“Which is why I didn’t keep it,” I said, and Thane spun to face me, brows furrowed over the rims of those stupid sunglasses. “I turned it in.”

“Then I’ll take yours instead.” He stalked closer and I backed away, the game of chicken forgotten. “And if you don’t give it up, I’ll take the rest of you, too. The boss will be so pleased.” He reached for me and I struck out. He threw an arm up to block my blow, and my ineffectual fist ricocheted off his wrist to graze his temple. His sunglasses fell off and clattered to the floor.

I had a second to stare in shock at solid white orbs where his eyes should have been before he lunged for me. I backpedaled, suddenly terrified to realize that if he was touching me when I blinked out, he’d go with me.

“If I haul you into the Netherworld, your boyfriend will come after you, right?”

Thane reached for me again and missed my arm, but when I took another step back, I bumped into the bed and had nowhere else to go. He grabbed a handful of my shirt, and when I tried to roll away, I felt several little pops as most of the buttons tore free. But he didn’t let go, so I kept moving, and the underarm seams of my shirt dug into my flesh. He reached for my arm with his empty hand and I shoved him away with a grunt of effort. More threads popped, and suddenly I was wearing half a shirt.

I backpedaled again, scanning the room for a weapon, and briefly I wondered how long it would be before our noise alerted the nurse on duty.

Then Tod appeared just behind Thane and to his left. His eyes widened, but it took him less than a second to process the scene, and he swung at the side of Thane’s head before the rogue reaper even realized he was there. Thane stumbled and started to turn, and Tod swung again. His fist crashed into the other reaper’s temple.

Thane crumpled to the floor, and Tod kicked him in the head for good measure.

“You okay?” he said, and I nodded, staring at Thane’s unmoving form. Tod stepped around him and lifted a loose flap of material from my torn shirt. “What the hell happened? Why didn’t you just blink out?”

“Because we need to deal with him. How can I ask Luca to find him, when I just let him go?”

Tod’s irises swirled unevenly in confusion, and it took me a second to realize that meant he didn’t know whether to be angry or relieved. “Swear you’ll never do that again. Swear to me that next time you’ll run.”

“No! You broke the rules for me, and I’m not going to let you go down for that just because I’m too scared to face the guy whose existence threatens yours. Besides, I’ll be confronting bigger and badder things than Thane soon. I need to learn how to handle myself, not run.”

“You need to survive. Your friends and family need you to survive. I need you to survive.”

“Got it. Survival is the prime directive.” But surviving didn’t always mean running.

“Now that we’ve established that, would it be completely inappropriate of me to say that you lookreally hot in half a shirt?”

“Probably.” I couldn’t resist a smile, and I might have actually been blushing. “But say it, anyway.”

“You’re beautiful.” He stepped over the unconscious reaper and took a long look at me, and to my complete surprise, I had no urge to cover myself. I wanted him to look, and I wanted to know that he liked what he saw.

“He could not have picked a worse time to show up,” Tod said, and when his hands found my waist, one landed on bare skin, exposed by the torn material. His mouth found mine, and the sense of urgency in that kiss lit me up on the inside.

And suddenly eternity with Tod didn’t feel long enough.

“We should…do something with him,” I said as Tod’s lips trailed down my neck.

“In a minute.” His hand slid beneath the back of my torn shirt and I sucked in a deep breath, then closed my eyes. “Near-death experiences release a lot of endorphins, resulting in a natural high,” Tod whispered against my collarbone as his mouth trailed lower. “And it’s totally true that one passion feeds another.”

“You know we’re way past ‘near-death,’ right?”

“My endorphins aren’t listening to you.”

I laughed and enjoyed the moment for just a little longer. Then I pushed him back gently, and he groaned. “I’ve never hated anyone else like I hate that bastard right now.”

“I know. Did you see his eyes? They’re empty.”

Tod’s brows rose. He knelt next to the unconscious reaper and pulled one of his eyelids up to reveal the clean white orb beneath, absent both iris and pupil. The windows to his soul were empty. Because he didn’t have one. “Well, that explains why he’s working with Avari.”

“Avari has his soul?” I said, and Tod nodded, standing. “So what’s keeping him…here? In his body?”

“My guess would be Demon’s Breath.”

“Just like Addy?”

Another solemn, silent nod.

“I didn’t know that would work with a reaper.”

Tod’s beautiful lips pressed together in a frown. “Me, neither.”

“So, what are we going to do with him?”

“Obviously, we have to call Levi, but I think we should question him first. I’d bet my afterlife he knows what Avari’s up to. But the minute he wakes up, he’ll blink out.”

“Ah, the age-old question: How do you keep a reaper in one place long enough to question him? Too bad he can’t talk in his sleep… .” I realized what I’d said the minute the last syllable fell from my tongue. “Sabine. Maybe she could read him while he’s out,” I suggested. “His fears probably won’t tell us exactly what Avari’s up to, but he’d have to be crazy not to be afraid of the hellion, so surely she’ll be able to get something from him.”