Chapter 45: Chapter 45

Cutter stood in one of the many bedrooms on the second floor staring at the wall. Rider had taken it upon himself to create one of those police diagrams with pictures of victims with pieces of string linking all of them back to Reaper’s Hollow. Even though they had no idea where this center of activity was since they hadn’t found the portal, it was compelling evidence.

“So… our newest victim, Lana Paul, died last Saturday night. That makes five.” Rider was standing right behind him, filling him in on information he already knew, as if saying it out loud would somehow help them both process.

Taking a step forward, Cutter studied the pretty woman’s face. She wasn’t that old and was definitely unmarked. They still had no idea whether it had been Nat or one of his minions. For that matter, they weren’t even sure how many Reapers had congregated here. While Rider had seen Raven with his own eyes, Lyric had caught Zu on his way to what would’ve been victim number six the night before. He was able to lose her quickly by leaping into a dream about a maze, lucky bastard. There could be more, though.

“Why a fourth grade teacher, though?” Ivy said, walking in and taking a seat on the desk behind Cutter.

“Easy. ‘Cause he wants to scare us,” Rider said backing up and sitting next to her on the corner.

“I don’t think so,” Cutter said, taking another step toward the display.

“Sure. You’re a fourth grade teacher. Ru’s a fourth grade teacher. He wants us to know he can do whatever he wants. Except he can’t.” Rider’s voice seemed more convicted at the end, and Cutter turned to look at him. “Actually,” he said, jumping down off of the desk and approaching the wall, “we need to put our almost-victim up here, too.” He was referring to the woman he’d saved when he’d walked in on Raven Friday night.

“What was her name?” Ivy asked, pulling out her phone.

“Deena Jones.”

“Right. Let me get an address.”

Cutter knew she lived in NYC, but he had no idea where.

“Oh, God.” He turned to see Ivy’s face ashen.

“What is it?” Cutter asked, turning to face her.

“Deena Jones died today. She drove a car she’d borrowed from a friend into oncoming traffic on the Jersey Turnpike, taking out a family of four.”

“What?” Rider asked, leaping over and pulling her phone so he could see it. “Holy shit.”

“Yeah,” Ivy said, releasing her phone so he could get a better view and locking eyes with Cutter.

He didn’t know what to say. His mouth dropped open, and he kept it that way for several moments before he closed it. “We need to know if that family was marked.”

“I’m on it,” Ivy said, nodding. She stood and waited for Rider to hand over her phone before she left the room, even though it would take more than a phone call for that information. She’d have to contact Uriah, which would require her to leave her body, or at the very least, enter a dream state, and it could take her a while.

“Where’s Lyric?” Cutter asked, turning his attention back to the wall, not sure of what to make of this new information.

“LYRIC!” Rider screamed out the open door.

“Thanks. I could not have done that myself.” Cutter could only shake his head.

“Don’t mention it.” Rider returned to his previous spot on the desk, but Cutter could tell he was just as bewildered at this new information as he felt himself.

“What’s up?” Lyric asked, sticking her head in the door.

“Deena Jones? My rescue from the other night? She just took out a family of four and herself in a borrowed sedan.”

“You’re kidding?” Lyric asked, stepping into the room.

“Nope. Bet that made for a messy commute.” Rider had his arms crossed, and Cutter could tell he at least partially blamed himself.

“Rider, you did what you were supposed to do,” Lyric reminded him. “She wasn’t marked. You had to save her.” He nodded his head, but his tight lips revealed he wasn’t confident of Lyric’s response. She stepped over and put her arm around his shoulders, perhaps the most comforting thing Cutter had ever seen her do. She was usually pretty tough, at least on the outside. Clearly, she felt sorry for her teammate.

“Well, until we know whether or not that family was marked, there’s not much we can do about it,” Cutter concluded.

“Does that happen?” Lyric asked, standing back up and folding her arms. “Can people take out whole groups of people who aren’t marked?”

“Not to my knowledge,” Cutter admitted.

“Maybe… maybe Raven got back to her. Maybe she possessed Jones and made her do it,” Rider speculated.

“Now, that I’ve heard of,” Cutter admitted. It was rare—a possession that resulted in suicide and murder—but it was a possibility.

“We need to see if Ru has spoken to Nat and if he mentioned it,” Lyric said. “Who knows? He might tell her what’s going on if he thinks she’s on his side.”

“We are not using Ru as a secret agent,” Cutter said with absolutely no hesitation.

“No of course not,” Lyric agreed. “It’s just… she isn’t really on a side yet. She might know something.”

“You also need to find out if she knew Paul,” Rider said, finally meeting Cutter’s eyes. “Maybe they met at a workshop or something.”

Cutter nodded. That would be easier to find out than the first bit of information. Since he’d promised Ru he wouldn’t invade her dreamscape anymore, and neither would the others, he’d have to talk to her about it, and bringing up Nat at work wasn’t something he could easily do, especially since she was likely to get flustered, and he didn’t want to do that to her. “I’ll see what I can find out.”

“I thought he was moving in closer when he took out Jim Carpenter nearby and then Sandra Delvecchio right in town,” Rider mused. “But Tarrytown is further away. And I don’t know what to think about Jones.”

Cutter was frustrated. Perhaps he should just walk away from the wall and do something else to take his mind off of this. Maybe go for a jog. Sometimes his best inspiration hit when he wasn’t even paying attention to the problem.

“He has no reason to get closer now,” Lyric pointed out. “Before, he was searching for Ru. Now, he knows where she’s at.”

“So, if he’s spreading back out, is it possible he’s leaving? That he’s given up on Ru since you caught him the other night?” Rider’s expression was hopeful.

Cutter squashed it. “No, there’s no way he’ll just walk away. But Ru is strong enough to resist him. I know she’ll never willingly go with him. I told her if he shows up in a dream again to refuse him.”

“And you think she will?” Lyric asked, her eyebrows arched.

“I think so.”

“But… what if it’s not a dream. What if he comes to her in his human form?”

Once again, Rider’s question sat uneasily with him. Would Nat try something so bold as to approach Ru as a man? He could manipulate his features, so she wouldn’t recognize him. He could influence her much more easily that way, too. She’d have no idea he was motivating her. But, after the other night, when Cutter had warned him, and Ru had shown just how powerful she truly is, surely, he wouldn’t do such a thing. Shaking his head, Cutter said, “No, I don’t think Nat would try something like that. Ru would tell me if he did.”

“How would she know?” Lyric asked.

“She’d tell me if some guy she didn’t know suddenly dropped into her life. We’re good enough friends for that. And she trusts me again now, after yesterday.”

Both of them were looking at him skeptically, but Cutter was certain Ru would tell him if something like that were to occur. But… if she didn’t… she could be in more danger than he could even imagine.