Falling For a Leprechaun (American Gods)

Chapter 24

Bailey came awake with a start as the door to the room she had been locked inside of slammed open. Aches and pains made themselves known as she tried to make herself look as small as possible there on the bed. Media let out a throaty chuckle as she stalked into the room and purred. "Hello my pet, I've brought you a surprise today." Terror burned white-hot in her gut and she hastily shook her head no. Past surprises from the New God usually meant a beating was coming. Feigning a hurt look, she planted her perfect ass on the end of the bed and then quick as a snake grabbed ahold of Bailey's left ankle and yanked her towards her. A frightened scream scraped Bailey's throat raw as she scrambled to grab ahold of the sheets on the bed but they slipped right through her fingers.

In the span of a second, she found herself in Media's lap. The New God's arms wrapped around her and held onto her tightly. She then called out to whoever was outside the room. "Bring him in..." A giant of a man slowly made his way into the room but what caught Bailey's eye was that he was carrying someone over his shoulder. Once he was in the center of the room he dumped the person onto the ground unceremoniously. The sound of the person's head hitting the ground had her wincing internally. Media leaned forward and whispered in her ear. "Is there anything that you recognize about this man?" A shiver of dread slithered down Bailey's back at those words and she found herself perusing the man's body trying to find anything that she would recognize.

At first glance, she didn't see anything familiar about this person that was until the faint scent of roses tickled her nose. Her heart skipped a beat as the man let out a pained groan and lifted his head up off the floor and looked straight at her. Even bruised and bloody as he was, Bailey would recognize Death anywhere. He went to push himself up off the floor but his body gave out and he fell back down onto the ground. Those dark eyes showed such tenderness for her as he rasped out weakly. "Media, you sadistic bitch I will fucking kill you for hurting her." Barking out a laugh at his empty threat, she then leaned her head down and sank her teeth into Bailey's neck. 

Crying out in pain, Bailey began thrashing about in Media's lap but all that did was cause the New God to bite down harder. Death let loose several foul curses as he glared murderously at Media from his position on the floor. Just as she thought she would pass out from the pain, Bailey vaguely felt Media remove her teeth from her neck. The brush of the bitch's tongue on her skin had her shuddering in revulsion.  She then growled in Bailey's ear. "Don't you like your surprise pet? No. Then maybe I should just put this old dog out of his misery." Before she could protest, Bailey found herself down on the floor and watched helplessly as Media stalked towards Death. 

A swift kick to the chest sent the Old God sprawling onto his back a pained grunt rushing past his bloodied lips. Somehow a dagger appeared in her hand as she put them nose to nose and pressed the blade up against his jugular. Maniacal laughter shook Media's body as she watched as blood welled up beneath her blade. She then gets out in-between laughs. "Once you're gone, I'll be setting my sights on that bastard Mad Sweeney and then after that Old One-Eye himself." There was a slight pause before she snarled out. "Oh, and I can't forget his pet, Shadow Moon. But Mr.World has something special planned for him so he's off my list for now." Death tensed slightly at the mention of Wednesday's man but he had other things to worry about at the moment.

Like dealing with this crazy bitch. He glanced over at Bailey and offered her a lop-sided grin. Seeking out his powers proved to be a bit of a chore in his weakened state but they were quick to answer his call. In the span of a breath, he vanished from beneath her only leaving a few drops of blood in his wake. Quickly making it back onto her feet Media let several foul curses fly as she scanned the room for Death's return. But ultimately it was all in vain as he suddenly appeared behind her in his skeletal form and with a quick slash with his scythe sent her head tumbling onto the floor. Her dark eyes wide with disbelief.  Several sharp cries of alarm echoed from out in the hallway. 

Tensing slightly Death kicked the now headless corpse to the ground causing her blood to fan out across the floor. He then marched towards Bailey who was still on the floor. Without wasting any time he gathered her in his arms and rasps out. "Let's get you the hell out of here sweetheart." Shadow's beaten face chose that exact moment to flash through her mind. Panic settled into her gut as she placed a hand on Death's arm and pleaded of him. "We have to find Shadow!"  A sadness flickered across his skeletal face followed by him stating somberly. "I can only take one person at a time Bailey, and in my weakened state I don't know if I can make it back here let alone finding him and managing to make it out without getting captured." 

She felt her heart drop at those words. Though she hated leaving him behind Bailey didn't think twice as she rasped back tightly. "Then let's go then..." Concern for her filled those dark eyes but he didn't argue. More voices could be heard making their way towards the room. And the last thing she saw was Media's lifeless head staring back at her and she could have sworn that those blood red lips lifted into a Cheshire Cat like grin followed by one of her eyes winking at her.  

Mr.World was absolutely furious as he stood there in a puddle of Media's blood. He had had his henchmen carry her body away shortly after arriving. Knowing that he had let not just Bailey Rogers but Death himself slip right through his hands had him wanting to beat the ever loving shit out of the next person who approached him. But in the back of his mind he knew he still had a key piece to this war. Shadow Moon. Who was being quite stubborn with revealing any of that bastard Wednesday's plans. No matter, he would get the answers he required sooner than later. The mortal's body couldn't take much more punishment before it gave out completely. The New God felt his lips lift into a feral grin as he turned on his heel and marched out of the room leaving the blood behind.

He had a meeting to get to and he couldn't afford to be late...