Page 79 of Veil of Death and Shadow

I snorted. “No, the lake. On my paddleboard.”

“Right. And that’s . . . different than a surfboard, I take it?”

“Yes, different than a surfboard. You stand on it and . . . paddle.” I opened my eyes, studying him. “How long exactly have you been dead?”

“Too long,” he said, brushing the question to the side, just as he had the others. “Sitting on a plank in the water seems anodd choice for what’s supposed to be an exciting bunk off work.” He mussed my hair in that way adults often did when they were trying to appease a child. “But okay, Agony. Let’s go take a drift on your board thing.” Then, in an aside he added, “And maybe after we can have a discussion about what, exactly, constitutes a craic.”

I fixed my hair. “Are the dead always this judgy?”

“No.” He smirked. “Consider yourself lucky. You could’ve gotten stuck with one of the old boring guardians.”

“Maybe boring suits me.” I shot him a smirk. “Feel free to swap charges with another guardian at any time, Casper.”

“No.” His eyes dropped to my mouth, where they lingered for a beat. “I most definitely won’t be doing that.”

13

MAREENA

Approximately Nine Years Ago, Three Years Before The Undoing

With a heavy tug, I managed to pull the paddleboard down the dock, plopping it less gracefully than I normally did in the water.

It was more difficult than usual since, though mostly healed, my hand still wasn’t back to tip-top shape. Pumping the board up had been a test in patience that I almost didn’t pass.

At least it was healing. My knuckles were pretty much back to their normal size and, based on the improvements these last few weeks, I was confident my hand would be fully functional in another week or two. Seemed Levi was right, thankfully—nothing was broken, and the cuts had already scabbed over.

The sun beat down on my back as I velcroed the strap around my ankle and then wiggled onto the board.

It was my prized possession and the single most expensive thing I’d ever purchased for myself. Even though I got it second-hand, I still cringed whenever I thought about how much I forked over.

Worth every penny though, if I was honest.

Plus, it was on its third summer—patch tape worked wonders on all the inevitable holes.

It was one of those absurdly perfect Seattle days. Not a cloud in the sky. Hot, but tolerable near the water. And since it was a Wednesday afternoon, the small, secret cove I flocked to wasn’t too busy. Two guys scarfed down their lunches near the ramp, trying to soak in a few minutes of sun before they got back to work. At the end of the dock, there was a couple, both laying out in highlighter-bright bikinis while they played fetch with their golden retriever. Peels of their laughter and cheers ricocheted around the little bay, each time the dog bravely dove into the water and eagerly swam after his orange ball.

With a giant smile on my face, I leaned back on the paddleboard and floated near the dock, soaking in the feel of the sun on my skin.

This was one of my favorite—if not straight up favorite—places in the entire city. It was physically impossible not to feel a shooting wave of happiness here, on a day like this.

“Tell me, Rick,” a deep voice sounded above me. Startled, I wobbled on the board, nearly tipping into the water, then steadied myself at the last second, wincing when I used my bad hand to stabilize. “How exactly is this touring?”

I sat up and found Levi staring down at me—dressed in black, as usual, a hesitant scowl on his face as he glanced from the dock to me.

We were doing my portion of the deal first, since he didn’t want to start Punching Asshats 101, as I’d dubbed it, until my hand looked less like a blob with five sausages attached.

“You’re like,” I shuffled through my dry bag and pulled out my phone, “half an hour early.”

I’d deliberately come down here before we were set to meet so that I could get some solid introvert peace and quiet beforehand.

He shrugged, a soft smirk teasing his lips. “Didn’t want to be late. And I needed to make sure I could find this spot based on your . . . colorful directions.”

I swallowed my grin. Instead of giving him an address, I’d sent him on a bit of scavenger hunt that forced him to explore a park and small shopping district on his way to me. Figured it was a good way to smash two tours into one, plus see if he would actually follow through.

“Well, you made it.” I scanned his clothes. Black pants, black T-shirt—surely, this was a uniform at this point—and a backpack dangling at his side. “Thought I said bring a swimsuit and prepare for a day out on the water?”

Maybe he wasn’t so great at following instructions after all.

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