Descent (Kissed by Death) - Tara Fuller Page 0,14
family.”
“Great-uncle,” Cash covered, quickly. “I just flew in this morning.”
“Oh…” She frowned and gently placed the chart back into the slot at the end of the bed. “Would you like me to have the doctor come in and speak with you? He’s…he doesn’t have long. But maybe Dr. Lancaster can shed some light on how long to expect.”
Cash shot a glance my way and raised a brow. The screams in my skull reached an almost deafening level. She could call half the hospital in and it wouldn’t matter. In a few minutes, this guy would be dead, and his dear nephew would be long gone.
“That would be great,” Cash said, putting on his best sad face. “Thank you.”
I smirked and slid my scythe out. “You take acting classes in your spare time?”
The nurse walked out of the room, leaving the door open behind her, and Cash stood. “No classes needed. Just my natural awesomeness shining through.”
“Right.” I narrowed my gaze on him, ready to get this over with. “Seeing as we don’t have much time, are you going to tell me why you really came by?”
The humor drained from his face. “You should go see her. Finn, too.”
“I’ve been busy,” I said, inwardly cringing at the mention of my best friend’s name. He’d started it all. Falling for a human, risking everything to have an existence with her. If he hadn’t fallen for Emma, Anaya would have never met Cash. Everything would still be as it should.
“You’re avoiding them.”
“If Anaya and Finn miss me so damn much, then maybe they shouldn’t have left me to deal with both of their workloads.” I waved my blade at the old man in the bed. “You’ll have to pass on my apologies, but my social calendar is a little full at the moment.”
Cash studied me like he saw right through my bullshit. It made me want to bolt. I didn’t owe him excuses or explanations. He was nothing to me. Less than nothing.
“Look…” I raked my fingers through my hair. “They’re better off if I stay away, okay? They’re finally happy. They don’t need me hanging around, reminding them of the life they ran from the first chance they got.”
“They weren’t running from you,” he said. “They weren’t running away from anything. They were just…running toward something. Something better.”
“Yeah, well…the farther they run from me, the better.”
“I…” He trailed off and his brows pulled together as he looked around the room.
“What is it?”
“I think Hell may have just frozen over,” he murmured, turning full circle. “Because I have the strangest urge to hug you right now. And no offense…but I really don’t want to hug you.”
Warmth and comfort wrapped around me like a blanket. A wildflower fragrance smothered the stale scent of death coating the room. Static spread over my skin, jolting me into awareness. Out of the corner of my eye I saw a flash of red zip past the door.
Gwen. Of course it was Gwen.
“Damn it, Red…”
Cash looked at the door and back to me, confused. “Red?”
“An angel,” I said, waiting for her to reappear, disappointed when she didn’t and hating myself for it. “I picked up one of her projects earlier today and now I can’t shake her.”
Cash snorted. “Maybe you should invest in some angel repellent.”
“I thought I was angel repellent,” I grumbled, rubbing the spot on my face that still tingled with her essence. Jesus…just the memory of her touch had me tied up in knots. This was not good. This was a freaking disaster waiting to happen.
“She must be something to have you all in a tizzy.” Cash laughed. “Anaya is going to be pissed that she missed this.”
“Screw you,” I snapped. “Don’t you have a soul to hunt down?”
“What? And miss this?”
A growl rumbled in my chest, and I slid the handle of my blade through my palm. Cash chuckled and sauntered to the door, stopping to tap his fingers on the doorjamb.
“Good luck with the angel.”
He winked and ducked out of the room just as the monitor beside me flatlined. A wave of relief washed over me. Finally.
“Sorry, Pops,” I said. “Time to go.”
I lifted my scythe over my head and plunged through flesh and bone. His wrinkled body didn’t put up much of a fight. I glanced up at the doorway, half expecting Gwen to be watching me. She wasn’t.
Screams wailed inside my skull, pressing, clawing, wanting. I raised a shaking hand to my head and gripped a handful of hair.
“Son of a bitch…I’ve