Page 66 of Mex

IDON’T TELL THEM WHEREI’m going because I don’t want to risk anyone following me.

Instead, I wake up at the crack of dawn and slide from Mex’s arms. He’s asleep, and as I look down over him, my heart aches at how perfect he is. With his lips slightly parted and his arm tucked up behind his head, he looks peaceful. I watch him as I dress, and then I glance at him once more before I slip out the door.

I need to see Death before I see Marek, and now is the only time I can do it.

Calling a cab, I make my way to my mother’s quarters where I know he will be. He has been keeping everything in check since she has been gone, and now I’m about to tell him that she’ll never return. It won’t go well, I know that, but I owe it to him. I certainly don’t owe it to her, though. She deserves to be exactly where she is, and while I know he would always take her side over mine, I also know that somewhere, deep down, he cares a little for me.

Reaching her office, I bang on the door.

A moment later, it opens and Death stands, wearing all black, staring down at me.

“I’ve been trying to contact you.”

Those are his first words.

“I know,” I say. “Death, I need to tell you something.”

His eyes darken, and I could almost swear that he knows even before I say a single word.

“She’s dead.”

It’s not me who speaks, it’s Death.

He knows.

How?

Shaking my head with confusion, I whisper, “You know?”

“I know her, Acacia, and I know that unless she is dead, there is no way she would ever be gone for so long. I’m not fuckin’ stupid. You’re just confirming what I’ve already suspected.”

There is a depth of darkness in his eyes that reflects his sadness, and it does hurt me to see it. I know he cares about her, even if he’d never admit it out loud. I don’t know their story, but I know they have been partners for a long time, and they’ve been through a lot together, so I know there is a connection there that runs deeper than I’ll probably ever understand.

“Do you know who?”

He shakes his head. “No, but I’m going to find out. I’ll spend the rest of my fuckin’ days lookin’ until I know who did it.”

I swallow the lump in my throat. “There is something else you need to know.”

His eyes flash.

“Marek knows, and he wants to take over.”

“Fuckin’ hell will freeze over before that fuckin’ mongrel ever takes over what we created.”

I had a feeling that’s how he would feel.

“You know he’s powerful, Death. He will kill you. He won’t give a second chance.”

“Then he can fuckin’ kill me, but I’m not steppin’ away from all of this without a fight.”

I want to argue, to tell him he’s crazy, but I know nothing I say will change his mind. He will die fighting; I know it as well as he does.

“I wish you would,” I say, my voice softer than it has ever been around him.

He gives me a look that makes my heart ache.

“You know that my world without her in it is no world at all. All I have left is to fight for this. If I die doing it, then that’s how I’m meant to go.”

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