ARIANNE FLOATED LIKE A LEAF on a stream, unafraid, allowing the flow to carry her where it would. She could see and not see all at once. The world looked different. A kind of dullness permeated her vision, everything in black and white with hazy edges. She couldn’t smell, but she could hear. When she’d agreed to the plan, she’d asked Tomas if it would hurt.
“Dying, I mean,” she clarified as they walked into the spacious living room of Niko’s house.
The wide-jawed beast of a fireplace remained cold, ash asleep on its tongue. Two delicate settees faced each other with a squat coffee table separating them. A wooden ceiling-fan with floral lamps watched over the peace in the space. French windows opened to a portico with rose bushes in clay pots and an iron table with four chairs.
The older Reaper shook his head and indicated the large daybed in the corner. “If the both of you would please lie down, we may begin.”
Ben had been adamant about going with her. She’d tried to talk him out of it, but he must have felt her reluctance for him to leave because he ignored her, only listening to Tomas from then on. She had brought him with her after all. And she suspected he stayed mostly out of morbid curiosity. She certainly wanted to know what Carrie went through when she’d been taken away.
“Last chance,” Arianne said, settling her back into the soft cushion. “You don’t have to do this.”
“As if I’d let you have all the fun.” Ben walked to the other side of the daybed and arranged himself beside her.
Tomas spoke in a butter-melting voice. “Everyone experiences death differently, but the process of the soul leaving its body remains the same. Now, if you would close your eyes…that’s right. I will pull your souls out, but they will remain attached to your bodies by your lifeline.”
Arianne allowed herself to be soothed by the way Tomas spoke and the warm presence of Ben beside her. She was eager to get to Niko, and the quickest way there was if she relaxed into what Tomas was about to do.
She felt a quick pinch then a tug. Tomas asked them to open their eyes, and Arianne’s knees wobbled. Before her lay her body, a calm expression on her face.
“It’s like I’m sleeping,” she said.
“An out of body experience rarely leaves the individual in distress.” Tomas handed her a black robe like the hooded ones monks wore. “I’m sure you know what I mean. You’ve been through it before.”
“What?” Ben glared at her. He already had his robe on.
“Can you turn around, please!” she squeaked. “I’m naked here.”
He obliged quickly, as if he’d forgotten the consequence of their current state.
As Arianne pulled on her robe, she rewarded Ben’s question by saying, “Remember when I told you I could see dead people? Niko explained that it came from a near death experience.”
“You’ve never been in a near death experience!”
Ben’s incredulous words made her smile. “When I donated a kidney to Carrie, I did.”
“Oh.”
Arianne wished she had a camera. Ben’s realization was a cross between horror and awe, something she wanted to post on her Facebook page—if they made it back.
“But I’m fine now.” Her gaze returned to her body on the daybed. “All things considered, that is.”
“Come,” Tomas interrupted Ben’s next words. He clapped once and they were transported to a room with no walls. The floor just seemed to stretch like a limitless rubber band.
To her right came Niko’s voice. “…saved me, Master. She became every breath, every heartbeat, every waking moment. If that makes me less of a Reaper, then you’d do better to just kill me. I’m of no use to you anymore.”
The giant wave of love for Niko that she now surfed could already decimate mountains. But when she processed the last part of what he’d said, she flew toward the direction of his voice. Tomas moved in front of her in an instant. His strong hands on her shoulders prevented her from moving any further.
“Let go of me.” She didn’t think she was capable of growling, but she managed it like a cornered pitbull.
Tomas seemed unaffected by her ferocity. “You can’t just charge in.”
“Didn’t you hear what Niko said?”
“Remember, you have a Certificate on you. If our master sees you without me, it’s all over.”
Arianne dropped her tension by sighing, but she saved him the worry. “Hurry.”
Tomas showed her the briefest smile. “I want to save him, too.” He glanced behind her. “Ben, can you keep her close? Wouldn’t want both of you to get lost now.”
An arm, familiar and solid, rested on Arianne’s shoulders. She looked up at Ben and squeezed his hand. His ever present smile, the one that had disappeared after Carrie’s death, made a return appearance. He nodded, and they followed Tomas toward where she’d heard Niko’s voice.
The trek didn’t take long. To Arianne’s surprise, they’d been closer than she expected. But seeing Niko strapped to a piece of wood by his bleeding wrists and ankles locked her legs in place. The beautiful man who stood by him in robes like hers and the LCD TV that floated in the air didn’t matter to her. Ben’s arm edged her closer to his body. He’d felt her apprehension. What he didn’t feel was the rage that roiled within her like a whirlpool. She wanted whoever had hurt Niko to pay. She vibrated from it. Her heart punched her chest and her blood flowed hot. When her gaze met with Niko’s, she watched him reflect her fury. He roared.
“Tomas!” he spit the name out. Then, like a flashbulb going off, sadness replaced his anger. “How can you do this to me?”
“Niko—” Arianne began, but Tomas held an arm out in front of her—a barrier that cut her off.
“Nikolas,” Tomas said, “does she look reaped to you?”
Niko raked his eyes over Arianne. She tried to give him a brave smile.
“But you still shouldn’t have brought her here,” he admonished. “You even brought Ben. What were you thinking?”
“Yes, Tomas.” The beautiful man finally spoke. His voice like harp song. “Explain to me this betrayal.”
When Arianne finally studied him, she found herself spellbound. His delicate features didn’t take away any masculinity from his being. And he had power. He radiated with it, pinching Arianne as it spread all around them. She wondered if Carrie had a chance to see him when she’d crossed-over or whatever it was that happened to souls. Her sister would have stared, maybe even squealed. Arianne tucked her heartache away for another day. She couldn’t save Carrie, but she sure as rain wanted to rescue Niko.
“You misunderstand, Master.” Tomas showed the respect of a humble servant in his deep bow. “I am here to save you.”
“Oh really?” The man, who Arianne assumed was Death, inclined his head. “And how do you propose to do that?”
Tomas indicated Niko and Arianne. “Isn’t it obvious? You’ve tortured him for how long in here, and yet, he would rather die than enforce the Certificate.” Even with Death’s raised eyebrow, he continued, “And even though she has a Certificate on her, she doesn’t hesitate to come and save him from you. Master, they love each other. We may have a job to do, but we are not cruel creatures.”
Death sighed, short and quick. “That may be the case, but I’m still down a soul. Unless you can find me a replacement—”
“Take mine,” Ben said.
“No!” Niko and Arianne barked in unison, glaring at the tall boy with sandy hair.
Death gave Ben a once over and said, “Done!” He snapped once and Ben disappeared.
Arianne screamed.
She screamed until her throat closed. The emptiness of her stomach didn’t matter when she dry heaved. Her knees shook from the effort to keep herself from falling over. She covered her face with her hands.
“Master!”
“Oh, don’t complain, Nikolas.” Death frowned at him. “He gave your girlfriend an out. The Certificate on her has been replaced.”
“Not at the consequence of hurting her,” Niko answered.
“Love hurts, boy,” Tomas said. “Live with it. Don’t make Ben’s sacrifice less than it is.”
“You knew what he would do?” Death couldn’t hide his astonishment.
“You’re not the only one who can read the threads of fate, Master.”
“Hmm, we have to talk about that, Tomas.”
“Yes, Master.” The old Reaper grinned like the Mad Hatter. “Get on with it then.”
“Well, I’d let you go, Nikolas.” Death faced him. “But you can no longer be a Reaper. What am I to do?”
“You’ve taken my sister away from me,” Arianne said through her teeth, dropping her hands to face Death. Tears washed over the lakebed of her cheeks. “And now my best friend is dead. I can’t allow you to take away Niko!”
“Then what do you propose I do?”
“You have all this power. Can’t you turn him human?”
An invisible hand pushed up one corner of Death’s mouth. “Don’t underestimate me, little girl. Of course I can. On two conditions.” He held up two of his fingers. “Are you willing to give them to me?”
“Arianne, no!” Niko pleaded. “Don’t bargain with him.”
Arianne kept all her attention on Death. “Niko, shut up, will you? And you, pretty boy, don’t call me ‘little girl,’” she said.
“Pretty boy?” Death turned aghast to Tomas, who’d failed to suppress his laughter.
“Name your conditions.”
“First—”
“Master! Please, no,” Niko interrupted.
Death closed his hand and Niko lost the ability to speak. He moved his lips, but no words followed.
“What did you do to him?” Arianne rushed to Niko’s side, touching his cheeks with clammy hands.
“Just making sure we don’t get disturbed again,” Death assured sweetly. “He’ll regain his speech soon enough. Now, my first condition. He has to stay here for six months.”
Arianne’s heart wept. But what was six months of separation to sharing the rest of their lives together?
“Okay,” she said. “What’s the other condition?”
Death’s smile rivaled the brilliance of a thousand suns. “You need to give me two things.”
“For Niko? Anything.”
“Watch what you say, Arianne,” Tomas warned, regaining his lost composure.
“I said I’d save Niko, and I’d do anything to accomplish that.” She placed her hand in Niko’s. “So, what can I give you?”
“Admirable courage, human.”
Arianne didn’t quite believe the sincerity in Death’s remark.
“For Nikolas to gain humanity,” Death continued, “you must give me your sight and memory of your love for him.”
She gasped. She couldn’t help it. Her sight? Her memories of Niko? How could she give up the treasure chest of her love for him? Her sight was one thing. She could learn to live without it, but to lose that first chemistry class together, the time she saved him from fading, their first kiss, their second, and third? A vise with sharp teeth squeezed Arianne’s insides until she couldn’t breathe. Would she be able to fall in love with him again without her memories? The thought scared her as much as when the doctors said Carrie’s kidneys had begun to fail again. She had died a little that day, and now, another part of her was slowly losing the battle to stay alive.
Niko squeezed her hand so hard she thought her fingers would break. She took solace in the pain, allowing the contact to anchor her to the present. The warmth of his palm on hers became the bridge for which their love connected. It has to be strong enough, Arianne told herself. Without her memories, it had to be.
“Can you return Niko’s speech for a moment?” Arianne asked Death. “I’d like to talk to him.”
Death drew a line in the air.
“Arianne, you can’t do this,” Niko said urgently.
She turned around and faced him. Despite the presence of Death and Tomas nearby, having her hands on each side of Niko’s face created such intimacy that they might as well have been alone.
“Why do you always call me angel?” she asked, not releasing his gaze for a second.
“Because you’re my savior.”
Arianne saw in Niko’s eyes the implication of his words. She gave him her lips, putting everything she had into that touch. When she broke the contact, she said, “Then let me save you.”
“But your sight and memories—”
“Niko,” she cut him off. “I’ve already memorized everything that’s worth seeing. I’m staring at it now.”
Love and acceptance dawned, starting in Niko’s eyes and racing over the planes of his face. As the last thing she would ever see, it granted Arianne much needed strength.
“I promise,” he said, “I’m going to do everything in my power to make you fall in love with me again. Whatever it takes. We’ll make new memories together.”
“I like the sound of that.” Arianne kissed Niko again—one that had to count for six months of separation and several more of memory loss. When she pulled away she whispered, “I love you.” She turned to Death and nodded. She closed her eyes to the image of Niko’s love painted behind her eyelids, willing herself to remember it.