Page 82 of Death is My Ride or Die

“Is that what he told you?” Lucifer asked. “That he was training you tofight with him?”

“Yes,” I whispered. “That’s what was implied, at least.”

Lucifer clucked his tongue. “Well, that’s just cruel. Tell her the truth, Death. Tell her why you’rereallytraining her.”

Death wore a bored, passive expression. “If you insist . . . ” He dragged his gaze across the table to meet mine, smoke escaping his nostrils. “Training you has been the only way to get you stop bitching and moaning about your old mortal life.”

I stared at him. All this time. All this time training, and he’d never intended to take me with him. He’d lied to avoid dealing with my emotions.

Rage simmered inside me, until I reached my boiling point.

I had to get out of this office.Now.

I sprang to my feet, heading toward the door.

“Go after her,” Devin said in an amused drawl. “Make sure she doesn’t do anything stupid. We need her alive.”

XXIII

Outside D&S Tower, I immediately turned on the Grim Reaper and felt myself detonate. “What the hell did your boss do to my aunt?”

Death sauntered to the curb with a lazy arrogance and stomped out his cherry cigarette. He materialized a tinted helmet from nothing before shoving it unexpectedly onto my head and swinging a long leg over his bike. “Not here; you’re drawing attention to us. Get on.”

I managed to contain my rage the entire drive back to his apartment. The second his front door shut, I zeroed in on him like a bull about to charge a red cape.

“All right,” Death said, dumping his keys into the usual dish. “Let’s talk—”

“Yes, let’s!” I exclaimed. “If I could bring you back to life, I would!To kill you again!”

“Are you going to keep screaming at me, or will you hear me out?”

“Tell me my aunt is okay,” I growled.

“Your aunt is fine. Lucifer used an illusion to persuade you to cooperate. But I wouldn’t count on being so lucky next time.”

“I need to see her. Now.”

“Not happening.”

“Why? Because you’re scared shitless of Lucifer?”

Death laughed and ran his tongue over his teeth. “Keep it up and I’ll kill her myself, sweetheart.”

I lost it.

“Argh!”I pulled back my arm and pitched my power at his face, but Death swiped out his hand in a blur and captured it in his gloved palm. Shadow consumed my light into a mini vortex, extinguishing it.

Oh.

He came at me like a bullet. Tendrils of darkness slammed me up against the wall, shackling my wrists and ankles to the door.

“Do. Not.Ever,” Death snarled, his accent thickening as he loomed over my restrained body, “do that again.”

I took a breath to calm myself. Trying to assume a reasonable tone, I asked, “Did you mean it? When you said you trained me to get me to shut up about my mortal life?”

He turned his face away, stalling.

“I thought I was going with you. I thought—”

---