I peeked at him out of the corner of my eye, and the longing look in his gaze made my stomach bottom out. He watched me for another moment before leaving the kitchen. What was he getting at? He could not intentionally be a tease. Will never did that stuff on purpose. But if he was going to play this game, I could work it to my advantage.

As soon as he’d gone, I scooted into the bathroom and pulled the hair tie out of my hair and shook it loose. Maybe I shouldn’t have taken my ponytail out only because he wanted me to, but I’d do it again just for the chance at stealing a kiss from him. Anyone who’d ever tasted his kisses wouldn’t blame me.

When I emerged from the bathroom with my plate, I pushed my way through the pack of gyrating bodies and back over to the sofas, where Kate, Landon, and a handful of other seniors were sitting and laughing. The heavy bass coming from the speakers was beginning to make my left eye twitch.

I sat down in a sofa chair and ate, watching them shout at one another over the loud music. Will appeared next to me and I glanced up at him, catching a triumphant flicker of a smile on his face. He might feel pretty cocky after I’d changed my hair, but by doing it I’d guaranteed that he’d be staring at me for the rest of the night. That smile of his faded when I flipped my hair over my shoulder, exposing my throat, and let my hair cascade down my back.

Will, one point. Ellie, five thousand.

“We have to go to Florida for spring break,” Landon said with certainty.

“Any place but PCB,” Kate groaned.

It took a moment of decoding for me to realize she meant Panama City Beach.

“God, that place is disgusting,” she continued. “The last thing we need on our consciences before college is spending our senior spring break in some cheap seventh-story hotel room with unidentifiable stains on the walls, puking up ten-dollar whiskey.”

I grimaced. Kate certainly had a way of making situations very … colorful.

Landon turned to me. “Ell, are you in?”

“Yeah,” I said through a mouthful of crackers. “If I can afford it and my parents actually let me go.” I wondered if I’d be able to take Will along. As my Guardian, he’d have to go. The most difficult task concerning that would be explaining to everyone why my non-boyfriend would be joining me on my out-of-state spring break.

Will laid a hand on my shoulder and his fingers tightened. I turned my head to look up at him, but instead he bent over and whispered into my ear, “Don’t be angry.”

That was random. “What are you—?” And then I saw him.

Marcus.

The reaper stood just inside the doors everyone used to get in and out of the basement without bothering Kate’s parents. He hadn’t even taken two steps into the party and already he was surrounded by girls. He stood a head taller than most people there, so he wasn’t easy to miss. Plus he was hot and he was fully aware of that, which probably made girls flock to him. Even in the low light, I could see that sweeping smile across his face that made him even more attractive.

Of course I wasn’t fooled.

I shot to my feet, but Will grabbed my hand before I took a single step.

“He’s not going to hurt anyone,” Will said with a serious expression.

That wasn’t even the point. He was a reaper, and I didn’t want my human friends exposed to the supernatural world. Will was more than enough. Despite my annoyance, I couldn’t help but admire Marcus for plainly displaying his gnarled burn scar around his collar as if he wore it proudly and felt no shame at all.

When Marcus spotted me, he waved and pushed through the gaggle of girls. Blatant hate twisted their faces when they saw him ease right toward me.

“Ellie, Will, how are—?”

“What are you doing here?” I demanded.

He blinked in surprise. “Well, I—”

“You shouldn’t be here,” I said, not letting him finish. “I told you not to come.”

Will’s voice was gentle in my ear, soothing. “He doesn’t mean any harm.”

I glared at him. “Don’t defend him.” I turned to the other reaper. “Marcus, you need to leave.”

“Oh, I’m not leaving,” he said with a soft laugh.

“Who’s your friend?”

I practically leaped into the air and spun around to see that Kate had walked up behind me. I slapped the back of my hand against Marcus’s chest, hard enough to force him back a step. “This is Marcus. Ignore him. He’s a bad seed.”

As she checked him out, that growing smile of hers told me she was up to no good. She held out a hand for him to take. “Hi. I’m Kate. I’m a bad seed, too.”

Instead of shaking her hand, he swept it up and bowed his head to press his lips against the back of her hand. “A pleasure.”

If I were Kate, I would have swooned. But I wasn’t Kate and she wasn’t me. Instead of doing something apocalyptically uncool, she let two simple words roll off her tongue as if we were all in some classic Hollywood movie: “All mine.”

Marcus let go of her hand and she turned to me. “Where did you find this one?”

I thought quickly. “He’s a friend of Will’s … from … school.”

She glowered at me. “Why do you always get the hot college guys, and why didn’t you tell me you were bringing an extra?”

“Oh, I’m even more shocked than you are,” I said through my teeth as I smiled bitterly at Marcus. His eyes were glued on Kate. She had that effect.