Epilogue

Leaving my friends behind was the hardest decision I’d ever made. It wasn’t so long ago I didn’t have friends to lose. Our confrontation with the Slayers made me realize how much my life had changed and forced me to see the bigger picture.

Elise had a future. Path was an inspiration to others. My mother and sister were the best trained leaders in this ragtag armada of hope. I was just the Last Reaper, and I had a job to do. There was no reason they had to go down with me when the confrontation with Ayers and his Slayers went sideways.

I was almost to the flight deck when I heard Elise yelling at me.

“Where do you think you’re going, Reaper?”

I stopped. I turned. I faced this big pain in the ass that I’d been dragging around since Dreadmax. “I’m going after Ayers. Someone, and by that I mean you, needs to stay and protect all these people. There could be other hybrids we missed, or threats we haven’t thought of yet.”

“You’re trying to ditch me!”

“Listen, kid. We’ve been lucky so far. Let me take care of this, and if it works out, I promise I’ll come back or catch up to you and the rest of the fleet wherever you find yourselves.”

“My analysis suggest she will not believe this,” X-37 said.

“That is such bullshit,” Elise blurted. “Does Path get to go? Tom? Henshaw?”

“I’m not singling you out. Everyone stays. I’m taking a group of professionals from Xad and Wallach. Think of it as me training up a new team. Could be useful in the future.”

Elise crossed her arms, flared her nostrils, and said nothing. I continued to the Jellybird. When the ramp dropped, I realized she’d played me—stalling while the rest of my ungrateful friends betrayed me.

Path, Tom, and Henshaw waited inside—clearly planning to force themselves into my plans.

“X, did you know about this?” I said. “Whose side are you on?”

“I’m on your side, Reaper Cain,” X-37 said. “There is literally no possible way for me to be anything but loyal.”

Elise smiled as she followed me up the ramp.

“I hope you’re happy,” I said.

“I am.”

* * *

CAIN, X-37, and ELISE return in WILL OF THE REAPER, available now on Amazon.

For more updates on this series, be sure to join the Facebook Group, “J.N. Chaney’s Renegade Readers.”

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