“You called my mom?”

“She can help him, Tod.”

“I know. I was just hoping she wouldn’t have to know this time. But it sounds like he picked up right where he left off, so yeah, I guess you had to tell her.”

“I’m sorry. I told her about us, too. I hope she doesn’t hate me for coming between the two of you.”

“She could never hate you, Kaylee. I’ll probably get an earful, though.” He grimaced at the thought. “But enough about that. How do you want to spend your last full day?”

“I don’t know…” I held up our joined hands. “This is nice.” Tod’s hand fit so well in mine that I didn’t want to go anywhere or think about anything but him, and us, and the fact that we hadn’t even considered turning on the TV, because we didn’t need it for entertainment. And he made me smile. Even knowing that Nash was back on frost, my demon math teacher wanted to impregnate my best friend and my lifeline was scheduled to end the next day, Tod could make me laugh.

“Yeah, it is.” His gaze went out of focus, like he was looking at something I couldn’t see. “I can’t remember the last time I actually got to touch someone I care about, just for the sake of touching and being touched. For human contact that demands nothing.”

“You and Addy didn’t…?”

“Get back together?” he said when I wasn’t sure how to finish my own sentence, and I nodded. “No. Seeing Addy again was like going back in time, to before I died. But I don’t think she thought of me like that. Not this time, anyway. She had more important things on her mind.” Like reclaiming her sister’s sold soul, not to mention her own. “And then she died, and I couldn’t stop it.” He was looking at me again by then, and I knew what he was thinking.

“This is different, Tod.” I put my free hand on top of the one that held his. “I still have my soul, so I’m not just moving into the Netherworld for an eternity of torture. Dying for me will be more like a release, right? It’s everyone else I’m worried about.”

“Your dad and uncle are working on the incubus issue, and I’ll do whatever I can to help, so you don’t have to worry about Emma. The worst part for her will be missing you. And your dad’s going to be fine, now that Thane’s out of the picture.”

“Thank you so much for that.” I picked at a worn spot on the denim over his knee. “I don’t know how to tell you how much that meant to me.” Though evidently that one fateful kiss was worth a thousand words.

“That was truly my pleasure. In fact, it was so much fun I’m not even going to add it to the running total of rescues you owe me.”

“How gallant of you.”

“Does that mean I’ve earned my shining armor?’Cause I don’t see how I can slay the dragon without it.” When I didn’t smile, his frown deepened. “If you’re still worried about Nash, you know Sabine and I will watch out for him.”

“I know. I just hate that I’m going to die with him hating me.” Because how could he not? I closed my eyes and rubbed my forehead, trying to draw my scrambled thoughts into focus. “From the moment you told me I was going to die—okay, from the moment I came to terms with that—all I’ve wanted to do was put everything in order. Make sure everyone I care about would be okay after I’m gone. But I messed that up, and now Nash has to live with the consequences of what I did.”

“What we did,” Tod insisted.

“Either way, he hates us both.”

“He’s spent half his life hating me. Hell, he thinks I’m trying to make him miserable as a punishment for living. He’s upset and confused, but he’ll understand eventually.”

“You really think so?”

Tod shrugged, but couldn’t quite hide his own doubt. “We’re brothers—a three-hundred-year life span is a long time to hold a grudge.”

Three hundred years. That’s what I should have had, give or take. And Tod had eternity, though I couldn’t accurately describe his post-death existence as a life span. Still, compared to the mere hours I had left, eternal un-death was looking pretty good.

“How did you die, Tod?”

He couldn’t—or didn’t—hide his surprise. “Nash didn’t tell you?”

“I never asked.” It honestly hadn’t occurred to me. Tod had been dead long before I met him, and I rarely thought of him as ever having been alive, as obvious as that conclusion seemed in retrospect.

“Well, I guess that’s just as well.” He stroked the back of my hand with his thumb. “He doesn’t know the truth anyway. No one does, except my mom and Levi.”

“Is it some top secret reaper thing? No one can know how you entered the afterlife?” I joked, but Tod looked so solemn my smile died on my face.

“No. I asked my mom and Levi to keep what really happened a secret. To protect Nash.”

“You know you can tell me, right?” I ducked, trying to draw his gaze up to my face again. “I’m not going to tell anyone, and after tomorrow, you’re right back where you started, with just two people knowing.”

“It’s not that I don’t want you to know—I’d answer any question you asked me, Kaylee, even if you were scheduled to live forever.” He frowned, and a rare look of uncertainty flickered over features I’d nearly memorized. “It’s that I’ve literally never told anyone what happened—not since I told my mother.”