Page 59 of Death and Do-Overs

Levi didn’t respond. Instead, he began walking.

He crossed the room and headed down one of the hallways. His sense of purpose suggested he knew where he was going. I followed.

Hard and numerous turns suggested a labyrinth meant to confuse and entrap prey in the lair of some carnivorous hellbeast. As we left the light of the first room behind, another light came into view. It flickered and reflected off the slick coating on the stone walls and twisted shadows.

Eventually, still keeping his attention ahead, Levi told me, “The answer is still no. I’m neither canine nor bloodsucker.”

“But you’re particularly attuned to the location of blood,” I said as we entered another larger space, this one filled with huge rusty metal boxes. “This is the second time you’ve brought it up, sure that there was some spilled nearby.”

He didn’t say anything to that, which I took as agreement. There was definitely something magical going on with him, even if I had not yet correctly guessed what that something was.

I asked, “Are you an alchemist?”

“No.”

Levi stopped in his tracks. He put his arm out to stop me, too.

We paused there for a moment, his expression so intense it made a shiver carry up my arms.

Levi nodded toward what looked like an industrial water heater in the corner. “There.”

The area was fenced off, likely to keep people like us out. There was a gate, but it was chained off. I didn’t see any blood on the dirt floor, but the lighting was far from ideal. The damp metallic scent in the air felt normal for this kind of basement with so much metal around.

“What am I supposed to be seeing?” I asked.

Levi didn’t answer. He stood completely still, not saying a word.

I looked up at his face, a knot of concern growing in my stomach.

He was pale.

“It’s him,” he said.

I almost asked who he was talking about, but when I glanced back the way he was staring, I saw a set of legs on the ground. The pants covering the legs were black, making them blend into the shadows. The body was otherwise hidden behind the water heater. By Levi’s reaction, I knew whose body this had to be—his missing friend’s.

Another violent ending.

My heart broke for Levi. As much as I’d hurt as Mar for losing Nie, that loss had been temporary. Levi’s was permanent.

I went to touch his arm to offer my condolences, but halfway through the motion, movement caught my eye. I froze.

Someone was lurking in here with us, just beyond the gate.

Inside the gated off area was a door, and it flew open.

We needed to get in there, go after them—they probably killed Levi’s friend.

They probably killed Nie.

The gate was impenetrable, heavy metal. It could probably hold back a stampede of elephants. I looked around the room for another way into the fenced area.

In a sudden burst of motion, Levi lifted his boot off the ground and smashed his heel into the gate. A clang reverberated through the metal panels. The lock and chain shattered to pieces and fell to the ground.

Faster than I could track, Levi jumped over the broken gate and ran for the open door, chasing after whoever had run through it.

I blinked at the crushed metal pieces littering the dirt.

How was Levi so strong?What was he?

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