But it wasn’t the Reaper. For a second I thought it might be Mara, but it was a woman I didn’t recognize. The woman wore a gauzy white gown, and ringlets of blonde hair framed her soft, pale face. She hovered in the air in front of us.

  “It can’t be,” Lilura said from behind me. She pushed me aside and hobbled forward to the woman in the fog. Her hands trembled by her mouth. “Carlotta?”

  Chase gasped.

  A soft, serene smile appeared on Carlotta’s face. “Mother,” she said, “you must stop. You can’t defeat him.”

  Lilura reached for her. Chase stumbled next to me.

  “Grandma, it’s a trick!” Chase yelled. His jaw trembled. “It’s not really her.” His voice cracked as he said it. “It’s the water. Water’s connected to emotions. The Reaper’s manipulating—”

  Lilura glanced over her shoulder at us, tears in her eyes and hunching even more than usual.

  “Zadie.” Chase put a hand on my back, almost like he was fighting to stay upright. He swallowed, as if biting back his own tears. “Change the water in the air.”

  I reached for Gavin’s hand. Water was my nemesis, and I really needed his help. He squeezed my hand and nodded. I focused my power. Felt it working. Imagined my heart radiating energy that stretched and encompassed Lilura, forming a shield between her and the fog. The illusion of the woman faded into the mist. The fog went from green to white, then dissipated into nothing but cold air.

  We rushed forward to Lilura. She dropped to her knees. Chase didn’t speak as he put a hand on her shoulder, but his eyes said everything. I crouched to lift her up. Her mouth was drawn in a pout and her eyes were red. She nodded.

  “Let’s go,” Chase said.

  The next set of trees spat us out onto a stretch of land that bordered the mossy banks of a lake. I scanned the area for the Reaper. Nothing. Only red sky, black trees, and still water.

  “Where’d they go?” My words ran together as panic choked my heart.

  “He must be here somewhere,” Lilura whispered. She motioned to Chase, pointing in one direction. He nodded and crept to the left.

  My eyes darted from tree to tree, crossbow at the ready. My throat felt rougher than sandpaper. I fought to swallow. Gavin put his hands on my arms, but kept silent.

  “There!”

  But as soon as Lilura said it, a black swarm enveloped us. I lowered the crossbow in order to shield my face from the attack of millions of flying insects. The buzzing was loud in my ears. The swarm brought a smell with it of burning garbage. I wanted to gag. I wanted to spit. But I forced myself to focus instead.

  I had used my training to help me with the other attacks. What could I use now? I remembered the feathers, and grabbed Gavin’s hand. My bones shook with energy. The swarm’s noise pitched higher. Then the black cluster of bugs lifted into the air, higher and higher, until they cleared the treetops and took off.

  With the view cleared, I spotted the Reaper standing on the bank of the lake. I raised the bow to fire. Suddenly the ground shook, knocking me off my feet.

  The ground rose in mounds, as if giant moles were burrowing out. Mara lay limp in the Reaper’s arms. I pursed my lips and jumped to my feet. I ran faster than I’d ever run before, clearing mossy mounds like they were nothing more than hurdles at the track.

  The Reaper charged toward the lake. I picked up speed. Only, I misjudged the height of the next mound. Vines and twigs and stray branches caught my feet, ensnaring me as I tumbled down the mound. The side of the crossbow sliced into my side. My re-attached pinky caught on a jagged branch. Pain seared into me as blood oozed over my hand. Arrows spilled from the quiver, and I prayed I wouldn’t land the wrong way.

  “Zadie!”

  I looked behind me. Chase and Gavin raced my way. The Reaper noticed. He swung Mara over his shoulder and pulled out his scythe, swinging it in the air. Large rocks from the riverbank wheeled through the air at them. I tried to get to my feet, but my leg was tangled in a vine. A large rock hit Chase in his temple. He rolled forward onto the ground. A loud crack echoed, and I screamed as a tree started to fall toward him. Gavin sprinted forward and grabbed Chase, rolling him out of the way as the tree landed with an earth-shaking boom.

  The Reaper grinned a gray-toothed grin, gathered a flimsy Mara into his arms, and took off toward the lake. I re-positioned my bow, grabbing an arrow that had landed beside my arm, and pulled the trigger. The arrow pelted the Reaper in the leg. At the same moment, a glow of blue light surrounded him. I glanced back. Lilura’s palms faced out toward the Reaper, and her lips moved continuously.

  The Reaper slammed against the wall of blue light, trapped. I used the distraction to untangle myself and jump to my feet. I reached into the twig-covered quiver, grateful to find the arrow with the Reaper knife still inside. But it was difficult to aim the crossbow because the Reaper wouldn’t stand still, ramming himself against the blue wall with his shoulder. Then he stopped. Glared at Lilura. Lilura coughed, clutching at her throat. The blue glow around the Reaper blinked out. In a moment, he’d be free. If I didn’t take a shot, Mara would be dead. Focusing on his movements, I lined up my target, and prayed.

  Then I pulled the trigger.

  When it splashed into water, my heart sank. I’d misjudged the weight. The Reaper knife disappeared into the lake.

  And the Reaper dove in after it.

  With Mara in his arms.

  I dropped the crossbow and charged forward, kicking up sand and moss. Struggling to take a deep enough breath, I dove into the lake after the Reaper. The cold water slapped my face and strung icicles along my veins. It was hard to see. Small things floated in the water around me. I searched for movement. A few yards ahead of me, Mara’s strawberry blonde hair drifted around her as the Reaper pulled her deeper into the water. I knew where he was headed. The glint of metal caught my eye. But I wasn’t fast enough to get there first.

  The Reaper had the knife.

  There wasn’t enough air in my lungs, but I had to get to Mara. I had to do whatever I could to stop the Reaper. The magic pulsated through me. Bubbles drifted up from the bottom of the lake, bringing seaweed with them. The seaweed glided toward the Reaper and clung to him, pulling at him and making him struggle. I swam hard and fast for him, determined to get the knife.

  He swung at me when I reached him. I couldn’t shift fast enough in the water to dodge him. The Reaper knife sliced my shoulder. An agonizing sting tore through me. Blood seeped from the cut and turned the water dark red. If I had the air, I would have screamed. But I didn’t have air. And I didn’t have time.

  Something poked at my side. Gripping my shoulder, I twisted to see an arrowhead caught in a branch that stuck to my quiver. I grabbed the arrow, and as the Reaper raised his knife, I pierced his throat.

  He let go of Mara. A low, rumbling scream ripped out of him, muffled by the water. Mara slowly began to float to the surface. I sprang onto the Reaper’s arm, grabbing for the knife. He struggled with me, but I got hold of the arrow still stuck in his neck, and shoved. He flailed, trying to yank the arrow out. Now that his focus was on the arrow, I wrenched the Reaper knife from his boney hand. Twisted. Plunged. I felt a flash in my bones. With all the force I could muster, I thrust the knife deeper into his heart. His flailing stopped.

  Something told me to back away. I started to kick, but not quickly enough. An orange glow erupted from the knife. And burst.

  The force of the explosion propelled me through the water. I couldn’t tell up from down. Water, blood, and debris swirled around me. My face broke the surface, and I gasped in a long-awaited breath just as the world went black.

  Chapter Twenty-Eight

  “So you talked to Luke?” Sitting on my bed, I shifted the phone and studied the black slash on my shoulder. A week had gone by since the Reaper had branded me, and the wound still stung when I touched it. “And he doesn’t remember what happened?”

  “He remembers stopping at a convenience store on the way home from Brent’s house and getting hit over the head. That’s it,” Naomi said. “He woke up beat to a pulp.”

  I knew how he felt. The last thing I remembered after killing the Reaper was a hand grabbing mine as I broke the surface of the water. Gavin’s hand, I was told later. I woke up in Chase’s bed, groaning. The blast from the Reaper knife’s explosion had left a blistering wound on my hand. Lilura had kept me overnight, healing my wounds, and Chase had whipped up a soothing salve and a pain-killing potion.

  Mara was alive, but in shock. Lilura and Chase did what they could for her, too. Naomi provided our alibi for not coming home that night. I figured Dad would much prefer to hear that we spent the night at her house than hear the truth—that I spent the night in Chase’s bed, Sable curled at my feet and Gavin holding my hand.

  Healing took some time. Mara had stayed home sick all week. I would have, too, but I couldn’t bear to be away from Gavin. So I suffered in silence at school. My body screamed and revolted against me every day. But with the help of Chase’s medicine and Gavin’s comforting presence, the hurt got better, little by little.

  “Lucky for Luke the police got that anonymous tip,” I said, switching the phone to my other ear.

  “Yeah.”

  I wondered how Naomi was handling the truth. From what Mara, Chase, Lilura, and I could piece together, our best guess was this: The Reaper had made Mara attack Luke outside the convenience store. Probably where no one would see, and probably from behind, since Luke didn’t see his attacker. Mara drove Luke, in his car, out to the old abandoned Sander’s property, dragged him to the dried up well, and dropped him down it. The Reaper must have intended the drop to kill him. Mara must have driven Luke’s car to the cemetery and left it there, because that’s where the police found it.

  Luckily the well was old and filled with trash and debris, so the drop was only fifteen feet. Luke broke his leg and sprained his arm. He also went without food and water for two days. An anonymous tip from “a jogger”—Naomi, who had called in after Lilura used the jacket Naomi had stolen to locate him—led the police to the Sander’s property.

  He’d been released from the hospital, and word was, except for his leg being stuck in a cast, he’d fully recovered. I didn’t know if I could look at him when he returned to school. I didn’t know if Mara would ever be able to look at him again.

  “How’s Mara?” Naomi asked, as if reading my thoughts.

  “She’s all right.” I stood from my bed and walked over to the mirror. “Spending a lot of time in bed, but she’s not a zombie anymore. She has actual conversations with me now.”

  “So no more freak show?”

  “No, I think we’re done with that.”

  “Good.” Naomi was quiet for a moment. I was about to ask if she was still there when she finally spoke again. “Did you hear they ruled Emily’s death an accident?”

  I didn’t answer. Instead, I placed my bandaged hand on my dresser. It had been easy enough to tell everyone who asked—like my father—that I’d burned it on my flat iron. But what wasn’t easy was tending to the burn. Half the wound had crusted over with a black scab thanks to Chase’s ointment. But the rest was still a bloody, swollen, throbbing disaster.

  “Her mother figured out that Emily had stopped taking her medication. Said Emily must have had a seizure by the pool, hit her head on the diving board, and fell in.”

  I closed my eyes and wished I believed that.

  Naomi’s doorbell sounded faintly through the phone.

  “Oh, listen,” Naomi said, “I’ve got to go.”

  “You mean you have other friends besides me?”

  “Yeah, big shocker, right?”

  “Who is it?”

  “Um …” She lowered her voice to a whisper. “It’s Danny.”

  I blinked, looked at the phone to be double sure it was Naomi I was talking to, then pulled it back to my ear. “What? Are you two—?”

  “No!” Naomi’s voice became muffled, and I realized she was covering the phone. I could just make out her telling Danny to wait for her in the living room. When she came back on the line, her voice was so quiet I had to strain to hear. “It’s not what you think. I promise.”

  “What do you think I think?”

  “We’re not together. Because Danny is … gay.”

  I almost dropped the phone. “He’s what?”

  “Shh! He made me promise to keep it a secret. But I guess, since we’re best friends and share top-secret information and all … Don’t tell Gavin. He doesn’t know yet. Danny says he’s going to tell him, but he’s afraid of coming out. I’m the first one he’s told!”

  “Wow,” I said. “Well, take it from me. Gavin does not like being lied to. Tell Danny he better get some courage and tell him. You can hold his hand if it makes him feel any better. Oh, wait. Probably wouldn’t.”

  Naomi laughed. “Shut up.”

  “So how come he told you?” I dropped back on my bed, tracing the flower design on my comforter.

  “Well, I sort of annoyed him about not asking me out until he told me just to make me stop. I think he’s glad he did, though. He isn’t so uptight anymore. And, bonus for me; you know I’ve always wanted a gay friend.”

  I laughed and sat up straight. “It’s like an early Christmas present.”

  “Ho ho ho.” Her giggle filled my ear. “Okay, I’ve got to go. He’s waiting. We’re going shopping.”

  “That would have been my first guess.”

  “Shut up. I’ll call you later.”

  I tucked my phone in my pocket. Out in the hall, I hesitated before Mara’s room. I wasn’t afraid anymore, but things between us still felt fragile. I knocked lightly and turned the knob. I hung by the doorframe, waiting for her to invite me in.

  She closed her book and regarded me. “Hey, Zadie.”

  “Can I get you anything before I go?”

  She stretched and placed the book on her nightstand. “No, I’m fine.”

  “You sure you don’t want to come with us?”

  She dropped her gaze. “I’m … I just don’t think I’m ready to see Mom yet. I need more time.”

  I nodded. “Okay.”

  Offering a small smile, I turned to leave.

  “Zadie,” she said, stopping me in my tracks. “You know I’m grateful, right? For you saving my life. Twice.”

  I took a deep breath and went over to sit next to her on the bed. She scooted over to give me room. My hand found hers when I sat. All this time, I’d wondered if bringing her back from the dead was a mistake. But, there was no way I could ever be without her. “I didn’t know it was going to get all screwed up, you know? I’m sorry.”

  “Why are you apologizing?”

  I shrugged. It wasn’t that I was responsible for everything that went wrong, but I did feel helpless that I couldn’t make everything go the way it was supposed to. “Do you really think you lost your powers?”

  “Pretty sure, yeah.” She sat upright and took my hand. “I have to be honest, I was afraid to try at first. Afraid he might still be out there. That if I used magic, he’d notice and come after me again. Because of how my soul was under his control. Like that connection was permanent, and he’d know. It’s still hard to believe you actually killed him.”

  A shudder rippled through me. I’d killed him, but I knew he wasn’t the only Reaper out there. And my seventeenth birthday wasn’t too far off.

  “But I was curious,” she said. “So I tried. But … nothing.”

  “I’m sorry,” I whispered. Her powers may or may not have been important to her, but I hated that she had no choice in whether or not she could keep them. Part of her identity had been stolen away. And that was probably my fault.

  “No, don’t be sorry. If it means I’m free of him, that I can live my life without having to be afraid of him anymore, then losing my powers is a small price to pay.”

  She smiled and pulled me into her arms. I buried my head in her shoulder and squeezed her back. Our relationship still needed a lot of work, but at least we were headed in the right direction.

  I pulled back, avoiding her eyes. “I have to ask you something.”

  “Okay.”

  “What happened that day? With … the bus.” I held my breath, hoping I hadn’t just derailed all the progress we’d made.

  She worried the skin of one finger. “I wish I knew exactly. I was walking with Emily, talking about my breakup with Luke. Only I couldn’t tell her the whole truth—that I told Luke about my powers, but he thought I was crazy. That he became distant, started avoiding me. That’s why I broke up with him.”

  I blinked. “You broke up with him? I thought it was the other way around.”

  “Everybody thought so. I just never corrected them because I wanted Luke to keep quiet about my secret.”

  I thought about Naomi. She’d been super understanding when I told her what I was. And Gavin took it like a pro. I really lucked out in the friend department.

  “But Emily didn’t know?”

  “No. Not about any of it. Anyway, she was asking me if I thought we’d get back together again, and then it was like the color was sucked out of her eyes or something. Like she was hypnotized. The next thing I knew, she pushed me.”

  My hand flew to my mouth.

  Mara put her hand on my leg. “She didn’t know what she was doing. And she didn’t remember it. At least, I don’t think she did. Anyway, it wasn’t her. It was him.”

  “I … I don’t know what to say.”

  She shook her head. “It doesn’t matter now. We can’t change anything. She’s gone now, too.”

  I hugged her again, squeezing my eyes closed as if to shut out the misery.

  “Can I ask you a question?” She pulled away from me, her eyes searching mine. “Do you think Lilura would mind if I visited her?”

  Mara at Lilura’s? That would certainly pose as a fun form of entertainment. But I couldn’t think of a better place for Mara to go. I just didn’t know what Lilura would say about the set up.