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

by Michelle Gross

  “What’s wrong?” I moved back when the necklace was on but only enough that I was inches from his face.

  And I knew I gave myself away because his eyes fell over me knowingly. “Melanie, if I didn’t know better I would think that you had them in my face to get a reaction.” When I tried to look away, he grabbed me by the chin and wouldn’t let me go. His hand trailed up my arm, across my collarbone before going into my hair. The tightening in my stomach was strong enough that I felt the need all the way down to my toes. I kissed him before he could kiss me. It was only enough to brush our lips together and it was over. Then he pulled me back in for the real one. Our mouths bumped and slid apart, the sound of our breathing and our tongues meeting were the only things I could hear. My stomach was so wound up, I felt like combusting but then he was pulling back away from me. “It’s okay to slow down, Love. I’m not going anywhere and neither are you.”

  His words peeled back a layer I thought I kept hidden. I was scared. I was scared of losing to Fear. I was scared of dying and being stuck in the Underworld with Fear. I was terrified of what might happen to Ryan if we didn’t do something. And most of all, I was terrified of not knowing what it felt like to love Killian before I lost the chance to.

  “I’m not,” I sounded defensive as I slid back over into my seat. “Don’t you like kissing me? Or now that your incubus voodoo is under control, you no longer want to kiss me?”

  He sighed. “Melanie…”

  “What, Killian? I don’t get it. After everything we did—you did to me earlier while we were in the Underworld…”

  “Yes, Melanie, I feel bloody terrific that I gave you your first orgasm in a filthy alley in the Underworld where humans were being killed and without a choice of what happened to them,” he said sarcastically.

  My chest tightened and I knew I had to get out of this car. I jumped out and slammed the door shut before he got a chance to stop me. Please don’t cry, please don’t cry, I told myself as I hurried up the steps. I couldn’t walk into the house crying because Alex or Mom would ask why.

  But, I felt so horrible. So, so, ashamed. What happened between Killian and I had been beyond amazing, but it didn’t change the fact that it happened at the wrong place. At the wrong time. And I was exposed in front of all those demons in just my panties and Ryan had seen me that way too.

  The humiliation would never end.

  I stopped at the door and took a deep breath, recollecting my thoughts before I walked in. I was surprised to see a smile on Mom’s face as she stepped into the hallway. For a moment, just the sight of her after three days was enough to make me forget about what I had been so upset about. The way my life was lately I wasn’t sure if I’d live to see her smile—or Alex complaining about something normal—or Tess telling me another one of her crazy stories.

  But that smile of hers vanished as her eyes lowered. Oh, crap. I was wearing a different outfit than the one I had left in. “Melanie.” Her voice was intimidating, and now I knew how Killian felt when he came over.

  “Yes, Mom?”

  “Why are you wearing different clothes than what you left in?” It felt ridiculous. I spent the last three days wondering if I’d ever see her again and if I’d even survive to come home. Yet, I get interrogated the moment I was home. I giggled. “And why is this funny?” she asked as she crossed her arms over her chest.

  “Nothing, just thanks. I kind of needed that.” I shrugged my shoulders at her, and she looked at me like I had lost my mind.

  “You didn’t answer my question.”

  “Mom!” I groaned as I moved toward the kitchen. “Trust in your daughter. Besides, you’re the one that told me to have fun before I left but NOTHING happened.” Not exactly nothing… I started searching through the cabinets. “Oh, but he’s my boyfriend now, I think.” I did storm out of the car on him… “Where’s the Tylenol? I have a headache.”

  She went to the cabinet I had just looked in and handed them to me. “You think?” She gave me another funny look. I grabbed a water and took the Tylenol. She finally sighed. “Well, if he plans to get serious, he should probably think about coming over for dinner sometime.”

  Killian? Mom? Alex? All together at the dinner table…

  I gave her a quick hug. At least she was starting to accept him. “I will ask him.” I saw Alex eavesdropping from the hallway. “I’m going upstairs.” Alex hurried away as I went upstairs. “I saw you, Alex.”

  I shut my door as soon as I entered my room and came face to face with my boyfriend. I couldn’t even look at him. I could feel the shame creeping across my face. “I have a few words to the girl in front of me who thinks I’m not interested in her.” He started to walk forward and I stepped back every time he did until he had me against the door. He placed his elbow above my head as he towered over me. “To the beautiful girl who suddenly feels ashamed of what he did to her earlier because of the way her idiot boyfriend—of only a couple of hours, I might add—worded what he meant wrong.” I started crying. Oh, God, did I cry. “When I said those things, Melanie, I wasn’t being harsh to you but myself. I don’t regret what we did in the alley, but I do feel guilty that as a man, as a demon, and as the Grim Reaper I followed along with Fear’s games so that I could get a chance to merge again. And for you making that happen, you will have no idea what that meant for me. I won’t ever regret having my hands on you, I just would have preferred it to be anywhere but there.” He wiped away my tears.

  After I cried to my heart’s content, I let him carry me to bed before he left to check on Ryan.

  Chapter Three

  Melanie

  I was up before my alarm clock went off. It was Sunday, so I didn’t have to worry about going to school. I had satisfying sleep but the moment I opened my eyes my uneasiness grew. I slept a whole night here in the human world… just how long would that be in the Underworld? The more I thought about it, the guiltier I felt for not waiting for Ryan to wake up before I left.

  I knew Killian had a point that I needed to give him some space. Things had been awkward between us in the Underworld. He had been shackled by Fear to get a reaction from me… and the fact that he was the charred demon that was always trying to kill me was even worse.

  While waiting for Killian to come get me, I went downstairs to get a glass of milk. Everyone was still asleep so I was quiet until I flipped on the kitchen light and felt my soul leave my body. Sitting at the table was a man flipping through my mom’s cookbook. He looked over at me and did a chin lift in greeting.

  What the—

  “Honey, what’s wrong?” Mom came staggering out of her bedroom barely awake. She looked at me then into the kitchen. Her eyes scanned the room and moved right over him before she looked at me again. “What is it?” Then she grabbed her chest. “Please don’t tell me it was a rat?”

  He wasn’t a ghost. The more I studied him, the more he looked like a Reaper! The dark clothing and calm nature. Was he here to keep watch? “Uhhh…”

  “Grim sent me here to protect you and your family,” he finally told me. “But pay no mind to me, go about your business.” How the heck was I supposed to ignore someone that was sitting in our kitchen? Then he flipped to the next page in the cookbook and Mom’s eyes shot open like she was suddenly out of her drowsy state.

  “Did you see that?” she asked me while still staring at the cookbook on the table.

  I ran to the table and snatched the cookbook off the table and glared at the Reaper before putting it back in the cabinet. “No, what was it?”

  She looked up to the ceiling fan before shaking her head. “Nothing. Just still trying to wake up, I guess.” As she walked to the coffee pot, I shot him another glare and mouthed, “Stop touching things!”

  “Mom, it’s too early. I’m going back to bed.” I told her quickly and ran back upstairs to wait and yell at my boyfriend for not telling me he put a Reaper in the house with us. Luckily said boyfriend faded into my sight right as I stepped into the room and shut
the door. “I expected to see a loving face when I arrived here, why do you look like you might want to murder me?”

  “Why didn’t you tell me you got a Reaper to stay in the house with us?” I whisper-yelled at him.

  “Oh, Miles,” he said nonchalantly.

  “Yes, Miles,” I muttered in a ridiculously stupid manner. “He scared the crap out of me, and you should have seen Mom’s face when he flipped a page in her cookbook while he sat at the table.”

  He looked so serious for a second… only a second before he became a boyish looking man with a shit-eating grin. “Oh, I would have loved to see that.” He leaned close. “I bet it was funny.”

  “Oh my God, it was not—” But I was already laughing at his goofy grin. “Okay, maybe a little.” Then I slapped his shoulder and tried to get serious. “But seriously, this ain’t funny. I don’t want him going around picking up stuff and moving them around. Mom will lose her mind and let’s not forget, I have a lot of experience when it comes to thinking you’re going crazy… it is not fun!”

  He covered his smile with his hand. “I’m sorry, you’ve been through a lot.” I squinted my eyes at him… he didn’t look sorry at all. “You ready to go see Ryan?” he asked me. I nodded quickly. He tilted his head at me. “Dial down the enthusiasm; I know he means a lot to you, but you are with me.”

  He grabbed my arm before I got a chance to say anything and faded us to his home.

  ______

  I didn’t know what I expected to happen when I spoke to Ryan but I never expected him to smile as soon as he saw me—the laid back, easy-going Ryan sort of smile I’d seen half my life.

  “Melanie.” His smile was confident, sure of himself—hiding how he really felt—as he walked over and wrapped me in a hug. “Why do you look like someone stole your lunch?” He ended the hug so that he could say it to my face.

  “Don’t do that.” I pushed him away and felt my anxiety crawling up my stomach like a disease.

  “Do what?” He feigned ignorance. Now that I was actually looking at him, I could see the dark circles, the lack of sleep, the droop in his shoulders… it was all clear. Ryan was just very good at making me think he was okay.

  “Ryan…” I didn’t even know what to say. “After everything you’ve been through…”

  “Oh, you mean the fact that I turn into a monster that wants to kill you?” he said with ease, so much so that I was caught off guard.

  I shook my head at him. “Ryan, that wasn’t you.”

  He sighed. “Yeah, I know but it is me.” He stepped away from me. “All I ever wanted was to keep you safe and somehow I ended up being one of the monsters that tried to kill you.” Ryan looked to Killian who never spoke a word as he watched us.

  I walked a couple steps to get to him. I grabbed his shoulders and made him look at me. “Ryan, how can you still worry about me right now?” My voice was soft and the lump in my throat was getting worse. “Ryan, you died and now Fear turned you into a demon… Be mad. Get angry! But, please start thinking of yourself instead of me!”

  “What kind of guy do you think I am, Melanie?” This time he was the one grabbing my shoulders. “I’ve loved you for too damn long and it’s hard for me to stop worrying about you.” He sounded so earnest it broke my heart.

  “Ryan…” I whispered. “I won’t let Fear take any more from you. We will figure out a way to get rid of the demon he created inside you.” And save your afterlife. And hopefully keep me from falling into his hands as well.

  “Melanie… this demon, it’s too powerful… When it takes over, I truly become something else and I can’t control myself.” I watched him shudder.

  “That’s why we have to keep you from Fear.” He laughed at me.

  “That doesn’t matter, he doesn’t have to be around for him to control me. If he wanted me, I would have already changed… He’s waiting for something, Melanie, he’s sick and twisted. I know he’s just waiting, and I can’t stand not knowing when it’s going to happen to me again.” Ryan looked scared. Truly afraid.

  “Ryan, what happened to you during the time you were with him?”

  “Grim, we have a problem.” We all turned to a new voice in the room. Killian turned his head last. He made sure he met my eyes before he looked away.

  “I’ll give you guys a minute,” Killian told me as he walked away with the Reaper. I wanted to follow him, but he never left me an invitation to.

  “Melanie.” I turned back to Ryan. “He’ll be back.”

  I shrugged my shoulders. “I know.” I prepared my nerves from what I was about to say next. “About Killian…”

  “You guys are together. I already know.”

  I arched my eyebrow at him. “You do?”

  He groaned. “Grim told me.”

  “He did?” I couldn’t keep my surprise hidden.

  He nodded. “Oh yeah. After he found out I wasn’t emotionally damaged from what I went through with Fear, he made sure to bring up the fact. Loud and clear.”

  I brought my hands to my cheeks. “I’m sorry, I wanted to be the one that told you—”

  “Don’t worry, competition won’t hurt me.” He gave me a lopsided grin.

  “Ryan, I’m already with him.”

  “That doesn’t matter to me. Until I lose myself to Fear completely I will go after the things I want… and you’ve always been the only thing I’ve ever wanted.” My stomach bottomed out. How was I supposed to respond to that? “Come on, let’s go. Grim might not be so interesting himself, but he does have a pretty nice home.”

  _____

  Ryan pushed open the front doors of Grim’s castle and led us outside. I took a deep breath as I looked at the view. It would never stop amazing me how a place could look so magical. I watched him as he looked around. “Is this your first time stepping outside the castle?” I asked him.

  “Not since…” He let his voice die out. Why did I ask stupid things? Now I was picturing him chained to a tree and I was sure he was doing the same thing.

  I cleared my throat. “So, do you want to see the dragons?” I looked over at him with a smile.

  He didn’t look surprised to hear there were dragons. He continued to look around. “This place is… something else.”

  “It’s beautiful,” I told him.

  “It’s not what I’ve pictured the Grim Reaper’s place to look like. I mean, the place has a darkness to it. Even now the sky looks too dark to be considered daylight yet… it’s also full of color and life.”

  “It’s enchanting,” I muttered another comment as I eyed the place like it was my favorite ice cream flavor: cookies and cream.

  “If you say so,” he grunted in response, but I could tell by the look on his face that he was mesmerized like I was.

  “Sky!” I yelled.

  “What the hell?” Ryan looked at me. “Who’s Sky?”

  “A friend,” I told him. “And I was the one that gave her that name,” I added proudly.

  It took a few minutes for her to become visible in the sky. When she did, she was like a star in the orange colored sky. She called to me, it was a piercing echo that lasted several seconds. She dropped down in front of us and tucked her wings to her sides. “How’s Rixen?” I rubbed her neck.

  Her head lifted to the sky and I looked up to see the dragon leader soaring above us. “Glad to see he’s okay.”

  “She’s beautiful,” he mumbled next to me, transfixed by the beauty that was Sky. At his words, Sky eyes shifted to him and growled. Her nostrils flared, teeth bared, as she hunkered down and eyed Ryan. He brought his hands up and took a step back, not wanting to upset her, but she only grew more agitated. What few times I got to spend with Sky since coming here, I knew she was very docile and gentle compared to the other dragons. Why was she being so hostile with Ryan?

  “Hey, Sky.” I moved closer, guiding my hands in front of her to take her attention away from him. “What’s wrong?”

  I could keep pretending I didn’t know why sh
e was acting this way, but one glance at Ryan’s haunted face and I knew he understood, too. “It’s him, isn’t it? She can sense him in me.”

  “Sky, he’s not our enemy.” Now I was desperate to make her understand, Ryan needed her to understand. Rixen roared in the sky. His tail swayed as he watched us, I didn’t know what he might do if he thought Sky was in danger. “Please, calm down, you’re making Rixen anxious.” I placed my hands against her snout and tried to soothe her. She took the opportunity to put my wrist in her mouth just so that she could jerk me to her side. She kept me close as she watched Ryan.

  His face was worse than a man of defeat. It was the look of someone that had nothing left.

  “Sky!” I stepped right back in front of her.

  “Don’t force her to understand,” Ryan told me from behind. “She should know to fear me so that if I ever become the demon again she would know to stop me.”

  Sky was no longer growling and I knew she was trying to figure out what Ryan meant. “Fear made him something he’s not… just to hurt me because he’s someone I care about.” Her eyes darted back and forth between Ryan and me, and it was so plain to see that she was having her own inner turmoil with her instincts. That gave me hope. She wanted to believe me. “We’re gonna save him, so I need you to watch over him like you do me. I’m sure Grim will keep him safe here.”

  “He’s safest here, but Fear can still get to him.” I turned in the direction of Killian’s voice and saw him standing a few feet behind Ryan. “He died with Fear’s mark. No matter where I take him, Fear will eventually be able to get to him. It’s the rule of the mark.” There was that awful pang in my chest, the combination of a volcano erupting and the drop of despair pitting against every ‘hope’ you want to believe. “Ryan, have you felt him lately?” he asked Ryan.