Lady Death's words hung in the air, a mix of pyful charm and sinister i. The way she looked at me—like a predator iing its prey—sent shivers down my spihis wasn't just any adversary. This was *Death*, personified, inate, standing before me with a bemused expression and a glimmer of mischief in her eyes.

  "I've heard of you," I said cautiously, trying to keep my voice even. "But I didn't expect we'd meet so soon." What the fuck just happened? I wao lie yet, I ended up saying such a stupid thing. What the fuck should I say if she asks me how I know her? Ah, crap! Of course, I am in my soul form, and before Death, who could lie? Shit!

  Lady Death's smile grew wider. "Ah, so you are aware of me. That is so rare. Most mortals 't uand my existend reize me, really. How odd."

  Her voice dripped with honeyed malice, a melody that seduced and unnerved me simultaneously. Words rippled through the space between us like an animate air responding to her whims. I swallowed hard, my heartbeat beating rapidly even as I tried to appear calm.

  "Why am I here?" I asked, pnt both feet firmly on the ground. My body felt as if the weight of the world now fell on my shoulders, a burden in her presence. I stood tall, repressing the oppressive force by force. I could feel the Phoenix Force, so that's something. I knew I wasn't dead or else we wouldn't be having this versation.

  "Yht yourself here," she said, her trace of an idle fihrough the air. The mist around her coiled like a serpent. "That little stunt you pulled with the Phoenix Force left cracks in your soul—cracks I couldn't resist slipping through."

  "Figures," I muttered, though I wasn't sure if I was trying to reassure myself or buy time to think.

  Death cocked her head to one side, examining me as if I were some particurly fasating bug under gss. Then, with a siep, she closed the distaween us. My breath hitched as her hand rose to brush lightly against my cheek. She was cool; not unpleasantly so, either. It was almost. f. And that was the most unnerving thing of all.

  Sedu!

  "You intrigue me, Aron," she whispered, now softer, almost tender. "Your soul. it burns brighter than most. I taste your defiance, your fear, your strength." Her eyes narrowed a little, and her smile turned wicked. "It's delicious." She licked her lips with a smile. Well, her smile was like one of those horny nympho girls you see in anime or a nympho yah a deadly smile.

  I stepped bastinctively but felt the earth tug at my feet, keepied in the soil. I don't even know if it's soil or something else. Whatever. Gotta stay strong. "Delicious?" I said, trying to sound firm while my heart pounded with excitement. "If you're here to collect my soul, you're wasting your time."

  Death's ughter sounded like she was making broken gss tinkle. "Oh, darling, you're misuanding me. I'm not here to collect you—not just yet, anyway." She leans in a bit closer, her voice dropping into a whisper. "I'm here to make you an offer."

  "An offer?" I repeat, my tone ced with suspi.

  She nodded, cirg me slowly, her gown trailing behind her like liquid shadow. "You've seen the chaos that's ing. The Sentinels, Trask, politid games. And beyond that." She paused, her eyes log with mine. "You've seen it, haven't you? The alien signal. The storm brewing in the os. Thanos is ing."

  That bastard? Wait a sed! Don't tell me this version is that fug insanely in love with Death, Thanos? Shit! If Death was bringing him up now, it couldn't mean anything good.

  "And you're tellihis because.?" I prompted, crossing my arms.

  Death stopped in front of me, her gaze pierg. "Because he wants you dead."

  "Thanos wants 'me' dead?" I couldn't help the incredulous ugh that burst out of my mouth. "What for? I'm just a guy with a fiery bird."

  Her expression grew dark, and for the first time, I saw something akin to frustration fsh across her face. "You uimate yourself, Aron. You've caught his attention. He's jealous of the bond we could share."

  That caught me short. "What bond?" I remember Death using mortals to py her games and even sedug some just for fun. And judging from our versation so far, I am her new pything.

  Death's smile returned, slow and serpentine. "Ah, you are clever, aren't you? Pying coy won't save you, darling. You know what I want." Her hand brushed against my chest this time. "You. At my side. My partner. My equal."

  The weight of her words sank into me, and it hit me like a jolt that she wasn't just pying games with me. She was dead serious. Death, the eternal foreeded me as her sort. It had my iwisting, but I mao meet her gaze.

  "And what if I say no?" I asked, my voice steady as hell though an inner maelstrom ed within me.

  Her eyes sparkled with mirth. "Oh, you'll say yes," she purred. "You'll beg me for the ce. Let me show you why."

  Before I could move, the whole world ged. The empty pin of the desert dissolved into darkness, and I was overwhelmed by a deluge of senses. Images rolled before my eyes-victories, ecstasies, and powers so overwhelming that I felt a losing breath. I stood at the head of armies, anding forces that would make even the Phoenix Force seem like a mere spark. I felt her touch, her presence, her whispers of eternity.

  It was intense... For a moment, I almost said 'YES'.

  But beh all of this, I felt the lie. This was no gift of power. It was a leash, gilded and masquerading as freedom. If I let myself into her arms, there was no escape.

  I gritted my fists, pushing the images aside. "No," I said, my voice steady.

  Death's smile faltered, just for a moment. "No?" she repeated, as though the word were a strange new verb to her.

  I took a deep breath, steadying myself. "Yood, I'll give you that," I said, f a smirk. "But I know yame. You offer power, pleasure, whatever I want—but there's always a price. And I'm not ied in paying it."

  Her expression shifted, surprise giving way to something darker, more dangerous. But beh it all, I caught a glimmer of... Admiration?

  "You're strohan I thought," she admitted, her voice dipped in curiosity. "Most would have given up by now."

  "Yeah well, I'm not most," I said, crossing my arms. "And if Thanos is ing for me, I'll handle him on my terms, not yours.

  Death looked at me for a long time, her fascrutable. Then, to my utter astonishment, she ughed - a real, musical sound that resohrough the nothingness. "Oh, Aron, you are adorable," she said, her smile ing back. "You think you resist me, but all you've done is make me all the more curious. Fine. Py your little game of defiance. I'm watg. Kill Thanos and his army. Show me a bloody show filled with death and then I might just give you a kiss to die for..."

  The mist began to roll in upon her, and I felt the weight on my chest begin to lift. But just before she vanished, she leaned i time, her lips brushing against my ear.

  "Remember this, darling: you 't outrun me. No one ."

  And with that, she was gone.

  I gasped, sitting upright in the infirmary bed, my heart pounding. The maes around me beeped in protest, and Kitty stirred beside me, her eyes groggy with sleep.

  "Aron?" she murmured, blinking up at me. "What's wrong?"

  "Nothing," I said, though my voice trembled. "Just a bad dream."

  But as I y back down, the weight of Death's words lingered. She was watg—and the game was just beginning.

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