Page 8 of Death Wish

Simon paled, suddenly looking sick and so much smaller under Azrael’s weighted touch.

I glanced between the angel and my mentor, my throat dry. “No way. He did a great job. It’s not him. It’s me.”

Azrael ignored me. “You may have not known this, but all your digressions are a direct reflection on his teachings.”

Chest tight, I jumped out of my seat and scrambled for the right words to defend him. He hadn’t done anything wrong. He had been nothing but patient and extensive with my training. He didn’t deserve to be punished because of my stupidity.

“Please, Azrael, don’t penalize him. He loves his job. He’s good at it, too.”

For as long as I’d been dead, Simon was always the golden child in Styx Corp. He followed Azrael’s instructions and considered work fun. It was something I teased him often for. Unlike me, he probably had never so much as bent a rule, let alone break one.

What had I done?

Azrael adjusted his suit jacket, his expression turning all business. “I don’t want to, of course. Simon has been with Styx Corporation for a very long time. That is why I am giving you one more chance to prove his training has been effective. Another slipup like this—just one—and I’ll have no choice. He’ll have to be Released.”

On cue, the elevator dinged and the golden doors opened. Soft jazz music spilled out, filling the dense silence in the room.

I didn’t know what to say or do, so I turned around and walked to the elevators in silence. I wanted to plead Simon’s case even more, tell Azrael that this had all been some kind of awful mistake and Releasing him was too extreme. But any argument died on my tongue the moment Azrael turned a hard glare on me, his green eyes glowing unnaturally.

A shiver ran through me.

“One more chance, Jade,” he repeated, his voice an ominous rumble. “That’s it.”

The golden doors sealed shut, blocking Azrael and Simon from view, and I was faced with only my own warped reflection. It peered back at me, reminding me that his threat wasn’t an empty one.

Simon’s afterlife was now in my hands.

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