XXVII

When my hand touched the door of the Crossroads, an awful sensation landed in my gut.

I looked back over my shoulder. Death was parked on the curb, straddling his motorcycle. A tinted helmet veiled his face as he waited for me to go inside.

"Could you walk me in?" I asked.

Death tugged the helmet off, a few locks of dark hair tumbling over his forehead. "Can't. It's hallowed ground. Nervous about your date?" I could tell another hostile comment had been chopped off at the end. I cast an uneasy look through the window of the shop.

"I got a bad feeling," I said. "When I touched the handle of the door. Are you sure there isn't any way you can come inside? Make sure Ace is okay?"

"Ah, let him die. He's lived a long life."

"Death."

Death shut off his bike with an aggravated groan. "Since when are you getting ‘bad feelings,' cupcake?"

"Since I met you."

Shooting me a flat look, Death closed the distance between himself and the store and stopped at the entrance. Before we left the apartment, he had swapped his black t-shirt for an armored black chest piece that laced down the front to his tapered waist. Paired with a long leather coat with a cowl, he looked like an assassin ready for battle. Death lifted his gloved hands slightly out at his sides, darkness collecting in his palms. He sent the shadows forward, and when they connected with the door, a web of energy revealed itself. The magic crackled and sparked, and the shadows hissed and howled before tearing themselves free and retreating back into Death's hands.

"Ace must be in the process of resetting his ward," Death said. "This one is weak. Temporary. I can break through it, but it may cost me a hand. Stay back."

He gripped the door handle before I could process that statement. His enormous frame stiffened as if he'd stuck his finger into an outlet. Tendrils of violet light pulsed to life around the store and latched on to Death's gloved hand. Leather and flesh seared.

"Oh, crap!" I lurched toward him, but Death ripped the door open with a menacing growl and loosed a ragged breath. The magic died off.

Under his hood, Death had an untamed look in his eyes. His monster side had awakened again. He blinked, and he was back.

Baring his fangs in a smile that was a distant cousin of polite, Death made a show of holding the door open and gesturing inside with his charred hand. "Ladies first."

I stepped past him into the Crossroads, my eardrums popping like bubble wrap.

Death pulled a new leather glove from his pocket. I grimaced at the sight of bone along his fingers. "Ouch."

Right before my eyes, he began to heal, pink stretching across the bone before he shoved the glove on. "Barely feel it," he growled. "It's the constant hymn music in my ears that's pissing me off."

I frowned.

"Hallowed ground," Death said, as if that were the obvious answer. "Let's go find your new boyfriend."

We passed crystals, meditation trinkets, and other paraphernalia before entering the vast library. As we traveled down a row of bookshelves toward Ace's séance room, someone slunk into our path.

"Evening," said Master Vampire Duncan. His silvery hair was pulled back in a low ponytail, and he wore a tailored suit. "Fancy running into you two again."

"You again," I said in disbelief. "You're not even trying to be subtle. Don't you have anything better to do than creep on me all the time?"

Death swiveled his head in my direction.

"Duncan was here last time," I explained. "Watching me and Ace while we were hanging out—"

Death shunted me behind him, and my eyes widened as darkness consumed the tall shelving on either side of us. He prowled toward the vampire. " Stalking , are we, leech?"

"Now calm down, Your Highness." Duncan showed his palms as he backed up. "I'm browsing some reading material. Last time I checked, this property doesn't belong to you. Ace is a neutral warlock, mate."

Death halted in his steps, albeit reluctantly. Light slowly returned to the room.

"Touchy. Very touchy." Duncan reached a long-fingered hand to a random book beside him. "You're in enough shit with Lucifer already; best to play nice with others, hmm? I am on Hell's comity."

"Enjoy it while it lasts," Death seethed.

"You think you can remove me? Yes, I'm sure Lucifer completely trusts your opinion on business matters as of late. All of Hell knows you dropped the bag winning over your precious mortal prize, and that's why you lost your scythe. I wonder . . . " He tapped his chin with a pointed nail. "Is that why Lucifer's been traveling all over the world as Devin Star, continuing your little Hollywood ruse rather than helping you find your scythe?"

Death fell silent, and I could tell this guy was getting to him.

The vampire turned toward me. "Your pet remains in pristine condition and unmarked. How come? Have you gone soft, and now she wears the trousers in the relationship?"

"We're not in a relationship," Death growled in a low voice.

"And yet you laid claim to her in Ace's club," Duncan sneered. "Right after you killed one of my vampires."

"He died?" Death flashed his fangs in a broad grin like a wolf baring its teeth. "What a crying shame. I was only testing his elasticity."

Duncan's expression hardened to granite. "You humiliated me, and you humiliated the Crypt. I expect a formal apology. Unless, of course, you're willing to offer this tasty morsel to me for the night? Pass her along and I'll let bygones be bygones."

Death unleashed a terrifying noise at the back of his throat.

I grabbed a fistful of his jacket. His spine straightened, and he glared over his shoulder. I imagined he wanted to whirl around and bite off my hand, but he appeared to receive the message: He's baiting you .

I didn't know why, but the vampire was trying to trigger Death.

"Don't you have anything better to do than pester us like the annoying mosquito that you are?" I inquired.

"What a cheeky mouth you have on you, love," Duncan said. "Can't blame a vampire for being curious. Your soul is deliciously vibrant. It's unfair that Death gets to keep you all to himself. By the looks of your unblemished throat, he hasn't even had a taste of your blood. Has he at least shagged you?"

I stepped forward to punch him, but Death gripped the back of my dress and yanked me to his hip.

"I recognize my newborn was out of line in Spades," Duncan said. "Although, there's such a thrill in an authentic hunt. Taking your prey by force. Drinking your fill . . . "

"And chasing it down with a garlic milkshake?" I offered, earning a low, sinister laugh from Death.

"The good old days were more fun, don't you agree, Your Highness ?" Duncan pressed. "Back when evil could shag and eat any human they wanted without any repercussions."

The implication that Death was like Duncan made me sick.

"You'll find no common ground with me, leech," Death growled. "Get out of my way."

"Don't you think it's unfair for the girl," continued Duncan without any fear, "to keep her so freely, yet under control, at your side? Lively things like her don't last long around you."

Death cocked his head to the side, muscles ticking in his jaw like a bomb counting down. Earlier, he'd lost his grip. Now that madness had resurfaced as he prowled forward to leave a massacre in our wake.

Jumping ahead, I physically put myself between him and Duncan.

" Stop ," I said, planting my hands firmly on Death's shoulders. "He's not worth it."

Death shrugged sharply out of my grasp. "Don't touch me."

"Yeah, don't touch him, love. He's a lunatic, just like his psycho father." When I turned around to face Duncan, he flashed his fangs in a slow, gummy grin. "I'd hate to see you draw your last breath without me getting a taste."

I had to think fast to get us out of this.

"You should work on that enigmatic grin," I said. "That gummy smile you've got is cringe."

Duncan's silver brows furrowed. "Gummy smile?"

I glanced at Death, winking for him to play along. He arched a brow.

"She's right," Death said. "That was one weird smile."

"What the bloody hell are you talking about?"

"Maybe he has high gums?" I casually grabbed a book off a shelf.

"Some things even immortality can't fix," Death said, the lapels of his leather jacket brushing against me as he remained close.

"I most certainly do not have high gums," Duncan insisted.

"Okay, but you definitely have something between your teeth," I said.

Duncan prodded at his teeth with his pinky. "I do? Where?"

I moved toward him. "Right . . . there!" I smashed the book in my hands into his pale face. His hand shot out toward me, but I dodged left and whipped out a set of handcuffs from my bag and snapped them around the vampire's wrist. The device spiraled up his arm like a snake and constricted. Duncan reeled back with a hiss, his arm limp at his side. Death kicked his boot into Duncan's side and knocked him into a bookshelf. Books tumbled off the shelf and onto the floor. Death threw his whole weight onto the vampire, slammed him into the ground, and wedged his knee between his shoulder blades. I scrambled to gather his wrists together and cuffed them together behind his back.

Duncan hissed, his facial features sharpening unnaturally. "Get off of me, you wanker!"

Death stood with his boot pressed against the vampire's spine. "Shut the hell up," he snarled. Then he cut his stare to me. I smirked.

I held out my arms as I rose to my feet. "Amazing, aren't I?"

Death ripped down his hood. His mismatched eyes held mine. I expected him to rip into me with his words, to chastise me for attacking a master vampire.

Death bowed his head at me, an oddly intimate, unexpected acknowledgement of respect. I felt all warm inside, like I'd achieved a pivotal moment.

"You can't do shit to me, mate!" Duncan shouted, writhing on the ground like a big baby. "I'm an affiliate of Lucifer's comity! I'm a pure-blooded vampire, and you're a bloody bastard question mark. You don't deserve your position in Hell, you good-for-nothing mutt!"

Death smashed his boot onto Duncan's arm. Bones crunched. The vampire released a comically high-pitched wail.

"What is going on here?"

Death and I turned our heads to find Ace standing at the end of the towering aisle of books. His magenta alligator-skin shoes clacked against the marble floor as he strutted to the ticking of an old clock resounding through the spacious library.

"Unbelievable," Ace said, stopping before us to lean on his cane. "Why is Master Vampire Duncan hog-tied in my library like a Christmas ham?"

Death crossed his muscular arms, silent.

"He doggy-ears his book pages," I blurted, earning a look of confusion from everyone, including Duncan. "What? It should be a crime."

"They ganged up on me!" Duncan snarled. "That crazy bitch hit me with a giant book!"

"Aw, did the poor little baby get a boo-boo from the mean girl?" Death leaned against a bookshelf as he dug into his pocket.

Duncan's fangs lengthened. "You wait until I'm free, you bloody repulsive thing !"

With a crinkle of plastic, Death popped a piece of blue candy into his mouth. "I'm quaking."

Ace raked a hand aggressively through his hair. "Why is it everywhere you two go," he said, splitting his attention between us, " une tornade of chaos follows? You could have handled this outside of my store. These books are invaluable, hundreds of years old. Also, if you had listened to me when you were here earlier, Death, you would have known to knock thrice on the door before entering instead of completely demolishing my ward."

"Why isn't anyone freeing me?" Duncan thrashed on the floor. He managed to knock a book off a shelf, and it thumped right onto his head. "Arghhh!"

Death rested his boot on the vamp's throat. "One more sound out of you and I'm sticking your goddamn head on a wooden peg and feeding it to my hounds."

"What Death means to say," I said to Ace, "is we apologize. We're both a little volatile with all the stress. I also want to say how sorry I am about your séance room. I hope you and Trixie are okay after the—er—the accident. I feel really bad about what happened."

When Death remained silent beside me, distracted by a ribbon hanging out of a book with a bead at the end of it, I nudged his side. "What she said," he growled.

Ace cleared his throat. "I appreciate your apology, ma chérie . Trixie is already recovered. I'm glad to see you are in good health too. The last time I saw you, you were certainty not yourself . . . " His violet eyes lingered on the pendant around my throat. "How is the barracuda treating you today?"

"I haven't noticed anything strange." I touched the pendant with my fingertips. "I think it might be working."

"Placebos do tend to work on weaker minds," Death muttered, and I shot him a look.

"I've been an associate of Lucifer for more than three hundred years," Duncan seethed, "and this inbred Venom wannabe and his stupid big-bosomed slag dishonored my entire clan! Now the tattooed delinquent with daddy issues is threatening me on neutral ground, and nobody is doing anything about it? I am a pureblood! I am an immigrant of the Netherworld! I will not stand for this—"

Ace snapped his fingers, and suddenly Duncan had a wad of cloth in his mouth. " Quel emmerdeur! Does he ever shut up?"

"Say the word and he'll be disposed of," Death said with dark smile.

The vampire whimpered.

"There will be no murder in my library." Ace put his hands on his hips. "These floors were just mopped. I'll have Trixie escort Duncan out. Come along now; the three of us shall gather in my greenhouse for tea and a chat."

My skin prickled as Death bent down to my ear. "I'll pick you up later." Then he stalked off the way we'd come.

"I said the three of us, did I not?" Ace exclaimed. "It is imperative that you both meet with me tonight."

Ace's mouth had flattened into a firm, grave line, those ominous words landing like lead in my stomach. He pivoted and hobbled down the aisle of books, pulling open a door and disappearing into another room. Death and I shared a perplexed look before following.