'Til Death We Meet Again (A Grim Awakening Book 3)

by Michelle Gross

  Somehow, I regained some sense and jumped down when she was trying to get in the car. When she failed to open the car door, she twirled around and saw me. I noticed how long and delicate her legs were while she was running. Even with good height, I was a lot bigger than her, and I had no idea why I was taking notice of everything about her. I didn’t touch her—I had my back toward her, but she fell back and hit the car as soon as she saw me.

  You would think after I rescued her from Molly, she would show some appreciation, but instead, I had to grab her as she tried to run back inside. She kicked and wiggled in my hold, and I had to stop smiling before I turned her around to face me—because I was even freaking myself out. I mean, why the hell was I grinning like some idiot?

  In the process of her fighting to get away from me, I let her fall onto gravel. I could see that she was afraid of me, but I needed her to turn around and face me as I talked. More like, I was compelled to see what she looked like. Her voice was distant and cold as she tried to hide her fear, but when she finally stood up and faced me, she was anything but. Blue eyes peered up at me and the light of the moon gave them the effect of looking at diamonds.

  While I loved her beauty, she feared me instantly. Her eyes, full of hatred, met mine as she backed toward the porch falling over, all the while shooing me away before she high-tailed it back into the house.

  I could tell you I didn’t fall for her that night, but I would be lying.

  That was also when Melanie Rose became the bane of my existence.

  Along with my growing want of her... My fear, distress, happiness, and life suddenly revolved around what happened to her.

  I didn’t realize what I felt for Melanie was what I had always hoped for until the night I offered my hand to her behind Deb’s Diner. I wanted her to know me—not just know me—I wanted her to accept every part of me.

  But I never thought she’d accept me… at least not all of me. She did though, and continued to show me her way of loving before I even realized she did.

  And it never crossed my mind until she said to Fear, “I’m Grim’s Light.” Her skin looked more like gold as it glowed and when she pulled the scythe from her chest… I remembered what the angel had told me. She’s the one.

  She saved me that night when she pieced me back together.

  My Love.

  The one I fell for before I even knew I was meant to fall for her. That didn’t matter, I would have made sure she was mine no matter what. The light she carried, it was a lot like angels. I smiled down at her… Did He bring me down a piece of Heaven?

  I finally found her. This feeling, this moment was perfect. She was perfect. As I stared at her on the rooftop, the reality came into focus. She was human… fragile and the death in me could already see her death in the distant future.

  It crushed me. Consumed me.

  I couldn’t lose her. Not ever.

  Why would He bring her to me if I could not keep her for eternity?

  Chapter One

  Molly

  I kept a safe distance from Fear once we were back in his cave. Grim got away from him again, and Melanie—the Vessel that was suddenly not the Vessel. What the hell? So, everyone had been wrong and I didn’t even understand what that made her now, but those two did a number on Fear and he was pissed. It didn’t matter that he was severely injured, every demon, chair, or table in his path was being destroyed.

  I ducked my head just as he threw a demon he had been sleeping with for asking if he was okay… I had liked Rick and as I raised my head back up and turned my body enough so that I could see his now lifeless body resting on the stone floor… I wished I hadn’t.

  I closed my eyes for a second and wondered when it would be me that would perish under Fear’s wrath. I was a ghost and yes, Fear did give me something extra to go with it… which explained my red eyes, but… I could still be destroyed.

  I opened them back up and faced him again. His tail moved wildly behind him as he growled in frustration. “He doesn’t know what he’s talking about! I won’t die, I can never die!” He sounded delirious as he spoke.

  My heart jumped once, twice, doubling more and more as I watched him. I hated him, but he could give me what I wanted. Was having a grown body so important? I found myself asking that question more and more… but I couldn’t go back now. I was just as vile as him now—the things I have already done to get this far…

  Grim spoke of his death… if it was true then I needed to make sure he gave me what I wanted before that happened.

  “Fear.” I finally spoke. He didn’t hear me. He was too caught up in his own rage to care. Why did Grim make him this way? Why did he want to be Grim so bad? And why didn’t Fear care that Marcus wanted more than just him? Was Fear incapable of thinking for himself? Or did he want to be Grim as well? “Fear,” I said louder this time.

  He whipped his head around to face me. A female demon took that as a chance to scatter out of his path. The other demons that were near were too terrified to move. When I saw the unmasked madness on his face, I wavered, but Grim’s words hadn’t only upset him, it did me as well. I wanted to be a grown woman before I lost the chance! “My body. You keep telling me—”

  “Body?” he cut me off and the cold, detached tone told me I should have kept my mouth shut. I was already taking a step back as he walked forward. He brought his hand over his wound. “Please do not tell me you are bringing up your need to be an actual woman.” I looked down quickly. I hated to show weakness, but it was better to be docile and afraid in front of him then to show any sort of strength—that got you killed with him. But I was more angry than scared. He kept telling me to do this, and this, and this, and this before he’d give me what I wanted and I started to realize he was pulling me along. “Look at me, Molly.” He was in front of me now and I looked up. He was pointing toward the sword wound. “Do you think I have time to worry about what you want?” He leered down at me, then his hands were in my hair and he pulled me up off the ground that way. “I don’t know, Molly, you’ve done an awful shit job of everything lately… maybe I should just get rid of you. You’ve failed me every time when it came to handling Melanie.” In my head, I was thinking that he was no different. He had failed every time when it came to Grim or Melanie.

  I didn’t speak, but I did show my defiance in the way I met his eyes. I wouldn’t show him any fear. Even if I didn’t want to die. Even if I wanted to look like more than a child… I knew I should have never taken his offer so long ago, but my own wants always came first.

  He watched me several silent seconds before throwing me across the cave. I tumbled a time or two on the ground before I got back up and looked at him.

  He was still looking down at me even from this distance. Like he was better than me. The scariest thing in the way that felt was if it were true. That I was no better than the monster that made me into one.

  “You’re lucky.” I waited to hear the thing he said every time he spared me my life. “If it weren’t for Fear, I would have killed you a long time ago.”

  Those words, I never understood them. He spoke like he wasn’t Fear. Regardless, for whatever reasons, he always kept me around and I’d continue to do what he asked until I got what I wanted.

  Chapter Two

  Melanie

  I gripped Killian’s hand as he faded us into his home—the one in my world. I was glad to finally get away from the Underworld but worried all the same. My face must have shown a reflection of the way I was feeling because he tugged on my hand and made me look up.

  “Ryan’s safe, you saw one of the Reapers take him back to my place.” Right before we had left, some of Killian’s Reapers showed up and he convinced me it was best that Ryan stayed at his place. He was still under Fear’s control, and it would be a lot harder for Fear to get to him if he was there. It didn’t make me feel better about it, though. I had a lot of guilt when I thought of Ryan.

  Killian had somehow managed to get me some clothes to change into since
I had been wearing nothing but panties underneath his cloak. During the time he had been talking to the Reapers, I put them on before giving the cloak back to him.

  Yes, it had been an eventful night.

  I tried to smile but it turned into a sigh. “He’s not going to like waking up there… I think I should go and stay with him.”

  He tilted my chin up. “I think you should go home and rest.” He pulled me closer and I reluctantly went into his arms. It had felt so good to tell him I loved him on the rooftop, but now all my worries were back. “Melanie, he’s been through a lot and I think more than anything he’d want a chance to figure out what’s happening to him before you…” he trailed off, but I already understood what he meant.

  I pressed my nose into his chest and wrapped my arms around him. Killian was no boy. I breathed him in and thought of every sin I wanted to commit with him. My own thoughts made me think of what he did to me in the alley during the Human Festival. He placed his chin on the top of my head. “You confess your love to me not even an hour ago, and already you can’t keep your hands off me.”

  I groaned at his conceited comment. “Fine, I’ll move.” When I went to pull away, he wouldn’t let me, and I grinned into his chest before looking up at him.

  He was gazing down at me with a smile. I traced his lips with my eyes and I contemplated kissing him until I was distracted by his sigh. It wasn’t the pleasant sort of sigh I wanted to hear, though. It was the kind I hated. The kind that reminded me of everything that was wrong. My smile vanished as I lowered my head. That was when I noticed the state the house was in… The place was a mess from when Molly brought the wolf demons here. “You should probably use your handy powers about now and clean this place up,” I told him just as I caught a whiff of something… I stepped away from Killian and tipped my nose in the air. “Is that the smell of chili?”

  As I walked down the hallway, the hole in the wall began to vanish along with the mess. “I told you time moves differently here than it does in the Underworld,” he said and I remembered, but as I hurried into the kitchen and touched the pot on the stove I was still amazed. It was still a little warm.

  “I spent three days at your place…”

  “It’s only been a couple of hours at most here,” he added. I turned around and almost bumped into him. I hadn’t realized he was right behind me. He had a sly grin on his face and I was sure he was enjoying my curiosity about the difference in time, but I needed confirmation. I hurried away from him and went to search for my phone. I was pretty sure I had left it in the living room and found it on the floor next to the couch. When I picked it up, I flopped down on the couch. The date was exactly as when we left a few days ago. The only difference was a few hours in time and it was dark. It had still been daylight when we had left.

  “That’s amazing,” I said looking at my phone.

  He followed me into the living room and stood in front of me. There was a crooked tilt on his lips as he smiled at me. “When will you stop making sure of everything and just believe me when I tell you something.”

  “I believed you when you told me, but it’s still weird that the time is so different.”

  “After everything you’ve been through and witnessed, the time is what you’re most amazed about?” He cracked another grin my way.

  I laughed and let my head fall back against the couch and closed my eyes. Since I used the power again on the rooftop, my entire body ached and there was a pounding in my head. I wouldn’t tell Killian because he didn’t agree with me using the power but if I hadn’t, who knew what would have happened.

  As bad as I wanted to go check on Ryan, I knew Killian was right. I needed to rest. Now that I was sitting down, it felt even worse. I heard him move above me, but I was so focused on my headache that I didn’t bother to open my eyes. “How are you feeling?” he asked me.

  I raised my head slightly and opened my eyes. “I’m fine, why?” Of course, we both knew I was lying.

  He exhaled before bending down over me. He brought his hand up to my face and lifted it enough so that I was gazing into his eyes as he leaned over me. “Don’t lie to me. You used a lot of your power earlier.”

  I grabbed his hand that was on my cheek. “Killian… what am I, really?” My tone was serious—desperate even. I searched his eyes for an answer.

  The room was quiet and the draw of breath that escaped his mouth branded a place in my memory. Not because it was sexy or deep, but because it was a new type of intimacy I wanted to share with him. Being in a quiet place, in an empty room with him as we talked about things that held meaning. When would he give me more of him? When would he share some of the burdens he carried with me?

  “You mean, you make that bold statement earlier and declared yourself as Grim’s Light to Fear and don’t even know what that meant?”

  Now that he put it that way, I laughed shyly and was glad that the light in the living room was off to hide the rise in color on my cheeks. The hallway light was enough to see most of his face as he loomed over me. “Yeah, now that I think about it, it was kind of embarrassing.” We laughed together, and it became another brand on my heart that I never wanted to forget.

  “We know you’re human, but I don’t know what else you are,” he admitted. His eyes lowered to my lips as he spoke, “But I think it’s safe to say we didn’t cross paths by accident.”

  As his mouth drew closer, I silently thanked the reason I was born to be with him. And I hoped that the me in my dreams hadn’t been lying when she told me that I was his light. For whatever reason, I just wanted to be with him.

  Only, he didn’t kiss me and leaned back up. “Come on, I’ll take you home.”

  I pretended to pout as he walked me to the car and opened the door for me. I got in and leaned my head against the car door after buckling up. Tylenol, here I come, I thought.

  We drove in silence and I found myself thinking of Ryan. He only ever loved me and look where that love got him. I knew everything that happened to him was my fault, but just like his love made him selfless, mine made me selfish. I went straight into Killian’s arms despite it all. That was why I would find a way to save him from Fear.

  The drive was short and we were soon pulling into my driveway. I unbuckled my seatbelt. “Melanie.” I looked over at him. He leaned back into the seat and suddenly he was thrusting his hips up in the air so that he could get something from his pocket. My eyes zeroed in on his crotch. My face heated and I grabbed my neck and looked away. I thought that things would go back to normal now that Killian’s incubus impulses were under control, but it wasn’t. My mind always steered in that direction. I blamed it on the books I read.

  His hand left his pocket and moved it in front of my face. Something shiny dangled from his fingers. “I’ve been meaning to give it to you for a while but never could find the right opportunity.” I looked down at the necklace in his hand. I touched the white skull on the necklace and smiled. I also noticed that there were two, but the second necklace had no skull on it.

  “Why two?” I asked.

  “Do you not like it?” I could tell that he was waiting for a different reaction from me.

  “No, it’s beautiful. I love it.” I smiled at him as I took the necklace with the skull from his hand. The white of the skull was like nothing I had seen before. It almost seemed magical and knowing him, it probably was. “Is the other one for you?”

  He nodded. “Yeah, it’s actually more than a necklace.” I looked up. “Remember the demon I killed from the lake?” I nodded. I could never forget that night. That was the night he showed me what he did as the Grim Reaper. “I made your necklace from the pearl I took from her. Pearls can be very powerful if you use them right, so I had a witch turn it into a protective charm. Even when I’m not with you, this will keep you safe in my place.”

  I knew the mood was romantic, but I couldn’t stop myself from being me. “I was beginning to worry you were taking me home, so that I could be kidnapped by some demo
n and you wouldn’t have to protect me anymore.” I was joking, but it had crossed my mind that I wouldn’t be safe if he left me here alone.

  His eyes darkened and my belly dropped with both worry and anticipation. “I’ll put it on you.” He took the necklace from my hand. I leaned over the gear shift and scooped my hair up off my neck. The shirt he gave me on the rooftop was super baggy and I knew he could see my breasts if he wanted to. My heart jumped along with the blush on my cheeks. It wasn’t like he hadn’t seen them already.

  He didn’t miss the way I was acting—the increase in my breath and the way I watched his eyes to observe where they might roam. He didn’t say anything as he brought the necklace up to my neck, but my skin spoke for the both of us when it tingled and broke out into goosebumps when his hand grazed my neck.

  The necklace felt cool against my warm skin. His eyes finally lowered to the necklace, but it didn’t take them long to stray toward the X on my chest. I covered it instinctively. I lived with it so long, and it came naturally for me to hide it. There was something terrifying in the way his eyes darkened the longer he looked at it along with the way he tightened his jaw. He moved my hand away so he could look at it. He rubbed his thumb across it roughly.

  “This is an eyesore.” I lowered my gaze from his. I hated the mark even more than he did. “Melanie, I won’t let anyone take your life away from you. I won’t let anyone take you. Ever.” Killian had the perfect balance of light and dark; one minute he was gentle and the next he seemed just as dangerous as the demons he was keeping me from.

  I wanted him to be right but Fear couldn’t be killed yet Grim kept speaking like he would soon die… which was it? So instead, I changed the subject and smiled slightly. “Let me put yours on you.”

  “I can put it on,” he told me, but I was already taking the necklace out of his hand. I raised up from my seat, and that put me even further onto the gear shift. For someone so old and experienced, I took pleasure in the way I could catch him off guard. I brushed my cheek across his as I put on the necklace. I could see his Adam’s apple move slightly, and I knew why. My breasts were in his face—yes, on purpose.