Page 103 of Death is My BFF
Silent, Death watched me under his shadowed veil.
“I first noticed your slipups when David made a mistake in his office. Even though I told him I left the carnival because I was nauseous, when I saw him the next day, he asked me how my head was.
He didn’t know I hit my head. But you,you knew, because you’re the one who caused it! And then there’s the most obvious slipup, your ringtone. Real smooth with that one, Grimmy.”
Death flexed his hands, leather creaking. “I appreciate this little act,” he said silkily, never taking his concealed eyes off me. “Circling me as if we’ve swapped roles . . . ”
“You think you have me under your thumb, don’t you?” I asked, my chest heaving from the peak of adrenaline his closeness caused.
“I’m learning more about you and your intentions day by day. You said you went to great lengths to protect me? I’ll go a further distance to protect my family. I will go back to Ace again for answers, even if it means risking everything. And there’s nothing you can do to stop me.” I took a stunted breath. “Because I know your true name.”
The temperature in the room plummeted.
“What did you just say?” His voice rumbled stronger than pending thunder in the horizon.
“You heard me.” I paused, arming myself with the name that felt deadly to say out loud. “Your name . . . is Alexandru Cruscellio.”
“What did you offer the warlock?” I could tell by his stiff posture he was struggling to keep his fury at bay. “If he touched you . . . ”
Whatever threat hung on the end of that was never completed and also not directed at me. My face scorched a deep crimson.
“No—no, it’s not like that,” I said, flustered and talking too fast.
“He said I owed him a favor in the future. Not that it’s any of your business—”
“Youaremy business,” Death snarled, his accent thickening now with rage. “You’re mine. Mine to protect!”
My stomach flip-flopped. “Well, you’re mine too. I know your full name. I have power over you.”
Death lunged at me in a blur, and I rolled over onto my back on the mattress, curling up my knees at the sight of his looming figure at the head of my bed. He was a thing out of nightmares with the heavy cloak and the endlessly black space where his face should have been. All the shadows in the room slinked toward him, until an aura of darkness surrounded his frame, stretching out from his back in the form of massive wings. I drew back farther on the comforter in blank horror.
“I could eat you from your toes all the way up to your smart tongue,” Death purred. More shadows collected at the edges of the bed, swarming toward me like spiders and snakes. “If you even utter that name out loud again, it’ll be the last two words you ever say. And I will take my sweet fucking time making sure of it. Understand?”
All I could do was gape at his shadows, trembling so hard that I shook the bed with me.
“Do you understand?”he snarled vehemently, his voice on the edge of monstrous.
“I understand!” The shadows recoiled away from me. I scrambled off the bed, peering fearfully up at Death as he remained where he was, his hooded head aimed in my direction.
I could still feel his wicked eyes drilling into me. “Don’t look at me like that. If you’d done exactly as I said from the beginning, we would not have any issues between us. You’d be a good, obedient human, and I wouldn’t have to discipline you tonight.”
“I really think you should try therapy. Or a giant Xanax.”
Another low growl came from his hood. “I’ve just about had enough of that mouth of yours.”
He maneuvered around the bed and prowled closer. I legit heardJawsmusic in my head. I wanted to dive over the bed Michael Phelps–style, putsomethingbetween us, but I couldn’t, or maybe I didn’t want to.
My feet were nailed to the ground. After a few seconds I snapped out of it, backpedaling until my butt hit the wall. Now I was wedged between a nightstand and a canvas. Sweat trickled down my spine as I peered up at Death’s looming frame, sinking into the overlay of darkness across his features. Without touch, his power beckoned me closer. I resisted the urge to obey with all my might and pressed further against the wall, but the pull between us remained undeniable. We were like two opposite ends of magnets, hovering inches away from each other. A part of me desperately wanted to test this attraction, give in, lean into the monster. See what would happen.
“Frustrating, isn’t it?” He cocked his head to the side again, an animal playing with its prey. “Nothing can smother my sheer allure.
It’s a curse.” I could sense his provocative grin, feel his dark delight like a caress against my lips. “Although, I get the sense all those silly little feelings that flutter in your stomach when I come around have nothing to do with my allure, cupcake. That’s allyou.”
“You smug bastard,” I gritted out. “The only true feeling I have toward you is this: disgust. You make me sick.”
He pinched a strand of my damp hair and slid his fingers down, releasing a droplet of water from the end. “I can see the truth in your eyes, in the way you look at me.”
“I’m looking at you the same way I’ve always looked at you,” I whispered. “Like you’re a—”