And froze.
Barron stood behind a potbellied man who was a blubbering mess, crying and pleading for his soul.
The man was a ghost.
Barron yanked the poor soul back against his chest, and that’s when I noticed the rope in his grip. He didn’t offer the man a single word of reassurance as he strapped him down, tightening the rope across his chest like a harness.
What the hell was I witnessing?
When Barron spotted me, he tossed the line over the man’s shoulder and gestured.
“Help tighten this.”
“What are you doing?” I asked, my voice low with warning.
“You know exactly what I’m doing.” Barron tapped the man on the head. “Catching a ride to Heaven.”
Then, turning to the ghost: “Thanks for the help, Jimmy. I’m going to go get my mate—and stop the world from plunging any further into chaos.”
“Please, let me go,” the ghost whimpered. “I dedicated my life to the Lord…”
“I know.” Barron’s voice softened for a breath. “And I appreciate that more than you know.”
He materialized his scythe. The gate to Heaven cracked open before them, casting golden light into the dark room.
“Don’t you—”
Barron ran straight into the portal with the ghost before I could even finish speaking.
I froze, blinking as the gate winked out of existence.
No way.
No fucking way that worked.
We tried entering Heaven’s portal a hundred times back when we first started working for Dad—mostly for shits and giggles. It never worked. The barrier always threw us back as if we were ping-pong balls. But somehow…the ghost had tricked the gate.
Suddenly, my head spun with possibilities.
Holy shit.
We could rescue Kitty.
A loud crack split through the air as the bright light returned. I had no time to brace—hell, I hadn’t even known I needed to.
Barron’s broad back came flying toward me like a battering ram. When he collided with me, it was like getting hit by a goddamn semi-truck. We were launched out of the house, over the balcony. I couldn’t even scream.
I tumbled down a steep hill, groaning as I rolled. Something—maybe a stick—stabbed into my ribs. My breath vanished. For a second, I couldn’t tell if I was alive. I finally slid to a stop in the soggy grass, gasping.
Clutching my stomach, I slowly sat up. Could’ve been worse.
I eyed how close I’d come to rolling into the water. A few more feet, and I would’ve been swept into the flooded city below.
Shit.
Where was Barron?
Did he slide into the water?
