"It's pointless to try to get through to her." Detective Crammer says. "The power of the Reaper is more powerful than anything, which you'll soon learn after we get rid of you."

I raise my chin up and look her in the eye. "You know I can't die, right? So whatever you have planned for me won't work."

She pats the handle of the knife against her palm. "Oh yes, the beauty of being able to suck the life away from the living. It makes it harder to get rid of you, but not impossible." She laughs to herself, throwing her head back and some of the other Reapers join in. "It also makes you more p.r.o.ne to insanity and more likely to surrender to the Reaper blood, just like your father did."

"What do you know about my father?!" Craning my arms, I endeavor to get the trees to break with my strength.

"You don't have super strength." She rolls her eyes and bends down in my face. "In fact, you're fairly close to an ordinary girl, only you're connected with every aspect of death. It's not really a gift, so much as a curse. In fact, if I were you, I'd let me put you out of your misery. All you would have to do is surrender to the Reaper and he would take away the pain of death."

I transitorily stop fighting; erasing the pain, taking away death, rupturing the chains that have sentenced me to a life of solitude. But it would still be death, only in a more powerful form. "No, I won't do it."

"Alright, then. I guess, for the moment, you'll let your Angel blood make your decisions. But I warn you, you'll give in." She snaps her fingers and Garrick shoves Raven forward. Raven trips over her bare feet and falls to her knees. Her white wings are broken, and her dress is torn and stained. There is no life in her eyes and it's terrifying. "If you are not willing to surrender, I'll force you to." She puts the knife to Raven's throat and gently cuts a thin layer of skin. Blood trickles out and Raven winces, but doesn't cry out.

"Wait," I say. "Don't hurt her."

"There's only one way out of this." She makes another slim puncture on Raven's neck.

Death or life. Death or life. What's the difference? "I'll do whatever you want me to. Just let her go."

She makes another small incision along Raven's neck and the other Reapers laugh, pulling their hoods over their heads. "Oh I don't want anything from you. I'm just going to torture her and then you, until you lose your mind and give into your Reaper blood."

I thrash my body and jerk on the ropes. "Leave her alone!" I close my palms and attempt to slide my hands through the rope. The rough material claws at my skin, but I refuse to give up-give in.

Detective Crammer snickers and cuts off a small lock of Raven's pink hair. "Do you know how fun it was to torture you? Kill you time and time again. Make you think you were losing your mind. You have a bendable mind and so do the people closest to you. Most of them are insane-do you know that? And do you want to know why?"

"Because of the pain of my existence."

"No, but it's close. Insanity is a very contagious thing; it's easy to get caught up in it. Those who are close to a Grim Angel start experiencing what they go through and it wears them down, driving them insane themselves. Plus, they are susceptible to the Reaper's torture."

Raven gags on her own blood and clutches at her throat. "Ember, help me."

Detective Crammer grabs a handful of Raven's bubblegum pink hair and moves the knife to Raven's hairline, like she's going to scalp her. My whole body spasms-I can't seem to look away. The circle of Reapers tightens around me and their eyes begin to glow.

"Just give in, Ember" the detective says. "And everything-all of it will be gone."

I stare up at the night sky, thinking about my life. Would everything be better if I was gone? Maybe.

I watch as a black figure swoops down from the sky; I a.s.sume it's another Reaper. But black feathers fall from heaven and dust the air with a peaceful feeling.

The creature moves inhumanly fast, just a blur as it clips the ropes on my wrists with its hand and turns me loose. Then it rounds back, swipes up Detective Crammer by the shoulders, and carries her into the sky. Her painful scream pierces the night and Reapers push up from the ground, airborne into the sky.

"Pa.s.sionate when in battle." I quickly sit up and untie my legs. Then I rush over to Raven, lying face down in the dirt. I gently roll her onto her back. Her eyes are shut and the blood flows out from the open wounds on her neck. "Rav, can you hear me?"

She sucks in a breath and her eyes shoot open. "Oh my G.o.d, I think I..."

Tucking my arm underneath hers, I aid her to her feet. "Come on, we have to go before they come back for us."

"Too late," Garrick says, landing just in front of us. His voice is human, but below the hood, a skeletal figure peeks out: sharp cheek bones, empty eyes, a soulless heart. "Ember, there's no use trying. We always win this every time. You wanna know why?"

Raven leans on me. Supporting her weight, I inch us back toward the forest. "Because you mess with the Grim Angel's head until they crack. You don't give up."

He matches my steps toward the forest, his cape like a train on the ground behind him. "Because evil is the one that plays dirty-we are the ones who break the rules." His arms lift to the side of him and he's holding the knife. "Therefore, evil always triumphs."

"Go into the trees," I whisper in Raven's ear, inching her forward. "Now."

She blinks at me, half there, half gone. "I'm not leaving you... They want to kill you."

"No, they want to make me one of them," I say. "They can't kill me."

Reluctantly, she slips out from the support of my arm and hobbles into the shadows of the trees, free from the Reaper's power.

Emptiness chokes up my throat as I march for Garrick with my hands out to the side. "Go ahead, kill me."

He grins and the fire crackles wildly behind him. "You know I can't do that. But I can hurt you." He stabs the knife into my throat, severing my skin and my veins. Blood gurgles out and I clamp my hand over the wound. But the soothing murmur of the trees and the flowers sprouting from the dirt instantly connect with me and gradually st.i.tches it up.

Garrick whistles slowly. "That was faster than... No, you couldn't be..."

I ram my knee into his gut, whirl, and slam my elbow into his face. The contact of bone deadens my elbow, so using my other fist, I punch him in the nose. Bar fight tactic and it works. Garrick goes down like a sack of potatoes.

Whirling away from him, I run for the forest. But he scurries forward on his belly and his fingers wrap around my ankle. I smash the heel of my boot into his face, but he just laughs.

"You can't kill death eternally." His voice is as sharp as the knife in his hands. "It was highly entertaining though, watching you try to sift through my thousands of deaths." I kick him again, but he only laughs harder. "You know, you have a lot more power than you think, you just have no idea how to use it."

I claw at the ground as his hands move up my leg like a tight rope, and a raven lands in front of me. Garrick stabs the knife in my calf and grabs me by the hair as he rises to his feet, pulling me up with him.

"Help me, please," I whisper to the bird. It hops from side to side, like it is thinking. "Please, bird. I have a feeling you can hear me."

Garrick's hands slip from my leg, and dust and black feathers whirlwind around me. The sound of flapping wings sends the raven diving for the woods. Without hesitation, I sprint into the forest. "Raven," I hiss, searching behind trees and near bushes as I cut a path deeper into the forest. The stars flicker between the cracks in the branches that form a canopy over my head. "Raven," I dare call out. "Where are you? It's me, Ember."

I keep walking, knowing where I'm going, but worried Raven doesn't. "Please answer me. I promise no one's going to hurt you anymore."

By the time I step into the cemetery, I worry she might be lost in the trees. I need a phone and some help. I head quickly for the gates.

As usual, the cemetery is quiet, filled with death and the chirps of crickets. The trees cast shadows all over the ground and the fence blocks out most of the street lights. My wings are ripped and my skin is soaked with blood.

I weave through the headstones, careful not to step on them. The wind picks up and the hinges of the gate squeak. I hear a whisper and turn in a circle, skimming the trees as I keep moving for the exit.

When he steps out from behind a colossal tree at the back of the cemetery, a wall crumples inside my body. Dressed in black, he blends with the night. But his hair is as white as a ghost. His long legs are stretched out in front of him as he strides across the gra.s.s toward me.

"Well, if it isn't my number one fan," Cameron says and my insides explode with chills.

Against the power of my own, I halt next to the statue of the Grim Reaper. "What are you doing here?"

There's a swoosh and suddenly he's standing right in front of me, his eyes dark as coals, his face hauntingly poetic. "Don't pretend you don't like me, Ember." A grin pulls at his lips. "You may pretend like you're not interested in me, but I know you are."

I shut my eyes, constrict my muscles, and attempt to lift my foot off the gra.s.s-get it to move me toward the gate again. "What are you doing to me?"

His eyes sear like cinders, on the edge of life, but not quite dead as he circles me with his hands behind his back. "You are so beautiful. So grown up. So full of life, yet always so full of death."

My legs quiver with the desire to run. "What are you?"

"Perhaps you should be asking me what you are." His long finger traces my cheekbone and a dark hunger flares in his eyes, dying to feed. "You really are amazing, yet you've been blinded by the fear of death and have never noticed all the possibilities in front of you. If you'd just accept it-"

"I won't." I interrupt. "I'm not giving in to Death."

"You shouldn't decide your answer until you understand everything." He takes my hand and helplessly, I follow him to the tree.

My body is no longer my own and I speculate how long my mind will remain mine.

He nestles us down next to the trunk, wraps his arms around me, and leans me back against his chest. He sweeps my hair aside and puts his lips against my ear. "Never having to fear or experience death. Imagine writing about immortality, instead of death like everyone else. You could be the first."

"Walt Whitman and Emily d.i.c.kinson already did," I smart off. "And so did Spill Canvas."

"Spill Canvas?" His tone tickles with intrigue.

"It's a band, you a.s.shole." I force out a scream, but it harshly cuts off before it reaches my lips. "Cameron, let me go. Please. If you're a Reaper, I thought you couldn't possess me."

"I'm not supposed to... and I can't possess your mind completely-trust me, I've tried. But I can possess your body." He kisses the tip of my ear and moves his lips down my neck. "You were such a fascinating child. Usually when they sent me to mess with a child's head, it was the most droning time of my existence-which says a lot, because I'm old. But you-you were so full of fire and were determined not to get rid of me. But then you told me to go away, and I had to follow the rules." He sucks on my neck, pa.s.sionate kisses, and then his breath is hot against my ear. "You know I broke the rules for you. I tried to warn you about your dad, even though I wasn't supposed to. And then you ran away with me... Admit it-that was probably the most fun you've had in your life. You and me hiding in the woods, while I listened to you ramble to yourself, trying to pretend I wasn't there."

"You're that Grim Reaper. The one who's tormented me since I was four," I say, enraged.

"But you never did meaningfully tell me to go away, except when your dad made me. But you were just a child and your mind was bendable." He pauses, grazing his hand down my thigh. "I tried to warn you about your dad so you could help him. Do you know that? Do you know how much I love you?"

"You tried to force me to kill my mom," I seethe. "That's not love. And you don't even know me."

"I only did that to your mom to help you," he whispers mellifluously in my ear. "I just want you to quit fighting who you really are. If you'd just give in to the insanity, instead of fighting it, life would be so much easier. And we could be together."

"I almost killed her," I growl. "I stole my mom's life to save my own."

"Don't be ashamed of it. It's in your blood and your dad did it many times. Trust me."

"Do you know where my dad is?" I ask sharply. "The detective-or the Reaper-whoever the h.e.l.l she is, said he gave in to insanity. Does that mean he's dead? Or is he one of you? I need to know. Please, Cameron. Please tell me."

Ignoring me, he angles my head back and looks deeply into my eyes. "We're perfect for each other. Imagine it, alive in death, writing beautiful words together... And I promise I'll never hurt you," he whispers, slowly laying me on my back. "I just want to help you."

"No one can help me," I say. "Especially..."

He covers my body with his and my words evaporate. I no longer know what I want-what I feel. His hand travels up my shoulders, up the side of my neck, and resides on my cheek, while his other hand explores the bare skin on my hip. "I could help you, if you let me. I could make all that sadness go away." He licks his lip as he presses his body against mine, converging with every part of me. "Let me take it all away forever."

My arms fall helplessly to my sides. Tell him to get off!

"Ember," he purrs, sliding his hand through my hair. "Let me in."

My knees fall apart, allowing his body closer, and a moan escapes from my lips. "Cameron, don't."

He tips my chin up. "What if I told you I could take away every ounce of pain you have and would ever feel? Think about it. You could have the perfect life."

I shut my eyes as he kisses my neck and my body arches to his will. "That's not possible. Death is pain. And death exists everywhere. Besides, nothing is perfect..."

"It is possible, all you have to do is say yes." Keeping his body sealed to mine, he finds my hands and pins them above my head, rendering me helpless. "Give me permission." His lips touch my cheek, the corner of my mouth. "Please, give me permission."

My lips part open, and I feel my willpower crumble to dust as I realize it might be easier to give in. "You have permission to do what you-"

"Ember, don't." Asher's voice jerks me back to earth. "Don't promise him anything."

A grin spans Cameron's face. "Asher, my dear friend, you're just in time for the feast."

"Get away from her, Cameron." Asher demands. "You have no right to be touching her like that."

"And neither do you." Cameron looks like he's enjoying himself.

I force my gaze sideways to Asher, storming across the cemetery ground with his hands clenched into fists. His face is bruised, his knuckles are sc.r.a.pped raw, and the scar beneath his eyebrow ring is more defined.

"What's... what's." My lips. .h.i.tch shut.

"Get off of her." He's so close, but still so far away. "Or I swear to G.o.d I'll-"

Cameron leaps off me, leaving me paralyzed on the ground, and meets Asher in the middle. "Or you'll what?"

"You've broken rules," Asher growls. "A lot of them."

Wrath thunders in both their eyes and they charge for each other. The sky rumbles and the ground quakes. Like mist rising from a lake, a black cloak forms around Cameron and swallows him up. Asher lets out a derailing screech, springs in the air, and black-feathered wings snap out from his back, sending pieces of his shirt flying. The collision of their bodies is like a train wrecking with another train.

Suddenly, my legs bound to life and I waste no time jumping to my feet. A tornado of feathers and mist swarm the cemetery as Cameron and Asher move like lightening, moving so quickly my human eye can barely detect them. For a second, I stand stunned underneath the tree. An angel and Grim Reaper? An angel and a Grim Reaper?

"Ember!" Raven's voice draws me back to my other problem.

She's back in the shadows of the cemetery, curled up next to the angel statue. I run across the gra.s.s toward her, waving for her to run. "Raven, we have to get out of here-" I fall face-first into an open grave. Cold skin touches mine and my insides quiver. I push up and blink down at Mackenzie Baker. Her blonde hair is covered in dirt and red lines track her neck and wrists. It hits me like a shove off a cliff. My mind races back to Cameron's house, the bands on her neck and wrists.

"Oh my G.o.d," I breathe. "You were dead the whole time... I can see the dead."

Dirt sprinkles down on me and I flip over to my back. Raven looms above the shallow hole, with blood in her hair, blankness in her eyes, and a handful of dirt in her hand.

"I love you Em, I really do," she says. "But you can't save me anymore. I have to give in."

A shovel of dirt rains down on my head. Shielding my eyes, I struggle to my feet and press my fingertips into the dirt.

"Please don't make this harder than it already is, Em," Raven pleads, with a shovel in her hand. "If you would have just given up back at the fire, I wouldn't have to do this to you. You could have saved me from this burden." She scoops another shovel full of dirt and drops it down on my head. "But now you're going to be buried alive, and remain there until you break."

"Raven." I hurdle onto the side, burrowing my boots into the moist dirt. "Think about what you're doing for just a second. You don't want to do this."

She plucks out a twig from her hair and drops in down into the hole, watching it fall all the way to the bottom. "Of course I don't. What I want is a happy life, with a mother who isn't crazy and a friend who can't get near anyone. What I want is to go back in time and never leave that party with Laden, so I could erase what it felt like when he had me pinned down to the ground... erase the feel of his filthy hands on me..." she trails off, staring up at the sky.

Extending my arm as far as it will go, I stretch for the edge of the hole. But my feet slip out from under me and I collapse back onto Mackenzie's body. Forcing myself not to lose it, I push off her and stand back against the wall. Gradually, I clumsily climb upward. Finally, I heave myself over the lip and roll onto my back on the gra.s.s.

Raven bounds on top of me and pins my arms down to the side. I whip up my knees and vault her off. She slams against the angel statue and lets out a groan. "What's happening to me?"

"Nothing. Just stay here, okay." I pat her shoulder and race through the headstones toward the Reaper and the Angel of Death.