Page 46 of Death is My Ride or Die

Death slunk away from the chandelier at the center of the room and positioned himself between two old bookshelves, where the light barely touched.

“Bienvenue.”

The warlock had appeared from nothing. He stood to the left of the desk and placed a dark mauve bell hat on it, drawing attention to his shoulder-length white hair with various colors at the ends. He wore a Victorian paisley vest with hints of purple in the pattern. It fit tightly around his lean torso. The golden dress shirt beneath had purple accents as well, and it was unbuttoned partway down, offering a peek of smooth, pale skin and various pendants around his neck.

Ace’s violet eyes met mine, and he smiled warmly. Leaning on his cane, he limped closer.“Ma chérie.”He took my hand and kissed it.

Heat climbed to my face. “Um, hi,” I said with a flustered laugh.

The warlock’s smile only grew. Until, that is, he turned his head toward Death, who had prowled lazily from the darkness like a predator that had gotten bored waiting in the grass.

“Death,” Ace clipped.

“Ace.” Death returned the same.

“You’re underfed,” Ace said, lifting his chin. “It’s rather careless of you to travel with her when you’re weak.”

“Weak, not so much. Hungry, always.” Death pinched a rolled cigarette between his lips. “Mind if I smoke?”

“Yes.”

“Wasn’t asking you.” Death’s voice was a cold knife whenever he spoke to Ace, but when addressing me, it slipped into that velvet purr. “Princess Narc gets her panties in a twist and makes a face whenever I light up.”

“I’ll twist something on you, all right,” I muttered.

Death snickered but tucked the cigarette back into his pocket. “All right, warlock, we’re here. What do you want?”

“You and Faith were both in my vision,” Ace said, and suddenly he had our full attention. “The most powerful one I’ve had in a long time. One of the future. One that may determine whether you ever hold your scythe again.”

Death was silent as the two beings had some sort of cowboy standoff. Ace’s mouth curled into a small, vindictive smile. I was either missing something here or, as my gut told me, this standoff had everything to do with me.

“Well, since he isn’t going to say it,” I said, gesturing to Death, “the suspense is killing me.”

Ace turned his head slowly toward me. “I will tell you the vision,ma chérie. For a price. The price is your time for two dates.”

An inhuman growl vibrated the room in a frighteningly low pitch.

“Unless,Death,” Ace added quietly, holding up a paperweight, “you can cross the glare wall in front of my desk and take this from my hand.”

Death approached the desk without hesitation and froze. White bolts illuminated the air like spiderwebs and latched on to him like hooks. His muscles stiffened, his jaw locked, and Ace’s mouth curved with pride. Eventually, the force released Death, and he relaxed as if nothing had even happened.

“Impressive,” Death said, working his neck to one side with a crack. “But I like a little pain.”

The Grim Reaper glided forward, striding through the glare wall with a leering grin that communicated it had been a piece of cake, until Ace took out a spray bottle and spritzed it right into his face.

“Motherfu—!” Death moved in a blur and darted to the other side of the glare wall, darkness unveiling from his shoulders until his entire silhouette was hidden. Low, chilling hisses unleashed from the darkness.

“What the hell did you spray him with?” I asked.

“Water,” Ace said with a sly smile.Genius. “Same way I keep the strays from sneaking into my greenhouse and eating my valerian root. Those darn cat behaviors just sneak up on you sometimes, don’t they, Death?”

Death wiped a gloved hand over his wet face and shoved the bookstand behind him, knocking it down with a crash. “I’m going to wring your neck,” he snarled.

“One more step and she dies.” There was a clicking noise as Trixie aimed her gun at my head.

“Why are you always pointing that thing atme?” I shouted.

“Now, now,” Ace said, holding up his palm for Trixie to lower her gun. “No need to get violent. Do you both agree to the terms of me telling you the vision or not? Two dates. That’s it. Agreed?”

---