Page 79 of Till Death

Somehow my ending still felt too far away.

“Your friends are safe, by the way. Your act.” Amon sighed, long and loud, shaking his head, his lips pursed, and new layer of stubble graced his jaw. “Those souls you loved well enough to give up your own are back to their relegated areas, the mortal realm or the afterlife. It’s safe to say you’ve done what you wanted.”

I already knew; I waved him away. “Stop it. I can’t handle you being nice to me. It’s almost worse than knowing you want my blood. One more compliment and you’ll throw me right over the edge.”

Amon considered me with his head cocked to the side. “Oh, we’ll get to the bloodletting soon enough. We have all of eternity for this, Jade. You’ll allow me a little moment to gloat. If you will.”

I did my best not to pay attention to Cole, who no longer resembled a man at all.Not even his eyes. I tracked his slow movements in my periphery. It didn’t matter what kind of monster form he wore. Something about him still sang to my soul.

“See, now you’re counting on me being generous. You’ll have to excuse me because I’m not in a giving sort of mood right now.”

His smile grew wider. “You really want to get down to business. Here I thoughtIwas the generous one giving you a moment to compose yourself before I destroyed your soul.”

“You’re not being generous. You’re trying to take your time because I made you wait.” I clucked my tongue at him.

“Perhaps.”

“You always know just what to say to a girl to give her butterflies,” I said. “You better stop it now or I might have to jump you.”

Stalling helped only to give me enough time to understand I had nothing to fall back on. Not even a ghost of a plan at this point. Bullshit was the only thing left in my arsenal, and once Amon gave the word and did away with these pretenses, I was gone.

Luckily for me, I’d already come to terms with dying. I’d done it enough times that it was a cakewalk. This last one took me some time to grasp, but I finally did.

And perhaps Amon knew, or not, but Hank had gifted me this chance to save Cole for a reason. He wouldn’t have done so if the odds were completely stacked against me.

“Jump me all you like, although my son may have something to say on the matter. From what I’ve seen, he’s oddly possessive of you.” Amon chuckled again, hard enough that twin dots of color graced his cheeks. He really found our suffering amusing.

What a prick.

“It truly has been a pleasure whenever we have a chance to speak. It’s a shame this will be the last time. I almost don’t want it to end,” he finished.

“Too bad you’re all talk and no action.” If he wanted to knock me off my game, too bad; as a spirit, I no longer had any of the aches and pains that plagued me right before Eli stabbed me with my own sword.

“If you’d like to see action…” Amon trailed off.

“By all means. Show me.” Game on.

His human form peeled away from him like a snake shedding its skin and a full demon stepped out of the ruin—cloven hoofs, deep red skin, muscles that would have made The Rock insanely jealous. His massive ham hands ended in curved claws to match the horns swooping out from the back of his head.

When Amon smiled at me this time, his mouth displayed row after row of serrated teeth the same as a shark.

My heart skipped a beat. Without any powers, I had to do this the old-fashioned way.Without further ado…I launched myself at him and yelped when I hit his chest. Amon had just as much give as a brick wall and the moment my skin touched his, I burned. Searing agony shot through my system and I gasped as I dropped to the ground.

“I know what you want,” he replied in a deep boom of sound. “You’re here for my son. You had no interest in chatting with me.”

Struggling to my feet with a cry of effort, I drew on the stubbornness he’d praised. The resilience that got me to this point.

And I used it all to stand and shoot him the cockiest grin I managed. “When you’re right, you’re right. What gave you your first hint?”

Second by second, the burning sensation faded.

“I’m sorry. Are you upset to take second chair to your son?”

Amon didn’t miss a beat and swiped out at me before I finished my question. One moment safely away and the next in front of my face. I ducked just in time to avoid being gutted and charged at him, using my elbows to make contact. Pounding Amon as he yelled in my face.

Not the smartest idea to get this close but I had no other choice.

Soon enough the burning when I touched him didn’t bother me. My nerve endings were destroyed and pain an illusion. Or so I told myself.

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