Page 71 of Death is My Ride or Die

“Go away!” The lights flickered back on with a buzz. A migraine split my skull as warm liquid rushed from my nose to my lips, until I tasted blood. “Leave me alone!”

Light filled my vision and exploded outward in a sonic boom, and I yelped as it knocked me flat on the floor. My ears rang uncontrollably. I covered my head with my hands as bits of ceiling rained down. Leo pulled me across the floor before a piece of it slammed into my leg and barked out orders to the reapers. His voice was muffled as my hearing warped in and out.

You cannot fight me.

Your mind is too weak.

Power raced down my arms. I shoved both of my palms into Leo’s chest to try to keep him back. I hit the floor on all fours with a scream, light consuming my surroundings.

Death!Panicking, I roared his name in my mind.I need you!

He can’t save you from me, Ahrimad seethed in my head.I am the ultimate death. I am his maker. Feel what I am capable of. See it with your own eyes.

I was paralyzed: my spine bent back, and my arms went stiff at my sides. My eyes rolled into my head as my worst nightmares came to life. I watched Ahrimad slaughter my family one by one: my mother, my father, Aunt Sarah. Gruesome, unspeakable executions.

Bring me the grimoire!Ahrimad thundered.

I collapsed to all fours again, hyperventilating. Everything merged together, and the room spun in a blur.

“I can’t control it,” I gasped at the reapers standing in the doorway. “Get away! Everyone get back!”

I raced out of the bathroom. I had to get the hell out of there. I had to—

I crashed into a hard, masculine frame. Strong hands caught my waist, securing me in a tight grasp.Death. His nostrils flared as he rapidly scanned my features, those vertical pupils dilating as shadows crept into his irises. I was a live wire buzzing with adrenaline until he laid his gloved hand against my wet cheek.

My knees buckled from exhaustion. Death caught me and held me upright against him as I sobbed uncontrollably.

“What happened?” he thundered. “Someone speak the fuck up!Now!”

“I don’t know,” Leo answered, sounding both worried and in pain. “She was fine, and then—”

“I left you. Toprotecther!” Death snarled.

“Death,” I whispered, snapping his attention to my face. “It’s not his fault. Please . . . just take me away from here.”

A muscle flexed in his jaw. Without a word, he bent down, carefully hoisted me into his arms, and carried me to his penthouse.

XXI

I woke up in the Ferrari of all beds—a king, no, acastle-sized mattress on a raised platform with a thick black comforter and matching velvety soft pillows. When I flicked on the lamp beside the bed, it illuminated the tall ceiling above. My mouth fell open. Sheer shadow cascaded from the ceiling in beautiful lacy designs, draping around me like a protective canopy.

I brought the comforter up to my nose, breathed in the familiar scent ofhim, then an icy sensation pricked the side of my face.

“Get a good whiff?”

“Ahh!” I jerked back, hitting my head on the headboard.

The shadowed canopy dropped like a curtain falling to the floor. It gathered together in a hissing, whispering cluster of sinister voices as it absorbed back into the Grim Reaper. Death lounged in a leather chair beside the bed. He rested his arms over the length of the armrests with his legs spread out in that obscenely masculine manner. His short-sleeved black T-shirt exposed his tan biceps and the exotic markings etched all the way down to his wrists. A beat-up, vintage baseball cap shadowed his eyes.

I crumpled the comforter in my hands, my stomach fluttering with nerves as I took in the spacious, masculine room. “What happened?”

“You went through some sort of power surge.” The long-gloved fingers of his right hand curled tightly around the chair’s armrest. “Don’t you remember?”

Thinking about the party with the reapers triggered a tingling in my limbs. I’d felt helpless, terrified, suffocating in my own body, in my own light.

Ahrimad . . .

I gripped the comforter with white knuckles as I tried to calm myself. When I exhaled, my breath caught in the air like a fog. The temperature had plummeted to a bitter cold. I turned accusatorily to Death, whose body was tense and stiff.

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