Page 14 of Death and Do-Overs

“The scarab can also represent good fortune.” Andrew gently lifted Nie’s head and replaced it in the box.

“See, good fortune’s nice.” Imogen smiled.

I closed my eyes so I wouldn’t roll them at Imogen. She was here because I asked her to be. She was trying to help.

“Does the scarab have connections to reapers?” Rose asked.

Good question. I opened my eyes.

Imogen’s smile fell.

“Not that I’m aware of,” Andrew said. “I don’t sense any magic in the stone. You should hold onto it for now, Mar.”

Imogen wrinkled her nose as I lifted the scarab from the table. It felt heavier in my palm than I’d expected. Colder, too.

I asked Andrew, “What do you expect to learn from the samples you collected?”

“We’ll learn if Nie was under the influence of anything at the time of her death—magical or pharmaceutical,” he said. “There’s nothing abnormal upon examination.”

Except for the fact that her head was in a box.

“So are you going to touch her now?” Imogen asked me. “Learn all the stuff she was up to before she died?”

I wouldn’t admit it, but I was nervous. Clearly whatever had happened to Nie had been horrible. It was entirely possible I’d experience that same horrible thing. It could be scarring, even. And in the end, I might not glean any useful information.

Wendy waved her hand, her face flushing a brighter shade of red than before. “I have another idea. Touching Nie’s head is a one-shot option. If you think it’s all right, Mar, I could try to revive her.”

This was exactly what I’d wanted. It was what I still wanted.

Then we could ask Nie questions. There’d be two of us to talk things out. It was the absolute best option, one I didn’t think Wendy in her reluctance to do magic would actually offer.

“Do you think that’ll work on a piece of a person?” Rose asked.

“It’s the most important piece.” Wendy chewed her lip and glanced back at me. “What do you think?”

“You could always absorb her later?” Imogen punctuated her suggestion with a skeptical and questioning look.

Three out of three coven votes for reviving Nie. That was as sure as I could get, even if I didn’t feel particularly certain at all.

I told Wendy, “Do it.”

CHAPTER 4

MAR

Wendy leaned down over the box, her hands on her thighs, a scowl of determination pronouncing her dark eyebrows. She pulled her silver-streaked auburn hair back in a ponytail and clicked the cats on the toes of her kitten toe flats together for luck the way she unconsciously did every time she was about to pick up a particularly ferocious feral kitten at the shelter.

“Nie,” Wendy said in her sternest voice.“Wake up.”

Would that be enough to do the trick? A simple command?

The head remained pale and motionless, lifelessly staring up at the ceiling.

“Does this usually take time to work?” Imogen asked. “I haven’t actually seen you reanimate anything bigger than a mouse before, Wendy.”

I hadn’t either.

“It’s immediate,” Rose said. “Or at least it was when she did it to me.”

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