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anyone to touch for a while. Cat was a little too prickly for
that. “I’m not a complete idiot. I know my limitations, but I might
be the only one who can help Angelica.”
    “I don’t think you’re an idiot.”
    A knock at my door interrupted whatever
Tucker might have said next. “Yeah?” I called. I knew it was Jed,
and I should have gotten off my lazy butt and opened the door, but
I was comfortable and he was annoying.
    “We need to talk. Meet me in the living room
in five,” he said through the door.
    “Sure.”
    Tucker lifted himself onto one elbow and
looked down at me. “You have a huge heart, Kelsey, no matter how
much you pretend you don’t. Listen to it and you’ll be fine.”
    “What is this? A hallmark card? You think my
heart’s going to protect me from reapers?”
    He sighed, but a smile danced in his eyes. “I
think the reapers will be able to get to you if you’re weak. You’ve
lost a lot these past months and I know how much it’s hurt you.
Don’t lose yourself, too.”
    “And if that involves helping Angelica?”
    “I’ll do what I can to help you help her. You
can’t hide for the rest of your life, I understand that. I’m just
asking you to take some time and make sure you’re acting for the
right reasons.”
    “I’ll try.” I sat up next to him and kissed
the air where his cheek was. “Thanks. Do you think you can look out
for her, just for a little while?”
    He smiled. “Already on it.” And he was
gone.
    I stood and dragged myself to the living room
to find out how bad things were.

CHAPTER SIX
     
     
    Jed was pacing, in a sweaty tank top and
sweatpants, looking all buff and shiny after his workout, but he
stopped and sat down on the coffee table when I walked in. I sat on
the couch and faced him.
    “Some asshole reaper is running around Varius
killing people. We have to stay here until they get it under
control.”
    My heart thudded painfully and I tried to
catch my breath. If the reapers had gotten into Varius, we really
might be at war. “Caleb? Has he turned up?”
    He stood and started pacing again. “They
don’t know who it is for sure, but Caleb is still missing and, so
as far as anyone is concerned, he’s in the clear. I agreed, at
first, but as soon as I hung up the phone I started thinking…”
    “He might have had something to do with
it.”
    He stopped and faced me. “There’s no way he’s
not involved. He didn’t have enough favors owed to him to pull off
your reaping. He promised them something big…”
    “Like access to Varius?”
    His hands fisted and raised a moment before
he dropped them to his sides and his shoulders sagged. “Like a
war.”
    I leaned back against the couch. “You really
think he would help them start a war?”
    He sat down on the coffee table, and began
ticking off points on his fingers. “He’s angry at Varius and the
two people who were killed were particular enemies of his. I could
never understand why he would run off to Len and not Harvest One,
but if he was planning a war against the corporations, Len would be
neutral territory of a sort.”
    “Any way I can get that designation?”
    He ignored me and kept ticking off points.
“Caleb has always felt Varius was too conservative with the
reapings we allowed. He thought Varius should let reapers go after
the rich and powerful, for a cut of the profits.”
    I shivered.
    “Caleb knew more about Varius than almost
anyone. I always figured he was trying to make up for his lack of
skill by charming everyone into teaching him their jobs, but now I
wonder if he wasn’t preparing to take Varius down.”
    I was happy to hear Caleb might have an
obsession other than me, but the anger and sadness in Jed’s eyes
made me want to convince him someone else was responsible. “You
could be wrong…” The words sounded lame even to me and to make up
for them I reached out to hug him. He moved away from me and my
gesture ended up being an awkward pat on his