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him. I will not have that cretin of a timekeeper put a guardian angel on such as Shoe!
Ron is not a cretin! Barnabas shouted, still feeling a smidgen of loyalty,
apparently.
Yes, he is!
I sighed, sitting down in the middle of the warm road with my back to them,
waiting for them to finish yelling at each other. At least Ron had left thinking we didn t
know who was marked.
You are not going to kill Shoe! Barnabas said. I won t let you!
Careful, Barnabas, she mocked. Your grim is showing.
That was low, and I turned to see her with a hand on a hip, standing inches from
him. He was scowling, feeling the shame of the derogatory term. Barnabas wasn t grim.
Sure, he had left Ron, but he wasn t a vigilante who existed only for the thrill of killing
someone.
I won t allow a guardian angel to be gifted to Shoe, she said, pointing vaguely in
the direction of the unseen town. From the moment he chooses to kill, he will cause
only pain to the world. There is no grace in a life lived like that!
Funny, isn t that what you do? Kill people? he shot back at her, and she made a
muffled scream of frustration.
Shut your singing hole, she hissed at Barnabas. All this arguing is going to get
Madison in trouble. The seraphs are watching.
Then you shut up, he huffed, but I felt a new worry mix with the old. I d forgotten
that. The seraphs were watching, and if I couldn t get a light and a dark reaper to work
together, then this would never work.
Barnabas, I interrupted, not looking up from my view of the cornfield. Does
Ron s knowing what we re doing make this impossible, or just harder?
Finally they stopped arguing. Barnabas s steps were silent in his faded sneakers
as he came to stand in front of me. His wings were gone, and he looked haunted.
Clearly Ron had shaken him. Until Ron can identify who the mark is, I think nothing has
changed, Barnabas said, and Nakita snorted. We ll need to be more circumspect to
keep him from following us. One of us needs to stay with you and hide your amulet s
resonance. His gaze went behind me to Nakita. It d be easier if you d simply agree not
to kill Shoe.
I have not killed him! she protested, stalking forward. But I will before I let
Chronos or one of his reapers put an angel on him to protect him from his fate. An angel
is forever, and with heaven s mindless protection, he could do untold damage.
I wondered how many of history s recent dictators had been the result of Ron s
sending a light reaper to uphold a soul s right to choice. Getting to my feet, I sighed.
This is really weird, I said as I brushed my black tights off. I like both of you, and I
don t know why.
Nakita blinked, her attention diverted from Barnabas. Because you re the dark
timekeeper, she said, as if it were obvious.
Sighing, I looked up and down the road, wanting to be somewhere else.
Anywhere else. What do you think he s going to do? I asked Barnabas. Ron, I mean.
You know him best.
Barnabas looked to the spot of pavement where Ron had last stood. Probably
search the local time lines until he finds out where we ve been, then try to identify the
people we ve come in contact with. But he won t be able to actually act until he flashes
forward and sees the future. That s when he would send a reaper out. Sometimes the
dark timekeeper flashes first, sometimes the light. It s the person who flashes last who
has the clearer picture of the mark, so it evens things out, I suppose.
I nodded, thinking it made sense. The closer in time the flash was from the
turning point happening, the clearer the timekeeper s perceptions would be. Grimacing,
I glanced at my watch. It was getting late, and it was going to take a while to get home,
even by wing. I have to get back to school, I said, worried. Check in with my dad. Get
my assignments from Josh.
I ll stay here, Barnabas said immediately, and Nakita predictably bristled.
Why you? she asked belligerently, standing with her feet spread wide.
I met Barnabas s eyes, telling him without saying a word that I d handle this. She
was mad enough at him already. Because Barnabas won t kill Shoe if Ron sends
someone to watch us. Nakita started to protest, and I got angry. Look, I said, letting
some of my frustration show. There are no black wings in sight. I haven t flashed
forward yet, and neither has Ron. Barnabas, can you reach my thoughts over that great
a distance?
Not when you re shielded, he said glumly.
Not a problem, I said, running a hand over the back of my head to smooth my
hair. I don t need to be shielded when I m at home. Ron knows where I live, and if he
sees me there, then he might give up on watching me at all. Nakita can fly me home
and back again when my dad goes to sleep. You can let us know if something shifts in
the meantime.
It was a good plan, as far as I could tell, but Barnabas looked as excited about it
as Nakita did. I ll call you if something changes, he agreed, gaze downcast, and I
realized it bothered him that his resonance had officially shifted down the spectrum. He
could no longer be counted among the light reapers, no matter what he believed. His
contact with me had stained him as much as it had damaged Nakita.
Okay, I said meekly, not liking to see him depressed. He had been a light
reaper for a long time. He wasn t ever going to fit in with the dark reapers, even if his
amulet shifted as black as mine. He was going to be alone and apart for the rest of his
life.
I edged toward Nakita, never having flown with her before but figuring that if
Barnabas could do it, she could, too. For a moment it looked as if she were going to
protest, but upon seeing how unhappy Barnabas was, she simply arched her wings to
make the tips touch high above her head. I stared up at them, thinking they were
beautiful, even if they didn t go with her brightly colored clothes and sandals. I eyed
Barnabas, feeling funny leaving him when he was like this.
Are you able to fly with another person? I asked her, and Nakita flicked her
gaze to Barnabas and back to me.
I ll let you know in a moment, she said, making me glad I was already dead.
Seeing us getting ready to leave, Barnabas mustered a smile. Go, he said. I ll
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