“Don’t!” I leapt forward. I knew it wouldn’t do any good, but I couldn’t just stand there and watch her hurt herself.
I stumbled through her and spun around to see what happened next. The cut was long, starting at her wrist and ending at the crook of her elbow. Blood surged up and poured out, dripping onto the floor. The sight made me dry heave. Jasmine hissed, curling in on herself. After peeling her eyes open, she frantically searched the birdhouse. Maybe she was waiting for Death to appear. I knew I was. From the look of that cut, she’d bleed out in a few minutes unless someone intervened. And where was I? An hour away.
My breaths came out in short, quick gasps. Where was Death? Why wasn’t she coming?
A look of panic crossed Jasmine’s face before she steeled herself and pressed the bloody tip of the knife against her other arm.
“Will you desist?” Death snarled, appearing out of thin air with a faint popping sound. She was just like Jasmine had described; young, pale, thin, with impossibly long, dark hair and violet eyes. She might’ve appeared human but her ghost-like aura proved she most definitely wasn’t.
“I’ve come to make a trade,” Jasmine said defiantly, “and I’m going to keep trying to kill myself until you agree.”
“You presume that I will allow you to manipulate me this way?” Death practically snarled.
“You need me.” Jasmine blinked hard, swaying a little. She pointed her knife at Death and gave her best intimidating glare. “I know you need me.”
I looked from one crazy girl to the next, like I was watching the most intense tennis match of my life. The silent minutes stretched on. Not even the birds dared to make a sound. My chest hurt because my heart was smashing against it so hard.
“Will you just save her already?” I screamed, gesturing wildly at the ever-growing pool of blood at my sister’s feet.
As if she heard me, Death sighed heavily and scraped the edge of one hand against the palm of the other. The cut along my sister’s arm closed up like a zipper. Jasmine staggered back and landed on the floor on her butt. Then the vision ended.
I lurched upright, saying, “I have to go.”
“What? Why?” the officer asked.
“It’s Jasmine.”
“What about Jasmine?” Angela asked, suddenly nervous.
I brought the phone closer. “She’s being stupid. I have to go stop her before she does something she regrets. Can you get to the precinct? I’m about an hour away.”
“Yes, but I doubt they’ll let us in,” Angela said.
“She’s on the roof. Tell the front desk you were sent by me and Vanessa; I’ll have her call the precinct to give the order to let you up. I’m gonna find a car I can take back.”
“All right. Be careful.”
I hung up and yanked the headset off before turning to the officer. “I have to go. Now.”
“It’s not safe.”
Ducking around his outstretched arm, I jumped out of the van and raced toward Vanessa.
“Jasmine’s in trouble,” I blurted out.
She tossed her keys to a nearby officer. “Take him to the precinct. Drive fast but don’t you dare put a scratch on my car.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
“Vanessa,” I said, heart racing, mind reeling, stomach frothing.
“Go.” She nodded solemnly. “I’ve got this.”
“Can you...call the precinct? Tell them to let the Smiths in?” I managed.
“Of course.”
Backing away, I whispered, “Thank you.”
Chapter 42
Jasmine
“Well?” Death grumbled impatiently. “I am here. What do you want? What is this trade you speak of?”
I was shaking. That was way too close.
I’d never felt so horrible in my whole life. Dizzy. Nauseous. Weak. Like I could collapse at any second. My strength had literally been draining away from me with every beat of my heart. I felt like I’d been on the verge of disappearing when the cut sealed itself. And my arm! It hurt so much; I almost passed out. It still pulsed with the memory of that sharp, agonizing sting.
I did not want to cut myself again. What I did want was to throw that damn knife across the birdhouse and never so much as look at it again. Instead, I clutched it tighter. I couldn’t let Death know how scared I was. She needed to believe I was willing to do what I said or she’d never cooperate.
I rose unsteadily. Met her annoyed gaze. Willed my knees to stop knocking together. “I need to know a little more about you first.”
“Oh? Like what?” she asked, curling her lip in disgust.
“Why didn’t you meet with the immortals after you cursed them? You had to have known the Smiths—I mean…” I struggled to remember their true names. “Ashki and Dymeka were looking for you, but you didn’t even show yourself to them once. Why?”
Death crossed her arms and looked away—an immortal, powerful, mysterious being acting like a haughty teenager. “I was not keen on visiting with the results of a failed experiment.”
“So you had a purpose for cursing them, for cursing all of us,” I pressed. “You weren’t just testing the limits of your abilities. You wanted companionship, didn’t you?”
“I have existed since the beginning of time,” she snapped, whipping her head in my direction. “I challenge you not to be tired of only having the company of the dead after you have walked The Three Planes for that long!”
“The Three Planes,” I repeated, testing the strange new phrase. “You mean earth, heaven, and hell?”
“Yes, those are just some of the many names you humans have for them.”
I scowled. “I’m trying to understand you. You don’t have to be a bitch about it.”
“Was there something else you wanted to know or are you ready to present me with your trade?” Her hair flicked angrily around her, a flame affected by a violent wind.
“You wanted companionship, but after the first curse went so badly, you retreated, kept to yourself,” I said after calming my annoyance. “Then Charlie and I came along, and you
