Page 50 of Death is My Ride or Die

At approximately two thousand years old, he might as well have been.

“Doubting our own trainer capabilities, are we?” I taunted.

Death closed the distance between us in a few strides, and I gasped as his darkness pinned me to the wall without him touching me. “Maybe you haven’t put two and two together, but I’m starving right now. Far too hungry to be ping-ponging with you back and forth like a sitcom. So, unless you have somethingelseto offer me . . . ” His velvet voice slipped over my skin like warm wax as he flicked his gaze over my body. My face felt hot, and I dropped my gaze to his chest. A low, gruff laugh huffed out of his nostrils. “Yeah, that’s what I thought, cupcake.”

Then he stalked past me.

“I want to know where we begin,” I snapped at his back, hurt wobbling my voice.

Death halted but didn’t face me. “You can’t begin with someone who ends, Faith.”

“Then meet me halfway,” I said. “I’m not a child, so don’t treat me like one. You brought me into your world. All I’m asking is that you don’t leave me defenseless in it.”

“Putting you up against Ahrimad and my father is a death sentence.” He turned his hooded head slightly over his shoulder. “I need to protect you.”

“For your and Lucifer’s sake?” I spat. “That’s not protecting me, that’s—”

“Keeping you in one piece for our own personal gain,” he finished. “You’re finally catching on. This is the end of the discussion.”

But I wasn’t done with him, and I sprinted forward to block his path.

“You little—” The rest of the sentence was cut off in another language, one that I’d begun assuming was Latin.

“Train me recreationally,” I said, spreading my arms out to appease him. “On a trial basis, and then you can decide if I’ve made enough progress. We have about two weeks, don’t we? What if you gave me one?” When he just scowled down at me, I got the sense that I was wearing him down. “What if I need to protect myself against Ahrimad or Malphas again? You can’t just hold me prisoner here and take me out to play with whenever you want. I know you don’t want me to hate you.”

He leaned into me. “What makes you think Icareif you hate me?”

My throat felt thick with emotion as I couldn’t think of a single reason. “I’m teachable. Give me a chance to prove it to you.”

Death straightened and ran his gloved hand over his jaw. “Are you going to make a huge fuss out of this?”

“Yes, yes I am.”

Death growled deep in his throat and crossed the room to pick up the vase I had thrown at him. When he came back, he grabbed me roughly by the arm and hauled me over to stand in front of his dining room table. He set the vase on the table and stepped back.

“Break the vase,” he grumbled.

“I’m sorry?”

“Break it. With your power.”

“Oh,” I said. “Right.” I lifted my hand, narrowing my eyes at the vase for about twenty seconds. “Can I have a little space here? And maybe some hype?”

“Break the vase, or you’re ugly.”

His sarcastic sense of humor always surfaced at the strangest times, and I couldn’t help but snort. Focusing on the vase again, I strained to make something—anything—happen. The tiniest ache of a headache began around my eyes before I let my arm fall with a frustrated sigh.

“Guess I’m ugly.”

Death edged closer, and my heart picked up speed. His belt buckle brushed my back as he lifted my arm back up to point at the vase. “Relax,” he murmured. “Picture your light coming forth at your command. Think:break.”

Easier said than done when all I could focus on was his grip, the memory of the heat of his body beneath his clothes on his motorcycle, the notes of leather, earthy woods, and smoke in his cologne, and the distinctive scent ofhimtying it together in a bundle of enticement. I felt ashamed by this relentless, undeniable attraction to him. Even after everything he’d done, all the pain he’d caused me, it remained. Not to mention Marcy—

A bullet of power unleashed right into the wall of his penthouse, and I quickly wiped away the tear that had rolled down my cheek.

“Hmm.” Death analyzed the tiny hole I’d made in his wall. “Pitiful.”

“Pitiful! Look, man, itcame forth, didn’t it? And in only five minutes.”

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