Page 107 of Death Trap

“Whoa, what’s the matter?” I asked, trying to draw him back to me.

“You explicitly told me you weren’t comfortable with ‘us’ yet, and I went ahead and did that anyway.” He pushed his hand through his hair in frustration. “I just thought I had failed again and lost you… I thought…”

I put both my hands on the sides of his face, like he’d done to me, and kissed him hard. His body remained rigid at first, unsure, but soon he relaxed, snaking his hand into my hair and behind my back and pressing our bodies closer. The kiss deepened, and I heard Marla whistle behind us.

When we finally broke apart, he pressed his forehead against mine and closed his eyes. “Oh, Jade,” he whispered, “I never want to lose you again. I don’t think my heart could take it.”

Sometimes the things he said were straight out of a romance novel. But I had to remember, he wasn’t only extremely old, we’d had a relationship for just as long. And the more time we spent together, the more I believed every word he said when talking about his feelings toward me. I just had to catch up.

At least he was willing to let me go at my own pace.

“I’m sorry I couldn’t catch you,” he murmured, suddenly looking pained. “I tried…but you were falling too fast, and I—”

“Don’t beat yourself up about it,” I told him. “I’m here. Everything’s okay.”

“But I’m supposed to protect you. I’m your Guardian.”

“Hey now,” I said. “What did I tell you about that?”

He looked down at me, frowning.

“We can be a team, but I’m not a princess,” I said. “There will be no knight in shining armor protecting me.”

“What happened, Jade?” Marla interrupted. “How did you get back up here? We all saw you fall out the window with Azrael.”

“I ended up back in the Void,” I replied, and every eye widened in shock. “The place spirits go when they die—or cease to be, or whatever.”

“You died…again?” She blew out a raspberry. “You’re like a cat!”

My laugh was too forced. I didn’t know why or even how Hank had managed to get me out of the Void for a second time, but he’d made it very clear I couldn’t have another chance like this.

“Except I don’t get nine lives like one. I’m all out after this one,” I said, trying not to let that fear creep into my tone.

“How do you know that?” Eli asked.

“Hank told me.”

He paused. “And who is Hank?”

“I’ll explain later,” I said with a shake of my head. Really didn’t feel like bringing up the fact that I had met a hobo in the Void who had let me out not once but twice now. That sounded crazy. Even to me.

“At least we know we’re finally safe from Azrael, that psycho,” I said.

“And it seems the afterlife dimensions are starting to restore themselves in his absence.” Simon gestured to the room behind me.

Glancing over my shoulder, I watched as the cracked glass sealed itself up, the columns readjusted and mended themselves, pieces of their marble flying across the room to find their appropriate places. I even had to duck as chunks of the ceiling soared overhead and came together, quickly forming a smooth, unblemished surface.

Within minutes, it looked as if nothing had happened in here. Well, besides the turned-over chairs and tables, but that was more from our fight with Azrael and the Halflings than the building crumbling.

So, Azrael was gone and things were slowly returning back to normal. That solved two problems, but Azrael was just a blip in the apocalypse grand finale. He had been helping the demons and God knows who else to get it in motion. His absence might have bought us some time, but it certainly wasn’t going to stop it.

That prompted my following question: “What happens next?”

Everyone exchanged looks, and for a moment, there was a long, uneasy silence.

“The first thing I need to do is find Benjamin and Release him. For real this time,” Simon said. “Do you want me to bring him to you, Jade? Or did you get all the answers you needed from him before?”

That was super kind of him, but if I ever saw Benjamin again, Simon might have nothing left to Release. That guy was on my shit list, for sure.

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