Page 18 of Death is My Ride or Die

Devin’s sapphire gaze slid to us in puzzlement.

“Hey, Grandpa,” Death greeted with phony cheerfulness. “It’s your favorite”—we spun—“Fallen angel,” he finished. “Thanks for answering your damn phone.” We spun again. “I lost my body in a corn maze two hours from here. I had to possess Ace to get to you.”

Devin’s eyes widened. They clung to Death, even as he twirled with his date.“Death?”The muscles in his face constricted with anger. “How?”

“Malphas used black magic to trap my soul in Limbo. All the Light Angels that he’s killed? They were sacrifices. To bring back Ahrimad. It worked, and now Ahrimad has myscythe. He could very well show up tonight to crash the party.”

“You’re joking,” Devin snarled. “He has your scythe? Yourscythe—?”

“Where the hell is my aunt?” I demanded, seizing the moment.

“This is Faith, by the way,” Death said, nodding to me. “She’s under an illusion and knows about the whole Lucifer thing.”

Devin Star kept his icy stare drilled into Death’s. “You’re weak. How long can you stay in this body?”

“Not long.”

Devin’s expression darkened to a calm fury. “Stay in the hex until I return, or you’ll screw up the dance and draw attention to yourselves. I’ll send Fallen to find your corpse and begin evacuating guests immediately.”

“Nothing can go wrong now,” quipped Death dryly.

Famous last words.

We shifted away from Lucifer, sliding across the dance floor in rhythm with the music, and that’s when the nausea hit me. It scaled up my throat in a foreboding purge as powerful emotions hit me full force.Rage. Revenge. Kill them all. My knees gave out, and I scarcely avoided vomiting. Had Death not held me up, I would have collapsed.

“What’s wrong?” Death demanded, our bodies still forcibly moving to the hex. “What’s happening?”

“I don’t know,” I panted out, gaining back strength. “We have to stop. We have to stop right now.”

Death’s face scrunched up in a fleeting wave of pain. “Can’t,” he growled. “I don’t have enough energy left to remove us from the hex. We have to wait until the end of the song.” He winced again, nostrils flaring.

“Is Ace kicking you out?”

“That’s the main issue, yes.” He twirled me roughly around and pulled our bodies closer as the dance continued. “We might have another problem on our hands.” His breathing was labored now. “Ever since I left my body in Limbo, I’ve been able to feel my corpse. A weak but distant connection. That connection just got alotstronger. My corpse is closer.”

“Devin’s Fallen recovered it already?”

He shook his head once, eyes unfocused. “No, no, this feels strange. You’re right. Something is wrong.”

A chill shot down my spine. “Are you telling me that your corpse has moved? Byitself?”

“Not by itself. Someone else would have to control it.” He dipped me, mimicking the remaining couples around us. Frustration tightened his features as he picked me back up. “I’m essentially a brain-dead corpse without my soul. Theoretically, for a brief amount of time, while my soul is traveling between Earth and Limbo, someone could summon my corpse and take control of it. Like a puppet.”

“What?”I half-screamed. “You knew this could happen, and you’re just telling me now?”

“It was the worst-case scenario.”

Horror struck me at a sudden realization. Maybe Malphas or Ahrimad had control over Death’s corpse. In this room full of people.

“Our illusions,” Death panted. “I can’t . . . hold them much longer.” All at once, his eyes rolled back into his head, and the hex rippled around us, forcing us to continue moving. My hands shot out. I grabbed the warlock’s frame and held on with all my strength, fighting against the current of magic spiraling around us as Death fought to hold on to his host. He was losing this battle. Blood trickled from Ace’s nose as he suffered a wild seizure.

“Death! Death, you have to hold on! Don’t leave me, you idiot!” I grabbed him and shook him hard. “Ace, if you can hear me, let Death stay a little longer! Ace, please!Please!”

Ace’s violet eyes flipped down, and Death’s soul remained.

“Get Devin,” he gasped out. “Now. He’ll protect you.”

He was leaning heavily on me. We were forced to keep moving in the dance, and I felt a prickling sensation on my neck. I rapidly scanned our surroundings, the hex digging into my back like sharp knives as I fought against it.

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