Page 41 of Death and Do-Overs

“Finished.” Levi released me.

I pulled my foot up onto the bed so I could see what he’d done to me. There was no evidence I’d been cut at all.

He’d healed me.

He knew about magic, didn’t think twice about a talking head in a bag, and he completely healed a gaping wound with a whisper and a thread.

“What are you, Levi Rivers?” I asked, half in awe, half in accusation.

A faint crease appeared between his brows. His gaze dropped momentarily as a shadow of contrition crossed his features. “That is one story I’m not yet ready to share.”

That only made me more curious. “Why not?”

“It’s a secret that belongs to more than me.”

What was that supposed to mean?

“I’ll give you a moment to dress, then I’d like to chase after your sister. If that suits you.” He rose to his feet.

I sat there a moment, feeling completely out of sorts.

“Yes,” I said. “Pants and go.”

A candy appeared in his palm. “Butterscotch?”

“You said butterscotch was for perverts,” I said, dumbfounded.

He cracked a smile. “I believe that was caramel, and if I’m not mistaken it was you who’d made the candy and pervert connection.”

Had I?

When I didn’t take the candy, Levi unwrapped it, popped it in his mouth, and stepped through the hole in the wall, as if giving me privacy now meant he hadn’t already seen me in my underpants.

I appreciated the gesture. But I was also certain I was right about the butterscotch.

“I said caramel was for grandmas,” I called through the open hole in the wall. “You told me I was thinking of butterscotch.”

Though I couldn’t say where exactly the pervert part came in. But it did cause a twisted delight to lighten my lungs. It reminded me of the way he’d held my foot. MaybeIwas the pervert.

“There is no bad candy,” Levi called back.

“There definitely is. Have you tasted Tootsie Rolls?”

“Stale ones are great to give your worst enemies to break their teeth.”

“But can you stand eating them?”

“Sure.”

“Candy corn?”

“Touché. The waxy yellow cones are a seasonal favorite for most. But I ate three bags with my best friend one Halloween and threw up all night. Can’t stand them anymore.”

I chuckled as I dressed, then I grabbed my messenger bag. When we found Nie,which we most definitely would,I’d need the bag.

As I strapped it onto my shoulder and touched the pocket where I kept my dinky knife, I felt a bulge in one of the other pockets.

I’d completely forgotten about the petrification potions Rose had given me. I guessed I did have a weapon.

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