Page 150 of Death is My Ride or Die

“Hiding in another realm like a coward must be quite time-consuming,” Death hissed, his voice dripping with disdain. “You didn’t even have time for a sandwich.”

Ahrimad glanced down at his withering form. “It’s nice you’re finding humor in this, Alexandru, even as you’re chained like a sacrificial lamb.”

Death grinned, displaying a mouthful of fangs. “You seem bitter. Is it because you’re so short?”

The massive demons on either side of Death boomed with laughter, and suddenly the whole room was laughing.

“Weaken him, Malphas,” Ahrimad snarled. “Now.He’s far too coherent.”

All eyes were on Malphas. He’d betrayed us by stealing theBook of the Dead, and my heart sank at the notion that he’d also possibly killed the reapers.

Malphas’s gaze flicked to Death, the haunting, blank look within its cold depths unsettling. He stepped toward Death like a summoned doom. Blackness webbed out from his onyx eyes as his sharp black nails reached toward his son, and Death’s face shuddered. His fangs gnashed together as he held back a scream, his eyes flashing between mismatched green and black as his shoulders crumpled inward.

I looked between Malphas and Death, breathing raggedly, adrenaline pulsing through me. I didn’t even know my power had triggered until I felt a spark of heat against my thigh and realized my fingertips were sparking.

Fearing for Death’s safety, I started to raise my hand toward Malphas when Ahrimad appeared in front of me in a blur and grasped me around the throat in a vise grip. In my peripheral view, I saw Ace move to try to help me, but Layla stopped him with her razor-sharp claws aimed at his throat.

Blackness splotched around the edges of my vision. As I gasped for air, a sensation that I could only describe as wilting spread through my limbs. The light from my fingers flickered out as Ahrimad’s fingers constricted around my throat.

“If I see even aflickerof that light again,” he seethed, “I’ll rip Death’s heart out and make you watch.”

Somehow, Death’s heart being ripped out sounded less painful than whatever Malphas was doing to him. The tormented noises that tore from his throat communicated an agony unlike any other, like he was being eaten alive from the inside out.

“Youneedme,” I grated, turning toward Ahrimad. “You need me or else you can’t touch theBook of the Dead. If you kill him, I will donothingfor you!”

“I do believe this conversation is taking an interesting turn,” Ahrimad said with a sadistic smile. “I’m going to have to be persuaded more than that.”

Death dropped to his knees under his father’s torment, his eyes rolling back into his head.

“I’ll give you anything you want! I’ll make a deal!”

The words had sputtered out in a frantic effort to save Death.

Ahrimad’s burning golden eyes snapped to mine.

Malphas finally let up on his son. Death inhaled a large gasp of air. Like he’d been drowning, like it was instinctive to breathe, even when he didn’t need to. Death bowed against the ground, silently quaking.

“A deal, you say?” Ahrimad tapped his chin. “What an attractive notion. I suppose I can weave something else fun into tonight’s plans. In order to use theBook of the Deadto restore my soul into a proper vessel, I will need a corpse strong enough to contain my power for a long length of time. The warlock has ways to extend his lifespan, but at the end of the day, his blood runs red. He is therefore disposable to me.”

“Lovely,” Ace muttered.

“You need a corpse that can maintain your soul,” I elucidated. My heart flipped. Death was one of those possibilities.

“Death’s curse is already deteriorating his mind,” Ahrimad said with an unsettling madness in his own grin. “He’s entering a weakened state, which makes him susceptible to me. And though he is an abomination, we do share similar abilities. Why, he’d be theeasyoption tonight. At least for a few centuries, until his young corpse deteriorates. But, in all honesty, Faith, I’d prefer to keep my old vessel. That body has, unfortunately, long deteriorated, but I can bring it back. I’ll need some assistance from forbidden spells to do so. Spells found only in theBook of the Dead.

“Another pressing issue is my tether to the mortal world,” Ahrimad continued, looking down at the supernatural dagger in his hand. Death’s scythe. “I’m bound to the blade, just like Death. This is no ordinary weapon, you see. It’s a blade created by Hades, god of the Underworld. And to finally release my soul from it, I will need a second spell. One to revitalize my corpse and make it strong enough to maintain my soul. Another spell to lift my curse from this blade. That is all that I require of you.”

“Spells of that magnitude could end in utter devastation,” Ace chimed in, flinching away from Layla as she unbuttoned his torn shirt and glided her hand over his smooth chest. “Surely a creature of innate impartiality wouldn’t want to upset the balance between good and evil?”

“My only ties to this world are the mortals from which I feed,” Ahrimad answered coldly. “Without my curse, I won’t need the mortals anymore. I can wander anywhere I please without my infinite hunger driving me back to this decrepit realm.” He turned to me. “I will strike a deal with you, Faith Williams. If you retrieve the spells I require from theBook of the Dead, I will leave this realm, and you will never see or hear from me again. I will give Death back the blade, thus recovering his strength, and all will be well again.”

Death released a frightening growl as he regained consciousness. I hardly recognized his face it was so otherworldly. The man that I’d fallen for had waned away and left behind the irredeemable monster again. I feared he would be lost forever at any moment.

Ahrimad walked a slow path around me and stood at my back. “You can feel what he’s becoming,” he whispered at my ear. “Would you be able to live with yourself if you let him succumb to his monster?”

My chest tightened. The portal crackled behind Ace and Layla, and I could feel it on my skin like electric pulses through the air. This was my decision and mine alone.

“If I do this, you’ll let Ace go too,” I said tightly. “And once that portal closes, you’ll be on the other side.”

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