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I squeezed Zinnia’s hand. “What should I say?”
Wind picked up speed around us, faster, more violent. I turned to Zinny. Her wild red hair was whipping around her face. She squeezed my hand in return. “Let me do the talking,” she called through the storm now raging around us.
The cold and wind sucked the oxygen from my lungs, the wind somehow growing stronger, and the ground a constant rumble beneath our feet.
A dark figure moved into view, tall and draped in black. He lifted a twisted wood staff glowing with power, then thumped it a final time against the forest floor.
Everything stilled, the wind dying away to nothing.
Zinny and I gasped for breath, and I forced myself to remain where I was and not take a horrified step back. I’d seen Death in my dreams, but it hadn’t prepared me for seeing him now. He was impossibly tall, close to seven feet, and broad shoulders filled out his cloak that concealed his form and face.
All I could see of his body were his hands, palms broad, fingers thick and long, curled around the staff he still gripped tight, and his frigid blue eyes glowing from beneath the hood of his cloak.
We waited as that arctic stare moved over us.
“I told you to come alone,” he said to me.
His voice was the stuff of nightmares, resonating deep and cold, sparking a multitude of emotions—terror, despair, loneliness, heartbreak, grief. The urge to curl into a ball and sob filled me and had me shaking uncontrollably.
“I’m afraid you can’t have her,” Zinnia said beside me.
Her voice was strong, but there was no missing the slight waver. I moved closer to her; her hold on me so tight, it was painful.
Death studied her for several long seconds. “And you think you can stop me from taking what I’m owed?”
“If you take Rose’s soul, you’ll be interfering with a bargain between Lucifer and her sister’s mate. Lucifer granted immortality to the Thornheart sisters if they mated. Rose is mated. She can’t die.”
I spun to Zinnia. What? We were immortal? I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. Zinnia didn’t look my way. She kept her gaze locked on Death.
His wide shoulders seemed to grow broader, his grip on his staff tightening and turning his knuckles white.
Zinnia continued, seemingly unfazed by the terror standing before us. “If you make an enemy of Lucifer, there’ll be a war. You’ll disturb the balance between the four realms.”
Death made a sound that lifted the hair on the back of my neck, a sound not human, not of this world. “She doesn’t need to die to enter my world, witch. I can take her as she is. Her soul will still be mine.”
“Rose’s brother-in-law is Lucifer’s alpha hellhound, a male he considers a friend. Do you think Lucifer will let that stand?” Zinnia said, her voice growing stronger.
“The bargain grants her immortality, not where she’ll live out eternity. Lucifer will have no grounds to start a war.”
That dreadful voice rolled over us, and my knees almost gave out. Oh goddess, he was going to take me anyway.
“Come here, Rose,” he said to me.
I turned to Zinnia, fear and horror making me shake so hard my teeth chattered. “It’s okay,” I forced out.
Death held out his hand.
My cousin didn’t let go. “It’s okay,” I said again, and I took a step forward.
Zinnia pulled me back, refusing to release me.
I squeezed her fingers. “You did all you could, but you can’t stop this. No one can.”
Her jaw tightened, and she turned back to Death, staring him down. “It’s not Rose you want, it’s me.”
“What?”
Death stilled.
