Kisses From Death | Book 1

T W E N T Y - N I N E

T W E N T Y - N I N E
Checkmate

HIS HAIR WAS matted on his face due to perspiration, and his body was hanging limply from the ceilings with only the cables supporting his weight. Cassiel looked barely alive, barely even breathing as he slumped his head down after taking a glance at me.

Thoughts reeled in my mind but there was one particular question that stood out above the rest. Why was Cassiel here? He was supposed to be taking care of Minnie and Gabriel, he was supposed to be safe.

With my heart thumping rapidly in my chest, I dashed forward, weaving myself through the forest of wires in an attempt to reach him. I wasted no time in attempting to loosen the wires around his wrists, pulling them apart while trying not to aggravate his already red and sore wrists even further. From the struggle, the paper that was tucked into my pocket fell out to the floor, drifting slightly before it landed. On it, the words were sprawled into a new message.

As the slip of paper fell from my pockets, I managed to catch a glimpse of its words, causing me to swallow the bile in my throat uncomfortably.

I see everything for I have eyes and ears everywhere.

"Pilediah?" He asked, a sticky sheen of sweat layered across his skin. "What on earth are you doing here? Get out! He's coming." Cassiel's voice was much weaker than I had expected. The words came out of his lips in a throaty gurgle, as if he had already no strength to even spare a few words. My heart clenched painfully at the way he was, angered that he wasn't safely tucked away like I had left him to be.

"You are crazy, Cassiel." Grunting, I pulled at the cables after casting him a brief glance. "You were supposed to keep Minnie and Gabriel safe! And yet you charge out here and ended up getting yourself caught? I can take care of myself fairly well, as you can see."

"What are you talking about?" He asked with confusion in his voice, forehead wrinkling as he raised one eyebrow. My movements slowed down to a stop as I assessed his blank and clueless face, a single possibility hitting me like a ten-ton truck.

Slowly, I backed a few steps away from him, eyes darting from his hanged up figure towards the words on the slip of paper.

I see everything.

I had been too busy examining and helping Cassiel that I hadn't even noticed the clicking of polished leather shoes from behind me, and only when a single voice rang clear into the air had I snapped over to look.

"Addison! Get out! It's a trap!" From at the other side of the cables stood the exact replica of the man that was in front of me. The same shining green eyes, the same tousled light brown hair, and the same handsome features.

The second Cassiel stood there, exactly how I had remembered him to be. Caring, worried and perfectly safe. Ignoring the fact that he was supposed to be in the room accompanying Minnie and Gabriel, the man that now stood at the other side of the room was definitely the one I had undoubtedly spent time with.

"He's here," the first Cassiel whispered under his breath, yanking at his bounds with sharp tugs in an attempt to escape. However, my attention was not on him and was instead in the gleaming eyes of the handsome man I found myself fancying along the way.

"Why are there two of you?" My voice bounced along the hallways, and the second Cassiel took one glance at the man behind me, his eyes lit up with alarm.

"Addison, back away from him. That's Death." He yelled, taking a single step closer to me in an almost hurried motion.

"You're supposed to be with Minnie and Gabriel so what are you doing here?" I straightened my posture, eyebrows set to a deep frown as I stood my ground.