Once Dead, Twice Shy - Kim Harrison [76]
Strike two. “Is that still her fate?” I asked, hearing the was. Her beautiful face shifted, becoming confused. “No,” she said, and our steps slowed to a stop. “The seraphs sing that her future is muddied, and they don’t know why.”
A slow smile curved my lips up. “I do.” Pleased, I started for the front doors. I knew now what I was going to do—how I was going to reconcile working as head of a system I didn’t agree with until I found my body and returned to normal. “Just like understanding fear changed you, Susan saw death, and as a result, she learned how precious life is. It’s hard to make a choice when you can only see one way.”
From my left, Barnabas frowned. “You’re talking about me,” he said sullenly.
“No.” I glanced at the front offices, hoping no one was watching. “I don’t think so. Maybe?” I shrugged. “I’m going to come with you, Nakita, but before you get your blade out and turn all scary, I want to talk to him.”
The dark reaper’s eyebrows went high. “Why?” she said, mirroring Barnabas’s confused expression.
“To see if I can’t change his fate,” I said. Duh…
Okay, so I was dead, my body was somewhere between now and the next, and I had two argumentative reapers guarding me from the very timekeeper I’d once trusted. Things weren’t all bad. My dad didn’t have a clue I was dead, Josh was alive, and until I got my body back and got off this roller coaster, I not only could skip school with impunity, but it was my moral responsibility to do so.
We had reached the door, and I yanked it open. Sunlight spilled in, warming me as Josh caught the door and held it. “You’re going to skip?” he asked, and I grinned.
“Yup. Nakita and Barnabas can cover for me. For us. For a good girl, I certainly do some bad things.”
Josh laughed as he gestured for me to go first. “Breaking rules isn’t bad when what you’re doing is more important than the rule itself.”
I hesitated on the threshold, squinting in the sun. “You think it makes a difference?”
Josh nodded, and his smile made a quiver start in the pit of my being. “Yeah. I do.”
“Me too,” I said, and together, we walked out into the sun to save some good guy’s soul. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
I’d like to thank my editor, Tara Weikum, who helped me more than she might know, and my agent, Richard Curtis, who continues to surprise me by what he sees before I do. About the Author
New York Times bestselling author KIM HARRISON was born and raised in the upper Midwest but has since fled south to better avoid snow. She spends her time tending orchids, cooking with some guy in a leather jacket, and training her new dog. Her current vices include good chocolate and exquisite sushi. Kim is the author of the bestselling Hollows series, including THE OUTLAW DEMON WAILS, and she contributed to the paranormal collection PROM NIGHTS FROM HELL. You can visit her online at www.kimharrison.net.
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Credits
Jacket art © 2009 by Gustavo Marx/MergeLeft Reps, Inc.
Jacket design by David Caplan
Copyright
ONCE DEAD, TWICE SHY. Copyright © 2009 by Kim Harrison. All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, down-loaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins e-books.
Microsoft Reader May 2009 ISBN 978-0-06-188822-9
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