Once Dead Twice Shy Page 0,14

lot. "Hasn't aged a day since acquiring the amulet now around your neck. Pretty prima donna. I bet he's not happy about growing older again. I'd wager a timekeeper's amulet is the only divine stone you could have claimed that wouldn't blow your soul to dust."

"Because I'm dead?" I guessed, and Ron shook his head.

"Because you're human. Just as timekeepers are."

"So it really isn't my fault then that I couldn't keep her alive," Barnabas interrupted. "I can't best a timekeeper."

"No, you can't," Ron said, giving him a look that said to shut up. "And if Madison has bonded with Kairos's stone, the only way he can reclaim it is if she's dead."

"But I am dead," I protested, hands clasped about my drawn-up knees.

Ron smiled faintly. "I mean, your soul destroyed. He's got your body, I presume. Someone has it. And as long as you exist in some fashion, the amulet is tied to you. That you were able to claim it at all from him is a miracle." He glared at Barnabas when the reaper tried to interrupt. "You need to stay away from him," he said, turning back to me.

"Not a problem," I said, scanning the sky I could see. "Just tell me what cloud he lives on, and I'll make a note of it."

Ron resumed pacing, his robes moving elegantly and his slight form staying in the tree's shade. "He lives on earth, same as me," he said distantly, clearly too preoccupied with his thoughts to get the joke.

"Sir," Barnabas said, making me nervous when he turned his back on the sky. Shouldn't someone be watching? "If Kairos hasn't come after her by now, maybe he won't."

"Kairos give up on his quest for immortality? No. I doubt that," he said. "I'm guessing he hasn't come after Madison yet because until today, no one knew he'd lost his amulet. He was undoubtedly taking the time to make another one. The longer he spends on it, the better it will be - though he'll never create one that matches the power of the one he lost. No, Nakita has probably told him Madison has it. He'll be looking for her now. We will have to hope I changed your resonance fast enough."

"Timekeepers make the amulets?" I asked, surprised, and my attention fell on Ron's own black amulet, almost lost in the folds of his robe. "Can't you make me a new one and I can give Kairos his amulet back?"

Ron blinked at me as if startled by the thought. "I make them, yes, and give them to angels who are stirred to take action and choose to become something they've never been before. Not everyone is happy with the way things are, and this is one way of many to make a difference. But you're dead, Madison. I can't create a stone to keep the dead alive. Trying to use one I've given to a reaper will burn through your human mind. I say since Kairos killed you, you have the right to keep his. Of course, the seraphs may think differently."

I bit my lower lip worriedly when Barnabas moved his attention to the road at the top of the hill as a car went by. Seraphs. They had the clout to make big decisions. Reapers were below them, and guardian angels lower. Barnabas talked about seraphs like they were spoiled children with power. Scary. "This is bad, isn't it?" I offered softly.

Ron's bark of laughter died quickly. "It's not good," he said; then, seeing my pinched brow, he smiled. "Madison, you claimed Kairos's stone. It's yours. I'll do my best to see that it stays that way. Just give me the time to get the political machine working."

I slid from the wall, nerves demanding I move. "Ron, I know why he's after me now, but this started months ago. What did I ever do to make him come after me in the first place?"

Barnabas turned from the edge of the shadow to face us, but Ron interrupted him before he could speak, coming forward to take my hands and smile reassuringly. At least I think it was supposed to be reassuring. But there was something in the back of his eyes that made me queasy.

"I have a few ideas," he said, his gaze touching mine briefly before darting away. "Let me find out more. No need to worry you needlessly."

"Ron, if she has Kairos's stone, then perhaps - "

"Oh, look at the time," Ron blurted, taking Barnabas's arm and