He held out one hand, palm up. “Give me your phone.”

My hand snuck into my pocket, curling protectively around my cell. “Seriously?” He couldn’t mean that.

“Yes. One week, no phone.”

“No!” Spikes of righteous anger shot up my spine, tingling all the way into my fingers. I was trying to help someone! If he’d been around long enough to get to know me, he’d know that, even without the details. “It’s not safe to run around without a phone!” Especially for someone so deep in hellion business she’d have to look up to wave to the devil.

“Well, that won’t be a problem, because you’re not going anywhere. Give me your keys. You can take the bus to school tomorrow.”

“This is ridiculous!” I shouted, reluctantly digging my phone from one pocket, my keys from the other. “And completely unwarranted. It’s not like I was out drinking and sleeping around.”

My dad rubbed his forehead and sank back into the armchair, looking as weary as I’d ever seen him. “Kaylee, I don’t know what you were doing, because you won’t tell me!”

“Fine.” I slapped my phone into his waiting palm. “But my reasons for not telling you everything now are just as important as your reasons for not telling me anything over the past thirteen years. And it’s completely messed up that you expect me to trust you when you’re not willing to return the favor.”

My jab found its mark and my father flinched again. “I’m tired, Kaylee, and I don’t have the energy for this.” He set my phone on an end table and rubbed his face with both hands. “Give me your keys and go to bed. Please.”

And what was I supposed to say to Addy and Regan? Sorry, I can’t save your immortal souls, because I’m grounded?

I dropped my keys on the kitchen counter, then plodded down the hall to my room, sorting through possible ways around this new complication. How were we supposed to find the hellion without a car? Walk all over the Metroplex?

With my bedroom door open, I sank cross-legged onto my bed and listened as my father locked up, then plodded down the hall to his own room. Fifteen minutes later, his snores echoed in the hall and a bolt of irritation lanced me. Our first real fight hadn’t interrupted his sleep in the least.

Still irritated, I crossed the hall to use the bathroom and brush my teeth, then changed into a halter top and baggy pajama pants before collapsing onto my bed again. I had chemistry homework to do, and I was too mad to sleep, but I’d left my books in my car and couldn’t get to them without my keys.

“You okay?” Tod asked from the wing chair by my headboard, and I almost jumped off the bed in surprise. “Sorry.” He grabbed my arm to steady me.

I was tempted to yell at him, but resisted because for once his intrusion might actually come in handy. And because I didn’t want to wake my dad up. “How much of that did you hear?” I waved onearm in the direction of the living room to indicate my fight with my dad.

“Just the last bit. Nash asked me to check on you.” He waggled both eyebrows and donned a mischievous grin. “Don’t worry, I turned around when you changed.”

I couldn’t help a laugh. Tod might flirt with me to bug Nash, but he obviously really cared about Addy, beyond whatever crush they’d shared in school. “I’m glad to hear you’ve retained at least a little moral fortitude since your unfortunate demise.”

“I reserve it for special occasions. And people I like.”

I threw my pillow at him.

“So is this all because you’re late?”

“That, and because I wouldn’t tell him where I’d been. I’m grounded for a week.”

Tod frowned. “But you’re still coming after school tomorrow, right?”

I cocked my head at him, eyes narrowed in mock confusion. “What part of ‘grounded’ don’t you understand?”

“The part where it gets in the way of my plans.” But I knew from the serious cast of his scowl that it wasn’t really his plans he was worried about. It was Addy’s soul.

Since we hadn’t gotten there in time to stop Regan from selling out or even to identify the hellion who bought her soul, we were back to plan A: hoping someone at the Demon’s Breath disposal facility would be willing to help us. But we had to get there first, which would be difficult without a car.

At least now we had something to bargain with, once we found the hellion. Fortunately, Tod could hold Bana’s soul much longer than a reaper could hold on to a lungful of Demon’s Breath. Not that I was exactly eager to enact that particular part of the plan…

“Look, it’s your fault I’m grounded,” I whisper-hissed at Tod. “None of this would have happened if you hadn’t dragged me into this in the first place. What do you want me to do?”

“Sneak out.” He shrugged, as if that should have been a no-brainer. But that was easy for him to say. He was dead. What else could they do to him, take away his birthday? “If you get caught, I’ll make it up to you. I swear. Please, Kaylee. We can’t do this without you.”

“Yes you can!” I switched to a whisper again, in case my father woke up and heard the single most incriminating words I’d ever spoken. “You have Bana’s soul. You can make the deal on your own.”

His face fell, and he stared at the pillow in his lap for a moment before meeting my gaze again, frustration flaring like flames behind his eyes. “No I can’t. I’m still a rookie reaper, Kaylee. I can only carry a limited amount of cargo to the Netherworld at a time, and I’ve already got Bana’s soul to deal with. Even if I can take Addy, too, I need you to bring Regan. And Nash. I have a feeling we’re going to need him.”