Page 2 of Death Match

And I wasn’t. I had just gone through two bosses in a matter of months—one who had tried to kill me, I might add. So, excuse me for being a bit wary about getting another so fast.

I had no shame in admitting I was scared to take this next step in my afterlife, too. Beat the Trials and become this bad ass Archangel thing? Sure, I wanted to get all my memories back and finally know about my lives before my death, but saving the world?

So much was riding on me, and I wasn’t sure I would be able to do it.

What if I failed? This wasn’t a game we were talking about here. This was the fate of the living and nonliving worlds in my hands. Just thinking about it made my heartbeat hit an all-time speed record.

Eli held up his hands in surrender. “I know the subject makes you…”

“Ill?” I finished.

“Nervous,” he corrected. “But it’s been two weeks since you’ve arrived here, Jade. Michael’s growing impatient. I’m running out of excuses to tell him.”

I paused, my stomach twisting. “Wait. What do you mean? Michael’s been contacting you?”

How? Eli didn’t have a tablet or wear a watch, like how Styx Corporation used to keep in touch with their reapers. And he’d been with me all the time.

“We can communicate telepathically.” He half shrugged with his response, as if talking to another person via brain waves was no big deal.

“You’re kidding.”

“I’m not.”

My mouth flopped open. “All the time? I feel like that can get annoying.”

“It can be,” he said sheepishly. “But it’s only when we’re on this side of the veil. Hell’s an exception, of course. Also, in the living world, the connection is severed.”

Good thing, too. Because Michael probably wouldn’t have been happy if he knew that Eli had interfered so much during my fight with the full-blooded demon Xaver. Or that he’d interacted with Kay after our ordeal in Hell.

“So, he’s been nagging you all this time to meet me?” My throat parched. Oh God. I wasn’t ready for this. “Will he be able to talk to me that way, too? Mind to mind?”

He nodded to both questions. “After the Trials, you’ll be able to communicate with him, too. And me.”

Weird. But possibly handy if some shit went down and I needed help. Which, if my track record was any inclination, I would.

“Michael’s worried we’ve wasted too much time. And I have to agree. Every minute counts now. You need to complete the Trials, gain your gifts, and prepare for the war while the other Archangels are found, recruited, and sent to their own Trials.”

He meant found and killed, so their reincarnation cycles could also end. I tried not to think about it that way.

When I glanced at Eli, he was staring at me with such hope that I’d agree and say yes to meeting Michael. How the heck could I say anything else? Knowingly or unknowingly, he was giving me puppy-dog eyes.

I might not be ready for this, but it wasn’t about me, was it? Guess it was time to put on my big girl panties and meet the angel.

“Fine. We can go,” I said. “Can I just get a shower first?”

Eli’s smile was soft, but I had a feeling he was doing cartwheels on the inside.

“Of course,” he replied and one brow rose in a mischievous way. “And to save time, I’ll join you.”

Oh boy. For an angel, he could still be pretty devilish. In a sexy way.

Knowing exactly where this was heading, I said with a smirk, “Only if you can beat me there.” Without another second to spare, I spun around and rushed toward the adjoining bathroom.

“That’s cheating.” Eli’s steps echoed behind me.

“Only a loser would say that.”

His laughter caressed my skin, and just the idea of us reliving our first sexual encounter in the shower made my insides twirl with anticipation. Before I even reached the tile floor of the bathroom, he caught me, wrapping his arms around me and lifting my feet off the ground in one swift motion. Then, he kissed me hard enough to make my entire body heat with desire.

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