Damien’s features tightened and his hand fell away from my face, leaving me cold. Whatever had been happening between us was forgotten by the unexpected arrival of Parker.

Damien glared at Parker. “Is there no getting rid of you?” he murmured, his eyes blazing with anger.

“I die and the world has gone mad,” Parker said, blinking between Damien and I. “Did you hit your head? Like really hard?”

I had to smother a smile. It was so Parker.

“Good to see you again Parker,” I said, trying to steer the conversation from what Parker had witnessed, to a safer and less awkward subject.

Damien and I were just unravelling what was between us, it was not ready for the close inspection of the outside world.

“You couldn’t even die properly,” Damien remarked at the ghost form of Parker.

“And you’re still a first class asshole.” Parker shot back without missing a beat.

They still detested each other. I rolled my eyes at them. I don’t know why I had expected them to behave differently.

“Stop, both of you.”

Silence fell. They refused to even look at each other. I knew I had my work cut out for me.

“We need to work together you two if we are going to figure out a way to save me.”

Damien was already shaking his head. “If you think he is going to be able to help in any way, we are screwed.”

“Asshole,” Parker muttered under his breath which drew another dark glare from Damien.

“I’m done refereeing the two of you.” I threw my hands in the air. “You two need to figure out how to get along. Do you hear me?”

Damien frowned while Parker studied him suspiciously.

“This time we are all on the same side. We aren’t enemies.”

“I think someone needs to explain how that happened. The last time I saw the two of you, you were definitely not on the same side. I kind of feel like I’m in some alternative universe, I can’t quite believe what I just saw.”

I looked between the two of them trying to figure out where to start.

“Remember the night I had the car accident?” I asked Parker.

“Yeah.”

Even talking about it brought back the terrifying memories of almost drowning. I exhaled a shaky breath.

“Damien saved me.”

Parker frowned. “But doesn’t he want you dead?”

I nodded

“So why would he save you?” Parker questioned further.

“Because he can’t let me die.”

His frown deepened. “That doesn’t make any sense. To be free he has to take you back and the only way he can do that is if you die.”

I nodded. Everything he was saying was right.

“Are you sure about this?” Parker asked, suspiciously studying Damien.

“Yes. He also saved me from stepping in front of a car and falling off the roof.”

Parker’s eyes widened. “That sounds like a lot of suspicious circumstances.”

It did seem like there had been a lot more incidents than before.

“It happens when death is near,” Damien murmured.

“What do you mean?” I asked, moving my attention to Damien.

“It’s why I told you to stay away from him.”

“Because of the reaper?”

“Yes. He was dying. It was only a matter of time before the reaper came to take him and the closer you were to death the more you were being drawn to death.”

“Why?” I asked. I had no idea.

“You’re not supposed to be here Tessa. For the last seven years you should have been dead. You belong in hell. It’s why the reaper was able to sense you and why you had such bad luck. With the car off the bridge, stepping in front of the car and slipping off the roof.”

I was floored. I had never suspected any of this events were tied to Parker’s impeding death. But it did make some logical sense. I couldn’t exactly remember or explain how the accident on the bridge happened, I had just assumed I had stepped in front of the oncoming car because I had been too busy fighting with Damien and the slip from the roof had been accidental.

“So you still haven’t told me why he can’t let you die?”

My eyes found Damien’s. What I felt for him was amplified in that moment thinking back to all the times he had saved me, including the one where I had died first.

“He was also there seven years ago when my family died. He is the reason I survived it, he saved me.”

Parker looked to Damien.

“Like I told you, he was my guardian Angel.”

Parker’s stared at Damien like he was expecting the traditional angel with wings included.

“Why is that so hard to believe?” Damien raised an eyebrow, he was spoiling for a fight.

“It’s just…it’s hard to see you as something good when you’ve been so terrible to Tessa.”

“It was my punishment for interfering. I was forced to become the opposite to what I was. Where before I would have done anything to save her, now I was trying everything to do everyone to destroy her. I hated her and I wanted nothing more than to fulfill my task of taking her back to hell.”

There was a heavy silence as Parker digested all the information.

“Wow,” Parker finally breathed. “I didn’t see that coming.”

“Yeah, neither did we.” I affirmed.

It had been a rollercoaster. But it was far from over.

The aching throb on my arm was a reminder of what still lay ahead.

“So what are we going to do?” Parker asked.

I shrugged while Damien watched. “We don’t know. So far we haven’t been able to figure a way out yet. There might not even be a way to stop it.”

“Do we know how much time we have left…you know before the reaper comes back?”

I shook my head. “We don’t know. It could be days, it could be longer. There is no way to know for sure.”

Parker’s form began to fade. And then he was gone. He was getting better at holding his form but it would take time to hold it longer.

It was probably for the best. I’d had an emotional day and I was exhausted. I sighed.

“You need to get some sleep,” Damien kept his distance.

My eyes held his guarded ones. Whatever walls I had broken down before were back up. It was so demotivating, especially when there was so much going on and we couldn’t solely concentrate on our feelings for each other and what that meant for us.

I walked past him to the bathroom and I closed the door. For a few moments I leaned against the door and allowed my emotions free reign. Closing my eyes I took a few deep breaths trying to fight my way through the suppressing feelings that no matter what we did it wouldn’t be enough.

I felt a mixture between defeat and fear. I had no idea what my future held but I couldn’t give up. It wasn’t an option.

Damien was gone when I finished showering and got into bed. I was too afraid to close my eyes and so I lay there with the covers up to my chin staring into the darkness.

Every time my eyes grew heavy and I closed them I saw the Reaper coming toward me, tall dark and intimidating with the large scythe bearing down on me. My heart slammed in my chest, taking my breath away and I would open my eyes breathing hard like I had just run a marathon.

As a kid you have nightmares about things made up in your imagination. But this wasn’t just some figment of an overactive imagination, it was real. So real I could still feel the pain on my arm, the mark that would being the reaper back.

Eventually unable to stand the darkness anymore I switched the light on. Where was Damien? I bet I would be able to get some sleep if he had been here. And where was he?

I was tired and irritable is so decided to go downstairs to get some milk. That usually helped when I couldn’t sleep but granted I had never had a reaper after me.

Each step in the darkness was filled with a fear that something was there with me. The house was eerily quiet and I took a brave breath when I got to the kitchen and switched on the light. I could’t believe that I was scared of the dark again, it was a childhood fear I believed I had outlived.