Page 103 of Death is My Ride or Die

The vampire turned toward me. “Yourpetremains in pristine condition and unmarked. How come? Have you gone soft, and now she wears the trousers in the relationship?”

“We’re not in a relationship,” Death growled in a low voice.

“And yet you laid claim to her in Ace’s club,” Duncan sneered. “Right after you killed one of my vampires.”

“He died?” Death flashed his fangs in a broad grin like a wolf baring its teeth. “What a crying shame. I was only testing his elasticity.”

Duncan’s expression hardened to granite. “You humiliated me, and you humiliated the Crypt. I expect a formal apology. Unless, of course, you’re willing to offer this tasty morsel to me for the night? Pass her along and I’ll let bygones be bygones.”

Death unleashed a terrifying noise at the back of his throat.

I grabbed a fistful of his jacket. His spine straightened, and he glared over his shoulder. I imagined he wanted to whirl around and bite off my hand, but he appeared to receive the message:He’s baiting you.

I didn’t know why, but the vampire was trying to trigger Death.

“Don’t you have anything better to do than pester us like the annoying mosquito that you are?” I inquired.

“What a cheeky mouth you have on you, love,” Duncan said. “Can’t blame a vampire for being curious. Your soul is deliciously vibrant. It’s unfair that Death gets to keep you all to himself. By the looks of your unblemished throat, he hasn’t even had a taste of your blood. Has he at least shagged you?”

I stepped forward to punch him, but Death gripped the back of my dress and yanked me to his hip.

“I recognize my newborn was out of line in Spades,” Duncan said. “Although, there’s such a thrill in an authentic hunt. Taking your prey by force. Drinking your fill . . . ”

“And chasing it down with a garlic milkshake?” I offered, earning a low, sinister laugh from Death.

“The good old days were more fun, don’t you agree,Your Highness?” Duncan pressed. “Back when evil could shag and eat any human they wanted without any repercussions.”

The implication that Death was like Duncan made me sick.

“You’ll find no common ground with me, leech,” Death growled. “Get out of my way.”

“Don’t you think it’s unfair for the girl,” continued Duncan without any fear, “to keep her so freely, yet under control, at your side? Lively things like her don’t last long around you.”

Death cocked his head to the side, muscles ticking in his jaw like a bomb counting down. Earlier, he’d lost his grip. Now that madness had resurfaced as he prowled forward to leave a massacre in our wake.

Jumping ahead, I physically put myself between him and Duncan.

“Stop,” I said, planting my hands firmly on Death’s shoulders. “He’s not worth it.”

Death shrugged sharply out of my grasp. “Don’t touch me.”

“Yeah, don’t touch him, love. He’s a lunatic, just like his psycho father.” When I turned around to face Duncan, he flashed his fangs in a slow, gummy grin. “I’d hate to see you draw your last breath without me getting a taste.”

I had to think fast to get us out of this.

“You should work on that enigmatic grin,” I said. “That gummy smile you’ve got is cringe.”

Duncan’s silver brows furrowed. “Gummy smile?”

I glanced at Death, winking for him to play along. He arched a brow.

“She’s right,” Death said. “That was one weird smile.”

“What the bloody hell are you talking about?”

“Maybe he has high gums?” I casually grabbed a book off a shelf.

“Some things even immortality can’t fix,” Death said, the lapels of his leather jacket brushing against me as he remained close.

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