With that, I swung the scythe, altering the composition at the last second so the blade only sliced the demon presence from the body, rather than lop the woman’s head off like the other. The other one’s soul had been gone, devoured by the demon, but this soul I could save. The body no, but the soul…yes.
She staggered to the side and I lurched for her, but I didn’t reach her in time. Troy got there first, gathering her up before she hit the floor. She opened her eyes for a moment, clear of the demon’s presence and smiled. In the shade her soul rose above the body, a tear on an elderly face that had once been…was beautiful.
“Thank you.”
And like that, she was gone, sucked away by the brightest light I’d ever seen claim a soul.
“She’s gone.” Troy looked up at me, his eyes clear and focused. Then he smiled.
“Hey, beautiful, I know you were trying to lose weight, but don’t you think that’s a bit far? Digging the robes though, very sexy. Whatcha wearing underneath?”
An hour later, three things stood out in Troy’s mind. He was alive. The demon was gone. His girlfriend was the Grim Reaper.
The. Grim. Fucking. Reaper.
“Yeah, the gate is shut.” Laney’s voice reached from where she was talking to Reilly. “For the moment anyway. Since the three girls were the extent of the Kaufman coven, we won’t have teenage witches trying to open the damn thing.”
The boss man had come crashing in with the cavalry just after Laney lopped off the second demon’s head, so he and Andrews had seen her in her alternate form. Reilly barely batted an eyelid, but Andrews sat next to Troy in the back of the ambulance. His shell-shocked expression totally echoed the way Troy felt. They’d seen a lot of weird shit between them, but this was totally outside their realm of experience.
Troy glanced down at his hands, which were still shaking at the close call. He’d been so sure they were going to die. Hell, he’d planned on killing himself, rather than letting the demon use him to hurt Laney. Could she be hurt, killed? How could Death die? Was she even human anymore?
He looked up to find her watching him. Concern shone in her eyes. Concern for him. Then she smiled, gave him a small wave and he got the warm and fuzzies in the center of his chest. Yeah, she was a woman.
All
woman in fact. Whether she was human or not… he found he didn’t care.
His gaze slid appreciatively along her figure, his mind easily slotting the way she had looked in the house into the back of his mind. He’d never found skeletons hot, but the woman in front of him was full of curves he couldn’t wait to get his hands on again.
Instantly his body responded, hands itching and action going on south of the belt that he needed to alter position to hide. He felt like a sick fucker while he did. What kind of guy gets a boner after being beaten up and nearly causing the end of the world as they knew it?
Reilly folded his arms and asked the question on everyone’s mind. “Yeah, but what happens when the next genius comes along and tries to open it?”
Laney pursed her lips and for a second, her face thinned, her other form pushing through. “Then I give them a good reason not to.”
Chills roved down Troy’s spine. Hell, yeah. A visit from ol’ Boney would make even the most foolhardy decide that discretion was the better part of valor and to get the fuck out of dodge.
“Then you’re sticking around?”
“Yeah, just don’t expect me to call you ‘sir.’ Ain’t gonna happen.”
“Good, Troy needs you.” Reilly smiled, an honest to God smile and flicked a sly glance Troy’s way. “And talking of the man himself, he looks dead on his feet. If the paramedics have cleared him, how about you take him on home?”
Things moved fast from then on. The paramedics, obviously not wanting to get into an argument with Laney, even if they didn’t know exactly what she was, cleared him without a problem. His ‘broken’ arm had been merely badly bruised, and numb from the demon’s touch. Within minutes he sat in the passenger seat of Laney’s SUV, which had recovered from hurtling through the window as a motorbike. Instead of growling at him as he got in, it made a pleased sound, almost like a purr. He patted the seat.
“Thanks, mate, you got her to us just in time.”
Laney opened the driver’s door and slid in. Then she stopped, first looking at him, then around. “You two buddies now?”
He smiled. He had the best girl in the world, she was sticking around, and all was right with the world.
“Yeah, we are.” He reached over and claimed her lips in a soft kiss. “Now, how about you get us home before I get us arrested for public indecency?”
The End
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Mina Carter is a bestselling, multi-genre author. She lives in the UK with her husband, daughter and a bossy cat.
Connect with Mina online at:
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http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/2920063.Mina_Carter
Read how Laney and Troy met in:
The Reaper and the Cop
Sinfully Naughty Vol 2
Earth Warden
Paranormal Protection Agency Series
Hard as a Rock (PPA #1)
Between a Rock and a Hard Place (PPA #2)
Protect and Service (PPA #3)
Seduced by Santa (PPA #4)
Close Protection (PPA #5)
Dragon’s Honor (PPA #6)
Dragon’s Chase (PPA #7)
Project Rebellion Series (Paranormal Romance)
Perfect Mate
Blood Mate
Strathstow Shark Series (Rugby Erotic Romance)
Hitting on the Hooker
Seduced by the Scrum-half
Playing with the Prop
For a full list, please visit
Mina’s Website