Taelor slammed her lunch tray down on the table and tossed herself into the seat beside me. She was practically vibrating on the spot and there was a very wide smile on her face. This could only mean one thing.

Something very big had happened in the world of Taelor.

“Are you normally this excited to eat lunch?” Archer asked Taelor with a raised eyebrow.

Taelor shook her head, not even minding Archer’s highly sarcastic tone. “Guess who just asked me to the winter formal, Hadley,” she said, gripping my arm tightly.

“Hmm… I’m going to take a wild guess and say Noah Parker did,” I said, giving her a grin.

Taelor nodded vigorously and let out an excited squeal. “Do you know how long I’ve had a thing for Noah Parker? Since freshman year! And he finally asked me out! Oh my God, Hadley, Saturday is going to be the best night ever!”

Noah Parker was a friend of Ty Ritter and was on the football team like his pal. Taelor had had a thing for Noah since she first laid eyes on him at freshman orientation three years ago. She just never actually talked to him.

And I could understand why Archer would have no interest in listening to this at all.

“He sure didn’t beat around the bush, did he?” I said. “It’s Thursday and the dance is on Saturday.”

“Yes, well…” Taelor trailer off. “He told me he’d just been mustering up the courage to ask me.”

“Do you even have a dress?”

“Yes! Of course I do! I was going to go with Brie and Chelsea and the girls even if I didn’t get asked! I found this dress in Bloomingdale’s the other weekend, and let me tell you, Hadley, it’s absolutely gorgeous. It has this – ”

She stopped her rapid babbling for a moment and then stared at Archer. He was picking at my fries again and the look on his face was anything but interested.

“Can I help you, Taelor?”

Archer dropped his fry and leaned forward on his elbows, resting his head in his hands. He gave Taelor such a ridiculous smile I was surprised she didn’t say anything about it. It was literally all I could do not to burst out laughing.

“Aren’t you going to ask Hadley to the winter formal?” Taelor demanded.

My jaw dropped as I looked at her in horror. “Taelor! What was that for?”

Taelor shrugged off my comment like it was nothing and continued to stare at Archer demandingly.

My boyfriend – I was still getting used to calling Archer my boyfriend, but there was no getting around that fact, since we were dating – and my best friend embarked on a stare down of wills. It lasted for a good few moments before Archer got to his feet, strode around the table, got down on one knee and took my hand in his.

“Archer!” I hissed. “What the hell are you doing? Get up!”

He ignored me and said in a serious voice, “Hadley Ann Jamison. Will you go to the winter formal with me?”

“No! I don’t want to go to the winter formal!”

A smirk curled Archer’s lips as he got to his feet. “Thank you, Hadley.”

He took his seat at the table again and started picking at my steak fires.

“There,” he told Taelor smugly. “I asked her to the winter formal, and she said no. Happy?”

“Okay,” Taelor finally said. And then she rounded on me with an angry look. “Why don’t you want to go the winter formal?”

“I hate dancing,” I said at the exact same time Archer said, “I hate everyone at this school.”

Taelor stared at the two of us with a disbelieving expression, like she could hardly believe what she was hearing. She gave a very dramatic eye roll before huffing out, “Fine. Whatever. You two really are perfect for each other.”

“I’m not nearly as unpleasant as Archer,” I said with a scoff. “Please.”

“Thank you, sweetheart,” Archer said to me. “I was waiting to hear that.”

This day was beginning to feel surreal. I’d been looking over my shoulder for the past two weeks so much I was afraid that if I let my guard down, something really, completely horrible was going to happen. To me, to Archer, to the triplets or Regina.

It had only been two days since Havoc showed up in my chemistry class and I hadn’t seen hide nor hair of anything that even remotely resembled that man. Death’s threat must have been enough to make him back off.

But as much as I was hoping I was never going to see Havoc again, there was this small, nagging thought in the back of my mind that this wasn’t over yet.

It was Thursday. I just had to make it to Monday, and then everything that had been stalking me since November would disappear.

Actually hanging out with Taelor and Archer and joking and laughing was nice, sure. But it still didn’t stop me from internally freaking out.

Death was right. I sure hoped I knew what I was doing, dating Archer. So far everything was going alright, but I was well aware of how easily that could change.

 

 

The apartment was empty when I let myself in later that afternoon after school. This was no surprise. I hadn’t seen much of my parents since they got back from their business trip two weeks ago. I wasn’t so sure if I was upset by that or not.

I tossed my bag onto the couch and wandered into the kitchen, intent on making a cup of tea. I didn’t really feel like doing any of my homework.

I grabbed a teacup out of the cupboard and my favorite bag of tea leaves and set about making my tea. I’d just added hot water when I heard a soft rustling noise behind me, almost like a light breeze.

I glanced over my shoulder and saw Death seated at the dining table, lounged back in his chair with his arms crossed.

“I’m surprised,” he said. “You didn’t scream.”

I shrugged, blowing on my tea before taking a sip. “I’m kind of used to your comings and goings by now.”

Death cracked a half smile. “Good to know. I’ll try harder to scare you in the future.”

I took a seat at the table across from him and set my tea down in front of me. “Why are you here, Death?”

He blew out a sigh and leaned forward, drumming his fingers on the table. “You probably want an explanation, don’t you?”

“About what?” I asked.

“About my interveining,” he elaborated. “About my wife.”

I was shocked to hear those words coming out of his mouth. “You don’t have to tell me that, if you don’t want to,” I said slowly, clearing my throat. “That’s something personal.”

Death shook his head, running a hand through his hair. “No, I think you should know about Lucrezia.”

Hang on a second…

“Uh, you wouldn’t happen to be talking about Lucrezia Borgia, would you?”

Death barked out a laugh. “No, not Lucrezia Borgia. But I have been asked that before.”

If there hadn’t been a portrait of the Borgia family hanging in the coffee house – why it was there, I had no idea – I probably wouldn’t have mentioned that to Death, either.

“Who was she?” I finally asked, taking a sip of my tea.

Death stuck a hand in the pocket of his leather jacket and came up with a small locket attached to a very old, golden chain. He tossed it to me and I caught it with my left hand before it could hit the table.

I traced my fingers over the pattern of flowers on the locket and a few pieces of rust chipped off into my hand.

“How old is this?” I asked.

“A few hundred years old,” Death answered. “Lucrezia gave it to me when we were married.”

“When was that?” I said, curious.

“1693.”

“Holy shit, Death. You’re old.”

Death threw back his head and burst out laughing. He must have found my comment somewhat funny, because it was a few moments before he finally managed to get a grip.

“Oh, Hadley, you are a trip, aren’t you?” Death sighed, still grinning. “But yes, I suppose I am old.”

I carefully opened the clasp on the locket and opened it. On the right side of the locket was a portrait of a very beautiful woman. She had long, blonde hair piled up into a halo of long curls and braids. Her skin was pale and she looked like she belonged to nobility. Even though the picture had obviously been painted, there was a secretive smile on her face, like she knew something everyone else didn’t.

“She’s beautiful, Death,” I said, handing him back the locket.

“I know.” Death snapped the locket shut and slipped it back into his pocket.

“How did you meet her?” I asked, curious to know the story now.

“I was in Rome in 1692 for a…pickup, I suppose you could say,” Death began in a solemn voice. “Alfonso Allegretti was a notable figure in Italian politics. He was 71 and dying of pancreatic cancer when I arrived. I was expecting to take his life quietly and easily, like I usually did. And right when I was about to, his daughter barged in and started screaming at me, demanding to know who I was and what the hell I was doing in her family’s manor.”

“I bet you weren’t expecting that,” I said, unable to keep back a grin.

Death smirked. “Certainly not.”

“What happened then?”

“I told her I’d take her life too if she didn’t shut up. I thought I would have to, considering how much she was sobbing and shouting at me.”

“But you fell in love with her instead.”

A look crossed Death’s face as I spoke and he dropped his eyes from mine. “Yes, I fell in love with her, which was pretty stupid of me. And that’s probably where my downfall began.”

I felt my heart squeeze and drop in my chest.

Love wasn’t ever wrong, was it?

“Why?” I asked hesitantly. “Did something happen?”

“The Allegretti family was a very prominent noble family in Rome,” Death sighed. “Direct relations to the current pope at the time. It probably didn’t help that Lucrezia happened to be the great granddaughter of Leonardo Da Vinci, either.”

My jaw dropped. “Excuse me? Did you just say Da Vinci?”

Death gave a slight grin at my shocked reaction. “Da Vinci, indeed.”

“But Leonardo Da Vinci never had any kids!” I exclaimed. “I heard he was gay! …Right?”

“A lot of things are never documented throughout history,” Death said sagely. “The secret love affair between Leonardo Da Vinci and one of his models was one of them.”

That was certainly going to take some getting used to.

“Okay,” I said, still dazed. “If you say so. But you said you were married?”

“That’s right,” Death said with a nod. “I broke the Edict and let Alfonso live longer than he was supposed to – long enough for him to give us his blessing. We were married in a small chapel in the Vatican a few months later.”

I frowned in confusion. “Isn’t that kind of…sacrilegious?”

Death snorted out a laugh. “No. I’m not a demon and I’m not the devil. I’m one of the good guys.”

“How do I know if you’re telling the truth or not?” I asked, a wave of suspicion crashing over me.

“Would I have given you the chance to save Archer if I wasn’t?” Death retorted, raising an eyebrow.

Huh. Good point.

“So you and Lucrezia were married in the Vatican,” I said. “Then what?”

“I broke the Edict by marrying Lucrezia, so naturally, that didn’t go unnoticed for long,” Death said, running a hand through his already messy hair. “And I was in big, big trouble because of it.”

It took me a few moments to make a connection between what Havoc had said about Lucrezia and how Death had reacted to it.

Oh, God.

“Havoc showed up, didn’t he?”

Death nodded, his lips tightening into a thin line. “That he did. But Havoc chose not to go after me, like he was supposed to.”

I squeezed my eyes shut and took a deep breath. I really hoped the tears burning my eyes wouldn’t escape.

“What happened?” I whispered, my breath catching in my throat.

“The bastard decided to get to me through my wife,” Death ground out through gritted teeth. “He drove her to insanity. Made her think that she was seeing things, that people were trying to kill her. She would think that she was being poisoned and scream for hours. She even attacked one of the family’s staff because she thought he was out to get her. And during that time, with the state Lucrezia was in was kept hidden. The last days of her life were spent locked in her chambers.”

“Didn’t you try to do anything to help her?” I asked. “Didn’t you try and – ”

“Hadley Jamison, there are a lot of things you do not understand about otherworldly dealings,” Death said. “There are some things that cannot be stopped, and heavenly judgment is one of them. Oh, I tried to stop Havoc. Of course I did. But my power only goes so far. I tried to get her medical help, to get her healed, but you can imagine how an archangel falling in love with a mortal went over with the others of my occupation. There was nothing I could do to save Lucrezia. She took her own life because I couldn’t save her.”

“I am so sorry, Death,” I said. I couldn’t keep the tears out of my voice. “I’m so sorry you couldn’t save her.”

Death waived away my words and leaned towards me across the table. “I hear you’re dating Archer now. How’s that working out for you?”

“Damn it!” I snarled, banging a fist down on the table. “Does it really matter that I’m dating a guy? If you’ve got another warning for me, then come out and say it!”

Death said nothing. He leaned back in his chair and crossed his arms, looking at me with a cool expression.

“Well?” I snapped. “I’m waiting!”

“You want me to tell you the truth, Hadley Jamison?” he said in a quiet voice. “Then I will. You’ve been given a double edged sword. If you use one side, make no mistake that Archer will take his life.”

“And if I use the other?”

“Archer will live.”

I breathed a sigh of relief and fell back into my seat. It felt like a huge weight had just been lifted off my shoulders.

Archer was going to live. Archer was going to live.

“But I’m not going to be able to keep Havoc away from you forever. He’s going to get to you sooner or later.”

And then it was back again.

“I know how you feel about Archer, Hadley,” Death said, getting to his feet, leaning across the table towards me. “Really, I do. But listen to me when I tell you this. If I hadn’t showed up in your classroom that day right at that second, Havoc would have killed you. He is not human. He doesn’t feel emotions like love and hope and fear like everyone else. The only thing he thrives on is power and hate and the taking of lives. It doesn’t matter that you’re sixteen.”

I was finding it hard to breathe as Death’s words swarmed around in my mind.

I was only sixteen. To think that I had almost lost my life because I’d just gone to school one day was enough to make me have a panic attack.

I had known this was going to be difficult. I didn’t think I would end up losing my life, though.

“I am sorry, Hadley,” Death said, snapping me back into reality. “If I had known this was going to happen, I wouldn’t have come to you with this.”

I sat in stunned silence for several moments.

“So you would have just let Archer stay dead?”

Death’s fathomless, dark eyes bore into mine, making me feel uneasy, but I forced myself to stand my ground.

“One life lost is bad enough, Hadley. If two lives don’t have to be taken, then yes. I would.”

“No.” I stood up, shoving my chair back, coming face to face with Death. “Even if I could go back, Death, I wouldn’t. It’s just that when I’m with Archer, I feel like myself and I’m not afraid to…hell, I don’t know. I just…want him to stay with me. The Morales family? They’re good people. Archer is the one person that Regina can rely on, and she needs her son! It’s bad enough that April, May, and June lost their father before they were even born. They need Archer, too. So what if Havoc comes after me? I’ll survive. So you can take your warning and shove it up your ass.”

 

 

 

 

—————————————————————————————————-

So….what do you guys think? Comments and votes are so appreciated! 😀