Page 50 of Death and Do-Overs

This couldn’t be real.

Imogen gently scooped Nie from the ground and slipped her broken pieces into my bag.

The fear that had nagged me since discovering Nie’s head the first time twisted into a darker emotion, one far more familiar—rage. It was a tsunami rushing through my veins, and I welcomed the force of destruction. There was no more need to be careful, no hope of restoring some semblance of normalcy with my clone. There was only a deep and ferocious need for revenge.

Bernadette was going to pay for what she’d done to Nie.

The weight of Nie pulled on my shoulder, heavier than she’d been before. My hands shook, a visible betrayal of the stormraging within. I knotted my fingers together until they stopped shaking, then I rose to my feet.

Imogen grabbed my wrist, making me pause. “Mar, I am so sorry this happened.”

She was always sorry, even though she’d done nothing wrong. Her heart was in the right place, but it didn’t help.

“It’s not your fault,” I said, my voice flat. “It’s Bernadette’s.”

“You can’t go raging at a reaper,” Imogen said softly.

Of course I could.

“All you’ll do is get yourself killed, and that would suck, way worse than the situation already does,” Imogen said, her eyes imploring. “You’re the only you left. I can’t lose you.”

Her smile was meek, not at all the overzealous grin that she usually wore. And that in and of itself cracked my resolve.

Imogen was right. Confronting Bernadette head on without a plan was beyond foolish. It was a death sentence.

“That’s what you’re here for,” I said. “You’re the one who can bodysnatch Bernadette. You’re her weakness. Once you do, I’ll make her regret what she did to Nie.”

Imogen winced. “What if you’re wrong?”

“I’m not.”

“But what if you are? Let’s get a new room. We’ll share, so it’s safe. Then you’ll take those memories that Nie’s been saving for you, and we’ll know what really happened to her.”

“I know what happened,” I said.

“Okay, sure. But what would it hurt to be totally one-hundred-percent certain? I mean, we don’t know where Birdie is anyway, so we can’t just go banging on the door again and expect that to work.” Imogen’s smile began to grow. “Plus, we might learn who killed Nie, andwhythey did it. That’d be super helpful, right?”

We had a better chance of learning why Bernadette had killed Nie if Imogen bodysnatched her.

But she also had a point about not knowing where to find the reaper. We could wait around her house, but I couldn’t sit still and do nothing. It was possible Bernadette wouldn’t return at all.

And there was nothing I could do to the reaper without Imogen’s help.

I took in a deep breath and let it out slowly. “Fine.”

“Yes.” Imogen pumped her fist. “You’re totally not going to regret this. It’ll be great and everything will work out. Promise.”

She had no way to know that.

What was I supposed to do with my anger if I couldn’t channel it into revenge?

I’d have to let it simmer like ramen broth. I had to bide my time. Then, when the moment to strike finally came, my vengeance would be all the more delicious.

I opened the hotel’s front door and stepped across the threshold into the lobby. Immediately, my ears were assaulted by a loud noise. Clanging, metal against metal, dominated what had previously been a quiet space in what sounded almost like power tools in a construction zone.

Imogen covered her ears. “What’s that noise?”

“I don’t know.” I approached the desk, inwardly wincing at every loud and erratic clang.

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