Sorry this is so short! I'll be uploading soon. xx 

If you haven't started already, go read the rewrite for Death Is My BFF! I'm looking into publishing so I'm really focusing on that story right now! Promise you'll love it! :)))

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 "I know what you're doing,"  Death's smooth, baritone voice had said on the other line. He had an edge to his voice that could cut through diamond.

            Was it sick that his angry voice gave me goose bumps?

            "What am I doing then?"

            "Trying to weasel your way into helping me find this button." This time he sounded a bit like he was teasing me. It had taken years to get an idea of when he was being serious or playing around with me. Sometimes Death was hard to read.

            "Stop pushing me away," I emphasized. That was what he was doing, after all. Trying to push me away. He loved to intimidate people with his implausible size and "scary" voice. Not to mention, that daunting scythe. But I knew better than to back down against Big Boy Death. I knew that if I kept trying to talk him out of it, eventually, he would cave in and not go into the D & S Tower alone.

            I knew he loved me.

            "So help me god, if you're planning for even a second to get to the D & S tower before I do or meet me there, I'll smack your ass so hard it'll leave my hand print on your skin for the rest of your life like a tattoo." As soon as he had said that, a sting of heat slipped down my body, pooling at my core. My mouth parted to say something snarky in return, but it quickly shut.

            Reaper side loved mean Death. The thought of him, angrily playful, pinning me to something and spanking me, was probably one of the hottest thing I could think of him doing to me.

            Was that really his idea of a punishment to Reaper Faith? Lord have mercy...

             "Stay. Out. Of. This. Faith." Now he was really angry. "I mean it. I don't want your help."

            By the end of the phone conversation I felt like I was saying goodbye. I believed in Death, but him against thousands of demons just didn't seem like good odds. I didn't know if they could kill him--hell, I didn't even know if he really could be killed, but it still scared me that I would never see him again.

            I had to go after him.

            "You're either with me or you're a sissy," I told Ahrimad and Caroline, slipping weapons into multiple spots on my outfit.  "I'm going to help Death."

            "Faith--" Caroline started.

            I held my hand up. "I don't want to hear it. He needs me right now. I know him. He pushes people away when he's upset, that's always how he's been. He's hurting right now, and--damnit, as corny as it sounds, there's nobody there to hug him and tell him everything is going to be alright. That's what he needs, whether you believe it or not. He needs someone to tell him it's alright to be upset."

            "I was just going to say that I'm in," Caroline said.

            "Ditto," Ahrimad said, floating over to the weapon closet. "Let me just get my rain jacket. It's supposed to thunderstorm."

              * * *

            I was on the roof, clothes drenched in warm demon blood. I had taken out all of the demons on the top floor, when I had heard someone walking loudly around on the roof. Clearly trying to get my attention.

            Don't you want to play? I sent out silently and tauntingly. Anything supernatural would have heard it. I listened for a response for the longest time, grinding my fangs together. Wind. Cars beeping. A line of cop cars speeding down the dark road in front of the D & S Towers.

            Perhaps. When's the last time you cleaned that thing?

            I didn't get it at first, then I looked down at my scythe and saw a flake of blood on the tip. Whatever this demon was, its sense of humor only made me more cautious. Personable demons were always the bitchiest.

            State your name and district in Hell, and maybe I'll send you back to the shithole you came from instead of destroying you, I sent out mentally.

            Sounds promising, they replied.

            I didn't like that it was toying with me. Snarling a little, I inclined my head, gripping my weapon tightly, listening to the night. I stalked towards the center of the roof, carefully surveying every spot around me.

             "Reveal yourself, coward!" I growled out loud.

            "Coward? That's not very nice."

            Turning, I arced my scythe around my body with the crisp noise of the blade cutting through the empty air, seeking my prey. Before I could swing again, a skilled hand shot out and caught the handle of my weapon, then another hand gripped my arm, bending my arm back and bringing me down onto my knees. No demon alive could block my swing when it was a kill shot, nor grip the handle of my scythe without burning alive. Nobody.

            I locked eyes with my enemy.

            "You're letting them get to you," Gabriel said. "The demons down there. You know where the button is, Death."

            My expression dropped entirely.

            A pin could have dropped and either of us would have heard it.

            "You." It came out halfway between a hiss and a growl. I felt the familiarity one gets with an old friend. Except we weren't friendly at all. In fact, I wanted to rip his throat out with my teeth, but I couldn't process who was in front of me. Gabriel, my ex-mentor when I was a Guardian up in Cotton Candy and Rainbows, Heaven. Healthier than ever, he stood only a few inches shorter than me, wearing an Elder's cloak, his body slightly radiating.

            Impossible, didn't even come close to what I was seeing. He didn't look like a Fallen at all.

            How?

            Was my mind betraying me? Was my body betraying me? Right in front of me was Devin's murderer, and I wasn't making one move to end him. I was too damn confused to even make a move to attack him.

            Gabriel.

            In front of me.

            Dressed head to toe like an Elder.

            Kill.

            "You have some fucking nerve..." My voice sounded dislocated and empty of emotion. I could feel my features sharpening, teeth lengthening in my mouth, muscles becoming rigid.

            The monster rattled its cage.

            "Death--" the Elder started.

            My snarl cut him off.

            I exploded towards the enemy, when a harsh blast of power burst outwards from Gabriel's body, creating an invisible shield around him and knocking me back a few steps. I held my ground, fangs out in a hiss. "You think you can hold that up forever? Got your wings back, huh?" I roared. "You killed him for them, didn't you? You rotten piece of shit!" I swung at his shield with my scythe and could feel it weaken . "You killed your own brother. You killed him. I'll rip you to pieces, to worthless piece of Church!"

            "Now I understand what's wrong." Gabriel shook his head and laughed. He laughed. "Look at me, Death. Really look at me. You're not thinking straight--"

            "I'LL KILL YOU!"  I exploded,  bringing my scythe down against his shield over and over again with every ounce of my energy. Gabriel's expression morphed from amusement to seriousness in an instant, then he started to look genuinely concerned. At some point, I had dropped my scythe and was full on beating with my fists at his shield, burning off the material of my gloves from the scorching heat of his power. I screamed at him in every curse I could think of in every language I had ever learned until my throat went so hoarse that no sound came out. Gabriel skillfully blocked every punch that I threw as  the thunderous roared of the sky above us filled the cold air, booming like a choir of enraged lions.

            Our warfare slowly drove us to the edge of the building, and before Gabriel could leap off into the night and leave me, I threw my entire weight into him and together we fell from the D & S Tower.

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