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Highway to Hell Chapter 4

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Fate’s ultimatum kept derailing my concentration and I finally threw the joystick on the table in frustration. Julia glanced at me and I ran my hands into my hair, letting out an exasperated exhale.

She hadn’t asked me what happened on the street, and I hadn’t volunteered anything. Even now I was hesitant to discuss it with her and I wasn’t sure why. Julia knew who I was, and she knew eventually I’d have to free my father, but she didn’t know the timeframe and I knew she couldn’t suffer anymore loss than she already had.

“Why didn’t you invite Danny and Ben inside?”

I laughed and glanced at her. The last thing I wanted was to continue the mini-family reunion, but she deserved an answer.

“I didn’t feel like continuing the conversation,” I said, knowing she had a ton of questions whirling around her pretty head but the answers she was searching for were not what she wanted to hear.

“Why not?”

“Because I just didn’t,” I snapped. When my gaze dropped to my hands, I stared at my fists before slowly uncurling my fingers. “Sorry,” I muttered and glanced at her.

“What happened?” she asked. Her big brown eyes implored me to spill everything and I sighed.

“Ben and Danny are Fate’s brothers.”

Silence fell over the room.

“And the original death was their older brother,” I added, using finger quotes when I said original death.

Her eyes got big, like saucers. “Are they dangerous?”

I shrugged. “I honestly don’t know how dangerous they really are but they’re certainly different. You didn’t keel over when you shook their hands, so as reapers go, they really don’t fit the mold. Fate sent them here after your parents died. I guess she knew enough from your destiny to know we would end up here and wanted them in place.”

“In place for what?”

“In place to help me get my father,” I said and waited for those words to sink in.

Her head cocked to the side like a curious puppy and then her eyes narrowed and she shook her head. “Oh, no. You aren’t going into the reaper world again,” she said like she had some authority over me.

I couldn’t help the smirk, or the challenge I gave in the form of an arched eyebrow. She crossed her arms and leveled a glare in return.

“I don’t have a choice.”

Fate made that perfectly clear. If I failed to rescue my father, I would have to take his place. If I succeeded, she would see what she could do about bending the rules for me as long as my father agreed to stay in the post for a few more years. That alone was enough to make me consider the ridiculous notion of going up against Leviathan, but what she had said next clinched it.

If I didn’t organize a rescue mission, Julia and anyone else I got close to would die.

I would be cursed to walk the earth alone and when the time came for me to take the helm as Death; she would see to it that I would be chained to the position for eternity.

There were no other options once Julia’s life was at stake and if I was able to set my father free, the likelihood that I’d be able to grow old with her would be more of a reality than I had now.

Anger flicked across her face, tightening the muscles in her jaw and I reached out, cupping her cheek. “I’ll be fine,” I said, but even I heard the lack of conviction in that statement.

When the glossy sheen of tears formed in her eyes, I pulled her into my arms.

“I promise I’ll come back,” I whispered in her ear, hating myself for making a vow I wasn’t sure I could keep. Leviathan had torn Isabel to pieces. Just the thought of her broken body and dying rasps made me shiver.

“When do you have to go?”

“I’ve got a week to get prepared,” I said, pulling away.

“How the hell do you get prepared to face Leviathan?”

“Ben said he thinks I’m already tapping into what I’ll need,” I said and slid my gaze to the paused game on the television.

“What do you mean?”

“The cafeteria. The ninja stuff. He thinks I’m starting to tap into my skills.”

Julia’s thick lashes batted in succession and then a crease appeared between her eyes. “The cafeteria?”

“I created a wall out of thin air.”

Silence.

I shifted in the seat and met her gaze. “That’s what stopped Joe from pummeling me in the cafeteria.”

“I thought he just had a weird nose bleed.”

I chuckled and shook my head. “He ran smack into the barrier I put up.”

Her lips twitched into a smile and then a giggle formed until she was doubled over on the couch snorting laughter. I just stared at her, smiling at her sudden outburst. Finally, she calmed down.

“How?”

I shrugged. “I just thought it would be nice to have an invisible wall protecting me.”

“So... you just thought it and it happened?”

“Something like that. It was more of a wish than a thought. Same with this afternoon when they surrounded me.”

“Why couldn’t you wish to be a millionaire?”

I laughed and leaned forward, planting a kiss on her cheek. The thought intrigued me but I refrained. It didn’t seem right. “I don’t know about that, but I do know what else I could wish for,” I said and gave her a quick scan.

Her face flushed and dimples appeared in her cheeks. She slapped my arm and shook her head.

“No way!” Julia stood and stretched, lacing her fingers and bringing her arms above her head. The graceful arch of her back contradicted the cracking of her knuckles and she grinned down at me, lowering her arms slowly.

Damn, if only I could wish her into bed.