"Landon and I are going to Cold Stone," Kate said. "Anyone want to join? El ie?"

I frowned. "I don't real y feel like ice cream."

"Oh, come on!" she whined. "Please?"

I laughed. "Why do you want me to go with you to get ice cream so badly?"

"Because it's good!" Kate turned to Wil . "You want ice cream, don't you, Wil ?"

Wil 's eyes flickered to me and back to Kate. "If El ie isn't interested, then I'm not. I just go where she goes."

Kate groaned. "You guys can't leave us yet! It's not even ten. At least come over to my place and party for a bit. We can hang out in my basement."

That sounded real y good. I hadn't been able to relax with my best friend for weeks. Wil leaned close to me, his voice soft, his breath warm on my ear. "I think you should go. You'l enjoy yourself."

"But, what about--?" I whispered back.

"You'l have fun," he whispered. "I want you to be happy. Remember our agreement for tonight?"

I smiled. "But I want you to pretend you're human with me."

"Al right," he said.

"Okay, you two," Kate said. "What's the plan?"

I looked up to her. "We're coming."

"Yay!" she chirped, pul ing me into another tight Kate hug.

"I stil want Cold Stone. Sure you don't want to join us?"

I nodded. "Yeah, I ate right before the movie, so I'm stil pretty ful . I'l pass, but how about we meet you at your house in an hour?"

"Sounds good," she said with a smile.

"Okay, bye," I said, and waved to them al .

Wil and I walked back to my car. "Thank you," I said in a low voice.

"I meant it when I said I want you to be happy," he answered. "It has always made this easier on you--when you're happy."

"Is that so?"

"Yes." He smiled.

"What did I use to do for fun?" I unlocked my car and we climbed in.

"You've always loved horses," he said distantly. "Through every lifetime I've known you."

I perked up. "Real y? Did I ride a lot?"

"Al the time. A hundred years ago there weren't many cars, so that's how we got around. When you were . . . When I knew you last, you competed in horse shows."

I laughed. "That's cool."

"You were real y good."

"Do you think I stil am?"

He nodded firmly. "Oh yes. You've always been a natural. It's never failed to come back to you."

"Wil you take me riding?"

He glanced at me. "Definitely."

"Promise?"

"I have never broken a promise to you."

I eyed him. "Not once?"

"Not once."

I was skeptical. "You're tel ing me that in five hundred years, you have never messed up something you've promised me?"

"El ie, you need to understand," he said softly. "I exist only to serve you and fight by your side. Whether that fighting is to preserve your life or to make sure you smile, that is what I am built to do. You're al I have, and I wil watch over you forever."

I stared at him. "You're very intense, you know that?"

"I do now." He smiled.

We headed back toward my town and exited onto a wooded, hil y back road. The narrow road was quiet, and I saw only one other pair of headlights for a half mile.

"I hope you enjoyed yourself," I said to Wil . "Did you like the movie?"

He was looking out the window, but he turned to face me and smiled. "It was interesting. I think Landon and I could become friends."

I laughed, too. "Oh yeah. Best friends in the making, right there. What did you think of the movie, honestly?"

He shrugged. "It was funny. Humans always amaze me with how drastical y their culture evolves every few years. Imagine witnessing that over tens of generations."

"I wish I could," I said. "I'm stil only remembering snippets of things."

"It'l come back. I know I keep saying that, but it wil ."

I nodded glumly. "I'm glad that you came tonight, and that nothing bad happened. Thank you."

"Of course. I think it was good for you."

My smile returned. "It was good for both of us to get out and do something besides fighting for a change."

Out the corner of my eye I saw a dark shape bound across the road toward my window. Then something massive rammed into my car door, and the Audi was sent spinning counterclockwise, whipping my body around in the seat. The wheel was torn from my grip and the car came to a stop so sudden, my shoulder slammed into the door panel and the window shattered next to my face. The headlights poured out onto the road into blackness.

"El ie!" Wil shouted. "El ie, are you okay?"

He undid my seat belt and his hands frantical y touched my arms, face, and neck. My head spun and I felt like I was going to be sick. I looked around and saw we had smashed up against a tree on Wil 's side. My window had been shattered and jagged edges of glass jutted out from al directions. Oh God, my poor car.

"I'm fine. Are you--?"

The windshield exploded, spraying chunks of glass, and the hideous, deformed head of Ragnuk burst through with a bel owing roar. He was free of the Grim. He was completely in the mortal dimension.