It's A Wonderful Midlife Crisis (Good To The Last Death #1) - Robyn Peterman Page 0,108
with your bullshit declaration of love and I bought it. And now Steve is paying the price.”
“You’re going to have to be more specific, Daisy,” Gideon said as his eyes began to glow red.
The time in the park wasn’t my imagination. His eyes had turned red. I swallowed my gasp and stood my ground. However, I couldn’t stop the tears. Whatever. I was who I was. That wasn’t going to change.
“You tried to send him to the darkness,” I shouted, turning away from the shattered look of disbelief in his eyes. It was a lie just like he was. “You failed. You need to fix it.”
“You believe I would do that?” he asked in a harsh tone.
“I saw it,” I yelled. “I lived through it.”
“And you stopped it?” he asked, perplexed.
“I did. And there is nothing you can do about it.”
“How?” he asked.
I couldn’t believe I was going to answer him, but it felt right amidst all the wrong. He should be aware that we were no longer working together. He could move on to a different Death Counselor and charm her.
“I quit,” I said flatly. “I will no longer aid the dead. I’m done.”
“You’re amazing,” he whispered.
I whipped my head around and I pinned him with a glare. “And you’re a sorry excuse for a man or whatever you are. If there’s anything you can do for Steve, I would appreciate it. If not, you need to leave and never come back.”
The words ripped my soul to shreds. My gut said everything about this was wrong, but my gut could no longer be trusted.
“Beware what you wish for, Daisy. Words can destroy,” he warned.
“Correct, Gideon,” I said, meeting his devastated gaze. How did he think I could be with him after what he’d done? “And so can lies.”
“You think I lied to you?” he asked.
“Yes,” I replied, wanting to sit down so badly. My legs were barely holding me up. “Everything about you is a lie. And I’m the idiot who believed you.”
Gideon swore and began to pace the room. My hand went to my mouth involuntarily as shimmering black ebony wings erupted from his back and a golden glow surrounded him. The span of his wings had to be six feet and the shimmering light made them sparkle. The juxtaposition confused me.
“There is much you don’t understand,” Gideon snarled.
“Enlighten me,” I shot back.
He stopped and stared. My breath caught in my throat. He looked like a gorgeous avenging fallen angel. His pain and sadness radiated off of him.
“Why?” he inquired coldly. “You won’t believe me.”
I wanted to. God, I wanted to, but he was right. I wouldn’t believe him. How could I? He was the Grim Reaper. He sent souls in question into the darkness. Didn’t he?
Nodding jerkily as the tears flowed freely down my face, I tried one more time. “Is there anything you can do for Steve?”
I was sure I imagined it, but Gideon looked at me with such love and compassion, I sucked in my breath. In a split second it was gone. His expression grew remote and guarded. It was wishful thinking on my part. I was pathetic.
“Since I wasn’t the one who set the wheels in motion, no. There is nothing I can do for Steve,” he informed me in a tone void of emotion.
“Right,” I whispered, shaking my head sadly. “Go. Go away and never come back, please.”
I wanted to belt myself for saying please, but it was ingrained.
Gideon closed his eyes and made a sound from deep in his soul that shredded me even more than what I’d just been through with Steve. I understood the sound. It was happening inside my body and would probably live within me for a very long time.
“I will always love you, Daisy,” he said quietly. “I will take the memories of the last few weeks with me and hold them close for eternity. But we would have never worked. Trust goes hand in hand with love, and you aren’t capable of that.”
I glanced down at my trembling hands and felt faint. I wanted to throw something at him. I wanted to destroy him. I wanted to hurt him like he’d hurt me.
I wanted to touch him.
I wanted to hold him.
“Gideon, I…” I started as I looked up, and gasped.
He was gone. He’d done as I asked.
That was good. He’d lied and tried to send Steve to the darkness. He’d used me. I didn’t buy anything he’d said.