21. Reaper

21

Reaper

"I'm going to let a little light in. Then you can open your eyes. Okay, open your eyes. Do you see the light?"

"Yes, I see light, but I don't see you." She stepped in front of me. "I can see your shadow; that's all I need right now."

"You might see more later. Just be careful with too much light. And for Pete's sake, don't hit your head. I have a dark pair of glasses I got when I had my eyes dilated. Let me grab them. Always wear them because the sun will be too bright for you."

"I will." I sat there and waited for Allison to bring me the sunglasses. She returned quickly.

"Here, put these on."

"This helps a lot. Thank you, Allison. I have to leave now." I slowly made my way out of the bathroom and into the living room. I could see shadows of the guys who stood up as I entered. "I'm ready, let's go," I said.

"Reaper, here are some tablets in case you get a headache," Allison said, running up to me.

"Thank you."

"You be careful. I'm praying you'll find Sarra before she goes into labor."

"I will find her and won't let her go again," I said, hugging Allison.

We landed in New Orleans a couple of hours later, but those were precious hours Sarra had to endure with that bitch. We went straight to Shane's home.

My eyes still didn't see enough to identify who was who. I could see someone on the front porch, but I didn't know who it was until he spoke.

"What the fuck are you doing? You're supposed to be resting until your eyes heal. I can't believe you took your bandages off. Can you see me?"

"No, but I can hear you. Shane, you didn't think I was going to stay home when the woman I love, who is about to deliver my child, was kidnapped by a fucking killer, did you?"

"No, I didn't. How are your eyes?"

"They'll do."

"We've been everywhere in the Bayou. It's massive, and we still have a lot of places to search. We'll find her, don't worry."

"I know we'll find her. I want to find her before they hurt her," I said. "Where is Bub? How did they get past him?"

"They threw a poisoned piece of steak to him. Thankfully, he didn't eat all of it. He tried going after them. When I arrived, he was crying and trying to walk down the road. I'm going to kill all of those motherfuckers. Beau, River Channing, and another member from the Golden Team are out there hunting right now. I was waiting for you guys."

I saw Bub run to me, crying like he was trying to tell me something. "I know, Bub, we'll find her. I'm ready to go; come on, buddy, you're going with me," I said to Bub. He jumped into the back of the truck. We all piled into Shane's giant truck, and I knew it could drive through almost anything.

"It's been a week, sweetheart. Where are you?" I whispered into the night, trying to sleep. I could see better, but my eyes were killing me. I had to get some sleep. I was drifting off when I saw her. She was running, holding her stomach, and calling my name.

"Sarra, where are you, sweetheart? Can you hear me? Sarra, listen to me." She stopped running and looked around.

"Reaper, where are you?"

"I'm in the Bayou hunting for you. Where are you?"

"I'm deep in the middle of the Bayou. I got away from them, but I know they'll find me if you don't hurry. Listen, I'm in labor, and she is going to take the baby and kill me. I can't let her touch Glory. Please find me."

"I'll find you, sweetheart. Can you tell me where you are?"

"Turn when you come to the pink house, and drive deep into the middle of the Bayou until you come to a little bridge. I'll be hiding in the tree on the other side. You have to wake up now. WAKE UP!"

I jerked and stood, waking the others.

"We just went to sleep. What the hell is wrong with you?" Rebel asked.

"We have to hurry; I talked to Sarra. She said to turn at the pink house. She's deep in the Bayou. Then we go over a small bridge, and she'll be hiding in a tree there. She's in labor. We have to hurry; she said Amanda is going to kill her."

We all jumped in the truck; I wondered why they didn't question me about talking to Sarra in my dream. Shane kept glancing over at me.

"So you are the guy Sarra dreamed about when she was sixteen to twenty-three. She told us all about you. She said you were always there when she needed you, and you saved her life a few times. Did you dream about her, too?"

"Yes, but I didn't know she dreamed about me."

"I told you to ask her. Wow, this is amazing. Both of you dreamed of each other," Rebel said.

We stopped a couple of locals and asked if they knew where the pink house was.

"You might not want to go there. That's where the crazy people live deep in the Bayou."

"They have kidnapped my lady, and she's in labor with our baby. They are going to kill her," I said. "Where is it?"

"I'll jump in the back and show you. Maybe we'll get to kill those bastards. Turn around. We have to turn left on Peacock Road and keep going until we see the pink house. Will that dog bite me?"

"No, he's hunting for Sarra." It took thirty minutes before we came to the pink house. "Do you know where a small bridge is?"

"Turn right," he shouted to Shane. "There is the bridge, and there are the crazy people. Is that Sarra?"

Bub flew out of the truck and attacked the man holding Sarra. He was down, and then he was dead, with one bite to his neck. Then he went after the other guy, who took off running. I went to grab Sarra, but the woman beat me to it. She held a long, scary knife to Sarra's stomach.

"Either you leave, or I will kill both of them," she yelled, foam frothing from her mouth.

"I'm going to tell you once to get the fuck away from Sarra and my baby, or I will fucking kill you." The woman laughed. Sarra bent over with a labor pain. I saw Bub sneaking through the leaves on the ground, and then he jumped and had his mouth around the woman's neck. She tried to kill him and Sarra. I kicked the knife away, and she grabbed Sarra at the same time the lady grabbed her hair. Bub bit down.

I caught Sarra before she collapsed to the ground. "I got you, sweetheart. I got you."

"Reaper, Glory's going to be here soon. We need to get to the hospital fast," Sarra said. I picked her up and carried her to the truck. "Bub, come on, buddy." I looked at Matthew.

"Go, I'll take care of this," Matthew said. "I'll see you at the hospital." I jumped in the truck with Sarra. Bub sat as close to her as he could get.

"Are your eyes fixed?" Sarra asked.

"Well, I might have cheated a little. I took the bandage off, and I need to keep these funny-looking dark glasses on. They belonged to Allison. Did they hurt you, sweetheart?"

"No, they had me waiting on them and scrubbing the floor. If they thought I did something wrong, they would hit me. Amanda liked the idea that I was their slave. It was like she was a completely different person. She was evil. I'm glad Bub killed her. Good job, Bub. She had changed so much. It couldn't all have been fake when she raised me. I know why my mother didn't want her around. I hope they rot in hell."

"They will. So, you dreamed about me."

"Yes, I knew you were mine when I saw you. How did you put me in your dream?"

"I have no idea, but I also used to dream about you, so I knew you were mine when I saw you."

"Ow, that one hurt," Sarra cried.

"I'm going as fast as I can," Shane said.

I rubbed Sarra's tummy to calm her down and get her mind off the pain. "How does that feel, honey?"

"It feels so good. I'm so happy those surgeries on your eyes worked. Does the sun hurt your eyes a lot?"

"Yeah, that and the light. But I'm fine. I will be with you when our baby is born. Did you pick a middle name?"

"Glory Anne, after my mama. Her middle name was Anne."

"I love our baby's name."

"Me too. Oww, this is a strong one. The baby is coming, Shane."

"I'm pulling in at the clinic," Shane said.

"Hurry."

As soon as he stopped the truck, I picked Sarra up and took her inside. "She's having a baby now," I shouted. A nurse ran over and took us to the back, where there was a bed.

"What happened? Are you hurt?"

"No, I was kidnapped, but I was rescued." She squeezed my hand. "Stay with me."

"Sweetheart, you'll never get rid of me. We are going to hold our baby in my arms real soon."

"I love you so much. Thank you for saving me."

I leaned down and kissed her. "I love you. I'm still trying to figure out how you got in my dream."

"Or did you get in my head?"

"We'll figure it out later," I said when I saw the nurse staring at us.

"That's her French Creole blood. My mama is the same way. She has certain powers," the nurse said. "Not everyone gets power. I don't have any, but my sister has a little. Even though she says, she doesn't. Her husband would leave her if he knew she could put a curse on someone. She snuck a love potion into his drink on their second date."

"Does he know about that?"

"Oh, no. I'm the only person who knows that."

"You and us," I said, smiling.

"Oh my God," her hand flew over her mouth when she realized what she had told us. "Please don't tell anyone else," she begged.

"Don't worry about us; we won't discuss it again." I had taken Sarra's dress off her, and I looked at the bruises on her body. Even her stomach had bruises. "If they weren't dead, I would kill them."

"All I want is to have this baby. Those bruises no longer hurt," Sarra said, kissing me.

I kissed her bruises, and then I put her gown on her, leaving it open at the front. Sarra grabbed her stomach and cried out.

"I see the head," the nurse said, going to the door and calling for the doctor. A woman walked in and smiled at us. "I hear that the baby is ready to meet her parents."