Return of the Reaper novel · Chapter 21 of 24
Chapter 21: The Stair
Doyle took the metal stair two steps at a time.
The spiral went up through the dark in iron coils, past boarded windows and stacked kegs.
Above him he heard Cade's shoes, ragged breath, and Noelle's voice saying, "Stop pulling, I can't see the steps."
"Shut up!"
"I have glasses, and you've knocked them crooked."
On the third landing a door stood open onto the old cooper's room.
Cade had stopped there with his back against the rail.
He held Noelle in front of him with his arm across her chest.
His other hand had shifted the pistol from her jaw and aimed it down the stairwell.
The first shot went through the iron rail an inch from Doyle's hip and rang up and down the shaft.
Doyle flattened to the wall.
He had no gun, and no knife, and the old ways of ending this were all standing in a row behind his eyes.
A thrown wrench.
A hand on the throat.
A shove over the rail onto the concrete floor three stories down.
He knew the weight of each of them exactly.
"Come up," Cade said breathlessly. "Come on up, Reaper. I want to see your face."
"I'm coming."
"Slowly."
Doyle took the next step slowly, with his hands open.
Noelle's eyes were on him.
She didn't look frightened anymore.
She looked like a woman counting.
Her right hand hung against her scrubs, where her green lanyard swung with her badge and a heavy brass ring of clinic keys.
She closed her fist around the ring.
"Cade," she said, in an ordinary voice.
"What?"
"You're hurting my arm."
He looked down at her for half a second.
She swung the key ring up over her own shoulder.
The rest of this chapter is part of the paid portion of the series. Chapters 1–12 of Return of the Reaper are free to read — start from the beginning, then unlock the rest with coins in the app.
← Chapter 20 · All chapters · Chapter 22 →
Want to keep talking to characters like these? Chat with AI romance characters: AI Boyfriend · AI Girlfriend · Dark Romance · Fantasy Romance · BL (Boys’ Love) · Billionaire Boyfriend · Mafia Boyfriend · Possessive Boyfriend · Hockey Boyfriend · Older Boyfriend · K-Drama Boyfriend · Anime Boyfriend · Vampire Boyfriend · Werewolf Boyfriend · Demon Boyfriend · Fae Romance · GL (Girls’ Love) · Anime Girlfriend · Goth & Alt Girlfriend · Gamer Girlfriend · Tsundere Girlfriend · Fantasy Girlfriend