Page 42 of Death and Do-Overs

I walked through the hole into Levi’s room. His space was the mirror of mine, down to the broken glass balcony door.

There was a crucial difference, however: his room was torn apart.

Bernadette had completely eviscerated Levi’s bed, torn the drawers out of his dresser, and knocked down his lamp before breaking through the wall to my room.

Was she looking for something?

What if the entire attack had been about Levi, not Nie and me? If we were simply in the wrong place at the wrong time, the reaper might not have been the culprit.

Speculation at this stage offered zero new leads, and therefore, zero help.

I stared at the colorful assortment of pajama pants on the floor, the only clothing Levi seemed to own that wasn’t white.

“Why do you wear so much white?” I asked as I looked up at him.

While I’d put on my pants, he’d traded his pajamas for a set of real pants, too. They were form-fitted, distressed in the way that made them look expensive rather than worn down. And of course, they were white.

“Easy to choose what to wear when it all matches. Is that why you wear black?”

“No.”

“White also works well to highlight the color in my scarves during magic tricks. Any other questions?”

I’d really like to know more about how he’d healed me, and about his magic. But he’d shut that topic down. So I said, “Not yet.”

We headed into the hall and down the elevator.

In the silent awkwardness of standing side-by-side and waiting for the metal doors to open, I said, “Nie and me—we’re not sisters.”

Maybe I’d been inspired by his confessions. I wasn’t sure.

Levi glanced at me with interest, but didn’t comment. Maybe he didn’t feel like he could ask me questions because he wasn’t willing to tell me that he was a librarian, or an alchemist, or whatever he was.

Holding onto private pieces of ourselves offered protection. Secrets were safe. If no one knew the true me, they could never use that knowledge against me.

We exited the elevator and headed outside.

Darkness still clung to the sky, but a hopeful feeling in the air suggested the sun would soon rise. It wasn’t night any longer, but early morning, which also meant today was Halloween.

In amicable silence, we walked around the narrow streets, searching for Nie and the shadowy figure who’d taken her. What exactly we’d do if we found them, I had no idea. But by the time the sun rose, we hadn’t found a single clue to suggest where they’d gone.

“Mar!”

Imogen’s voice made me pause mid-step.

I turned. She ran in slow motion toward me, arms waving above her head. She had the appearance, as always, of the regurgitated result of a toddler chowing down on a pack of crayons. She wore patterned pants, a tie-dye orange shirt, and sky-high red heels. Large bags hung from each of her shoulders, like she’d packed for a month-long vacation.

“A friend of yours?” Levi asked.

“Yes,” I said.

“You don’t sound happy about that.” He chuckled softly. “Perhaps we’ll have better luck splitting up. You know how to reach me if you find anything.”

The implication lingered between us, a reminder that I hadn’t offered him a way to reach me in return.

“Fine,” I said and did a gimme gesture.

He gave me his marker and offered me his arm.

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