I shook my head. “I don’t think so. Alec didn’t sound very worn-out.”

“Okay, let’s start with Nash.” Tod leaned both elbows on the table, which put his eyes almost exactly level with mine.

“He’s been taking Demon’s Breath for how long?”

“About a month.”

The reaper’s blue eyes went dark like the ocean at night, and his fist thumped on the table. “Why the hell didn’t you tell me!”

“Because you weren’t around, and I didn’t know!” I hissed, glancing around the cafeteria to make sure no one was listening. “And it’s your fault he was exposed in the first place! He accidentally inhaled some when we crossed over trying to save your girlfriend! Then you took him back to make his first purchase!”

“I never…” But his denial faded into shocked silence when the pieces fell together in his head. “I didn’t know what he was doing, and he wouldn’t tell me. He just said he was calling in his favor, and that’s all I needed to know. And honestly, I didn’t even push him for information. I was so messed up then, I wasn’t even thinking.”

Because Addison had just died without her soul. His absence and absentmindedness had worried me. But I should have been worried about Nash.

“I should have followed him. I could have stopped this before it even started!” Tod ran one hand through his hair, and several curls fell over his forehead. And when he finally looked up, I couldn’t decide whether I was more surprised by his admission or by the guilt and anger churning slowly in his eyes.

I almost never saw Tod’s eyes swirl….

“Me, too.” I stared at my hands, still clenched tightly on the tabletop. “I should have noticed something was wrong. A pack of gum, and four weeks of school and back, shouldn’t have been enough to make me miss something this big.”

Tod sighed. “How did he get into the Netherworld this time?”

“You didn’t take him?”

“Hell, no, I didn’t take him!” Tod said, loud enough to draw several looks our way.

I leaned across the table and lowered my voice. “Then I have no idea. He was supposed to be here with Doug, but you said he wasn’t…?”

Tod shook his head in confirmation. “Not that I saw, and I was here when they brought him in. How did he get Nash’s…balloon?”

I sighed and took another sip from my bottle. “Emma found it in Nash’s bag during the party. I left Em in the car with the balloon. But she had to go to the bathroom.” As she’d explained while we watched the movie. “We think Doug went looking for her and found the balloon instead.” I sighed and stared at the table. “I wish we’d never gone to Doug’s house tonight. But wecouldn’t let Em go alone.” I glanced up at Tod, searching for agreement in his expression. For some sign that this whole catastrophe wasn’t solely the result of my poor judgment. “Not with Everett bringing enough balloons to make a house float.”

“Everett?” Tod’s hand fell from his hair to land on the tabletop with a thud. “The dealer’s name is Everett? Are you sure?”

“Yeah. He’s tall and kind of angular. Nash says he’s half-harpy, which is why we can’t figure out how he’s getting his supply here from the Netherworld.”

“Everett. That damned pointy-looking, son-of-a-shrew,” Tod snapped. Then he met my gaze again. “I know how he’s getting it.” He clenched the cheap plastic saltshaker like it held untold secrets of the universe. “I swear I had no idea what I was carrying, but…I brought it over.”

20

“WHAT?” QUESTIONS TUMBLED in my head like shoes in the dryer, clanking painfully as they slammed into one another. Tod was ferrying Demon’s Breath from the Netherworld for Avari? “Have you and Nash both lost your minds? This is really a very simple concept—one that you taught me! Hellion equals evil. Period!”

Tod’s exhale was long, and low, and heavy. “Avari had something I needed, and he doesn’t take cash or checks. Not that I have either one, but I could have come up with some money.” The reaper shrugged. “But he already knew what he wanted from me. And Kaylee, I swear I had no idea what I was carrying.”

The numbness in my brain and body faded, replaced by a scalding anger. “Is that supposed to make it okay? That you didn’t care enough to ask what you were hauling? What did you think he was sending up? Fuzzy kittens and care packages for the children’s ward?” People were staring at us now, but I was so far beyond caring. “Isn’t working for a hellion a conflict of interest?” I demanded through gritted teeth, my open-arm gesture taking in the entire hospital, and the job Tod carried out there.

“It would be, if I were selling him poached souls, or something like that. But my business with him has nothing to do with my job, or with my abilities as a reaper.”

“Are you serious?” I shoved my chair back and my pitch rose so high on the last word that dogs all over the neighborhood were probably howling in sympathy. Or maybe in pain.

“Your reaper skills are what get you to and from the Netherworld. Without them, you wouldn’t have interested Avari except as a snack. Another soul to suck. You’re totally abusing your abilities. And because of what you’ve done, one kid is dead, one’s gone clinically insane, and your own brother is wandering around in the Netherworld like a protein bar with legs!”