"Guess I don't understand the rules," she said quietly.
"I'll stay away as long as I can. I may not have a choice, though." "What do I do, Gabriel?"
"I can't tell you that."
"But you can tell me you're coming back to kill me," she said, anger rising.
He looked up at the sky. Dressed all in black with his dark eyes and hair, he looked like a living shadow in the snow-covered world.
"Rhyn is my friend," he said after a long pause. "He cares about you. I've never thought twice about any life I've taken until now."
"I understand but I'm having a hard time sympathizing, considering it's me you're gonna kill."
"It's not just you. The next time I visit the human world, I'll be leaving with two souls." "Okay, so you're taking me and someone else, but this still doesn't help me figure out what to do!" she said.
"I can't tell you that."
She drew a deep breath. Her hands shook as she stood there discussing her own death with a creature that resembled the Grim Reaper.
"It's not Toby or Rhyn, is it?" she ventured. "No."
"Good. They're both growing on me." "I have to go, Katie," Gabriel said.
"First the nightmares, now this. Why do I feel like something really bad is happening?" "Sometimes things get worse before they get better. Most of the times, things just never get better. Doesn't help that I got demoted. No alcohol," he reminded her.
"Kris tossed it all out after he found me knocked out on the bathroom floor last week," she admitted, rolling her eyes.
"Good. You're going to need your head clear."
She searched his face. The snow began falling harder, and he met her gaze again finally. The regret in his dark eyes made her want to beg him not to kill her and comfort him for the pain he'd surely feel hurting his own friend. Her throat tightened, and in the end, no words came out. She wondered how accurate her dream had been, if her only way to save Rhyn was to sacrifice herself.
"Farewell, Katie," Gabriel said in a hushed voice. "Farewell, Gabriel."
Death's assassin turned and walked away, disappearing into the shadow world. The coldness of fear within her grew stronger. She rubbed the lumpy scar on her arm, her attention caught by the sight of a jaguar dropping from a tree branch to the edge of the park and the forest a short distance away. It was not all black but had a white patch around one eye. It stared at her through green eyes, and she frowned, uncertain why the sight of the creature bothered her.