Keeper of Spirits Read online

  KEEPER OF SPIRITS

  (GRAVEYARD GUARDIANS BOOK 4)

  by

  Jennifer Malone Wright

  Copyright 2018 Jennifer Malone Wright

  License Notes

  This eBook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This eBook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

  Visit the website of Jennifer Malone Wright at

  www.jennifermalonewright.com

  TABLE OF CONTENTS

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Chapter 25

  Chapter 26

  Excerpt from Immortal Ties

  Other books by Jennifer Malone Wright

  About the Author

  CHAPTER ONE

  DAN

  A cool, crisp breeze floated in through the open window, lifting the sheer curtains up into the air. Sunlight streaming in caused shadows to dance over the beige carpeting that covered the floor of his bedroom.

  Dan wasn’t sleeping. The glowing red numbers on his clock told him that it was almost 8:00 AM, but he didn’t have a reason to get up. That, and he didn’t want to. He wished that he was able to sleep a bit longer, but his mind simply would not allow it.

  He stared at the silver framed picture of Anna on his nightstand and ignored the familiar pain that squeezed his heart whenever he thought of her, which was almost every minute of every day.

  In the picture, he had just asked her to marry him when someone had snapped the photo. She had the biggest smile spread across her face, lighting up her eyes and causing her to glow with happiness. Her head was tilted upward, looking up at Dan, who wasn’t in the picture. He had just stood up from his kneeling position after asking his true love to spend the rest of her life with him.

  It was the best moment of his entire existence. The moment he thought they would someday tell their children about. The moment that he thought had set the foundation they would spend the rest of their lives building on.

  But now she was gone. Taken by a Reaper.

  When her soul left her body, and this world, he had died inside. He was still here, but only in body. A thick blanket of anger and hatred, resentment and pity, enveloped him, squeezing tighter around his soul as each day without her passed.

  Rolling over, away from the picture, he faced the wall opposite of the nightstand and shut his eyes. He knew everyone thought he should have begun to heal, that his grieving should be over by now, and that he needed to move on, but he couldn’t do that. She had been everything to him and now she was gone, taking his heart with her when she left. How was he supposed to heal a heart that wasn’t there anymore?

  Ten minutes later, he realized that falling back asleep wasn’t in the cards this morning. He tossed the thin comforter aside and reluctantly sat up.

  The bottle of whiskey he’d been working on the night before sat where he had left it … on the nightstand beside the photo of Anna. He knew he shouldn’t, that every time he lifted a bottle to his lips that it was ruining his life even more. The thing was, he didn’t care if it did or not.

  Tipping the bottle back, he took a long pull. The amber liquid hit his tongue and throat, burning through the pain and, eventually, would make him forget that he was a total fuck up. At least for a while it would. He was beyond fixing. Beyond repair. Numbing his feelings and everything around him was the only way that he could possibly wade through the pile of shit that each day presented him.

  He set the bottle back down beside Anna and headed for the shower. He might be an alcoholic and unable to cope with life, but that didn’t mean that he was going to be one of those addicts that lived in filth and never bathed or changed their clothes.

  He ran the shower as hot as he could get it and let the steam fill the bathroom before he stripped out of his boxer briefs and stepped into the tub. He flinched a little at the temperature and then relaxed, allowing the scalding water to rain down over him. Maybe if it was hot enough, it would wash away the pain, the hate … all those emotions that had completely fucked him up. Yeah, purification by scalding shower, that would do it.

  After dressing in a pair of dark jeans and a plain black tee shirt, he went to the dresser and opened the top drawer. Inside, several knives lay unsheathed, glimmering in the artificial light from above. Beside the blades were four guns of different sizes. He chose the smallest and set it on top of the dresser while he fitted the holster onto his belt. The holster also held sheathes for the knives. He filled the belt with weapons and then attached a strap-on sheath to his shin, where he placed yet another blade.

  There was a time, not that long ago, that they didn’t have to worry so much about wearing weapons. Their dad always wanted them to be prepared, but he also wanted them to lead as normal of a life as they possibly could.

  Which was hard to do when you could see souls.

  When he was satisfied with what he was wearing and with his weapons selection, he ventured into the kitchen. He had bought this house before he asked Anna to marry him. It was a small two bedroom, with two bathrooms and a little yard. His place was a few miles south of Summer Hollow, but not far enough that he couldn’t be in town in a matter of minutes. The little house was painted an ungodly shade of green that he had sworn he was going to change right away, but then he lost Anna and didn’t give a fuck what his house looked like.

  The house was nestled in a wooded area off one of the side roads that paralleled the highway from the base of Mount St. Helena all the way into Summer Hollow. He didn’t have any close neighbors and he preferred it that way. It was stupid to care about that, though. He wasn’t home that much anyway and the times he was there, he was usually passed out.

  He made coffee and after searching through the fridge for something suitable for breakfast, he whisked up some eggs to scramble. It wasn’t a lot, but he wasn’t much of a breakfast guy.

  He didn’t have anything planned for the day, so he thought that he would finally spend some time out in the yard trying to tame the overgrowth that had occurred from lack of maintenance. It had been a while since there had been a day when he wasn’t at the farmhouse, at the gym, doing something with the family, or working.

  Sitting at the kitchen table, he ate slowly, watching the news on the little television that he had on the counter in the corner of the room. When he was done, he rinsed off his dishes and placed them in the dishwasher.

  Before going outside, he went into the living room and collected the empty bottles that had collected over the past week. There were three of them. He found one on the coffee table, one on the table beside the couch and another sitting on the little stand by the door where he tossed his keys when he entered the house.

  Each time he found multiple empties scattered around, it drove home the reality that he was a drunk and had really fucked up his life. But then, he would clean them up and it was out of sight out of mind.

 
No problem, right?

  Other than the bottles, the living room was tidy. He had a nice beige couch and loveseat that were placed in the center of the room, both facing the forty-inch flat screen on the wall above glass entertainment center.

  The walls were covered in photographs of his father and his siblings. A few were of both his mother and his father and, of course, there were photos of him with Anna. He had two paintings his sister Steph had given him as gift. Steph was an artist. Painting was her first medium, but she also liked to create weird sculptures from junk. Oddly enough, her work sold for far more than he ever would have thought. He had always teased her that her art was crap. Apparently some people loved that crap. He loved it too, even if he never told her.

  He tossed the bottles in the trash and then headed outside. The day was a perfect fall day for northern California. Summer was hot as hell, but in the fall, it was basically perfect. Sometimes it rained a lot, but most of the time it was cool enough for a sweater and that was about it. He had never owned a heavy winter coat in his entire life.

  The first thing he did was grab the weed whacker and eliminate the tall grass that had basically taken over the yard. He didn’t have a lawn, but the wild grass was about a foot tall everywhere but the driveway. When he was finished with that, he raked it and hauled it into two giant piles on either side of the house. Later, when it was allowed, he would spend a day burning it by slowly feeding it into a burn barrel.

  Maybe he should sell the house and rent an apartment. It would certainly be a lot less maintenance. But he rather liked being away from people, away from life and having something that he owned. He could probably hire a kid to come out and do the upkeep once he got a handle on it. That might be a better solution.

  He filed away that idea for later and finished up the last of the raking. By the time he was done, it was late afternoon and he was starving because he hadn’t stopped to eat lunch. He put his tools away and after going into the kitchen, he remembered that he basically had no food. So, after another quick shower, he changed into a clean pair of jeans and a different tee shirt. He was lacing up his boots when his cell buzzed.

  Looking at the display, he saw that it was Eric, his boss.

  “Hello,” he answered.

  “Dan, you’re up tomorrow night.”

  Holding the phone between his shoulder and ear he finished up tying his laces. “Yeah, what have we got?”

  “Birthday party. They lady I spoke with specifically asked for a police officer.”

  Dan shook his head. What was it with these women and officers? Seriously, ninety percent of the parties he did, that was what they asked for. The other ten were usually for a firefighter. He did get some weird requests for things like teddy bears, but that was rare. Occasionally they wanted a guy ‘like the ones in that movie,’ which was also totally doable. He preferred acting a part, though. It was easier to be someone else.

  “All right, text me the address and I’ll be there.”

  “It’s in Napa. I’ll send the details.”

  “Got it. Thanks Eric.”

  “And no drinking on the job. Save it for after, okay?”

  “Of course,” Dan lied. He hung up and slipped on the long gray trench coat that he favored, and then headed out the door, not bothering to lock up behind him.

  He rolled into Summer Hollow ten minutes later and pulled into the deli to grab a sandwich. He ate in the car where he could be alone while he inhaled the sub. When he was done, he wiped the crumbs away and drank about half the soda he’d ordered with the sandwich. He felt ten times better after getting something in his stomach.

  A glance at the clock on the dashboard told him that it was 4:00 PM, early enough to hit the bar, since he didn’t have to work tonight. After that, he’d go for a workout and then pull a patrol in the graveyard and check on the family while he was there.

  Not a day went by that he didn’t go over there to make sure all was okay. His baby sister, Lucy, was pregnant now. He had barely gotten used to the idea that she was with a Reaper, and now that Reaper was also the father of her child. The father of his niece or nephew.

  Fucking great.

  This wasn’t just any Reaper either. This guy was the son of the Reaper Empress. Yeah, he had renounced his title and given up everything about Reaper life, but that didn’t make it any easier to digest. There were still times he hated the guy simply because of what he was. Other times, he was grateful that his sister had someone who would literally kill for her. He had never met anyone who was that protective over another person in his whole life.

  And then, just when he was getting used to Jack, Aiden stepped into the picture. That’s right, another Reaper that one of his sisters had fallen for. What in the hell was happening? It just didn’t seem right. They were evil. They consumed the souls that he was supposed to protect, and his sisters were in love with them.

  He didn’t understand it at all.

  The bar had several cars parked in the back, which was odd for afternoon. It usually wasn’t too busy until evening. He parked beside a beige sedan and stepped out of his car, slamming the door as he surveyed the parking lot. He could tell by the plates that only a few of these cars were from this county, and a couple of them were from Florida.

  Fucking Florida. The home of the Reaper royalty.

  His hand unconsciously went to his hip. When his palm met the bulge of his weapon, he felt a bit of relief wash over him and then he switched gears. A white, hot anger ripped through him. They just kept sending these assholes. Ever since they found out about that fucking prophecy, they’d barely had a break from fighting for their lives.

  He followed the sidewalk around to the front door. On his way, he spotted Liv’s van and Aiden’s SUV parked beside the curb.

  Dammit. That was not good. Now he knew for sure that there were Reapers in there.

  His suspicions were confirmed when he pushed the door open and found his family stationed in pairs throughout the establishment. Reese was behind the bar, a curious glare hardening her usually soft features.

  She glanced up when the door opened and he caught her gaze. She nodded at him and then turned away, handing pints of beer to two men at the end of the bar. He entered, letting the door slam shut behind him and stood for a moment, contemplating if he should go to the bar or over to one of his siblings. He figured he better know what they were up to before he interfered, so he strode across the bar, weaving in and out of tables until he arrived by the bathroom doors where his brother Greg stood.

  He stepped up next to his older brother and leaned against the wall, shoving his hands in his pockets. “So, why the hell didn’t I get a call about this?”

  CHAPTER TWO

  REESE

  Someone had chosen a techno pop song on the jukebox and it pulsed throughout the dimly lit interior of Knight’s Bar. Reese finished pulling a beer from the tap and handed it to Mr. Alders, one of her afternoon regulars. “Here you go, Mr. Alders. Let me know if you need another.”

  The older man nodded his head in thanks, but didn’t speak. He rarely did. She was used to all the different kinds of people who came into her bar. He was one who came just to be around people, but not necessarily to socialize. His wife passed the year before and ever since then, he would come in the afternoon and have a couple of beers while sitting alone and speaking only when he needed to.

  Snatching up a damp white towel, she wiped the slick wooden surface of the bar where a customer had recently been. The crowd wasn’t too bad for this early. Usually it didn’t get busy until later. She could do without the techno pop assaulting her ears, though, that was for sure.

  A quick check of the lemons, limes, cherries and olives told her she could use more lemons, so she gathered two lemons and a knife. She had just set the items on the cutting board when three men entered. They were dressed a little more country club than the regulars of Summer Hollow, so she knew they weren’t local. Plus, she knew pretty much everyone local.

  Two o
f the men wore slacks and plaid button-up shirts. They almost looked like brothers, except one had blond hair and the other dark. Their friend had on jeans and a powder blue polo shirt. His hair was slicked back and looked like it might actually be hard to the touch.

  Reese wanted to roll her eyes, but didn’t. She always wondered what kind of people were actually attracted to that sort of look. In any case, it didn’t bother her enough to dwell on it long. The three approached the bar and sat on stools near the far end.

  “Hi guys,” she greeted them. “What are we in the mood for today?”

  “I’ll take a beer.” The polo shirt guy eyed the tap as he spoke. “Give me whatever IPA you have there.”

  She nodded. “And you two?”

  “I’ll have what he’s having.” The dark-haired one nodded at his friend. And blondie, who had been eyeing the hard alcohol, tilted his head and thought for a moment before finally nodding. “I’ll have a Malibu rum and coke.”

  Figures. He looked like a floofy drink kind of guy.

  “Coming right up,” she told them and then glanced up at the door as it swung open again. This time, a man and a woman entered. They also were not familiar. They were dressed more casual than the previous patrons, but there was still something off about them.

  The two strode up to the bar, several stools away from the guys she was currently serving, and stood. “I’ll be right with you,” she called out, finishing up with the beers. They merely nodded in response and began to whisper among themselves.

  Quickly, she mixed the rum and coke, handed it to the guy and then hurried over to get their orders. They stuck with cheap beer in a bottle. Easy peasy. She popped the tops and handed them over. “Let me know when you’re ready for another,” she told them.

  The woman thanked her and then turned back to her partner.

  “Hey, bartender,” the dark-haired guy called out. She made her way back to them and stood across the bar. “Yes?”

  “You wouldn’t happen to know a good place to stay in this town, would you?”