Page 7 of Death is My Ride or Die

“Don’t talk to me like you know me, Ace. You don’t know anything about me. You have no idea what I’ve been through these past couple weeks.”

“Perhaps you forget your position in this matter.” Ace turned his head over his shoulder, lips tight, rigid cords bulging in his tense neck. The lamp on my nightstand hummed, the lightbulb flickering briefly and threatening to burn out. He glided closer. “You owe me a favor, Faith. And you will follow through on your word or you will deal with the repercussions of denying me. Starting with your family.”

I pushed off the wall, a bull charging at a red flag. “I swear to God, if you lay one finger on them—”

“You’ll what?”

“I’ll kill you,” I swore.

Ace exploded in strident laughter. “Corner a dog in a dead-end street and it will turn and bite. If you would do as you’re told, all of this could have been avoided.”

“Sure, blame me for everything!”

“I am sosickof that mouth of yours.”

Coldness washed down the back of my neck. I stared into his glaring eyes, and my breath hitched.It couldn’t be.

In a leap of faith, I reached up, gripped Ace by both sides of his skull, and crushed his mouth to mine. He froze, and then his hands gripped my waist. A low moan escaped me as he yanked me into him like claiming a feast. Our mouths slanted again, his tongue licking mine—

Suddenly, I was slammed against my bedroom wall with Ace’s hand wrapped tightly around my throat, and I was three feet off the ground.

A wicked grin framed Ace’s mouth.

“Bonjour, cupcake.”

IV

Fury ripped apart Ace’s carefully even features, revealing the beast within.

“Nowthisis satisfying. Having your fragile little virgin neck clutched in my hand.” The French accent had departed, exchanged for an all-too-familiar mysterious lilt that stressed and rolled over certain letters with an erotic purr. He cracked his head sharply to the side. “Well,” Death growled, “inAce’shand.”

Death.

It was him.

“How?”I bit out.

“Malphas sent my soul to another realm. I had to possess a body to get back here.” His fingers tightened, holding me in place with a viselike grip. “Watching you squirm, plead for oxygen with your eyes, it would normally be a turn-on. But not right now. Right now, I’d much rather kill you.”

A shadow crept over the whites of his eyes. Through the blotches in my vision, he grinned, and I was sure he would choke me to death.

Instead, he released me.

I crumbled to the wooden floor, clutching my neck as my breath rasped out in rapid pants. Husky laughter tumbled from his throat. “Killing you would be a blessing; it would free you from me. Your punishments are piling up. Don’t think for a second I’m not keeping track.”

“Never doubted you,” I wheezed.

“You wait until I have my body back.” A snarl lifted his lips. “I’m putting that feisty mouth of yours to work.”

I flashed him a seething look. “In your dreams, death breath.”

“Do you have any idea,” Ace grated between clenched teeth, crouching down to my level, “what it feels like to get your soul ripped from your body?” His finger hovered over my chest, drawing a shape. “Imagine a dull knife slicing around your heart, slowly cutting you open while you are wide awake, imprisoned in the torment. It is the worst pain conceivable, the most violating act.”

“I had no idea what Malphas would do to you—”

He fisted my shirt, pure madness consuming his eyes. “You betrayed me. You knew damn well what you were doing—”

“You betrayed me too!” I tore his fingers away.

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