"We need to talk about last night."

My stomach clenched, and the fear I had felt moments before came raging back into my body. "I don't know what you're talking about. I was home last night. There's nothing we need to--"

"Don't you remember?" He leaned into me, his green eyes wide and tearing into my hazel ones. He was so close that he was al I could feel, see, and smel . My senses were drowning in him.

"Remember what?" It was just a dream--it had to be. What happened could not have been real. I'd imagined it, just like I'd imagined the black spiderwebs on my face. He took my arm and pul ed me gently against the lockers when a couple students walked by. "The reaper? The one you kil ed?" he asked in a harsh whisper.

"The what? What the hel are you on, Wil ?" I tried to pul myself away, but he held me tighter. "Look, I'm not into that stuff, whatever it is, so--"

"Enough of this," he growled, leaning closer to me. "You need to accept what happened last night and what you are, no matter how much you don't want to. Pretending that it was just a dream or that I'm insane isn't going to help you. It'l only make things worse."

"I don't know what you're talking about!" I snarled through gritted teeth. I was desperate to keep my anger from causing more tears.

Wil took a breath and spoke his next words slowly. "Look, I feel awful and I don't want to scare you--"

"Wel , you're doing a damn good job of it!"

"Just listen to me for a minute and I'l leave. Okay?"

I studied his face. He was real y serious about this. I might as wel humor him. "Fine."

He took another deep breath. He spoke slowly, but with an intensity that frightened me even more. "What you saw--

what you fought--last night was a reaper. Forget the scythewielding skeletons in long robes. This is real. Most don't need scythes, because they have teeth and claws for weapons. They eat you. They eat your flesh and your blood, and then they drag your soul to Hel . Your teacher, Frank Meyer, was kil ed and eaten by the same one you kil ed last night. You are the Preliator, the only mortal in the world with the power to fight them. And I am your Guardian, your bodyguard, sworn to protect and defend you. And you are making my job excruciatingly difficult."

I stared at him for a few moments, unable to decide how to respond. I settled for the easy thing. "You're completely out of your mind."

"Damn it!" Wil threw his hands up. "This is ridiculous. I don't understand why you don't remember. I triggered your power last night. You woke and entered the Grim on your own and kil ed the reaper. Why don't you remember now?" He stepped away from me and clamped his hand over the top of his head. His voice was rapid and worried. "Maybe because it's been so long. Before, it was always only eighteen years between cycles. Your soul has been asleep too long."

I backed away, my hand crawling along the wal , unable to make sense of anything he said. Then I noticed the metal chain around his neck, tucked into his shirt. An image flashed across my mind of something gleaming, dangling--a plus sign. It was like deja vu, a memory I didn't remember ever having, if that made any sense at al .

"And if you're wondering where your hoodie went, check your wastebasket. Sorry it was ruined."

"Ruined?"

"Is there a problem, Miss Monroe?"

I turned around to see one of the assistant principals, Mr. Abbot, standing behind me, looking from me to Wil .

"Who is this young man?" Mr. Abbot asked, clearly seeing that Wil was not a high school student. His accusing gaze lingered on the tattoos covering Wil 's arm. To him, the tattoos must have been a sure sign of delinquency.

"A friend," Wil said. "I stopped by to bring some of El ie's homework she had forgotten at my house."

Mr. Abbot looked questioningly at me. "Is this true?"

I nodded. "Yes, sir. It's okay." I didn't know why I was covering for him. Maybe his craziness had rubbed off on me like a bad cold, or something worse.

He turned to Wil . "Young man, I'm going to have to ask you to leave campus. You've done El ie a good service by bringing her homework. However, as you are not a student and have not signed for a visitor's pass, you'l need to be on your way."

Wil nodded. "That's fine. I'l say my good-byes and go."

He stared intently at Mr. Abbot, refusing to budge. Strangely, my assistant principal made a peculiar face before he turned and left. "El ie, wil you talk to me after school?" Wil asked me.

"No way," I said, turning my back to him.

He stepped around me so that we were face--to-face. "If you don't, then you won't know how to cal your swords and you won't be able to defend yourself."

I felt a shiver crawl up my spine as his eyes bored into mine, locking our gazes, his voice low and downright invasive. "Was that a threat?" I asked cautiously. His expression gave nothing away. "They'l come for you."

That shiver turned into a brutal stab of fear straight into my gut. My pulse quickened and I pursed my lips together when I felt heat rushing into my face.

"Now that I've woken your powers, you're fair game to the reapers. You're at your most vulnerable, and this is when they'l strike."

I took a deep breath. "If you don't leave me alone, I'm going to scream for security and they're going to cal the cops."