
inch apart. Blood dripped from his neck wound, onto her chest where
it stained her scrubs and mixed with the rain.
    Disgusted, she turned her face away.
    Think Hannah, do not let this asshole
win . Her inner voice screamed at her. Fight Hannah!
    “I am going to taste your soul, Keeper.”
Even against the cold sting of the rain and wind, she felt his
breath hot against her neck.
    Fight!
    She felt a sudden lurch in her chest as her
soul fought back against the pull of the Reaper and that kicked her
back into action. “No,” she whispered, unable to breathe correctly.
The Reaper didn’t stop so she gulped a breath and then brought her
knee up as hard as she could, making direct contact with his groin.
“Noooo!” She screamed as he buckled, losing his grip on her.
    Taking advantage of his weakness, she pushed
him off of her and let him topple into the mud. Quickly, she
searched the area for her knife, spotting it about three feet away
from her and lunged for it. She landed hard in the mud. The liquid
dirt sprayed out around her just as a crack of thunder rolled
though the valley of Summer Hollow.
    “Shit,” she cursed. The knife handle was
about four inches from her fingertips. At once she was on her hands
and