Free Death Becomes Me (Call Me Grim Book 2) by Elizabeth Holloway Page A

why would he take them if he couldn’t use them against us? It’d be a waste.” He looks my way, and I can see a hint of uncertainty in his sideward glance, but it quickly disappears. “We’re not trapped in a territory or connected to him by a Scythe anymore. We got away and he doesn’t know where we are or where we’re going. We are out of his control. As long as we stay out of sight, he won’t be able to use them to punish either of us. So it wouldn’t be worth his time.”
    “He spoke to me.” I rest my head against his shoulder. My eyelids droop as heaviness settles over me. I’m so tired. I wish I could just sleep until all of this is over.
    “What?” Aaron shrugs my head off of his shoulder. I look up at him.
    “When he paralyzed me back there, he took me somewhere dark and he spoke to me.” I let my fingers play over the back of his arm. “He told me he would find me. That it was only a matter of time. That I belong to him.”
    “That’s bullshit, Libbi. Don’t listen to him. He doesn’t own you.”
    “He said he’d hurt people I love.”
    “He can’t. He’s lying to you. Trying to scare you into doing what he wants.”
    “No. He’s not lying.” I shake my head. “He can hurt Kyle.”
    “Kyle’s prepared for that. He agreed to it. You heard him. He said torture is better than dead.” The muscles in Aaron’s jaw tighten. “But Kyle doesn’t know where we are, either. So torturing him would be useless.” He tugs me closer and we take another turn.
    “But he could take Max as a Shadow to hurt Kyle.”
    “Libbi. Listen to me.” The force in his voice strikes me like a slap. “Abaddon can’t touch the living. Even if he could, if he wanted to punish Kyle, and torturing him didn’t do the trick, he wouldn’t take Max or Sara as a Shadow. He’d take Haley.”
    My heart sinks. Haley. Kyle’s twin sister and one of my best friends. That’s almost as bad as if he stole Max. There has to be something we can do, some way we can warn them. I’d say we could find the closest Reaper and ask to use their Scythe to talk to Kyle, but after the trouble we had with Bobby, I think getting to know our fellow Reapers might not be such a good idea.
    “We should go back to Carroll Falls.” I touch trembling fingers to my temple. “We need to warn them.”
    “He’ll expect us to go back there. After all of that, he’s probably counting on it. But you don’t have to worry about warning Kyle or Max.” He looks down at me and smiles. It’s a small one, but it’s still a smile. “I already did.”
    “You did?”
    “Yeah.” His grin spreads a bit more, but there is no mistaking the fear that swims behind his eyes. “In the attic, when you were getting our things, I basically forced Bobby to use his Scythe and take me to Kyle. I didn’t have time to give details, but I told Kyle Abaddon was onto us, and to be careful.”
    For a moment, my shoulders drop with relief. Kyle’s been warned. He will keep them safe, even if it kills him, which it won’t. He’s a Reaper. He can’t die. His death is postponed.
    Right?
    My shoulders shoot back up to my ears. Kyle is a Reaper. In less than a week, he’ll disappear. Who will warn Sara, Max, Mom, and Haley when they can’t see or hear Kyle anymore? And even while he’s visible, who’s to say Kyle can stop Abaddon from taking anyone he pleases, whenever he wants?
    “Will warning them be enough?” I bite my lower lip so hard I taste blood. “We don’t know how this Shadow thing works. For all we know, he could take people in their sleep, or when they walk in front of a graveyard without shoes. Anything is possible.”
    Aaron turns, his eyes steady and hard with determination. “You saw that little girl back there. She was dead, a walking corpse. She moved like she was being manipulated. Awkward, jerky. He was using her body.”
    “Right. Like a zombie.”
    “No. Like a puppet.” His eyes widen with surprise, like he just thought of