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 "So, this is what you guys do the night before a mission?" I asked, as Leo returned to hand me a cup of peach iced tea. In front of us, the twinkling skyline of New York City winked back at us like jewels in the night. "Party on a rooftop?"

And not just any rooftop. Death's rooftop. Which made me think of the last time I was here, when Death had showed me his wings. Now I was nervous if the big, pissy Grim Cat would show his face and talk to me at some point.

Leo grinned, leaning his side against the wall beside me. "Well, us Reapers have been training our whole existences, so we definitely don't need to spar anymore today. Plus, none of us get hangovers, and if we do sleep it's usually during the day, while it's light out." He tilted his head down and rubbed his forehead. "My sleep schedule is so fucked up these days."

"Sounds like you're turning into a vampire."

"Except I don't sleep in a coffin or a cold slab in a crypt," Leo emphasized with a finger point. Leo's personality was refreshing after a day of stress and wizardly pep talks. Once you got to know him, he was very funny and easy to talk to. "I like a good ol' memory foam mattress, myself."

I smiled. "Why? Because it reminds you of the clouds in Heaven?"

Leo fake laughed. "Wow, I get it. Because I'm a creature of the night, damned to Hell as Death's eternal servant? That's messed up, Faith."

I managed to laugh a little louder than I intended to, drawing the attention of Reaper Denim, who eyed us inquisitively around a voluptuous dark-skinned woman. "You know, I never did get the full back story on all you Reapers," I told Leo. "Eternal servants of Death? Sounds like you guys were bad eggs."

Leo sipped his drink. "Speaking of vampires," he said with a grin, clearly changing the subject. "I heard you cuffed a Master Vampire at the warlocks. I'm very impressed."

"Thank you. I was a Dominatrix in my previous life."

He whistled. "That was honestly the last thing I ever expected to ever come out of your mouth. Especially after the way you eyed that whip Romeo showed you this morning. I thought your eyes would pop out of your skull."

"Just because I'm a virgin, doesn't mean I'm clueless about everything sex." I'd read enough books to know a thing or two. If it was possible to lose your v-card via adult romance novels, then I was a literary prostitute. Whoops.

Leo raised his palm, amusement setting a twinkle in his dark amber eyes. "Hey, never said you were clueless." He turned toward the skyline, folding his arms in front of himself on the wall. "Dunkin had what was coming. I've had to converse that bastard a few times at social events, and each time was just as unpleasant as the last. Gives his species a bad name. Pompous prick." Leo took a bigger gulp of his drink. "Listen, this very off topic, and it might come off the wrong way..."

I rolled my eyes. "This ought to be good."

Leo scratched his head with a bashful grin. "I wanted to ask you something. I've been thinking about it for a while, but I didn't think it was appropriate..." He stuffed his hands into his pockets. "Do you have a date to the Solice event?"

I blinked rapidly. "A date? Me?"

"Yes, to the Winter Solace." Leo opened his mouth and then closed it. "It's this event Lucifer hosts every year. It's happening in a few weeks. I thought, maybe, you would have known about it already, but I figured I'd ask."

I realized Leo was implying before that he thought Death would have invited me. Which he didn't and probably never planned to. Clearing my throat, I gazed back at the Reaper. "Oh. No, I don't––I don't have a date."

He rocked back on his heels, his lips pinching together to hide back a smile. "You sure?"

"Positive..."

His expression lightened, as if he were relieved. "There's going to be a big dinner and then some dancing, like the gathering at the D&S Tower, except more casual and a lot less chaotic. Anyway, the rest of the Reapers will be there and some other familiar faces. I'm rambling. Point is, if you're interested, I'd be more than happy to take you? That is, if things have worked themselves out by then, of course. With all the chaos lately, it's hard to know what the future holds."

I'd hardly heard anything of what Leo said as I stared blankly at the skyline. Planning weeks ahead was a cruel reminder of Ace's vision. Maybe Death hadn't told me about the event because he knew he wouldn't be around.

Although I was so conflicted in that moment and caught off guard, I felt I owed Leo an answer and yes wasn't it. Not when the only person I could think about tonight was Death. Not when I'd caused him so much hurt already. "Could you ask me after tomorrow? There's just some...things that I have to figure out."

"Yeah, yeah of course. I knew it was a long shot, anyway." He grinned, but I could see a flicker of disappointment in his eyes. "So, I'm curious. What kind of training did you do with Ace?"

"Nothing too crazy," I answered, swallowing back the lump in my throat and honing back in on distracting myself. "Broke fine china with my ninja skills, levitated books, fought a bunch of magically conjured up enemies."

"Nice. You nailed the ol' 'break the vase' trick. I've seen Death run-through that one quite a few times. It's not an easy drill, from what I've gathered."

At the mentioning of Death again, I downturned my gaze into my glass. "Doesn't mean it was any easier for me."

"What's the matter?" Leo asked and elbowed me teasingly. "Surely, you're not feeling insecure about your abilities? I've seen you explode an entire bathroom stall with your power without even breaking a sweat. Although, I think Gunner might be capable of doing that tonight to a toilet too, if he keeps at it with those mini-weenies over there. He really should work on that mouth fixation."

"I heard that, Leon!" We both turned at the same time, to catch Gunner flipping us off from the table of food thirty feet away. "How about you fixate your mouth on my knob and lick my balls?"

Leo burst into robust laughter, and I covered my mouth in shock.

"It's the curse," Leo explained. "We're all a little overstimulated tonight."

"Damn straight," Romeo jested, brushing past us with a girl in a tiny golden dress pressed against his side. "If only Sweetcheeks would join in."

"Hey, Pervert," I called after the pink mohawked Reaper. "Did you finish my Leggo piñata Stay Puft Marshmallow Man uniform?"

Romeo snickered and pivoted toward me, bringing the stunning woman at his side. He spiked his fingers through his pink mohawk and leaned a hand on the wall beside me, on the opposite side of Leo. "Yes, Sweetcheeks, I made you a much sleeker uniform. Which reminds me." He swept his gaze around us, rubbing at his jaw in brief concentration. "Any idea where and why His Highness is extra unpleasant tonight? I tried to talk to him earlier and he ripped my head off. Now he's somewhere untraceable, and all of us are either getting smashed or smashing to relieve the volcanic spits of fury inside of us."

Oh, brother. "No idea," I said and turned to the dark, amber-eyed Reaper. "Leo should know. Death sent him to pick me up at the warlocks."

"I was actually wondering the same thing," Leo admitted quietly. "I never talked to Death, he just texted me to pick you up."

"Maybe he's a little nervous thinking about the mission tomorrow?" I offered, to get Leo, Romeo, and Denim, who was now looming over Romeo's shoulder, to get off my back. I was regretting ever coming to this roof party and wanted to go to bed.

"Doubt it," Denim chimed in with his booming voice. "Death doesn't get nervous. We were supposed to meet about the plan tonight. He ghosted me, too."

"What's up?" Gunner asked, looping his arm around Denim and Leo's shoulders. Denim looked like he wanted to tear Gunner's arm off, whereas Leo was passive about the embrace. "Why are we all huddling and secretive away from the guests? Reminds me when we used to all play fireball football, eh?"

"Seems like you're the last one who saw Death, Sweetcheeks," Romeo accused me.

I crossed my arms over my chest. "Why does it matter if I saw him last? I'm not his fucking keeper."

One of the Reapers whistled lowly in disbelief.

Leo was about to offer up a hesitant answer, when Romeo chimed in first. "Like we said before, Sweetcheeks. Ever since Death lost his scythe, his moods have been affecting our curses tremendously. And honestly, I haven't been this horny since the seventies. The three-hour long boner twice a day was thrilling at first, but now it's just a pain in the balls. Literally."

"Sounds more like a Viagra overdose," Leo remarked.

Gunner made a disgusted face. "How did we get on the topic of Romeo's cock? I've enough stories about that dreadful thing the past few centuries." He switched his attention to me. "Listen, Lamp Girl, just tell us if you know what's going on with Death, so I can go back to my cheese puffs and eat myself into a fucking coma tonight."

"Maybe none of you noticed," I said, "but Death has a habit for vanishing for no apparent reason. It's his thing. You guys have known him much longer than I have. Don't you have cool voodoo ways to track him? Why is everybody up my ass for answers?"

"Because you're his inamorata," Romeo purred.

I choked on my iced tea. "His what?"

"Girlfriend?" Romeo offered. "Lover? Concubine? His main squeeze? His boo-boo kitty? Bae AF––?"

"I get the picture," I cut him off, rubbing at the sleeves over my arms. "No, to all of the above. We're not together. So back off, Pinky."

Romeo narrowed his eyes and stepped up to me, inhaling.

Leo edged closer, ready to throw Romeo off the side of the building.

"Do you want to bone the bastard, or not?" Romeo demanded.

My face went aflame. "I––"

"Suspicions confirmed," Romeo said, turning to the Reapers and grinning mischievously. "Pheromones are through the roof on our little lady. And she's exceptionally testy. Conclusion: Mommy and Daddy got in a nasty fight. Never doubt the Love Doctor. Now cough up the dough, boys. I've got an itch to scratch and I'm out of condoms again."

The pink mohawked Reaper snapped and held out a hand impatiently toward Gunner and Denim. Cursing, they each coughed up twenty bucks.

"He's with that woman," another voice chimed in, drawing all of our attention to a lounge chair nearby. Blade was sprawled out on a cushion with a plate of food on balanced on his chest. With a cold look in my direction, he pierced a cube of cheese with his pocket knife and popped it into his mouth. "I saw Death talking earlier to the red head. Tiara. She was all over him, wearing this tight little dress..."

Coldness hit my stomach. That was the last thing I needed to hear right about now. I'd been devastated and sick to my stomach, concerned for Death's well-being, while also feeling betrayed that he hadn't told me about his foreseen death. I'd finally sobered up and started to think that was a selfish reaction. That I wasn't factoring in the pain that I'd caused Death by bringing up his parents. I thought not going to him as soon as I left the warlocks was a mistake. Now all I could picture was Death with Tiara and jealousy formed blinders over my rational thinking.

"Don't start again," Leo warned Blade.

"Oh, shove it, Greedy Boyo." Blade flipped on sunglasses and stretched his arms lazily over his head on the chair. "I'm just telling it how it is. Wouldn't you want to know if your lover was screwing around? That'd fuck me right off."

"Don't listen to him, sweetheart," Romeo muttered, clasping my shoulder with an expression of empathy. "He's just trying to get you riled up."

"Like I said, I'm not Death's anything," I said flatly. Looking down at my fisted hand, light sparked to life in my palm, threatening to unleash. I tossed my empty cup into the trash nearby. "It's been a long day, boys. I'm going to go bed."

"Wait," Leo said, moving like a blur in front of me and blocking my way. "Romeo's right. Blade says shit to get people boiled all the time. Don't let him get to you."

"I'd rather discover the truth than wait for hurt in the ignorance of the dark. Even if it kills me. You people owe me that."

Leo breathed deeply and squeezed his eyes shut for a moment. "He's not with Tiara."

"How do you know?"

"Because I know where he is," Leo answered reluctantly. "I physically cannot tell you where, and it's better this way. Just listen to me and stay out of his business tonight. Please. For your own safety."

The way Leo was speaking made me think Death had sworn him to silence. The glamour of Leo unraveled, as I realized he was just a pawn of the Grim Reaper's. A distraction from looking for Death. My face slackened, and my heart pounded as I visualized the mausoleum and the portal from my dream. The one where Death had been in, too. Surely, he wouldn't have gone by himself?

I stepped toward Leo, a raging force in my wake. "Whatever orders Death gave you, fight them. Do whatever you have to do, because I'm going to go find him. I don't want to hurt you, but I will. I urge you not to stand in my way."

Leo's eyes searched mine, and they began to glow a brilliant amber. His chin lifted. He backed away from mewith visible restraint, breathing hard. "Summon Cruentas," he growled. "Quickly. He'll take you to Death. But don't say I didn't warn you."

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P.S- I know these chapters are a little more "bare" than my usual descriptions and dialogue, but rest assured,  much more detail and scenes will be flushed out and included in the official manuscripts! Just like the Death is My BFF one... ;)

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