Page 110 of Death is My Ride or Die

“Where’s Ahrimad?”

“Elsewhere.” Malphas crossed his arms. “Preparing our army.”

“Okay.” I was going to have a heart attack. “Could you, um, help me get back? Please?”

“No. I don’t think I will.”

Ah, shit.

I needed to stall until I figured out a way out of this. “What were you doing before I came here?”

Malphas glanced over his shoulder at the willow. “I wanted to come back to a specific night. Traveling in the realm of the Unknown is a dangerous feat, but I learned a few tricks from a realm jumper in the Underworld.” He stalked a half circle around the willow tree, inspecting it as if it would divulge something to him. “The particular moment I wanted to go back to was by our old family home. Alexandru’s childhood home. I wandered through the forest to the willow nearby, and then you appeared.”

I didn’t know why he was telling me all of this.

“Has Death found a secure portal into the Otherworlds yet?” Malphas asked, deep in thought. “To retrieve his sickle-majiggy?”

“Why the hell would I answer anything you ask?” I snarled. His expression turned amused again. “All you’ve done is try to pit Death and me against each other, or screw with my head.”

“All gods are tricksters; I await your point,” Malphas sassed.

No DNA test needed. He was one thousand percent Death’s father. “All you’re planning to do now is get whatever info you can out of me to run back to your buddy Ahrimad with it and get a gold star.”

Malphas gazed steadily at me in a way that made me think he was contemplating snapping my head off. He walked closer. Although he was shorter than Death by a handful of inches, that still landed him well above six feet. Add in the venomous look on his face and he was a nightmare come to life.

“Little girl, I must inform you, before you speak so openly again, that you are currentlystuck here, and that mouth of yours won’t bode well with me.” He tucked his lower lip over his bottom teeth and bit down, pausing before deciding to admit more. “For your information, I have only seen Ahrimad once since the D&S ball, and it was in passing. I complete my tasks for him, and I wander wherever I please. Frankly, he is insufferably annoying to be around.”

“You’re telling me that you’reavoidingAhrimad?”

Malphas said nothing.

“That doesn’t make any sense,” I continued. “You’re his—his second-in-command.”

Malphas narrowed his eyes. “Where were you? Something must have triggered this new ability of yours, yes?”

I thought back to my make-out session with Death, and my eyes went wide. “None of your business, Polly Wants a Cracker.”

Malphas cocked his head. “Have you forgotten how fragile your life is? How skinny andbreakableyour bones are? Perhaps I will remind you.”

He took one forceful step toward me, and I reeled back.

“That’s what I thought,” Malphas muttered. He turned his head slightly toward the willow tree, and his even expression seethed into frustration. “Now,” he said, walking toward the tree, “to figure out why you’ve come here—”

Those black eyes focused on my neck.

“That gem.”

I absently touched the barracuda around my throat. “I’m sorry?’

Malphas lifted an arm as though to reach for the necklace but decided against it. “Your pendant. His mother wore one like it.”

“Death’s mother?” I inquired.

Malphas nodded, his eyes still trained on the necklace.

“It’s a barracuda—”

“I know what it is,” Malphas said sharply. “It has the classic serpentine shape around the gem. Hers was . . . different, though. There was no cross. It was only a blue gem and a serpent. An amulet. Hers contained a Familiar too.”

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