Rachel Vincent - Before I Wake

“Got it. Survival is the prime directive.” But surviving didn’t always mean running.

“Now that we’ve established that, would it be completely inappropriate of me to say that you look really hot in half a shirt?”

“Probably.” I couldn’t resist a smile, and I might have actually been blushing. “But say it, anyway.”

“You’re beautiful.” He stepped over the unconscious reaper and took a long look at me, and to my complete surprise, I had no urge to cover myself. I wanted him to look, and I wanted to know that he liked what he saw.

“He could not have picked a worse time to show up,” Tod said, and when his hands found my waist, one landed on bare skin, exposed by the torn material. His mouth found mine, and the sense of urgency in that kiss lit me up on the inside.

And suddenly eternity with Tod didn’t feel long enough.

“We should…do something with him,” I said as Tod’s lips trailed down my neck.

“In a minute.” His hand slid beneath the back of my torn shirt and I sucked in a deep breath, then closed my eyes. “Near-death experiences release a lot of endorphins, resulting in a natural high,” Tod whispered against my collarbone as his mouth trailed lower. “And it’s totally true that one passion feeds another.”

“You know we’re way past ‘near-death,’ right?”

“My endorphins aren’t listening to you.”

I laughed and enjoyed the moment for just a little longer. Then I pushed him back gently, and he groaned. “I’ve never hated anyone else like I hate that bastard right now. ”

“I know. Did you see his eyes? They’re empty.”

Tod’s brows rose. He knelt next to the unconscious reaper and pulled one of his eyelids up to reveal the clean white orb beneath, absent both iris and pupil. The windows to his soul were empty. Because he didn’t have one. “Well, that explains why he’s working with Avari.”

“Avari has his soul?” I said, and Tod nodded, standing. “So what’s keeping him…here? In his body?”

“My guess would be Demon’s Breath.”

“Just like Addy?”

Another solemn, silent nod.

“I didn’t know that would work with a reaper.”

Tod’s beautiful lips pressed together in a frown. “Me, neither.”

“So, what are we going to do with him?”

“Obviously, we have to call Levi, but I think we should question him first. I’d bet my afterlife he knows what Avari’s up to. But the minute he wakes up, he’ll blink out.”

“Ah, the age-old question: How do you keep a reaper in one place long enough to question him? Too bad he can’t talk in his sleep… .” I realized what I’d said the minute the last syllable fell from my tongue. “Sabine. Maybe she could read him while he’s out,” I suggested. “His fears probably won’t tell us exactly what Avari’s up to, but he’d have to be crazy not to be afraid of the hellion, so surely she’ll be able to get something from him.”

Tod shrugged. “It’s worth a shot.” He pulled his cell from his pocket and scrolled through the menu for less than a second—a reaper’s contact list can’t be very long—then pressed a button and held the phone to his ear. “Sabine? We need help with something dangerous and probably stupid. You in?”

I couldn’t hear her reply, but it sounded like some variation of “Hell, yes.”

“I assume you’re in my brother’s bed?” he said, and that time I was glad I couldn’t hear the reply. “We’ll be there in a minute.”

“You know, most people don’t ask questions like that,” I said as he knelt to grip Thane beneath his arms.

“That’s because most people care what other people think about them. I don’t have that problem.”

I frowned. “You don’t care what I think about you?”

“You’re not other people.” Tod glanced at my torn shirt, and I realized it no longer covered much. “Why don’t you go change, then meet me at Nash’s?”

“He’s not speaking to you.” Not without me there to play mediator. And we didn’t know how long Thane would be out. And even if Tod had been willing to leave me alone with the rogue reaper—even unconscious—I wasn’t sure I could get him to Nash’s on my own. I was still very new at the afterlife. “Damn it. Guess I’m wearing the costume, after all.”

In the bathroom, I pulled off the remains of my shirt and pulled Emma’s candy-stripper dress over my head, relieved to see that it covered more than my ruined shirt. Barely. But my shorts were hardly visible beneath the short skirt.

“Wow,” Tod said when I stepped out of the bathroom.

“Change your mind about the costume?”

He shook his head. “You don’t need that to look hot. But it definitely needed you.”

I couldn’t resist a satisfied smile as Tod hauled Thane up, and I knelt to pick up his feet. “Aim for the living room, unless you want to see Sabine naked.”

“Have you seen her naked?”

Tod flinched. “Not on purpose. You ready?” he asked, and I nodded, pulling Thane’s legs higher. “In three…two…one.”

We blinked out together, and by some miracle we both landed in Nash’s living room at the same time. And Thane was in one piece. “What would have happened if you’d gotten here just an instant before me?” I asked, setting the unconscious reaper’s feet on the ground.

Tod hauled him over to the only armchair and dropped him into it. “You know how a wishbone works, right?”

“Ew.” And I was betting we couldn’t get many answers out of half a reaper.

Nash’s bedroom door opened down the hall and Sabine came out in a bra, still buttoning her jeans, her shirt tossed over one shoulder. Nash was right behind her, in nothing but boxers.

Sabine burst into laughter the moment she saw me, but Nash stopped cold in the middle of the hall. “What the hell are you wearing?”

“You look like a blow-up doll come to life,” Sabine said before I could explain, and I could feel my face flame. She pulled her phone from her pocket. “No one’s going to believe this without a picture.”

“It’s not what it looks like,” I said through clenched teeth. “Take your finger off the button, or I swear you will be in the market for a new phone.”

“And a new finger,” Tod added.

“What are you doing here?” Nash asked. “And please skip the part about your outfit. I don’t want to know.”

“I do,” Sabine said, but we all ignored her. “So, did the costume come with a condom, or is that sold separately?”

“This coming from the half-naked Nightmare who just rolled out of someone else’s bed,” I snapped, more embarrassed than truly angry. “My shirt got torn in a fight. Yours evidently has a fast-release tab.”

“What do you want, Kaylee?” Nash demanded again, completely ignoring his brother.

“We need Sabine to read him.” I stepped aside so they could see Thane, still passed out in the chair. “Quickly. We’re not sure how long he’ll be out.”

“We?” Nash said, and that’s when I realized he couldn’t see Tod. “I’m guessing my brother’s here somewhere?”

I glanced at Tod with both brows raised, and he shrugged. “I didn’t think he’d want to see me.” A second later, Nash stiffened and glanced from me to the brother he could obviously see now.

“Get out,” he growled through gritted teeth.

“Nash…” Tod started, and I stepped between them when Nash advanced on him.

“Okay, now, wait a minute,” I said, acutely aware that I was still dressed like a naughty candy striper. “I know this is awkward and embarrassing for everyone, but—”

“Not for me,” Sabine said.

“—but we wouldn’t be here if this wasn’t an emergency. So here’s what’s going to happen. Sabine’s going to put her shirt on. I’m going to borrow a shirt. And you two are going to pretend—just for the next fifteen minutes—that you still have something in common beyond DNA.”