Free Dicing with Death by Beth Chambers Page A

plucked the tiny bottle out of his hand.
    â€˜W-w-w-hat’s going on?’ Max’s dad whispered, looking from Max, to Liah, to Tom. ‘Is that a … that can’t be a … is that a ghost?’
    Max spun around. ‘You’ve got to be joking,’ he shouted at Liah, then to his father he added, ‘Of course it’s a ghost!’
    â€˜Boo,’ interjected Tom, grinning.
    Max’s father suddenly looked extremely pale. ‘I don’t feel well,’ he muttered, and slumped to the floor in a faint.
    â€˜Dad!’ cried Max.
    â€˜Leave him,’ said Liah. ‘We’ve got to get out of here.’
    â€˜I’m not leaving him.’ Max tried to lift his dad from under the arms. ‘Help me!’
    â€˜OK,’ hissed Liah, grabbing one of Greg’s legs with her free hand, ‘but keep the noise down or they’ll hear you.’
    â€˜You can’t really think the two of you are going to be together again?’ Max muttered as they painstakingly dragged his father towards the stairs.
    Tom nodded. ‘Of course. Liah’s the love of my life. Once I’ve had the elixir we’ll be together forever.’
    â€˜Until you die,’ Max pointed out. ‘And considering it’s Death you’re cheating, I wouldn’t count on being left alone to live happily ever after.’
    Liah glanced uncertainly from Max to Tom.
    â€˜Just one or two drops, Liah,’ encouraged Tom, ‘that’s all I need, and then it will be like the old days.’
    â€˜Not quite,’ Max said, wondering how they were going to get his dad down the stairs. ‘For a start, nobody’s allowed to fight duels anymore.’
    â€˜That’s not a bad idea,’ Tom grinned, ‘since I nearly died when I fought over Liah.’
    â€˜What was the name of the girl you actually died for?’ Max said, as innocently as he could.
    â€˜Sarah,’ replied Tom.

Chapter Fifteen
    The silence that followed was even thicker than one of Liah’s stews.
    â€˜Sarah?’ Liah finally whispered. ‘I thought
I
was the love of your life?’
    â€˜You are,’ Tom said hastily. ‘Sarah didn’t mean a thing compared to you.’
    â€˜Well, she was worth dying for,’ Max pointed out, laying down his dad at the top of the stairs.
    â€˜While I was slogging in the kitchen so you could be saved,’ Liah hissed.
    â€˜But I was willing to die for you first!’ Tom said plaintively.
    Max made a swooping action with one of his hands. ‘You have crashed and burned, my friend.’
    â€˜And,’ Liah added furiously, ‘I note that you’ve never once looked me up in the Underworld.’ She turned to Max. ‘Get him away from me – now!’
    Max was happy to help. He seized Tom’s arm and dragged him over to the balcony doors. Inserting Death’s key into the lock, he opened the doors. Instead of the welcoming glow of the night sky, he saw a familiar staircase lit with an ominous red glow. Tom began to struggle, determined not to return to the Underworld, but his ghostly strength was no match for a living human.
    â€˜You know what they say,’ Max panted as he shoved Tom through the doorway. ‘Hell has no fury like a woman scorned.’
    He banged the door shut and turned the key again before turning back to Liah and his unconscious father. Two bright spots of colour burned on her pale cheeks. ‘Are you okay?’
    Liah nodded and tilted her chin. ‘Never better.’
    At that moment, a catch clicked and Ralf and Larry pushed open the doors at the far end of the room.
    â€˜What the hell!’ roared Ralf, pulling the gun from his pocket.
    â€˜Watch out!’ Max cried as the man aimed at Liah and began to close in on her.
    â€˜Ow, my head,’ muttered Max’s dad, dragging himself to his feet by the stairwell. ‘What’s happening? Ralf?’
    Liah held