31

A iden seemed to respect my wishes, but I held my breath and glanced back every few seconds.

Guy set me down, as promised. He vanished his scythe but hadn’t slowed his pace. We emerged from the alley and onto the busy streets of neon. Cars roared by. The intensity of light and sound made my senses crumple like a wad of paper.

“Guy, can we talk, please?” I asked while squinting.

He halted and I slammed my face into his back. I hadn’t expected him to listen to me with such enthusiasm. “I don’t understand,” he said, “Why him?”

“I didn’t know what else to do.” Blaring horns from the street drowned my pitiful response. When Guy turned to face me, the fury in his eyes froze the next words in my throat.

“He took advantage of the situation.”

“Yeah, well…” I paused to catch my falling forehead in my palm, “I know that now.”

His breath released with more aggression than was natural. “He did a number on you too. You’re lucky you didn’t turn.”

It was my turn to have frustrations bubbling over. “I was left in a locked room with demon-killing fanatics on the other side. I didn’t know who to trust or where to go! Tori had just told me I was the spawn of a demon lord so my options weren’t look ing optimistic.”

Another long exhale escaped from his barely parted lips. “Zak’s been busting his ass to protect you, even from his own colleagues. Risking a hell of a lot more than just his position with EXO. The only reason he’s gotten away with opposing angels is because he’s an angel himself. Do you understand? And now, while he’s busy hunting a mass murderer, he has to worry about finding you too.”

I dropped my head like a child getting scolded. Guy cursed under his breath.

“Are you crying?” he asked.

“It’s just t-the s-stupid venom.”

A loud sob broke free of my chest. My emotional meter overflowed; aided by guilt, blood loss, and stress from the evening. I couldn’t see Guy clearly through my blurred vision, but I felt his hand on the back of my head.

He pulled me into his shoulder. I felt secure in his harbor, smothered by his smokey scent. Not at all how I imagined Death to smell, honestly. I favored the burning musk over rotting flesh and decay.

“I failed as a buddy,” Guy said, “I’m sorry.”

I made an awful snort; tears mixed with a laugh.

“You found me, didn’t you?”

“I guess I did.”

His coolness invited me in further until I brought my arms around him. After a minute longer, Guy signaled that the moment ended by patting me on the head. When I pulled back, his eyes stopped at the knitting of my sweater near my neck. I’d forgotten to take the tag off.

He gripped the slip of paper with a cold fist and yanked, making it pop clean off.

“If you even think about shedding another tear over your vampire boyfriend, I will arrest you, after I arrest him,” he said, “For public indecency. And idiocy.”

Wow. He killed the mood fast.

“Are you really upset that he bought me clothes?” I asked, “You should’ve seen what I had on before.”

I turned myself out of his not-at-all, passive-aggressive embrace. On the bright side, I’d finished crying.

“I’m not upset. He’s just irritating,” Guy said and dropped the tag like it was lathered in poison. “Come on. We’re taking the bus.”

“The bus?”

I halted, both physically and mentally. A reaper was opting for public transportation? Were we finally going to choose the most sane option; no broomsticks wormholes or flying with angel wings?

“What?” he asked.

“Nothing… I was expecting a van with bars for windows.”

Guy deadpanned, either at my comment or because he was frustrated with himself. “I left in a hurry and didn’t plan a way back.”

“You were that worried?”

He held in his reply to let pedestrians walk by. When we were in the clear, the words flew from his lips. “Unconscious bodies were scattered around Clove’s lab. You, Faris, and Aiden have been missing for a day and a half. Tori, once I got her to wake up, was a crying mess. Zak’s in crisis mode which means Jarmiel is unbearable. You’d just told me about your dreams with The Necromancer, who hasn’t been caught yet and showed up at EXO the same time you disappeared. We’re still look ing for him while his monsters are terrorizing every city. Yeah. I was worried .”

I didn’t look away, but his delivery made my heart thrum faster.

“I’m sorry.”

“Get your sorry ass on the bus.”

Guy didn’t say a word at the stop or after we found our seats. Granted, he seemed busy sending a flurry of texts on his phone. Our mood was dampened with awkwardness. It didn’t help that the venom made me queasy and our ride smelled like armpits.

Guy crossed his arms. I knew his personality could be cold but we’d dropped to freezing temperatures. Brrr.

“Tell me everything,” he said, “Start from the lab.”

I told him the tale of Tori and I escaping the purifiers, and then Aiden’s sudden emergence. Guy listened but faced forward the entire time, burning holes in the back of another’s chair. His shoulders raised during Aiden’s participation in the story.

“Tori,” Guy mumbled, “She didn’t hear everything Zak and Raguel said. As your buddy , they questioned my absence dur ing the gym incident. I didn’t say anything about your dreams, since you asked me not to, but Raguel formed his own conclusions from the night The Necromancer approached EXO’s gates. Things have changed since taking you in.”

“You really didn’t tell them?” I asked.

Guy gave me a look but not an answer. Did this have to do with what he told Aiden about being part of his “jurisdiction?” I’d been dying to ask about that too, but hearing we had it wrong about Zak brought about so many emotions.

He hadn’t changed his mind about me.

The skin around my eyes tightened from the urge to cry but I’d already dried out. “So Raguel freaked out and gave Tori the wrong impression,” I said, “How did you find out who my dad was?”

“The fact that The Necromancer has taken an interest in you confirmed my suspicions. I just had to do some… digging.”

“Digging?”

“It might have involved communicating with a knowledge demon.”

“A knowledge demon? Doesn’t sound sketchy at all.”

Guy cracked his icy exterior with a smirk. “Not all demons thrive from deception and violence. You’re a perfect example.”

“I technically thrive from others’ suffering, whether I enjoy it or not.”

I chewed the inside of my cheek, bitter at the thought. Guy, again, said nothing, but I could feel his aura getting warmer, like the dawn rising over a snowy peak. “You think The Necromancer knows and that’s why he’s harassing me?” I asked, changing topics. “Am I still a chaos-thing?”

Guy looked around us before dropping his head closer to my ear. Rumbling whispers confirmed the truth, “The conflict you feel hasn’t been for nothing. You’re both a being of darkness and light. Conflict and chaos is you.”

I opened my mouth to speak but he shook his head. “We should wait. We don’t know who’s listening.”

“But how is that possible?” I asked anyway, “And what makes that so different from a human? They’re exposed to both elements too.”

“Humans are born empty. Pure. Even upon their death. Even after a hundred years, the measure of light and dark they accumulated is miniscule. Could they be like you? Yes, maybe after a thousand years of conflict. The only way someone like you can exist here is if the World Soul allows it and if that’s true, then… you’re mine to protect.”

I heard every word and yet, only the last bit burned in my mind.

Mine to protect.

I swallowed a lump in my throat. “You have to protect chaotic beings?”

“Death has a duty to keep order in the mortal realm. Keeping order doesn’t always mean heroic acts of good deeds,” Guy said, “Natural disasters, while tragic, serve a purpose. A living chaos vessel serves a purpose as well, though I don’t even know what that may be.”

“So, you’re keeping me alive to make sure I succeed in do ing horrible things?” My rise turned some heads in the bus, so I quieted back down. “ No. What? No , Guy.”

“They’re only horrible to those with limited understanding. I told you why I came to Zak. For Tori. But there was something else too. You’re who I’ve been waiting for, all this time.”

His hands flexed as he spoke. “Even before I knew, I felt the strange urge to shadow you; make sure nothing happened to you. I couldn’t help it, like it was second nature. My second nature. I thought I was going mad.”

Death needed to protect me?

No. Protect a disaster.

Guy cupped a hand over his lips and stared out the window. His finger tapped impatiently against his cheek. “I can’t promise we can rely on the angels forever, but we can trust Zak. For now, EXO is still the safest place.”

“Why don’t you trust them?” I asked, “Aiden mentioned something similar.”

I knew why I struggled to trust angels. Call it my “second nature.”

“Remember, dark matter isn’t inherently evil? The same can be said for light matter. Just because angels have the best of intentions doesn’t mean you fit the equation. If anything…” He stopped himself maybe because of how distressed my face had become.

“No. Tell me,” I begged, “I need to know.”

“I don’t like Aiden, but he’s right. Some angels might see you as a threat. The only beings of your kind in living history have been to serve one purpose. Destroy something the World Soul doesn’t like.”

“What does the World Soul dislike?”

“Whatever is in opposition to balance.”

I knew he didn’t want to keep talking about it so openly, but my brain was exploding with information. Had Naomi known about this?

“I don’t want to destroy anything, though.”

“Not now ,” Guy responded to my concerns with eerie assurance, “As for The Necromancer’s interests, he must have seen or learned of your power. The more who know, the hairier things will get.”

“I’m pretty sure I saw Clay that night before the peace keepers showed up.” I groaned at the revelation and lingering lethargy. “Gods. How long is venom supposed to last in your body, anyway?”

“It takes a day to replenish a small amount of blood. For you, maybe half that, but I don’t know exactly when you were bitten or how much venom he used.”

“I feel stupid.” I laughed at myself. Aiden hadn’t cloaked his intentions so well that I couldn’t spot misfortune coming. And I hadn’t hated all of it. I even found myself liking him, just a little.

“Don’t. You were in a tough spot and I made you feel shitty for it,” Guy mumbled at the end. Back in silence, we sat in our cramped seats with smudged windows obscuring our view. I shifted around so that our thighs wouldn’t touch as much, but nothing seemed to help.

“Thank you,” I said.

“For what?”

“Showing up, I guess. How did you know where I was?”

“I said I’d always find you.” He wiggled his shoulders forward so he could reach into his coat without bumping me. I recognized the purple animal toy right away. The toy seemed lifeless, however, and not inhabited by a teenage spirit.

“She’s resting. Probably won’t wake for several hours,” he said, “After some tough love and a lot of crying, she told me you left. Since Aiden hadn’t joined the manhunt, I asked Mallory where he could be.”

“Mallory?”

Aiden would be disappointed to hear his own sister ratted him out.

“She probably just wants to get me in trouble,” I threw in.

“You don’t need her help for that.”

His eyes rolled and then steadied as his thoughts drifted. “We should get you some liquids to help with the venom. If our routes are blocked by the search, it might be a while before we reach Volhold. Think you can make it?”

“I think so.”

“Does your neck hurt?”

The memories made my face flush at an alarming rate; Aiden all over me. Hands on my body. Mouth devouring mine. He probably thought I was such an easy target.

“No. Does Aiden rule the vampire roost or something?” I asked, wanting to avoid my shame, “Everyone looked like they wanted to kill you.”

Guy stuffed Tori back into her hiding spot. “The living fear Death. It’s an inescapable fate, but necessary to the whole cosmic, spiritual system in place. When vampires were created, the guardians of the World Soul decided to cut their life to half that of a human’s. If not for that, vampires would disrupt the balance. They exist like immortals; strong, powerful, never experienc ing illness. Godlike, really, but it’s short-lived. So yeah, I’m sure they’d delight in killing me. But I think tonight’s animosity had more to do with me stealing Aiden’s dinner.”

I gave him the side-eye. “I forget that you’re funny.”

The bus rolled to a stop. Guy got up so I did too.

“Can you not teleport with another person?” I asked once we were back on the streets. We hadn’t been able to take the bus all the way home. Pity.

“Not anyone living, no,” he said and pointed to the convenience store down the road. The open sign flashed red, but hardly anyone was inside. I hugged myself as we walked, protecting my arms from the whistling wind that blew by.

What would happen to Aiden, anyway? Guy didn’t mention what he’d report back to Zak. After what he did to his subordinate, I couldn’t believe Guy hadn’t arrested him on the spot. Hell, I wasn’t sure what punishment awaited me , a deserter.

As upset as I was about the whole thing, I couldn’t bring myself to truly and passionately hate Aiden. It sounded like he wanted to live as humans did, not micromanaged or condemned. He wasn’t the first supernatural to bring up injustice and wouldn’t be the last.

It would be nice to live that freely.

Our eventful evening took a comedic turn as I watched Guy purchase our late-night snacks. A juice box was presented to me as well as a cookie the size of a frisbee. I grabbed both items, looking either diabetic or pregnant. “I’m starting to think you want to plump me up for the vampires.”

“A simple ‘thank you’ would do just fine.”

“ Thanks. ” I eyed the cookie with great concern and peeled away the protective plastic, but Guy followed my fingers with his own. He struck the baked saucer with his open mouth and stole a chocolatey portion from the top.

“Gods.” I balked.

“There,” he spoke with crumbs still on his lip, “Less cookie for you to complain about.”

“Yeah but now your germs are on it.”

“Just eat it.”

I smiled. At least we had a walk to look forward to, and I wouldn’t be sitting with a giant cookie in my guts.

In all the times Guy and I walked together, he’d usually keep his hands in his pockets and look bored of the world around him. That hadn’t been the case that evening. The way he made eye contact with everyone we crossed made me think we were being followed.

“Where is Zak now?” I asked.

“We thought we had The Necromancer cornered, but it was only his Ghouls. Several locations called for Ghoul activity, giving us the go-around. I think he’s baiting us.”

“A distraction?”

“Yes. Unfortunately, many people are hurt.”

“I see…” If it were possible, I would have felt even more stupid. All I’d done was drag us out in the open for The Necromancer to find. “You said Clay came to EXO. What happened to Faris?”

“A Ghoul attacked the gates shortly after the security sys tem rebooted. He didn’t stay long, I’m assuming because you were already gone.”

I gulped. Just what was Clay’s plan? Why terrorize people, for the hell of it?

“Faris will be dealt with after we find him,” Guy continued, “Tori’s mix-up might’ve been a good thing, actually. You would’ve been surprised by Faris and The Necromancer.”

We slowed as we reached an elevated platform that brought us to a metal track and busy public terminal. Everything had an updated appearance, including the train with its chrome sheen. We were getting close to Volhold once again. Was I relieved or scared to go back?

“We need tickets.” Guy’s enthusiasm dropped another octave. A booth and lounge were already filled with people off to the right. The line to get tickets backed up next to the train. Voices sounded urgent. Impatient.

I sucked down the rest of my juice box. “That’s a lot of humans…”

“Everyone’s trying to get home. I’m sure the news is cover ing the attacks,” Guy noted with his sharp eyes still scouting about. The sugar overload from the snacks on my empty, poi soned stomach made it gurgle.

Oh no…

“What is it?” Guy asked after I’d stopped dead in my tracks.

“I’m gonna be sick,” I said.

“What?” At first, he held out his hands, almost like he was going to catch the vomit himself. How sweet. And totally ridiculous.

I shoved him aside and dove head-first into the nearest trash can. Everything came up. Likely my ghost as well. I did Guy’s job for him. As much as I blamed his selection of snacks for my disgusting demise, the regurgitated juice helped lessen the vile taste in my mouth.

Guy let me finish before tapping me on the back. “There’s a restroom.”

He pointed across the way to the blue, public restroom signs. A few people inched away from us, but for the most part we hadn’t been noticed. Still, that went right on my list of most humiliating moments.

After ensuring I was done puking my guts out, I hurried to the facilities. Guy’s presence felt close behind but he didn’t follow me inside. Once I was alone, I took the nearest open stall and hung myself over the toilet. Nothing elegant about it. I fully expected to hurl again but the longer I stood in preparation, the less nausea crawled up my throat.

I waited thirty more seconds just in case. Nothing. Thank gods. The sugar helped after all. I knew Guy was going to tease me, and I had the rest of the way home to look forward to it.

When I turned to leave the still empty toilet bowl, an odd sight caught my eye.

A woman’s black heels planted just outside my stall. There was nothing odd about that specifically, but the lack of distance they’d left from my door didn’t feel natural. If I pushed it out even an inch, I’d bump her nose.

“Excuse me,” I said, but I got no response. The other stalls hadn’t looked occupied when I came in. Surely, she wasn’t waiting to use mine? Just to check, I crouched to spy on each adjacent stall. No one. Empty.

When I looked forward again, the feet had gone. She must’ve realized my toilet was in use and skipped to the next. When I pushed the door out, I saw a woman in the same heels washing her hands at the sink.

She works fast.

I ignored her and found my own sink two down from hers. First order of business was cleaning my mouth out and banishing the sour aftertaste of my sickness for good. Once I was satisfied, I splashed my face with cool water and dabbed myself off with a paper towel.

When I checked myself in the mirror, I frowned. Yuck . My skin tone looked a shade of blue under the horrid lighting. Very corpse-esque. But that wasn’t what caused me to flinch.

The reflection of the woman with heels and personal space issues stared right at me. Smiling. Her hands remained under the running water. The longer she watched with unblinking eyes, the more I questioned if she were a mannequin and not a person.

I shut off my water and waited for her to say something. It was like she’d gotten stuck in time. Or drugs. City-life must occupy a whole new level of weirdness I hadn’t gotten accustomed to yet. Either way, it creeped me out, so I made for the exit.

Locked.

Even if someone wanted it locked, it locked on my side. From what I could see, nothing should have prevented me from leaving. I tugged again, and then pushed, just to cover all the bases.

I felt something over my shoulder and looked.

“ Shit! ” I hissed. “Okay, lady. What do you want?”

The smiling woman swayed directly behind me. For a while, she did nothing. Her stuck expression fueled the weariness growing inside me. Not only that, but she reeked like raw and turned meat.

“Hello, Jessebel.” The words escaped her lips, but the only voice I heard belonged to my recurring nightmares.

“Clay?”

What was I supposed to do next? Punch her?

I hadn’t noticed her eyes before. Too distracted by her teeth. They had a ghostly white coating. A dull light flickered from her pupils, like a dying candle deep in her soul.

“I’ve been looking for you,” he said, still using the woman as a puppet, “I had everything planned but you’d already gotten yourself out of the angel’s grasp. Nicely done.”

The woman raised a hand and captured the ends of my hair that had fallen over my shoulder. There was no doubt in my mind it was really him. I could smell his disturbed magic with every word she uttered.

I pushed her away. Too hard. Her frail human body hit the back wall. A wave of regret washed over me as I saw her expression change to one of pain. She trembled on the tiled floor.

“ Ah … it hurts.”

I almost— almost —came to her aid but then, her smile re turned, followed by a scratchy laugh. Her neck popped and twisted upward to see my disgusted reaction better.

“Help me, Jessebel,” Clay’s voice mocked.

More frightful thoughts seized me. Was I just dreaming? Had I actually been rescued by Guy or would I wake up in Aiden’s room?

Reality and dreams blended as one. I put more effort into the door that time and it opened without resistance. The noise of the station roared with voices and trains screeching to their stops.

It has to be real.

I struggled to keep up with my beating heart.

“Guy…” I breathed his name.

Someone’s loud boots sounded on my left. I looked up at the stranger wearing all black. My body stiffened. Dark energy filled the cramped space between us. The brightness from the overhead lights dimmed and shuddered.

Clay’s sickening energy harbored within another human puppet. I recognized it right away this time. The unknown man draped a thick arm over my shoulders. Chills prickled the flesh beneath my clothes.

“Stop it,” I said.

“Stop what?” Clay’s voice asked.

I shook his arm off. “Whatever it is you’re doing. Shouldn’t you be busy with peacekeepers?”

“They’re the busy ones at the moment,” he said, sounding proud of himself.

“Stay out of my head.”

“I’ve no idea what you mean. I’m very much awake. Just like you.”

Ice flooded my veins. Just how many more puppets did he have wandering around the station? I made a quick look around, hoping to find Guy. He wouldn’t have left me, not after all the “I must protect you” crap he said!

The stranger hosting Clay’s voice chuckled. “You look nervous.”

I ran in the opposite direction, and he didn’t stop me. Someone else walked in my path and muttered to me as I dodged them. “Don’t run far, little demon.”

I whipped around, ready to grab the next possessed person and shake them back to life. Instead, I saw him .

Clay’s slender figure filled out with the help of his heavy-duty coat. How could no one else notice him? I could feel his ominous threat from where I stood. He rested his head against a metal pole with a satisfied grin and a gleam in his corrupted eyes.

More bodies shuffled into me, anxious to reach their train. Clay slipped into the crowd, blending in like a shark underwater.

“Hells…”

I whipped around and found the other hooded man of Death.

Guy’s cold hand clasped around mine. “What’re you doing? Trains move quickly here. We need to go.”

“Guy, wait.”

He directed us through a pair of sliding doors to the silver train. I still hadn’t gotten used to touching someone so freely. No restraint or worries. But I couldn’t think about that yet. I kept an eye out for Clay, waiting for him to pop up again.

“Guy, something’s not right,” I said, “I think—”

The train moved before everyone could find seats. We grabbed onto the handrails that dangled in the aisle, but momentum lurched us in the opposite direction. Guy caught me with his chest, his smoke and frost tickling my nose.

I eagerly righted myself. “I saw Clay. He was here at the station. He was, like, using people to talk for him. I don’t know how many.”

Guy lifted his eyes from my face and gazed over my head. He’d heard me but something else held his focus. Buildings stretched outside the windows like taffy made of blended lights. I felt a new chill crawl down my spine. The taste of charcoal coated my tongue. A dull ringing drowned in my ears.

Getting on the train had been a mistake.

I’d just turned around, assuming it was Clay emitting the dark magic that filled the car, but something came crashing down on the roof.

Glass shattered. The impact shook the train, causing several passengers to shriek, fall, and point at the deep crater dipping from the roof. Guy kept a hard grip on my shoulder. Shards from the windows fell from my sweater like hail.

We crouched in unison, as the ceiling caved-in above us. The ripping of metal pierced our eardrums. People had already left their seats in an effort to get farther away while a few hadn’t moved at all.

It was then I caught another awful whiff. The same as the woman in the restroom. Nothing looked physically amiss, but when I bumped into the passenger next to me in the aisle, I felt an echo; an internal and spiritual one that someone like me would notice. He lacked any life essence.

He’s… hollow?

“Guy.” I grabbed him by the sleeve.

He followed my thoughts exactly. “He’s undead.”

At that, the standing corpse chuckled. Guy glowered and pulled me closer to him. The man still didn’t move, but we heard Clay’s voice escape his lips. “Buckle up, buttercup.”

Whatever landed on top of us finally broke through, revealing a black sky through a huge slit down the middle. The lights shut off. Walls rattled. An elderly couple shouted “ earthquake! ” and escalated everyone’s fear. People stumbled over each other in a panicked frenzy to get nowhere. All except the frozen few.

My mouth went dry as I counted how many soulless, immobile bodies I could see.

Three… Six…

The train jerked again.

We’d been hit a second time but from below. Our car rocked, tilting over the rails with the view of a long fall to the street below. I lost my hold on Guy, slamming my head into a metal pole.

My pulse throbbed from my newly bruised skull. I wrapped my arms around one of the headrests to stop myself from moving. The train broke in two, detaching our car from the half with an engine and slowing us down.

One giant fist molded from several hands burst through the door, crushing passengers in the aisle and flooding us with its stench.

A Ghoul.

With its sudden attack and our already lessening speed, it wasn’t long before we came to an uncomfortable stop. Its wide body brought the split end of our car up like a pyramid and passengers tumbled back. I grasped my seat even tighter, only able to catch one older woman falling past me by the collar of her sweater.

She dangled there with horror in her eyes.

“Hang on,” I said.

Where is Guy?

The car came crashing back down and bounced us back into the aisle, right in front of the monster. Instead of three heads like the one before, it had one. Its jaw sat unhinged with a string of drool dripping down. Two mountains made entirely from twisted limbs compressed the neck.

“Good gods.” The woman I still held onto quivered beside me. “Devils… Devils !”

Screams ping-ponged off the destroyed tin walls. I lifted the woman with a bit too much strength, startling her further. But it was too late. We’d started to tip.

Airborne. For a terrible few moments, we floated inside the car. I wished for the strength to stop our fall, but how could I catch a train? Even if I’d wanted to try, I was a victim trapped inside like the rest of them. All those screams. All those faces…

The remaining two cars behind us held our weight, barely. A man and woman fell straight through the aisle. One got chomped by the Ghoul, removing his arm clean off. The woman splattered on the streets.

Adrenaline sparked a tiny flame of bravery inside me. I willed myself across to the other seat, creating a net with my body to catch any other fallers.

I stopped two. The man almost broke my arm with his weight and gazed at me in shock. Yeah, I’m pretty shocked too, I wanted to say. His female companion clawed at my back and wailed but luckily had the sense to move to the seats to hide behind.

Another body went over my head.

Gods…

Help us.

One second later, and our connection to the other cars snapped. We were going to hit the street in a nose-dive. Hard.

I watched the Ghoul smack its bloodied lips at us, undisturbed by the crash that awaited. What could I do? Guy could teleport, but he couldn’t teleport the living. And we were all alive for the next few seconds.

Gods. Gods.

I couldn’t think! All I could see was doom.

The older woman I’d helped earlier couldn’t hold herself in her seat. She prayed loudly as her feeble fingers pinched the chair’s fabric, which ultimately betrayed her. I watched her close her eyes as she fell.

I dropped down after her. Once I felt her hand, I held it tight. Her bones were like blades of straw and her spirit even softer. Fear but also acceptance welcomed me when her eyes opened again.

Guy blew in from the windows like a gray hurricane, re turning just in time to help us mortal souls. He looped one arm around my middle while the other hooked his scythe in the ceiling’s metal cavity. That allowed me to use all my strength to hold the woman I’d saved.

“Saved,” considering we were all about to be pancakes.

What was the point of EXO, or my power, if we couldn’t perform some miracle? But then, I was no angel. All I could do was destroy.

“Let go,” I told Guy.

“ What ?”

I almost thought he wouldn’t. His arm had been compressing my ribs. At the last second, for whatever reason, he decided to trust me.

The Ghoul’s several disorganized eyeballs observed my final descent. I did my best to throw the woman behind me before commanding my chaos forward. The aggressive matter escaped from my chest, shredding my sweater like tissue paper. One powerful blast sparkled gold; brighter than I’d ever seen. The woman howled behind me, surely confused and terrified.

I felt the force of it push us back just as we hit the street. The Ghoul crunched, and so had the walls of our car. However, as I’d hoped and with all the luck in the world, our fall lost some of its gravity from my chaos.

The plan was to use the monster and my power to cushion the fall. Sure, passengers, including myself, flew around like rag dolls, but we made it. The car groaned before finally settling.

Had I actually done it? How many were still alive?

I felt a searing heat in the center of my chest. Light trickled back into the glowing hole I found at the base of my neck. Ow . Also, curious. I heard sobs and exclaims of surprise. The passengers’ jumbled energy felt like electricity tickling my brain through my ears.

Everything ached. I tried shifting around and froze, feeling a sharp pain in my leg. A jagged edge of debris found a sweet spot to pierce just above my knee. Great. Just what I fucking needed. To be impaled.

Okay. That was an exaggeration, but ripping it out still sucked. I’d watched the bad-ass heroes do it in movies and somehow walk away afterward, but it took three excruciating attempts to get it free and after that, I didn’t want to move ever again.

I waited for my healing to close the bleeding wound before sitting up. The world turned upside down. My head had been laying on the ceiling and the shattered windows faced the gravel outside.

Glass cracked beneath me. My hand felt like I’d taken an iron rod to my knuckles. I gasped, remembering I’d had the older woman with me. Her hand looked worse than mine, bent and broken, but her fingers stayed gently clasped around me. She was laying too still, like a heap of clothing and not an actual person. Cuts carved at her face, but she wore a misplaced smile on her lips.

I nudged her and squeaked. “Ma’am?”

My gaze went to our joined hands and my stomach sank. How long had I been touching her, exactly ? I felt my heart lodge in my throat. New tears threatened to fall. Her wrinkled skin already turned a shade paler.

From her hand, I felt Death.

My second attempt to reach her sounded weaker than the last. I tore my hand out of hers. It didn’t matter. I was too late. Had I killed her in all my effort to do the exact opposite?

Why had she died with such a peaceful smile?

“ Ma’am !”

Nothing.

As I examined her body, I couldn’t help but hate the itching sensation of my skin and muscles sewing themselves back to gether. I probably had her soul to thank for that.

Guy’s shadow fell over my head. His silhouette grew until it appeared like a monster with wings. When I finished healing, I cracked my neck with a loud pop. The obvious rejuvenation had me fuming on the inside like an angry tea kettle. Just a torn sweater and a few bloodstains? What bullshit . I couldn’t use the excuse that humans were weaker forever.

Murder is murder.

“Her body was old. She wasn’t going to survive,” Guy said, and then added, “That’s what she wants you to know.”

My head shot upward. His eyes glowed once again, and I caught the sight of a light purple wisp dancing around his shoulder.

“You already—?” I didn’t have the guts to finish. He reaped her soul and she even spoke to him? Reapers really were efficient. She hadn’t suffered long, at least.

I went back to looking at the tarnished car, avoiding Guy and the woman’s lifelessness. What was her name? Should I find her family and report to them personally? Did she have a family?

“Jess,” Guy spoke but I kept my face lowered, “She wasn’t going to survive no matter what you did.”

No matter what I did. Right. Zak could’ve saved her, though. He could’ve flown everyone away; performed a real miracle.

My self loathing blinded me from what caused the crash in the first place. A hand, or maybe several, wrapped around my thigh, sending ice down my legs. The remaining corpses of the Ghoul acted as one but broke into several moving body parts, crawling toward us like cockroaches.

Guy sliced through the corrupted flesh that captured my leg. Inky blood splattered the floor. Clouds emerged from Guy’s back and shielded me from the animated gore. His shadow moved, fluid and lethal, through the smokey barrier. A dance of Death’s macabre.

“Gather yourself and get the hell out of here,” he said, “I’ll find you again.”

Guy continued their battle outside the car. A streetlight was knocked over. Parked vehicles dented. Pedestrians that had been closeby screeched, and rightfully so. He seemed mindful of the people around us, keeping the Ghoul and himself at a distance, but Guy made Death an art.

Every cut he delivered splattered tar-like paint over the city; his canvas. I could almost hear music directing his steps and blows, an effortless dance filled with purpose. His merciless, otherworldly blade struck cold like the blizzard stirring behind his gaze.

And there I sat. Still wallowing.

Get up. I didn’t think it would be such a difficult task but my chest felt heavy and kept me planted. Maybe my guilt would root me to that spot for eternity. Maybe that would be okay. Did I deserve anything less?

Get UP!

Then, I remembered the second Ghoul. What if it fell as well? I located the remaining survivors from the train, half hanging from their seats or passed out in the wreckage. Some were stunned or injured. All except one.

My mouth went dry. The lone passenger stood tall in the mess but with one glaring problem. His head lay flat on his shoulder, detached almost completely from his neck. I heard a woman scream, probably having just noticed the nearly headless man as well.

He smiled at me.

“Clay…” I barely mouthed his name when his neck jerked back into place. His dark hood flipped back over his head like the snap of a lid. He hadn’t lifted a finger.

Another shriek pierced my ears and I realized that he’d made his move. Like a ghostly shade, his arm cut violently through the air at each and every passenger. An awful gasp left every pair of parted lips.

“Clay, stop!” A glint in the darkness caught my eye. I knew exactly what was happening, but more fell to his blade before I could even blink. Every cut felt like an invisible knife deep into my own chest.

My mounting failures crushed me, creating my grave in the earth. I used my body to cover the dead woman in front of me because it was all I could think to do.

He stabbed them…

He stabbed them all.

Clay’s grin exposed a row of sharpened teeth. He twirled his black blade between his hands, before clapping them together in a slow, mocking rhythm.

“Jessebel. In the flesh.”