Descent (Kissed by Death) - Tara Fuller Page 0,18

any idea what you are asking?” he hissed. “He is in Hell, Gwendolyn. Hell.”

“Of course I don’t know!” I threw my hands up. “You never let me see anything that doesn’t involve rainbows and happily ever afters!”

His arctic gaze narrowed on me, pressing me to back down. I didn’t. I couldn’t. Not this time.

“You want to know darkness, Gwendolyn?” he asked. “You want to know death and pain?”

“I’ll never be the angel I’m meant to be if I don’t.”

He exhaled harshly and moved around his desk, grabbing his tablet and tapping something on the surface. “Fine. I’ll show you darkness, Gwen. If that’s what it takes to rid you of this fascination, to prove to you that you are not meant for that world, then so be it. But the obsession with the human ends now. He is lost. That’s the end of it. Do you understand me?”

“Yes.” I watched him tap furiously onto his tablet and bit my lip. “What are you doing?”

“Getting you a guide.”

“A guide? What kind of guide?”

“A reaper,” he said. “You said you wanted to know death. I’ll introduce you.”

Hope bloomed inside me like a living thing, taking root and spreading through my insides. Easton. It was a long shot, but he was the one responsible for getting Tyler to Heaven. Surely he wouldn’t want the demise of an innocent on his conscience. How could he? I stepped forward, trying not to appear too eager, and touched Father’s desk.

“Can I make a request?”

Chapter 7

Easton

I pulled my boots out of the swirling vortex behind me, still shivering from the violent flash of ice that had flooded my veins. That kind of anger could come only from Balthazar. Why he felt the need to pull my ass, involuntarily, across the universe, was beyond me. The almost electric feel of the air around us told me I probably shouldn’t be too eager to find out. I shoved my scythe back into its holster and winced at the barrage of angry screams in my head. They hadn’t gotten what they wanted. I hadn’t gotten what I wanted. I cut a cold glare at Scout, who watched with open amusement as I shook the glitter of light from my duster.

“What the hell is this?” I stood and realized we were at the steps to the Great Hall. The mirrorlike walls stretched up to the sky, reflecting the empty gray nothingness of the Inbetween. This was the place where misplaced souls came to rot. There were very few reasons Balthazar would bring a reaper to the place where he orchestrated the death of every human on earth. None of those reasons were good. “I just saw you a few hours ago. What happened?”

“How should I know?” He folded his arms across his chest and sneered. “I’ve spent half the day in Hell, knee-deep in God knows what thanks to you.”

“Thanks to me?” I raised a brow. “Don’t even try to drag me into whatever you’ve gotten yourself into this time.”

Scout turned to me and scowled. “I nearly became the main course on a barbecue buffet for your little demon friends downstairs doing you a favor,” he said. “It would be nice if you could drop the dickhead routine for like five minutes.”

“Doing me a favor?” I laughed, incredulously. “Please. If you hadn’t—”

The words lodged in my throat and dread crawled up my spine, intent on choking the truth out of me. No…no, no, no. He wouldn’t. He didn’t. I stood and turned to face Scout, who was brushing ash from his shoulder.

“No…” I shoved my fingers into my hair and fisted it, wishing I could feel the pain.

“What?” Scout’s brows pinched together as he watched me unravel before him.

“Tell me you didn’t take that kid to Hell,” I demanded, voice low and dangerous, even to my own ears.

“Where else would I have taken him? He was your charge.”

“He was meant for Anaya!” I dropped my hands to my sides and watched frost crawl up the marble steps like a living thing. “I was covering for Anaya. He wasn’t supposed to…”

I couldn’t finish. The horror in Scout’s eyes said it all. He’d delivered a Heaven-bound to Hell. Placed a pure soul in the hands of ravenous demons. Jesus…what was that boy going through at this moment? How many ways had they already broken him? I already knew the answer. I knew because they’d broken me in the same ways.

“I didn’t know,” he whispered. “You said he was yours. You specifically said ‘take