Page 23 of Death is My Ride or Die

“Here.” Devin returned wearing a fresh dress shirt and handed me a stack of clothes. “Some leftover sample apparel. A medium should fit you, and you can use my shower in the bathroom.”

“Can you at least tell me if Death’s going to be all right?” I asked.

“He’ll recover,” Devin said, buttoning his cuffs. “I’ll be right back.” Pinning me with a firm, terrifying look that read “don’t try anything stupid,” Devin turned and vanished in a surge of flames.

That’s one heck of an exit. One of Devin’s bodyguards stood by the door, and I imagined the second was still in the waiting room. Sighing, I headed for the bathroom.

This was the last place in the world I felt safe taking a shower, but I had to get out of this gown. Reaching back, I felt for the dress’s zipper, but I couldn’t find one. I thought I’d be imprisoned in the damn thing forever when the fabric magically disintegrated, melting off my skin into a fine mist. The mist thickened into the shadow it had been fashioned from, and the darkness launched itself across the tiled floor and slithered into an AC vent.

“Okay, then,” I said, looking down at my bra and panties. At least Death’s shadow dress had decided to self-destruct while I was in the privacy of a bathroom.

I checked my body for any sustained injuries. Inspecting the bare skin on my side confirmed that the wound had in fact completely healed on its own.

Awesome. And scary.

Using a damp towel, I quickly scrubbed the blood from my not-wound and changed into a set of navy-blue D&S Tower sweats. The entire concept of the Devil and Death selling merchandise to their brainwashed mortal fanbase was beyond screwed up.

When I exited the bathroom, Devin’s office was empty, except for a security guard watching a scene fromYellowstoneon his phone.

A headache throbbed around my eyes, and I rubbed at my temples with my fingers. Crossing the office, I did some light snooping to find some water. A sleek, dark wooden wraparound bar displayed various bottles of liquor against the windowless side of the office. Maneuvering behind it, I popped open a red mini fridge and squatted down, my mouth dropping open when I discovered six ice-cold bottles of root beer. My favorite.

I have something in common with the Devil.

“Grab me one too?”

I nearly leapt out of my skin. Devin was leaning against the opposite side of the bar.

“Um, sure,” I muttered, gathering two bottles.

Rising to my feet, I set the root beer on the bar and slid it toward him. He gripped the bottle and cracked it open with his teeth in one fast, slightly disturbing motion, and then walked away.

I followed Lucifer the Almighty to a long glass meeting table.

“Please, have a seat, Faith.”

He indicated the spot across from him.

I slid into the cold, cold chair, my teeth chattering from adrenaline. Unscrewing my root beer, I took a large gulp and paused. Devin had brought his own root beer to his mouth at the same time, and our eyes connected. He set his bottle down with a clink and flipped the cap like a coin.

“I won’t beat around the bush,” he began. “Your life was spared when you were a child because of a deal. A deal that guaranteed us possession of your soul once it fully matured.”

“The deal betweenmeandDeath.”

“I’m sorry?”

“That ‘deal’ was between me and Death,” I said firmly. “How is he? Did you see him downstairs?”

“No, I’m afraid I didn’t. I’m sure he’s collecting now. In the small window of time that Death lost his scythe and was unable to consume mortal souls from Limbo, he surely paid for it dearly. Now he’s weaker. It wouldn’t be safe for you to be around him right now.”

“But I’m safe with you?”

“I’ll admit, I made a mistake,” Devin replied, which was the last thing I’d expected him to say. “I should never have passed the baton to Death. Things would have gone much more smoothly if I hadn’t. You see, Faith, some men take more than two thousand years to mature. I apologize deeply for the pain he has caused you. It is clear to me now that he was never up to the task of . . . ”

“Winning my favor by taking advantage of my innocence?” I offered.

Devin sat back in his chair, mystified and a little amused. “I was going to saybefriendingyou.”

I steepled my hands together on the table. “I know what you’re trying to do here, Dev. Get on my good side. Butter me up. Here’s the thing, though. I see what you are now. Under all your pretty lies is a monster who’s only out for himself. Everything Death did to me, you let happen. Heck, youorchestratedit and made him do your dirty work. You’re no better than him, so don’t act like I’m better off with you. You tricked me, lied to me, kidnapped my aunt. At least Death had the restraint not to bang one of my family members against her will.”

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