Page 30 of Death is My Ride or Die

His best attempt at an apology yet. I let it go.

Coming forward, I clasped Blade hard on the shoulder. “The Seven are stronger when they’re unified,” I said, “when they arebalanced. And when you are all balanced, so am I. Keep your rage under control.” I turned to speak to the rest of the Sins. “There are trials and uncertainties ahead, but I promise you this: I will retrieve my scythe and kill everyone who tried to stand in my way.”

After the reapers left the warehouse, I lingered behind and walked the premises, my mind sifting through memories as I approached the metal table. Not too long ago, Faith had been strapped there by my shadows while I’d sucked demon venom from her veins to save her life.

I’d tasted her light on my tongue and let her keep it.

In four days’ time, it would be mine again.

XI

Faith

“Argh.”

I woke up with a crick in my neck and Skittles mewing outside the door. Easing into a standing position vertebra by vertebra like an old lady, I pried the door open to pick my diva cat up like a baby. Across the room, the digital alarm on my nightstand read: Wednesday, November 1, 10:00 a.m.Oh my God. I’d managed to knock out for five hours on the floor without waking up. It crossed my mind that the mysterious power had drained my energy, or maybe I’d just been exhausted from all the stress.

I rubbed out the knot in my neck as I moved across the room. Being the sleep-deprived, messy-haired, puffy-eyed-from-crying zombie that I was, I wanted to face-plant into the bed and sleep for all eternity. As I leaned my knee onto my mattress, something crinkled in my pocket. I slid my hand inside and pulled out a folded piece of paper.

Faith,

There are things I couldn’t tell you on the way home.

Before Michael, I met Devin Star. He was beautiful, charming, and I was so naïve that I fell for him, until I found out he had a secret agenda. The Guild protects the balance between good and evil in the mortal realm. Therefore, we are in possession of theBook of the Dead.Devin crossed paths with me right before my father passed the grimoire to me.

Faith, I am the protector of theBook of the Dead.

When I started training for this responsibility, I had a moment of clarity. I realized how stupid I was being. I cut ties with Devin and warded him off from my apartment. He never came looking for me again.

There are rules with theBook of the Dead. Heaven made sure a long time ago that no creature of the night can touch it. Only the protector of the book can pass it down to another, and they don’t need to be a blood relative or a Guild member. If you can believe it, the grimoire has been in our family for over a century. When I die, since I don’t have a child in the Guild, another member will take on the role of protector.

This all being said, it is well-known that nobody has been able to read the script in over three hundred years. Until now. I think that Lucifer and Death believeyoucan read the grimoire, and we must never let them test this theory.

Whatever happens, you made the right choice. Above all else, Lucifer cannot get his hands on the spells inside the book. You are everything good, and I am so proud of how strong you are. Now burn this note, kiddo.

Love you,

Aunt Sarah

Hurrying into the kitchen, I found a lighter in the junk drawer and lit the note on fire before dropping it into the sink.

Aunt Sarah knew where theBook of the Deadwas, and she could hand it off to anyone she wanted to, but Devin Star couldn’t touch it or read it because he was Lucifer and a creature of the night. If I really was this chosen person who could read the book, Devin’s opportunity to use me had passed, since I’d denied him my soul.

So Devin had to let my aunt go at some point, right?

No, because there was more to the relationship between her and Lucifer. There had to be.

Yeah, no way was I going to school today.

After anxiously cleaning up my room to declutter my space, I unplugged my cell phone from the charging cable and checked my missed messages. Marcy had texted me a bunch of times the night before.

Are you still at the farm???

Hellooooo?

BITCH, HELLO???? R U ALIVE?

I sent off a quick reply.

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