XVIII

David Star was on TV.

Which meant Death was back to his double life.

This was a rerun from an interview earlier in the morning, a press release for the D&S Tower about their supposed art program for New York City's youth. David's chestnut-brown hair, much longer than Death's black faux-hawk, was styled messily over his forehead, and he wore a dark-gray dress shirt and medium-wash jeans. Handsome features, unmarked by any cynical tattoos or scars, bore a close enough resemblance to Alexandru, Death's old human self, that it was disturbing.

One devastating smile, and he effortlessly controlled the room. Little did they know that beneath that pretty fa?ade was a green-eyed monster. One that hungered for the very people he sought to manipulate, including me.

Pointing the remote at the flat-screen over Death's massive fireplace, I angrily changed the channel to an action film and turned up the volume. Then I dumped a few more kernels of popcorn on the floor for Cruentas. He inhaled them like a vacuum. Since he appeared to be trained not to jump on the leather couches, he plopped back down on his dog bed, which I'd placed on the floor by my feet.

"He seems to like you."

I startled at the voice and swiveled my head. Leo stood behind the couch. Cruentas sprinted to him and began furiously sniffing his knee before jumping up on his hind legs for a pet.

"Cruentas can be a little shy around strangers," he said.

I reached for the remote to turn the TV down. "You scared the crap out of me. What are you doing in here?"

Leo's amber eyes scanned the food on the coffee table then shifted to the guns blazing on the television in a James Bond movie. "Checking in on you."

"He gave me a babysitter? Since when?"

"Since day one," Leo replied. "I normally stand out in the hallway or stop by in the middle of the night."

"While I'm sleeping ?"

"It's not like that. I don't enter your bedroom. I can hear your heartbeat from the outside. Just like I heard a bunch of guns and violence on the television from the hallway outside . . . "

"And what, you thought there was actually World War Three in here?"

"No, I . . . figured I'd make sure everything's all right. With you."

I set my ice cream and popcorn on the coffee table. "Maybe you haven't heard, but I sold my soul to the Harbinger of Doom and Beelzebub. So no, nothing is all right."

The words came out nastier than I'd intended, but it's not like I owed this guy anything. He was one of them.

Leo slid his hands into his pockets and sat down on the couch beside me. "Getting locked up in here all alone must be a real joy, huh?"

"I feel like a caged animal."

"I may be able to help with that."

I looked over at him. "You can get me out of here? Can you take me to visit my family?"

"I wish I could," Leo said, and the earnestness in his eyes was refreshing and more human than anything Death could offer. "It's not safe for you to leave the premises. I was talking about something smaller. A birthday party."

"For you?"

"For my brother. He's one of the Seven."

I blinked. "Oh. Will there be food, or am I the food?"

Leo arched a brow. "You never have to worry about your safety around me, Faith. My brothers and I, we have one job and one job only: collect the souls we are assigned. I think you'd get along great with them, and there will be an obnoxious amount of food. Interested?"

The way he talked about the Seven intrigued me. I wanted to know more. I also wanted to get the heck out of this penthouse, even if I had to hang out with a bunch of soul eaters to do so.

"This is going to get me in trouble, isn't it? The last thing I want to deal with right now is another one of Death's mood swings. Or Lucifer getting pissed and sticking me on the end of his freaky tail to dangle me over the pits of Hell like a marshmallow over a bonfire."

He chuckled. "Damn. That was very descriptive."

"Thanks, I'm quite creative when I'm spiraling." When Leo clearly didn't know whether I was joking or not, I smiled to ease the mood. "But really, what if Death finds out?"

"Then I'll take the blame," Leo said. "Listen, Death's two thousand years old, and he's clearly forgotten how to treat people because this "—he motioned to the empty apartment and let his arm drop—" this isn't healthy. You, cooped up here all alone. It's messed up." He opened the apartment door. "Let me break you out of jail."

I joined him at the door. "Where's the party?"

"It's a surprise," he answered with a slow grin.

I smiled and tucked my hair behind my ear. "I do love surprises . . . " I stepped out into the hallway after him. "Lead the—" My breath caught in my throat.

"Surprise," Death said.

The Grim Reaper leaned against the wall in the hallway. His complexion wasn't pale anymore, and the sharp bronze planes of his face were less skeletal.

"My lord," Leo said with a bow of his head. "I had no idea you were . . . Had I known—"

"I haven't forgotten how to treat people, Leo." Death glanced at me. "I just don't care enough to put the effort in."

Ouch .

"That was out of line," Leo said. "I apologize."

"Where are you taking her?" Death asked with a casual, calm curiosity. Call it a sixth sense again, or some kind of strange connection due to the weird bond he'd created between us, but I knew Death was concealing something. He had, after all, been lingering outside his own penthouse, which was odd . . .

It was then I noticed that he was hiding something behind his back.

"The den," Leo admitted. "We arranged a small gathering for Gunner's birthday."

"I see." Death went quiet for a moment. "Well, what are you waiting for? Go have fun."

Leo regarded him with disbelief. "Are you sure, my lord?"

"If she is," Death remarkably said.

"I am," I replied.

Death and I stared at each other before he pushed off the wall and stalked past us to his apartment door. He maneuvered his arm in front of him so that I couldn't see what he was holding, and then he threw open the penthouse door and shut it. No slam. No vanishing. No dramatic exits.

He was not okay with this. The furthest from okay. But I was. I was definitely okay with this. After everything I'd been through, Death was respecting my choice, and I appreciated the compromise.

I followed Leo.