Before I Wake
Page 6

When the soul was completely absorbed, I let my wail die and slid the chain over my head.
What the hell are you? Thane demanded again, his eyes wide with fear for the first time since Id met him. Though the word met hardly seemed to do our introduction justice.
You first. Why arent you dead?
I am. You cant come back from death. His focus narrowed on me. Which you now know from personal experience, dont you? But I didnt know how to respond without giving up information he obviously hadnt yet figured out for himself. Thane reached for the amphora around my neck, and I backed away. I dont know what game youre playing, little girl, but if you think being dead puts you beyond Avaris reach, youre in for quite a shock. Hes pissed that he didnt get your soul when you died, and hell be willing to go through everyone you love to get to you once he finds out youre stillhere. So why dont you save them all an eternity of pain and come with me now?
Not gonna happen. I backed farther away, one hand clutching the amphora. He cant get to me, and he cant get to anyone else, either. Because hellions couldnt cross into the human world. That was one of very few things I still knew without a doubt since my death. Go to hell.
Im already there, little dead girl. Thanes voice faded to a whisper. Soon you will be, too . Then he blinked out of existence, and I knew he was truly gone, because reapers couldnt make themselves invisible to me anymore. Unfortunately, the opposite was also true.
I took a minute to catch my breath and when the shock wore off, a sharp new fear settled into its place. Avaris threats were nothing new, but Thane was back, and he was reaping again, and that was very bad. But I couldnt tell Madeline that Id identified the rogue reaper or why his presence was a surprise without telling her what Tod had done. If she found out Tod had acted against a fellow reaper without authorization, shed tell Levi. Levi already suspected what Tod had done, of course, but as long as no one else in a position of authority found out, he was free to keep ignoring what he knew. Because he liked Tod. But if he was notified of the crime through any official channel, hed have no choice but to fire Tod, and an unemployed reaper was a truly dead reaper.
I couldnt lose Tod. But I couldnt let Thane keep killing people.
Shit!
A glance at the time on my phone threw another layer of trouble over my already-problematic morning. I had five minutes to be in my first-period class.
With a frustrated sigh, I closed my eyes and pictured my own kitchen, and when I opened my eyes again, I was there.
Here. I shoved the amphora at Madeline and grabbed the backpack slung over mychair at the table. I gotta go.
Did you get the soul? she asked as I threw my bag over my shoulder.
Yeah. The owner of the doughnut shop. Someone should call the police.
Did you see the reaper? my father asked, worry lining his face as I scooped my keys from the empty candy dish on the half wall between the living and dining rooms.
Yeah. Ill describe him later. I have to be in my chair in three minutes. With that, I blinked out of the house and left them both staring at the spot Id just vacated.
When I opened my eyes an instant later, I was in the girls bathroom, completely incorporeal. Which was good, because two freshmen stood at the sinks, overdoing their lip gloss. I groaned in frustration, then stepped into an empty stall and concentrated on becoming completely corporeal. Then I flushed the toilet and threw the stall door open.
I hope Im not behind her in the cafeteria, one of the girls said when I rushed past the sinks, and I groaned again, then went back to wash my hands for no reason at all. By the time my hands were dry, I had ninety seconds to be in my chair. I shoved open the bathroom door and ran for my math class, then slid into my seat just as the bell started ringing.
On the bright side, being almost late to school meant that neither the reporters nor the other students had time to mob me with questions. But that didnt stop my classmates from staring at me as a man Id never seen before started calling roll.
Hey. I didnt think you were gonna make it, my best friend, Emma Marshall, whispered from her desk next to mine.
Me, neither. During my convalescence, shed come to hang out on the afternoons when she didnt have to work and I didnt have to train, and seeing her never failed to make me smile, even when I had to feign interest in school gossip, which had never felt less relevant to my life. She didnt pass on the rumors about me, thank goodness. I got a surprise visit from Madeline this morning.
Ems eyes widened. But its your first day back.
Also my first day on the job, evidently.
Kaylee Cavanaugh? the new math teacher called, and thirty-one heads swiveled my way, thirty-one sets of eyes watching me.
Here, I said, like I was used to being stared at by the entire class. Before, Id felt invisible. Now I really could be invisibleif there werent so many people already watching me. So far, my afterlife seemed made of that kind of bitter irony.
Kaylee, welcome back, the man at the front of the class said. According to school policy, you have just over a month to complete your makeup work. Please let me know if you need any help at all with the math portion.