I

Faith

Tick. Tick . When opened my eyes, the illusion that was safe evaporated.

Across the way, Malphas, dressed in silk, lounged on a Victorian-style red velvet couch. His raven-black hair was woven together in warrior braids and neatly tied back. Bathed in soft lighting, the room was bare except for a large Persian rug, a rather ornate coffee table, and the couches where we sat opposite each other.

Moments before, had been in the corn maze in Pleasant Valley fighting for my life against hell hounds and demons. Malphas had grabbed me, and now we were . . . here.

Death's motionless corpse looped through my mind. The painful howls of a man 'd believed to be unstoppable. My aching heart was anchored to the image of him dying. wanted to believe he'd survived. That he was a force of nature and nothing could take him away from this world, but deep inside, knew not even Death was indestructible.

'd wanted nothing more to do with him. He'd played me from the beginning. He'd spared my special soul as a girl, only to return once my power had matured to collect it for his own cryptic, selfish reasons. He'd used his alter ego, David Star, to gain my trust and make me fall for him. And yet, time and time again, he'd saved my life, showed me glimpses of a man who maybe had the capacity to feel. He'd given me hope. Hope that it wasn't all a lie.

No matter how hard tried to rationalize calling on Malphas as a good thing, a necessary thing, felt guilty. The coldhearted creature who'd claimed was only a possession but kissed me like was his saving grace was gone. 'd killed Death.

"Let's not get dramatic," Malphas said. "He's alive. sent his soul to a different realm temporarily."

sat up straight. "You just read my mind."

"ndeed."

Death had said it was difficult to read my thoughts, whereas Malphas seemed to pick apart my brain with ease. t was frightening, to say the least.

"What do you mean, you sent Death's soul to a different realm? What realm?"

"He's in Limbo. You may know it as Purgatory." Malphas smoothed a wrinkle in the fabric covering his forearm. "There are other worlds besides the human one. They're mostly abandoned and filled with darkness and other things . . . things that wander into the mortal realm and go bump in the night. Limbo is a complex realm that parallels Earth. A place for wandering and forgotten souls. That is where Death's soul lies."

"How long will you keep him there?"

A shrug. "Can't hold him there for all eternity, unfortunately."

And the Father of the Year award goes to . . .

"f Death's soul is in Purgatory, then where's his body?"

Malphas grinned. "naccessible at the moment."

My fingers curled against the cushion beneath me, drawing my attention to a tear in the velvet material. A layer of dust blanketed the old-fashioned furniture, and the walls were sparsely decorated with peeling wallpaper. Cobwebs curtained every nook and cranny.

"They have makeover shows for this, you know," said.

"Hmm?"

"Your evil lair. t sucks. Looks like a haunted mansion for cockroaches."

"Faith, Faith, Faith . . . " Malphas leaned his forearm on the cushion beside him and dragged a sharp black fingernail across the velvet. "Still mouthing off after everything that happened?"

As homed in on that deadly finger, felt a scraping sensation inside my mind, like a claw digging into my brain. had no idea what Malphas was capable of. had to tread carefully.

"Your aunt is rumored to have possession of an object," Malphas continued, "an object that Ahrimad requires to fully walk this realm."

Ahrimad was the death god who'd cursed Alexandru Cruscellio, aka Death, more than two thousand years ago. When Death was a child, he had been tricked into releasing Ahrimad into the human world. n return, Ahrimad had promised to give Death the opportunity to kill the person he hated the most in the gladiator arena. Which, ultimately, had led to Death killing his own father, Malphas. That was why Malphas hated his son and was seeking vengeance in the present. Even though Alexandru had ultimately destroyed Ahrimad (which had led to him becoming the next death creature), both of Death's enemies from the past had found a way to rise again. Now they were working together.

"Torturing your aunt over this . . . special object . . . would be a waste of energy," Malphas continued. "Hunters like her wear jewelry and engrave tattoos into their bodies that limit my power. So, waited. waited for the right moment." He reached out to touch the small wooden metronome on the coffee table between us. Bobbing left to right in an irritating rhythm, it began to tick faster. "Your essence is so peculiar; knew right away you were the one. The one my son spared with the Kiss of Death. You, my dear girl, are a treasure."

"You can save the ‘join me' evil villain speech. 'm not helping you with whatever twisted plan you have up your sleeve."

Tick . Tick . This time, the metronome reverberated in my ears and vibrated my vision with an intense pressure. Malphas's image blurred. craned my neck to the side and winced. The sensations left me at once as the ticking faded to background noise again.

"Either you are with me or you are against me," Malphas said calmly. "No matter which option you choose, our paths will inevitably cross again. always get what want, one way or another."

"You're a sick, heartless creature, and you don't scare me," said, my voice trembling so hard had to tighten my muscles to speak.

"You called for me in your hour of need, and answered. was the weapon, but you pulled the trigger."

"t was a mistake," hissed between clenched teeth. "A moment of weakness, not need. was scared, and should never have relied on you. Only a monster does what you did to your son."

"Alexandru is hardly my son. He never appreciated the sacrifices made for him."

"You abused him."

"He was never meant for a delicate mortal hand."

"You act like being human is some disease."

A thin, icy smile crossed his face. "Because it is a disease, Faith. was mortal, once. 've lived it."

Tick . Tick . Tick .

Malphas watched me intently as the metronome droned on, my eyelids drooping closed.

"The binding spell attaching Alexandru's soul to Limbo will wear off eventually. f he manages to get back sooner, which suspect he will, then he'll be weak. You're the only one who can get close enough to him to complete this final task."

Malphas snapped his fingers. The metronome stopped.

One moment, he sat across the way; the next, he sat beside me. He clamped his hand down on my shoulder, and our surroundings strobed in and out of darkness. stared deep into the void of his unfeeling eyes, sinking, sinking. Claws scraped the inside of my skull, and panic spiked as felt paralyzed beneath his touch.

nstinct snapped into place. shoved against the sensation of his power with all my might, all my will, and the scraping subsided. My heart skipped a beat. 'd mentally shoved Malphas away without him noticing.

"We can help one another, Faith." Malphas reached into his pocket with his free hand and pulled out a blade between his fingertips. "You want to escape the consequences of the Kiss of Death, and — want Death out of my way."

Malphas released my shoulder. The lethal gleam in his dead obsidian eyes made my stomach knot.

"f Death escapes Limbo, he will go to the D&S Tower ball to warn Lucifer," he continued. " have arranged for you to be escorted to this event. Should you encounter Death there, you will stab him with this blade. t's laced with poison. A poison that will paralyze him for an hour and keep him out of our way. Long enough for us to deliver our message."

"What message?" whispered.

Malphas grinned, black venom seeping from the tips of his incisors. "That we will get what we want, no matter what it takes, and what we want is the Book of the Dead ."

The world spun as processed this.

"You foolish girl," Malphas chided in a soft voice. "You feel so deeply for Death, but he'll never love you. He's incapable of it." He paused and handed me the dagger. "A little advice, Faith. The trick to life is not to let the imitation of what was once there fool you into believing it lives on in the present. Beyond the shallow depths of any fa?ade, there's always the truth." As he leaned back, his features shimmered into a dreadful creature with translucent skin and bluish-black fangs. "You need only peel away the mask."

He vanished. The room plunged into darkness, and sprang upward. Malphas's room was gone. was in my bedroom.

Glancing down at my lap, my breath caught in my throat when saw the dagger still clenched in my hand. t hadn't been a dream.