"Uck!" I squeaked. "That's disgusting!"

"A necessary evil." Sumi shrugged. "Now you can get big like Sumi."

The jewel had left the lingering taste of the bottom of the sea in my mouth. I spat, expecting a little spittle to hit the gra.s.s, but instead a burst of flame shot out of my mouth, scorching the ground in front of me.

"What the h.e.l.l-" I said, startled by this strange development.

"Now you get big like Sumi." The old man grinned, pointing at me.

I looked down to find my body changing: my pale peach flesh became mottled with shimmering scales the color of a melted orange sunset, my arms shrinking then disappearing entirely into the folds of my orange-scaled torso. I was growing at an alarming rate, my body lengthening unnaturally as I transformed from human into sea serpent. Not wanting to be caught on dry land in monster form, I flopped forward, using my extended torso like a snake to slither into the water.

The transformation process generated a lot of heat and the cold water felt amazing on my new skin. I glided through the silken seawater at a brisk pace, propelling myself forward with the elongated forked tail I'd just grown. It was so freeing to be out of my human form, shooting through the water like a sailboat hewn from sea serpent flesh. I could taste the pollution in the water as I swam, and I wanted nothing more than to leave the human defilement of the bay behind me, in favor of the deeper, uninhabited waters of the ocean. My human mind knew this wasn't possible, that I was needed back on dry land, but I let myself swim for a while longer before turning back around.

When I resurfaced, I was still a good distance from the marsh where I'd transformed. I let my body float, basting in the brine for a few minutes. I'd never been so relaxed before, had never felt so free. Now I understood why Sumi was always in such a good mood: He could turn into a seagoing beast anytime he wanted. Even though I'd fought him on it, I was glad he'd made me swallow the jewel. In retrospect, I wouldn't have been so hesitant about the whole thing had I known the wonders of the sea serpent lifestyle that were ahead of me.

Being a creature from the deep, I was utterly satisfied with my lot in life. Being a human? Not so much. Still, as much as I liked riding the waves and looked forward to kicking a.s.s and taking names as the baddest beast in the ocean, I knew that duty called-and I had to listen.

My brain high on happiness endorphins, I flipped onto my stomach and jackknifed my way back through the water toward the marsh, picking up speed as I went. I was going so fast that I didn't notice the churning water above me until I was in the thick of it.

I tried to stop short, but my velocity was too great and I caromed into the side of a tour boat, slamming into the hull with enough force to almost capsize it. I could hear the human screams reverberating through the water and I tried to sink deeper into the darkness. Above me, I sensed the flash of digital cameras as the tourists from the tour boat worked frantically to doc.u.ment our run-in.

Dammit, I thought. I thought. This is so not good. This is so not good.

I sunk even farther into the water, but not before the tourists were able to get a decent look at me. I had been a sea serpent for less than an hour, and already I'd wrecked the mystique for all the other sea serpents out there. I started to panic, my brain trying to figure out a good escape route, but I shouldn't have bothered. Nature took over, shrinking my body back down to human size. It was strange to be my old self again-my muscles felt rubbery and unwilling to bend to my control, and even my brain protested against the change. My human body fought against being pressed into service, but I forced it forward, away from the boat, doing an easy b.r.e.a.s.t.stroke in the direction of the marsh.

I was definitely ready to get out of the water now that my sea serpent body was gone. Swimming just wasn't as much fun without it.

I reached the edge of the marsh and hauled myself up onto dry land. I was exhausted and it took me a few moments to catch my breath. When I could move a little more easily, I squinted out toward the horizon, my eyes spying the tiny tour boat I'd rammed. It was still idling where I'd left it, probably hoping I'd make a repeat appearance, but it would be forced to return to port soon because twilight was fast approaching.

"You and Nessy. You give us a bad name," Sumi said as he squatted down in the gra.s.s beside me. I'd thought he was going to be superangry about my tourist attack, but that comment proved to be the only one he made on the subject.

"Time to feed you and get you dressed for your trip," he continued, offering me his hand. I took it, letting him help me stand up. I was wobbly on my feet, my whole person exhausted from my adventure, but I followed Sumi as he trudged across the marsh, his gra.s.s skirt crunching with every step.

I thought we'd run into Hyacinth on our walk, but she never appeared. Darkness was our only companion as we pressed onward, and I found it only slightly harder to see as night stole around us like a predatory cat.

"Where are we going?" I asked as my feet hit pavement and we left the marsh in favor of a road.

"Not far," Sumi replied. "We can rest then."

We followed the curve of the road to the inhabited part of the island, the lights from the houses we pa.s.sed dissipating the darkness we'd enjoyed out on the marsh. In lieu of the darkness, a heavy fog descended, shrouding the landscape like a thick gray blanket and chilling me to the core. I wrapped my arms around my torso and tried to stay as close to Sumi as possible. No way Jose did I want to get left out in the cold on my own.

Suddenly, I felt a chill at the nape of my neck and my entire body gave an involuntarily shiver. The wind blew across my face, the ripe bouquet of animal musk blossoming into stench as it hit my nose and I nearly choked on the foulness of it.

"Get back," Sumi said, thrusting me behind him as an inhuman howl cracked the night wide open.

thirteen.

The Vargr moved so quickly they were like gray and brown streaks racing through the moonlight. Before I knew it, we were surrounded by five of the slavering beasts, each one more hideous looking than the next. They were similar to the gaunt man/beast I'd dealt with back on the subway, but these guys were larger and more intimidating, if that was possible. I could see rippling rhomboid muscles working angular shoulder blades as they stalked closer, encircling us. Taut strips of muscle held their jaws in check for now, but I knew it was only a matter of time before they attacked, using their elongated snouts and serrated teeth to tear our flesh into ragged pieces.

"Vargr," Sumi said. "They belong to the Devil."

I nodded.

"Yeah, one attacked me and Jarvis on the subway this afternoon."

Sumi raised an eyebrow but never got a chance to question me further because the pack leader-a huge black beast with bright yellow corneas floating inside bloodshot sclera-chose that moment to attack. There was no warning howl, just the sound of its talonlike claws ripping through the dirt as it sprang forward, all coiled energy and aggression.

Sumi opened his mouth as if he was going to yell at the creature, but no sound escaped his lips. Instead, an arc of fire poured from his mouth, sailing across the sky and engulfing the Vragr midair. The creature screamed-the sound so piteous it chilled me to the bone-then dropped to the ground like a stone, its frantic yelps growing in intensity as the fire burnt through its black pelt. The acrid stink of sizzling fur and flesh filled the air as it died.

Now that their leader was an out-of-commission Vargr shish kebab at Sumi's feet, the other beasts broke rank and attacked. There were four of them left, too many for Sumi to take on at once, and besides which, they weren't just mindless beasts; they knew exactly where and what the old man's weakness was: Me.

I suck at hand-to-hand combat, I thought miserably as one of the Vargrs broke free of the pack and came bounding in my direction. I thought miserably as one of the Vargrs broke free of the pack and came bounding in my direction.

I knew I was on my own, because Sumi didn't even glance in my direction to see how I was faring. I guess he figured I was immortal, so I could stand a little mauling while he took care of the other three.

"Go away, beastie!" I cried as the creature barreled toward me.

Beside me, Sumi spewed another arc of fire at the creatures, but they'd learned from watching their leader get baked and stayed just out of the fire's reach.

A low growl sounded in my left ear, demanding my attention. I whipped around to find the Vargr who'd been sent after me crouching at my feet, a long string of drool hanging from its ma.s.sive jaws. I froze, my eyes riveted by the sheer power radiating from the beast-and it was then that I noticed the heavy teats protruding from the soft fur of the creature's belly.

Great, they sent the b.i.t.c.h after me, I thought bitterly. I thought bitterly. A b.i.t.c.h for a b.i.t.c.h. A b.i.t.c.h for a b.i.t.c.h.

Dammit, just knowing the beast was a female-who might have little Vargr kiddies waiting at home for her-changed the situation. I didn't care that the creature wanted to rip my throat out. I mean, I was immortal, so it would hurt like h.e.l.l, but I'd survive.

"I know you may have kids somewhere," I sputtered, trying to get my words in order. "What's gonna happen to them when my friend over there turns you into doggie flambe?"

This only elicited a growl from the b.i.t.c.h.

"Okay, fine, I just wanted to put that out there-"

Interrupting me midsentence, she leapt forward, the sheer weight of her muscled form forcing the two of us to the ground, where we tussled like angry children. She bit at me, her serrated teeth sheering the skin off my forearm, exposing a strip of b.l.o.o.d.y muscle directly to the night air. I screamed. The pain was awful. I could hardly catch my breath as the nerve endings in my arm flared in response to the injury.

"DROP DEAD!" I shrieked as the Vargr went for my throat.

Instantly, my whole body was enflamed with the same pulsing white-hot heat I'd experienced earlier when the other Vargr had attacked me back in the subway car. My limbs went numb and my skin burned like fire-then a moment later it was as if my entire body had been plunged into a bathtub full of ice water. I ached as the power slowly drained out of my body and I was left shivering on the ground, breathless. The pressure on my sternum increased tenfold as the b.i.t.c.h's body ceased moving, flattening me into the ground with its ma.s.s. I gasped and tried to roll the beast off me, but the deadweight was nearly impossible to shift.

"d.a.m.n," I cursed under my breath, marshaling the energy I had left in hopes I could shove the b.i.t.c.h's body onto the ground. But before I could exert myself, Sumi was above me, lifting the dead body off so I could breathe again.

"Thank you," I said, wheezing.

Even though I was now free from the beast's weight, I was still having trouble catching my breath. I realized that something inside me had to be out of whack, so I looked down and instantly saw what the problem was: the entire left side of my chest was concave where it should've been convex.

Instinctively, I reached down to press my fingers against my rib cage, then quickly pulled my hand away, nauseous at what I'd discovered. I knew without being told that the bones had been crushed beyond recognition, leaving only shards that slid easily underneath the rubbery skin of my chest.

I felt like someone had hit me with a Mack truck, then left me on the side of the road to die slowly.

I groaned, my arm still aching where the skin had been ripped away by the Vargr's teeth, but when I checked it, I saw that the flesh was quietly re-forming itself over the wound, knitting together as if it were made out of wool instead of living tissue.

Suddenly, the sky went dark, the clouds overhead blocking out even the meager light from the moon. A lone bolt of lightning cracked the heavens in two, slamming into the ground in front of me as I scurried backward, trying to escape its reach. The sizzle of electricity frizzed out my hair and made my teeth sing in my head as the energy discharged into the ground around me.

When I looked up again, Sumi was squatting beside me, and together we watched as a man and a woman, both in black Victorian mourning clothes, strode across the dirt. They had come on the heels of the lightning strike, but they moved independently of the strange weather as another lightning bolt struck the ground behind them. When the smoke cleared, two more women in Victorian mourning garb were in lockstep with the first couple.

My eye was immediately drawn to the man, to the shock of white hair that stuck out in frothy bursts from underneath his watered-silk top hat. There was a skeletal bent to his tall frame, and the round, smoky gla.s.ses he wore made it impossible to tell if he had eyes or not. He carried a tiny platinum bell, which he rang as he walked, four sharp bursts that called out to the dead, beckoning them homeward-even though I counted five five dead Vargr, not four. dead Vargr, not four.

The three women who followed in his wake pulled long-handled b.u.t.terfly nets from their backs, making preparations to capture the souls they were obviously here to collect. All three women wore high-necked collars with cameos fixed at their throats and had empty coal sockets for eyes-but that and the color of their clothing were the only things they had in common.

One of the women was more than six feet tall with a flaming nest of red hair that encircled her head like cotton candy. Another of the women was very tiny, her birdlike fingers almost too small to grasp the neck of the b.u.t.terfly net she was holding. The last woman was my height, blond hair curling around her face in ringlets as she pulled a silver-lidded jar from her pocket and slid it open, all while still holding the b.u.t.terfly net rigidly in her other hand.

I didn't recognize any of them from my previous encounters with the Harvesters.

The man pulled his own b.u.t.terfly net from his shoulder, holding it aloft like a sword while the little bell did its work. Behind me, the other three Vargr lay in various positions on the ground, their limbs splayed at whatever odd position they'd a.s.sumed when death had claimed them. In response to the bell's call, pale swirling tendrils of soul pooled out of the bodies, eddying around the emptied corpses like tiny hurricanes. The blond woman waved the jar in the air, attracting the souls' attention, compelling them forward. They oozed toward her, making a beeline for the honeyed substance inside the jar, but the other Harvesters moved swiftly, swooping in and capturing the souls with their nets before they could reach the jar.

The blond woman caught her soul last, using the b.u.t.terfly net in her hand like a scythe, then she screwed the top back on the jar and curtsied.

"Long live the Reign of the New Death," she murmured, the sibilant hiss of her words setting my teeth on edge.

That's nice of you, I thought, amused by the women's display. I thought, amused by the women's display. But I'm only part Death right now. No "long live" anyone just yet. But I'm only part Death right now. No "long live" anyone just yet.

The other women curtsied, too, and the man bowed, then they turned toward the water as if they could walk across the sea like it was a paved roadway.

"Wait!" I said and the four stopped, stiffening at my demand. "You only collected four souls. I want to know why you didn't collect the soul of the Vargr my friend, Sumi, killed."

Only the blond woman turned to face me, her blackened eye sockets giving me the chills.

"You will only see us when you have made the kill yourself, Madame Death," she said. "To remind you of the power you hold over those who cannot defend themselves against you. You have no need to see us collect the others."

"Oh."

That was all I could think to say in response.

"May we go?" the blonde asked, looking at me askance. I nodded and she curtsied again, turning her back on me and joining the others. Then, as the clouds dissipated and moonlight flooded the sky again, the four soul collectors faded away into nothingness.

"s.h.i.t," I murmured when they were gone.

The realization that I had just unintentionally killed four Vargr without using a weapon any stronger than my own words forced me down an even thornier path, one that I did not want to tread. With only a presentiment of how terrible the end of the path was going to be, my brain started to reel-and it was then that I finally understood the full magnitude of what I had done, of what I had become: I am now a ma.s.s murderer. I am now a ma.s.s murderer.

And I killed all of those people on the subway.

Here, I'd been thinking someone was out to get me, framing me for those innocent humans' murders, but instead, I'd been the true culprit. I thought back to the moment on the subway when I'd first experienced the numb feeling, the pins and needles of hot and cold shooting through my limbs-and I understood that it must've correlated exactly with the very moment of my dad's murder. That was when the power of Death had been split between Daniel and me, but since he'd been surrounded by immortals in Purgatory, he hadn't had a chance to abuse his power. I, on the other hand, had been murdering innocent people left and right for hours . . . and hadn't even noticed noticed.

For a moment, a glimmer of hope knifed through my fevered thoughts: Why hadn't I seen the Victorian soul-collecting mafia back on the subway car? Did that mean I hadn't killed all of those people? Maybe I wasn't a murderer after all? But then I remembered how dark it had been in that subway tunnel, my night vision not yet having kicked in, and I had to concede that I probably just hadn't seen the Harvesters making their rounds because of the blackout, though I had heard their bell.

"Oh my G.o.d," I whispered as I sank to my knees, my legs giving out as the truth of what I had done overwhelmed me.

I was a loose cannon. I had killed indiscriminately and obliviously-two words that could deftly be applied to all the mistakes I'd ever made in my life. I wanted to cry, to scream at G.o.d, to ask why he/she had done this to me, but nothing came: no words, no tears, nothing nothing . . . . . . absolutely nothing absolutely nothing.

As if none of what had happened had just happened, Sumi pointed to my chest: "You're healed now."

I looked down. He was right, my rib cage looked normal again, but I didn't care. I just wanted to disappear, to have someone put me out of my misery so I could cease thinking. I didn't want to keep company with myself anymore . . . but I knew I didn't deserve the freedom of nonexistence, either.

No, what I deserved was to spend the rest of my immortality thinking about what I'd done to all those people so I'd never do anything like it again. I honestly didn't feel so bad about the Vargr because they'd been gunning for my throat and were hardly hardly what you'd call innocent. what you'd call innocent.

But for the human murders, I deserved to be punished for all eternity.

If I make it that long, I thought dryly. I thought dryly.

Sumi patted my arm. He must've sensed the dark tone of my thoughts and was trying to make me feel better. As stunted and indifferent as this "kindness" was, it did make me feel slightly less like a s.h.i.t heel.

"We should go," Sumi said as he helped me to my feet. "The food will be cold."

"I wish I could be so glib about all this death stuff," I muttered under my breath.

"Life and death are merely a spiral with no end and no beginning," Sumi replied sagely. "Though he who controls it controls all."

I sighed. It was like dealing with Yoda, only without any of the little green creature's charm.

"I'm not feeling all that hungry anymore," I said, but Sumi didn't answer. He'd already started walking again-and since I didn't want to be left to my own devices after my latest "murderer" epiphany, I trudged onward, following his footsteps in the dirt.

"What did the Vargr want?" I asked as I caught up to my guide. "I mean, what were they gonna do to us?"

"They were sent to slow you down, incapacitate you so you would not be capable for the challenge."

I nodded. It made sense.

"What I don't understand is why the Ender of Death is involved in all this?"

Sumi shrugged.

"Your sister offers him things, things he cannot get on his own-your dad on a silver platter, for one-and I bet other gifts will be forthcoming."

"Like what kind of gifts?" I asked. Then jokingly: "Maybe I should get in the gift-giving business myself, so everyone'll leave me alone."

"The Ender of Death is the yin to your yang, Little Death," Sumi said. "He wants whatever it is you don't don't want." want."

"I don't want to be Death." I shrugged. "That's what I want."

"Then," Sumi sighed, "the Ender of Death wants to be be Death." Death."

"But he can't," I cried. "It's impossible. He's not one of the chosen ones-"

"Stranger things have happened," Sumi replied as he chewed on the end of his thumbnail. Obviously this conversation was making him nervous for some reason. "The Ender of Death is so close to Death that it might be possible. A faraway possibility, but still . . . a possibility possibility."