Page 66 of Death is My Ride or Die

“I’ve been fired for less than a day, and you already replaced me?”

“Jerry’s been working on a trial basis at the office for a week. Today was his first official day as my henchman. He sucked. And, damn it, I cracked and slit his sweaty nerd throat. The guy bleeds out like he’s auditioning for a goddamn slasher movie. Gruesomely entertaining, but a whole unnecessary mess.” I pointed in the vague direction of the shadowy part of the roof. “He’s somewhere over there.”

“Is that him . . . choking on his own blood, my lord?”

“It relaxes me.” I slugged back more whiskey. “I can’t deal with Jerry anymore, Glenn. And you’re . . . well . . . ” I took in Glenn’s appearance, struggling not to grimace at his blotchy, ruddy, sweaty face. “Somewhatmore tolerable than he was in comparison. When you worked for me, a small fraction of the things you screwed up were perhaps partially my fault. I understand that I can occasionally be difficult to work with. Overbearing, a tad psychotic, not to mention all my masochistic tendencies. Those are some of my finest qualities, if you ask me, but I digress. The point is, you mean something to me, Glenn. As insignificant as that something may be, I . . . I . . . ”

“Need me?” Glenn offered.

I pounded my chest with my gloved fist to free a belch. “Yeah. Sure.”

My kick-around demon inhaled shakily. “My lord, that is the nicest thing you have ever said to me.”

“Don’t make this fucking weird, Glenn. I still have my front-row ticket to your execution.”

Glenn quickly wiped at his tears with his sleeves.

“I want you to work for me again,” I continued. “Do my bidding. Ding-dong ditch my enemies. Spread my wrath amongst the living. Either you take your job back or you get executed. Your choice.”

Glenn looked off to the side.

My lip curled. I smashed the neck of the whiskey bottle against the roof with the intention of cutting his throat. “That washypothetical! Are you seriously contemplating an execution over working for me again?”

“Of c-c-course not, my lord! I was only zoning out, as idiots do!” He wiped his hands on his slacks. “However . . . ” Climbing down from the edge, Glenn jumped to the roof, puffed out his chest, and looked me directly in the eyes. “I want a raise,” he squeaked.

“Awhat?”

Glenn cleared his throat. “Araise, my lord. I want a raise. You are simply horrifying to work for.”

“Thank you.”

Glenn’s brows creased together. “Do we have a deal or not, sir?”

I swung my legs over the wall, dropped down, and towered over the little demon. He backed up but held his brave face. Snarling, I bent to snatch up the large paper bag I’d left on the ground and handed it to him.

Glenn stared at the parcel like it would explode. “Is this for me, my lord?”

“Yes, it’s for you, you twit.” I shoved the bag into his chest and patted his shoulder. “Happy . . . Welcome Back Night.”

Glenn slowly opened the bag to peer at its contents. “My lord, was this for the girl—”

“No.”

“But it—”

“It wasn’t for the girl!” I exploded, feeling the numbing effects of the alcohol slipping away. “It’s for you, so just take it! Sell it, keep it, toss it, take it back whence it came.I don’t give a shit. Just get it away from me and you’ll get your raise, all right?”

This time, instead of shuddering under my glare, Glenn calmly looked me in the eyes again and just nodded. Nodded like he understood. “Have an unpleasant night, my lord.”

He vanished. I fumbled with the pocket of my sweatshirt for the note I’d written Faith. It was gone.Damn it. I must have dropped it.

Wind snapped at my face as I furiously paced the roof. The more I thought about the gift, the more I thought abouther. And the more I thought abouther, the more I thought abouthim. Leo, my second-in-command. Kissing Faith, touching her. I hadn’t set boundaries for him; I hadn’t thought Ihadto. I never thought they’d actually—

Kill.

A headache stabbed at my skull, and I doubled over from the agony.

We aren’t consuming enough, the beast purred.You’re concerned about the girl; meanwhile, you’re withering from the inside out without your scythe. What happened to screwing the whole world and never looking back?

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