"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."
I felt my eyes go wide, and my reflection in the mirror looked as terrified as I felt. "Can I do that?"
"Can't you?" Confusion flitted across his features. "Isn't that what my mom's supposed to be teaching you?"
"I don't know! She hasn't shown me a syllabus. Can she ferry people?"
"Yeah." He nodded firmly. "And you have to get her to teach you how. We can't do this without you, Kaylee."
I sighed, and the bleak weight of responsibility settled almost physically over me. I had no choice. But my dad was going to kill me when he found out, and the collateral damage would likely include both Nash and Tod. And Harmony, when he discovered her unwitting assistance. But hopefully that wouldn't be until after we'd returned Addy's and Regan's souls to their rightful bodies.
"Fine. But you owe me. Starting now."
"Absolutely." Relief half relaxed his features, and the reaper leaned forward in my chair. "Whatever you want."
"Can you get my phone out of my dad's room without waking him up?"
"No problem." He was gone before I could warn him to be careful.
Several seconds later, as I sat frozen on my bed, irrationally afraid to move in case the squealing springs woke my father, Tod popped back into my room, cradling my slim red phone in one palm.
He shot me a crooked grin, blue eyes sparkling with mischief. "Did you know your dad sleeps in boxers?"
"Ew. Thanks for the visual." I grabbed my phone and scrolled through the menu to check my missed calls. Five from my dad and four from Emma. We must have hit a dead zone on the highway, and I hadn't checked my messages.
I selected the last voice mail Emma had left and held the phone to my ear, one hand on my hip as I glanced at Tod. "I need my books from my car, then I'll need you to put this back wherever my dad left it."
Tod gave me a mock bow. "Anything else? Can I fan you with a big palm leaf? Feed you grapes while you write your homework in my blood?"
"Shh!" I hissed, waving him off as Emma's voice spoke to me from my phone. "You said you owed me!"
He frowned and popped out of my room in time for me to hear most of the missed message. "…tried to cover for you, but he called the theater first, and they told him you weren't working. You better call him and do some damage control, Kaylee. I'll see you tomorrow…."
The phone beeped in my ear as her message ended. She'd tried to warn me.
Tod popped back into my room holding my chemistry text and a notebook as I pressed a button to call Emma back. She answered on the third ring, and I gestured for him to set my stuff on my desk.
"Kay? It's twelve-thirty in the morning," Emma mumbled. It sounded like she had her face buried in the phone. "What's wrong?"
"Sorry, Em, but it's kind of an emergency. Can Nash and I get a ride to school tomorrow?"
"'Course." She sounded a little more alert, and springs squealed as she sat up in bed. "What happened to your car?"
"My dad took my keys and my phone for a week."
"Ouch. I'll be there at seven-thirty." Which meant seven-forty-five, in Emma-land. We'd be late to school, but that was better than riding the bus with the freshmen.
"Thanks. You're awesome."
"I know," she slurred, already half asleep again. "Bye." The phone clicked in my ear and Emma was gone. I spared a moment to hope she remembered us in the morning. Then I sank onto my bed, suddenly very sleepy, now that the immediate problem was resolved.
"Tell Nash to be here at seven-thirty if he wants a ride." I'd driven him to school most mornings since we started going out. I glanced at the textbook on my desk, briefly considering my homework. But I was too tired to mess with that. I'd do it at lunch. "So what's the plan for tomorrow?"
"We go downtown and find the disposal facility, then start asking questions until we hear what we need to know," Tod said, slouching in my chair again.
"Simple. I like it." I sat on my pillow and slid my legs beneath my covers. "When?"
"After school?"
"Nope. My dad'll call, and if I'm not here to answer, he'll…I don't know. Call the cops or something."
Tod scowled, an odd look on his cherubic features. "You're not looking at the big picture, Kaylee. Addy's soul is at stake. I've traded two hospital shifts in a row and will probably have to do it again tomorrow. The least you can do is drop off your dad's radar for a couple of hours after school."
"Okay, first of all, we're not out of time just yet. Tomorrow's Wednesday, and Addy's not supposed to die until Thursday. And we can't do this until I learn how to turn myself into a Netherworld ferry." Which meant I'd have to convince my father to let me go for my how-to-be-a-bean-sidhe lesson after school, in spite of the grounding.
Then I'd have to talk Harmony into teaching me what I needed to know, without telling her why I needed to know it.
"Besides, we need a car. You can blink into Dallas whenever you want, but Nash and I can't. And I'm not taking the bus in the middle of the night."
"Middle of the night?" He leaned forward in my chair, brows dipped low in concern. "Isn't that cutting it kind of close?"
"We don't really have any choice, Tod." I scooted down on the bed until the covers gathered at my waist. "The only time my dad won't check up on me is when he's asleep, which means we can't leave until tomorrow night. That gives you almost a day to explain everything to Addy and Regan, and to find us a car." Because his mom worked the night shift at the hospital and would need hers. "Do not steal one. The last thing we need is to get arrested on the way to the Netherworld."
I could already see the headline: Mentally Fragile Teen Arrested in Stolen Car; Says She Was Looking for a Demon.
Sophie wouldn't have to work hard to convince everyone I was nuts after that.
"That's not enough time, Kaylee." Tod looked as grim as I'd ever seen him.
"It'll have to be." I wasn't sure how best to comfort a reaper. "By Thursday morning, Addy will be in full possession of her soul."
It wasn't much of a promise, but since I couldn't guarantee her life, her soul was all I could offer him.
"Now, could you please put my phone back where you found it? And turn the light off on your way out." With that, I lay back and pulled the covers over my shoulder. I needed sleep.
Tomorrow promised to be the weirdest Wednesday in history.
CHAPTER 13
"I really should just leave you here. You deserve to ride the bus, for keeping so many secrets." Emma slammed her locker closed as the last bell rang, but her bright brown eyes gave her away. She wasn't really mad. She was fishing for hints about the super-secret bean sidhe mission she imagined we were on.