Page 156 of Death is My Ride or Die

Death landed on all fours. Shadows manifested in front of me like vipers trying to latch on to my limbs. My fingertips ignited with white light as I smacked them away like gnats. Death’s clawed hand reached back to grab my thigh and rip me off his back. I shrieked, tugging at his hair again, and he had the same knee-jerk reaction. We vanished and reappeared forty feet away from our previous spot.

“Onward!”I bellowed, pointing toward a demon.

“What the . . . fuck?” Death growled.“Faith—?”

I yanked on his hair. We vanished, and he landed not so gracefully this time but caught himself. “Stopthat.”

“Looks like pulling your hair resurfaced you. You’re back!”

“And with barely any of my luscious locks left,” Death huffed.

From the side, a demon charged at us.

“Left!”I shrieked.

Death dodged out of the way, intercepting the blade-like nails of the demon. The demon lashed out again, but Death’s hand was faster. Hard muscle tore as Death ripped into the creature’s torso with his claws. Another hard swipe of his deadly hand and the creature’s throat was cut clean through.

I laughed hysterically against his neck. “That was soawesome! Andsick! I think I’m in shock!” I clicked my heels against his side.“Yeehaw!”

Four more demons manifested in front of us.

“Hold on tight, cupcake.”

My stomach lurched as Death jumped to his feet and straightened his legs, launching his massive frame off the ground before they could grab him. He leapt onto the wall beside us, talons penetrating the marble wall as he anchored to it and climbed higher. The demons launched into the wall after us in a less graceful fashion, their terrifying roars reminding me of the dinosaurs fromJurassic Parkas their clumsy climb upward ripped out pieces of marble; none of them could seem to hold themselves up. They backed away from the wall, snarling at Death.

“Admit it,” I said, feeling dizzy as I looked down at the drop. “You wanted to show off.”

Death turned his head over his shoulder and grinned. “You do have your legs around my waist.”

A screech escaped my mouth as Death dove backward off the wall, the world arching upside down. He landed on all fours and reached back, grabbing onto the belt loop of my pants. He dropped me to the ground in one smooth motion before slinking up the length of me. “Stay,” he whispered. His feet gripped the ground as he sprang somewhere over my head, the sound of a gory fight out of my line of sight.

When I tried to sit up, my limbs wouldn’t work. I suddenly felt pinned, as though trapped in a sleep paralysis dream.Stay. . .

Ahrimad stood facing the portal, the surface undulating like waves in a violent sea. Something was terribly wrong: the portal whirled with chaos, but I wasn’t afraid. I felt only rage, and so did he. Ahrimad turned toward me, silently roaring, his golden eyes flaring. The skin of his face pressed rapidly tighter against his skull, tautening with fury as his scythe swung out toward me, the portal slowly rippling closed behind him like an iris. Blood sprayed my vision.Myblood. Pain exploded in my abdomen, cleaving through me—

The marble room was falling apart. The ceiling cracked above me as my chest heaved with adrenaline from the revelation of what I’d seen. What I’d felt.

Taloned hands yanked me out of the way before a piece of marble came crashing down onto me. Death pulled me to my feet, his frame enormous and sleek with blood and sweat.

Ace stood with his hands outstretched toward Ahrimad and the twisting wind that concealed him, visibly straining. Suddenly, a massive bolt of darkness sliced through the vortex of air. Ace stumbled back, collapsing to the ground in exhaustion as Ahrimad ripped free from the containment spell.

Ahrimad swung out his scythe, energy firing out from the movement and rippling the air in a crescent shape around him. Ace and Malphas were the closest to him and were hit hard, their bodies tossed back onto the stage and sent rolling. More chunks of marble fell away from the ceiling as bits and pieces of the room disintegrated from the damage done.

Ahrimad kept coming as he swung out his scythe. Time seemed to slow as his sharp features strobed back and forth between a humanoid face and something otherworldly and alien. His blade arced another crescent in the air with a cruel gleam of silver, and this time I was hit by his shadow. Darkness wrapped around my limbs and slammed me down to the floor, where I was pinned by shadow.

“Faith!”Death moved toward me, but a cobalt wall of fire erupted between us, forming a large circle around Death and Ahrimad. Death jumped back, clutching his hand as the seared scent of flesh permeated the air.

“Kneel.”Ahrimad raised his scythe again but didn’t swing it. Through the flames, I watched Death’s muscles tighten, the tendons in his neck straining. “You don’t have the strength to fight me.”

Death fell to his knees in anguish, in defeat, in obedience. Ahrimad’s long, bony fingers gripped Death by the skull. I felt my whole world come crashing down, andI couldn’t move. The harder I fought to be free, the tighter the shadow coiled around me. Tears poured from my eyes, and I sobbed, forced to watch what played out before me.

Ahrimad’s lips peeled back in a fiendish grin, and his scythe vanished from his side, refashioning itself as a dagger.

“They think what you seek is true death, Alexandru, but I know better. For only you and I know the truth.” Ahrimad held the dagger out, and Death’s entire affect changed, black markings lighting up white against his obsidian skin like ancient encryptions. Panic broadened his catlike eyes, and he tried to move away, but Ahrimad pierced his nails into Death’s throat and held him still. “The blade from which you reap is the key to your demise too. Yet you’ve chosen life all this time. I do appreciate the pitiful irony.”

Then he stabbed Death in the heart, the sickening crunch like a sharp pierce to my own.

“DEATH!”

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