Author: Kalayna Price

And I had no vials left.

I threw open my shields as it lunged. Grave essence plowed into me as the planes of reality splashed together in my vision. The ghoul didn’t change. It was already connected to the land of the dead. I had a moment of shock. Then the ghoul slammed into me.

Pain stabbed through my chest and tore into my stomach as the ghoul’s talons sank into my skin, ripped at me. The ground jumped up to hit me as the ghoul’s weight knocked me back. It rode me down, the impact making its claws dig deeper.

I didn’t have enough air to scream.

Those teeth were inches from my face when the ghoul burst into flames, a silver bolt sticking out of its side. A black motorcycle boot smashed into the thing, knocking it off me. Its claws ripped free. Now I screamed.

Briar stood over me, her crossbow twanging once more. Then, nothing.

Everything was silent except for the sound of sizzling, dead flesh and my thudding heart, which seemed too slow for the situation. That suddenly became very important to me, and I tried to count the seconds between beats, but blackness took me before I reached two.

“Hey, you alive?”

I blinked, opening my eyes. It was hard to focus on Briar, but I tried.

“Damn, you’re conscious,” she said. “Listen, your wounds are bad. I can sit here and put pressure on them and you might live five extra minutes. Otherwise, you’ll either drown or bleed out in the next couple of minutes. Or I can save you the misery and end it quick. Preference?”

I blinked again. I was dying? I couldn’t die. Not here. I opened my mouth but instead of words, I coughed. It hurt like hell and tasted of blood. Fuck. She was right. The ghoul had hit a lung.

I tried again and this time managed to croak the words “out of graveyard.”

The blurry Briar gave me a confused look.

“Can’t die”—cough—“in graveyard.”—cough—“Get me out.”

She looked around, but the shock was peeling away under my panic. “Get me out.”

“Okay, okay.” She leaned down and wrapped my arm around her neck. Then she half carried, half dragged me toward the entrance.

I tried to help, but I couldn’t get my feet to cooperate. The gate looked a million miles away. I’m not going to make it. I’ll be stuck here forever. Somewhere I knew that my spirit wouldn’t just pop out of my body once I died, that when they removed me from the cemetery, the collectors would come, but all I could think of was that I’d end up a haunt.

“Hurry.” The word was broken and slurred, but Briar understood enough to curse about the demand.

The gate was closer now. I was going to make it.

And Death was on the other side. Waiting.

Briar dragged me just beyond the gate and then lowered me to the ground. “Happy now?”

I was. But I didn’t waste the strength to tell her. All my attention was on Death.

“I’m glad it’s you,” I said, or at least, I tried to say. Everything was darkening now.

“Why can’t you at least try to stay alive?” Death asked, dropping to his knees by my shoulders. “For me?”

I was out of words. Which was okay, because Death’s hand slipped under my head, and his mouth covered mine, negating the need to speak. His lips were warm and soft, but his mouth pressed hard against mine.

Well, if I was going to die, it might as well be kissing a very sexy soul collector.

The kiss sent a wave of heat starting at my mouth and spreading outward, but that was chased by a cold so biting I flinched. Death’s hand behind my head ensured I couldn’t pull back as the chill poured into me.

“What the hell?” I heard Briar say, but now I was actively struggling against the cold Death shoved into me.

And I had the strength to struggle, which was odd as I’d barely had the strength to keep my heart beating the moment before. What’s happening?

Finally, once I felt like all my organs had frozen, the chill stopped and Death’s lips on mine were once again warm. He pulled back, not far, but far enough that I could focus on his eyes.

“You okay?” The question was a whisper.

And oddly, the answer was yes. I hurt like hell, but the darkness had pulled back, and I could feel all my limbs again.

“What did you do?”

At my question, he smiled, his eyes closing in an extended blink. I could feel the relief vibrate off him. Then he went still.

“Who and what are you?” Briar said, and I wiggled so I could see around Death.

Briar had her crossbow pressed against the back of Death’s head. Oh, this is bad. I was suddenly not dying and Briar could see Death—and I wasn’t forcing him to manifest. I could think of only one explanation. Death had switched life essences with me. It saved me, but it made him mortal.

Which meant if Briar shot him, Death would be very dead.

Chapter 33

“Don’t shoot him.”

“Craft? You sound pretty alive down there,” Briar said without moving her crossbow. “This thing heal you?”

“He’s not a thing. He is…” I hesitated. Explaining soul collectors to someone who couldn’t see them—at least under normal circumstances—wasn’t always easy. It probably also wouldn’t help convince her not to shoot him.

“He’s what, Craft?”

“Well, I’m starting to think he’s my guardian angel.” Though angel of death was what most people would call him.

Despite the crossbow pressed to his head, Death smirked.

“Do you shoot anything that catches you off guard?” Death asked without moving. I flared my eyes at him. Didn’t he have any sense of self-preservation? You don’t poke bears—or a witch armed for war.

“It’s worked for me so far,” she said, but she lowered the crossbow. She didn’t put it away, but at least it wasn’t pointed at his head anymore.

He straightened, helping me up as he climbed to his feet. I moved slower, wincing. The stabbing pain was still in my chest and abdomen. I glanced down at myself, and then wished I hadn’t. There was a good reason the pain was still there—I’d been gored and though I wasn’t dying, I also hadn’t been healed. Shiny strips of flesh showed in my abdomen. I wrapped my arms around my stomach, trying to hide the wound from Briar.

Not that she was paying attention. Her eyes were devouring Death. “Do I have to sell my soul to get a hot guy to show up and bring me back when I’m fatally injured? Even if the answer is yes, just tell me where to sign.”

I frowned. I wasn’t used to anyone else being able to see Death, and an oddly possessive streak urged me to step between them and tell Briar that if there was going to be any ogling, it would be by me. I didn’t do either, but I did move closer to Death. And my shoulder might have been slightly in front of him.

Though he didn’t make a sound, I could feel the amusement radiating off him and knew he was aware of exactly what I was doing. Then he stepped behind me and wrapped his arms around my shoulders, the hard planes of his chest against my back and his warmth engulfing me.

“Damn, Craft, I never thought I’d be jealous of a girl who just got her guts ripped open.”

Yeah, about that…I forced a smile. How the hell was I going to hide the fact I was walking around with large holes in my abdomen? Redirection.

“It was a good day,” I said. “We got the ghoul, saved Tamara and the OMIH officer, and no one else died.” Much. “But I think we should probably leave.”

She glanced back into the cemetery. “You sticking around for clean up?”

Crap. Yeah, I guess we couldn’t leave smoldering ghoul around for visitors to find.

“I actually need to steal Alex,” Death said, releasing my shoulders.

Briar’s dark eyes darted to the parking lot, where only her SUV was parked. She gave Death a sideways glance, but shrugged. “I’m used to working alone anyway.” She started to turn, and then stopped. “Craft, aside from the almost dying part, you did okay in there. I’ve seen grown men wet themselves when facing ghouls.”

Crap, compliments. I nodded in acknowledgment. “It would have been better without the ghoul ripping me apart.”

“The MCIB wouldn’t pay me so much if more people survived my job.” She shrugged before reaching into her jacket and pulling out a small card. “Taking out a nest in the middle of the day is a good way to do things. Call me if you’re up to searching more graveyards for me.” She held out the card. I was still hiding my stomach wound so Death was the one who reached out and accepted the card. She stared at him a little too long before turning back to me. “But, Craft, don’t think this means I’m not still watching you. Don’t leave the city.”

I smiled, hoping she’d take it as agreement and get the hell out of there. The look she gave me wasn’t quite as suspicious as any previous time she’d studied me, but even if the woman had complimented me, it was clear I hadn’t won her trust.

Finally she headed into the cemetery to deal with the corpses, and I turned to Death.

“I take it you swapped our life essences?” I asked and at his nod, I opened my arms to reveal my destroyed torso. “So now what? Will I heal?”

“Not exactly. Alex, I’m going to need an oath from you that you won’t reveal the secrets you learn in the next few hours.”

“You don’t need my oath for that.” I rarely discussed the collectors and I never revealed anything that wasn’t common knowledge, at least among grave witches.

“I do, and not just a promise because even a fae can be forsworn.”

Damn. I hated oaths, but I tapped the magic in my ring and forced it to coat my words as I let him swear me to secrecy. Once I finished, he nodded his approval.

“Now close your eyes and hold your breath,” he whispered.

I did, and his warm arms wrapped around me.

Then the world vanished into a sea of magic as cold as the grave.

We reemerged a second later. As the warm air wrapped around me, I opened my eyes, gasping.