Page 2 of Wild Ivy
“Kai isn’t worth this.”
“You should’ve thought about that before you rode him in front of me.”
“Don’t walk away from me,” Lila spits out.
I turn to face her and stick my middle finger up. “Dead. To. Me. Got it. Lose my number, you selfish fucking cunt.”
“Bitch!” she shrieks. “No one walks away from me!”
“Fuck you,” I mutter and pick up my pace, needing to get back home so I can curl up in a ball and cry.
But as I walk away, my breath coming faster, I realise that I’m not all that bothered about losing Kai. But Lila’s betrayal hits me harder than I care to admit. Since my parent’s death, I don’t trust easily, and she was the first person in a long time I thought I could rely on.
I was dead wrong.
1
IVY
Present Day
Bram’s armscircle my waist as I launch through the air.
“You bitch!” I screech. “All that time? All that fucking time?” My fingertips brush her neck as my new power surges through me, dark tendrils of Death’s essence reaching out. But Life is quick, dancing back just out of reach with an infuriating smirk.
“Oh, come now, Ivy. Or should I say, Death? You can’t honestly be surprised,” she taunts. “I’ve been playing this game far longer than you.”
“You were my best friend!” I snarl, struggling against Bram’s iron grip. “All those years, pretending to care about me before you fucked me over, and you were just manipulating everything from the shadows?”
Life - Lila - whatever the fuck I should call her now, shrugs carelessly. “I had to keep an eye on you somehow. David was getting too clever for his own good. I needed to make sure his little protégé didn’t become a problem. Kai was merely a bit of fun.”
“Well, too fucking bad for you.” I spit. “I’m officially a problem now. A big one. ADeadlyone and you are on my shit list, bitch!”
Her eyes narrow. “Yes, you are. I didn’t anticipate David passing on his mantle so soon. Doesn’t matter. You’re still new, untrained. This changes nothing.”
I feel the guys tensing around me, ready for a fight. But Life just smiles coldly.
“We’ll meet again soon,Death. Enjoy your little love nest while you can. Things are about to get very interesting.”
And with that, she vanishes.
“What the absolute fuck?” I growl, still struggling in Bram’s grip. I kick him in the shin by accident, on purpose, and he swears and lets me go.
“What the fuck was that?” Torin asks, one hand on his hip, the other waving vaguely at where Life-la was standing moments ago.
I open my mouth to explain, but he shakes his head at me. “Not her. You. What the fuck did she mean, ‘we’ll meet again soon, Death’?”
Narrowing my eyes at his question, I remember that they don’t know shit. I clear my throat and stand up straighter. “I am now Death. David Beech, formerly Death, has passed the baton. I have an army of souls ready and willing to do battle with Life to stop her from pausing the cycle.”
“Is that the Dummy’s version?” Tate asks with a snort.
I grin, glad he isn’t giving me the evil eye like Torin is. I can’t see Bram. He is still behind me, but I can sense a shift in his attitude. He perhaps was thinking I should’ve strangled Life to death after all.
“Sure is,” I remark. “If you have questions, now is the time. Not sure I can answer them as this was sudden, and not exactly what I expected.” I twirl a lock of longer, pinky-blonde hairaround my finger and frown. There are strands of black now as well, but to be fair, I thought I would look like Death did. All skeletal and robe-y. Small mercies. I don’t think I’d rock that look as hard as this one.
I brace myself for their reactions. Torin’s eyes are narrowed, his jaw clenched. Tate gives me a supportive smile. Bram’s expression is unreadable, his blue eyes boring into me.
“So let me get this straight,” Torin says slowly. “You’re now Death. As in, collector of souls, that whole deal?”
