Page 99 of Death and Do-Overs

This morning in particular, there was a palpable stillness, as if the world was holding its breath in anticipation. What it was waiting for, I couldn’t say.

“I hope you like bagels,” Levi said.

“Everyone likes bagels.”

“Egg or cream cheese?”

“Cream cheese.”

He pulled a large, paper-wrapped object from his bag and handed it to me. It smelled like toasted garlic, poppy, and sesame seeds.

I unwrapped it and found my favorite bagel flavor—everything. I thanked Levi and dug in.

We walked side-by-side, enjoying our breakfasts, without spotting a single cat or fox on the sidewalks in the back alleys.

Soon enough, we stood in front of the wall of dangling ivy and the mysterious round door with its intricate engravings.

We slipped our trash into one of the cans, then Levi worked to pull back the vines.

A dot of cold touched my nose.

I looked up.

Delicate flakes of snow drifted down from above. One hit my cheek, another my eyelash. Levi was focused on the markings on the door. The snowflakes that landed on his golden hair were lost to the pale color.

On my head, they probably looked like dandruff.

“First snow of the season,” I said.

“That means good fortune.” He flashed me a smile that stole my breath.

“Is that so?”

“If it falls after Halloween. Before Halloween, it’s a terrible omen.”

“Lucky us, then, that it’s November.”

“Lucky indeed.” He gestured for me to join him. “Come see.”

I stepped in close and spotted an upraised shape where I could swear there had only been carvings before.

That shape was a jade scarab.

“That wasn’t filled before,” I said, not quite believing.

“No, it wasn’t.”

With a small, unexpected flutter, a peculiar sensation spread through my chest. Was it hope? Excitement? My usually pessimistic heart daring to be excited about what our find could mean?

“Did you put it in there?” I asked. “Someone did.”

“I didn’t. Cross my heart,” Levi said.

I searched through my bag and found my pocket knife and two of Rose’s petrification potions, which meant Greta had taken one as she’d said she would. That was good. But where were the….

Ah, I found the two scarabs in one of the zippered pockets.

I held them out in my palm for Levi to see. “It’s not one of mine.”

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