Page 49 of Death and Do-Overs

It seemed Bernadette, or one of her neighbors, owned a cat.

“There she—oh wait,” Imogen said from the other side of the house. “Fiddlesticks.”

I hurried back to the front of the building.

When she spotted me, Imogen turned to me and slumped her shoulders. “Birdie popped away.”

Imogen had seen the reaper, but hadn’t bodysnatched her. What if this was our only chance?

I would not be mad about this. I would remain calm and kind.

If we broke in and the reaper wasn’t our enemy already, she sure would be then. No deal between the reaper and Imogen would protect us if we destroyed the reaper’s property.

“Nie could be in there,” I said.

“I don’t think so,” Imogen said. “Even if Birdie was our bad guy, which I still don't think she is, I don’t think she’d have left Nie in there to tell us all about it. She’s not stupid.”

I looked at my friend, at the certainty on her face, and I trusted her. It was hard to trust anyone, but I knew I wasn’t thinking as rationally as I could be. I had to put my trust in Imogen.

We needed a plan. Imogen suggested we go to the Mournmore and see if we could reach Wendy and Rose to “chat things out.” Since I had no better ideas, we headed back toward the hotel.

Just before we turned the final corner, I spotted something dark on the ground in the alley beside the hotel. I stopped and looked.

Behind a blue grocery bag, along the gravel, were long, black strands of hair.

Fear flooded my veins.

“What is it?” Imogen asked. “Mar?”

I felt the change in her as she saw it, tension and fear striking like a tidal wave.

I left Imogen standing there and ran. I shoved the bag to the side and found Nie’s head, unmoving. Something was off aboutit, like her closed eyes were slightly off, one a little higher than the other. I fought the urge to reach out.

“Nie?” I said, my voice barely a whisper.

A crack formed in the center of her face. The split widened. It felt like time slowed as the left and right halves toppled in opposite directions.

Pieces that were never meant to be seen were exposed.

She fell into two pieces.

So did my heart.

There was no reviving her again.

I’d lost. Nie wasdeaddead.

CHAPTER 12

MAR

“Let me help you,” Imogen said, her voice soft.

Whether she was talking to me or to Nie, I wasn’t sure.

All I could do was stare at my fractured reflection. Just as it had when I’d first opened the box from the shelter’s doorstep, disbelief left me numb.

This couldn’t be Nie.

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