Page 118 of Death and Do-Overs

Otis stood in front of me in the closet that was meant to be my hideaway.

“Oh come on,” I said.

Of all the vicious monsters to trap myself with, it had to be the one who’d already killed me.

“I’m not a threat,” Otis said. “I thought you would remember that.”

His gray eyes seemed to absorb the light the same way Levi’s did. It wasn’t charming or alluring on Otis. It made him look like an owl, waiting to descend upon his unsuspecting prey.

I might be his prey, but I definitely anticipated his inevitable strike.

“What I remember is you killing me,” I said.

It was truly a gift that I’d been spared the memory of actually dying that time. But I would never forget watching it happen on video.

Keeping him in my line of sight, I searched the closet for something to use as a weapon. There were a number of cleaning solutions, but I had no idea if any of them would be of any use to me.

There were no good options here, so I grabbed a mop.

“I didn’t want to hurt you,” Otis said, sounding like he meant it.

“Well, you did.” I didn’t care if he regretted it. He’d murdered me. We were enemies, and nothing would change that. “Dying hurts.”

“I’m confused,” he said. “You insisted.”

His words were a punch in the gut.

“Insisted?That you kill me?” The nerve of this guy to offer up such a stupid lie.

He ran his hands through his hair and started pacing. “You don’t remember?”

“I can’t remember what didn’t happen.”

Something slammed into the door, rattling the frame. I startled at the sudden sound. Someone was trying to bust their way in.

“It happened,” Otis said.

He wasn’t going to let this drop. The easiest thing would be to saysure buddy,and hope he let it go, but he clearly wouldn’t. “What reason could I possibly have to insist that you kill me?”

“Because you thought that it would release the other you…” He stepped between me and the door, forcing me to look at him. “You’re not Nie.”

“Marnie,” I said.

The sounds outside the door grew more distant.

“You’re the one she was trying to protect.”

His story was intriguing, but I wasn’t buying it. I couldn’t. “How would Nie dying protect me?”

“Because you were safely outside the bounds of Nevermore. They weren’t supposed to know about you. But now you’re here.”

Noodles made sure of it, supposedly to try and help. She wasn’t the only one who’d tracked Mar down either.

“Yourfriendshowed up looking for me,” I said, poking a giant hole in his ridiculous fantasy.

“You know Levi?” His already glowing eyes lit up.

“Unfortunately.” I hated the mix of feelings I felt even thinking of his name. Anything good was crushed beneath his betrayal.

---