Reapers

Chapter Thirty-Two: A Road Trip Towards The End

Era sat in the passenger seat of David’s truck.  She looked out the window to see Thane driving his own car beside them with Aletta in the passenger seat as well as Alex and Mo in the back seat.  

    She sighed, placed her chin in her palm, and began to twirl her white hair around her finger.  She wasn’t used to being away from Thane and Mo; being forced to rely on someone else, even if only for a short time.  They had decided on splitting up, at least one Dark Angel per car, and at least one Demi-Reaper or Demigod per car.  She hadn’t drawn the short straw that took her away from her death brothers and Alex, but rather she had volunteered because she believed she was the only one who wouldn’t insult the Dark Angel in the first five minutes; at least if one of the boys insulted Aletta there were two others who could try to fix the situation.   

    “Worried?” David asked.

    Era straightened and undid the white hair around her finger.  She leaned back into the seat, “No, not as much as I was, but now that I know two Dark Angels are on our side I feel better.” she looked at him out of the corner of one of her electric blue eyes, “But that only makes me wonder why you’re willing to help us, and why you, an almighty Dark Angel, were playing house for so long.  I’d guess about thirty years you spent living as a mortal.”

David smirked, “You’re good, I’m thirty five.”

“Hmm, and Aletta?” Era looked over to Thane’s car where Aletta was staring out the windshield.  

“Twenty seven.”

Era’s eyes narrowed, “She looks...much younger...”

“Honestly, that’s just a guess, I don’t know how old she is.” David laughed, “Sure, I know my own age, but Aletta retained her shapeshifting abilities, so it’s hard to tell.”

“Then why say twenty seven?” Era asked suddenly quite curious.

“Because that’s how old I’d estimate her to be.  I found her when she was about ten, she knew who she was then, knew that she was a danger to her mortal parents if she stayed, so she came with me and helped me keep track of Darcie like she was originally supposed to.”

“Supposed to?”

David nodded, “I shouldn’t be alive.  So it supposed to be Aletta’s job to protect Darcie until she was old enough to understand...” he paused, “Well, Aletta was a guardian when she was a Dark Angel.  I wasn’t.”

“What does that have to do with anything?  You’re here, aren’t you?” Era said.

David smiled softly, “It’s because Aletta was a guardian she was reincarnated.  For me it was different.  The closest thing Darcie ever had to a mother was a Dark Angel named Adria; a ruler of my former home, a place called the Dark Heavens.  I was...close to her.  When she came back, when she was reincarnated, I was brought back too...it’s the power of the Lords and Ladies of Darkness.”

“What about Aletta then?  Was she close to Adria too?  Was it Adria’s power that brought Aletta back?”

David shook his head, “She was close to the last Lady of Darkness, Damaris of  Diluculo.”

“Damaris of Daybreak.” Era translated.  “But why does Aletta have to protect Darcie?”  

“I can’t say.” David said shortly, “The less species that know who she is the better.”

“I’m not a species!” Era snapped, “I don’t represent the Reaper race.”

David looked over to Era for a moment then back to the road, “I know, and I thank you for protecting Darcie.”