Page 90 of Death is My Ride or Die

“Give a girl a shady necklace and suddenly she has all the confidence in the world,” Death growled. “Barracudas notoriously have adverse side effects, which explains your delusion that you can hurt me.”

He shoved me back, and the fight resumed. Where I was furious and lashing out wildly, he was calm, calculated, like he wasallowingthis to keep going. Then the moment arrived where he stopped playing around and took me down with one quick, hard hit to my neck with the side of his hand. I collapsed to my knees, gasping for air.

“Need a break, baby?” he taunted.

The next time I was up, Death was mine. Light unexpectedly ignited as I struck him hard in the chest. He stumbled back a few feet, and for the first time, the impact of my punch actually landed on the Grim Reaper. Either it had caught him off guard or my power had affected him, because he wheezed in a ragged breath.

“Youneed a break, baby?” I asked, flipping a piece of hair out of my face. “You can go get another lip piercing and then come back.”

He lifted two fingers, inclined them toward himself, and gnashed his fangs. “I’d rather give you one right now.”

I charged. He threw up his forearms like an offensive lineman’s block. We were close to the edge of the roof. I took my left hand and held on to one of his arms. Then I used my right hand to strike first his elbow joint and then his neck, as he’d struck mine. I slipped to the side, pushed his elbow down and away, caught his head, and used all my strength to drop my weight, flip him over, and roll us both back onto the ground. Now he was beneath me, and I was straddling his waist.

“I thought there was a chance,” I said, too pissed to be pleased with myself. “I thought that deep down there was still life in you. But you’re a cold monster from the inside out. Pure evil.”

Death slid out from beneath me and enfolded me in his massive arms. My weapon vanished. He crushed me against him and held me down with his weight, strong hips digging into mine.

“Doesthatfeel cold to you?” Death growled.

Heat splayed over my sweaty skin, the feeling of his body against mine almost too much to bear. “Don’t ever, ever expect me help you again,” I seethed. “Because the next time something doesn’t go your way, I’m going to step back . . . andlet it happen!” I used all my strength to shove his heavy weight off me, reached for my weapon on the ground, and wrestled him onto his back again.

“I was willing to help you,” I continued as we grappled for the weapon. “I wanted tohelpyou get back that damned scythe. But all you care about is yourself and Lucifer—”

“Yeah, you got me pinned down, cupcake,” Death said sarcastically. “I don’t give ashitabout Lucifer, and he doesn’t give a shit about me. That’s why he hasn’t lifted a finger to help me get my scythe.”

I stilled at his words, my hair falling around my face and curtaining around his head. “Then why are you working with him?”

Death stared at me, like he’d said far too much. My heart fell into my stomach. His answer was about me.

“Because I keep my enemies close, Faith.” Death sat up, and I inhaled sharply as the change in position made me fully straddle his lap, but when I tried to get off, his hands clutched my hips. “You’re not so innocent in this game either, you know. All you’ve wanted is to feel like you’re not different. You joined me because you had to, but you kissed me because I’m your favorite poison. I’m so screwed up and fucked in the head, it makes you feel better about yourself. What kind of person does that make you? Desperate? No.Cruel. Lonely people love convenience. Isn’t that what you said?”

Then he grinned, and I felt like his best creation yet.

“I know you,” Death purred. “Better than you know yourself––”

“Then you should know that I loved you!” I said fiercely, and his smile fell. “Despite it all, I was stupid enough to care, and you cut me deep anyway.”

Tears ran down my cheeks, but I didn’t care.

Death vigorously shook his head, his hands sliding to my waist. “What do you want from me, Faith?”

“I want you tofeel. You pierced your knife straight through my heart and you keep twisting the blade. Do you have any idea how that feels?Do you?”

Death clutched my hand in his and punched my fist forward. My eyes opened wide, darkness pouring off his body as the shock of the moment registered. He lowered his upper body to the ground so I leaned over him, and we both stared at the blade I’d buried deep into his heart.

“Now I do,” Death growled tightly. “Twist it.”

I couldn’t have imagined a more deranged way to apologize than to stab yourself in the heart.

Suddenly, his muscles tightened, his head thrashed back against the roof, and the muscles in his neck strained. His eyes rapidly dilated, filling with panic. “Shit, Faith.”

“What’s happening?” I demanded.

“Losing control.” He tossed me off him. I rolled onto the ground and stayed there, my head turning toward him in confusion.“Run!”Death snarled, his deep voice undulating with something monstrous beneath it. “Get back!”

But I couldn’t move. Death writhed and groaned in agony, and I grimaced at the sound of joints and bones shifting within him. His shirt stretched and tore as his muscles bulged and his already massive physiquegrew. When he lifted his head, his features were too sharp, too wicked, too alien to resemble a human. His tan skin had almost entirely turned the color of coal, and his mismatched green eyes glowed with power.

I scrambled backward and tried to get up to run, but the monster lunged forward and grasped my ankle, talons digging into my flesh. I hit the ground. My lower back skinned against the pavement as he dragged me toward him and crawled on top of me like a big, muscular cat.

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