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Flynn was betting on the latter in this case.

Why?

Because that was their life.

As they stood there, the statue that he’d bought for Jolie to memorialize the grave site was pristine. He knew she went there every now and again to talk to the woman.

They’d raised her once before, using her to defeat a foe, and after that moment, they promised to never bother her again.

And yet now, here they were.

Defiling her grave once more.

The flowers and Creeping Myrtle had covered where he body lay interred, making it look peaceful and calm. Now, they were about to stir the shit up.

How could this go wrong?

“I need the bone, and then, I’d like to go home to my son to rest and spend time with him before you reap me,” she said.

Death stared at her.

“Who said I was going to reap you?” he asked.

“It’s what you didn’t say, Death. We both know that you can’t let me stay. I’ve unbalanced the universe. It will cause someone who didn’t deserve to die to perish.”

He just blinked, those red swirls giving nothing away to the woman.

“So let’s get this over with, and let me have some time with my son.”

Death didn’t argue.

“What do we do?” Flynn asked, as the hair on the back of his neck was standing. He was pretty sure they were being watched, but then again, with vampyre family, as the sun was starting to head into the horizon, they could just be out patrolling.

Right?

“I’ll get the bone,” Death offered. “It’s easier if I do it,” he admitted.

Moving toward the grave, he touched the ground above Louisa, and sent his command into it.

“Come to me,” he said, controlling the dead beneath it. She was his to control, and he would do what it took.

Stepping back, the ground shifted, and out of the dirt and through the once-serene Creeping Myrtle came a hand. It reached up, as if it needed help being pulled from the ground.

It was a horrible sight.

There was very little flesh left on her bones, and they were eerily held together with something supernatural. She’d not come apart at the joints.

“Thank you, Louisa. I just need a small bone. I’ll return it to you,” he offered.

He reached for her hand, and when he did, she grabbed his wrist, making everyone jump.

Jacques seemed to be having a conversation with her because he didn’t look alarmed.

How he didn’t…no clue. Flynn was freaked out because who wouldn’t be?

“I promise. I’ll tell her. I know she misses you too,” Jacques said, speaking to her.

Immediately, the hand relaxed, and allowed Jacques to take the smallest of finger bones from her. When he palmed it, he waved his hand over the grave, and the hand sank back down, deep into the ground.