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Chapters (86)
  1. Title Page
  2. CONTENTS
  3. Love
  4. Before
  5. One
  6. ONE
  7. Two
  8. TWO
  9. Three
  10. THREE
  11. Four
  12. FOUR
  13. Five
  14. FIVE
  15. Six
  16. SIX
  17. Seven
  18. SEVEN
  19. Eight
  20. EIGHT
  21. Nine
  22. NINE
  23. Ten
  24. TEN
  25. Eleven
  26. ELEVEN
  27. After
  28. One
  29. ONE
  30. Two
  31. TWO
  32. Three
  33. THREE
  34. Four
  35. FOUR
  36. Five
  37. FIVE
  38. Six
  39. SIX
  40. Seven
  41. SEVEN
  42. Eight
  43. EIGHT
  44. Nine
  45. NINE
  46. Ten
  47. TEN
  48. Eleven
  49. ELEVEN
  50. Twelve
  51. TWELVE
  52. Thirteen
  53. THIRTEEN
  54. Fourteen
  55. FOURTEEN
  56. Fifteen
  57. FIFTEEN
  58. Sixteen
  59. SIXTEEN
  60. Seventeen
  61. SEVENTEEN
  62. Eighteen
  63. EIGHTEEN
  64. Nineteen
  65. NINETEEN
  66. Twenty
  67. TWENTY
  68. Twenty-One
  69. TWENTY-ONE
  70. Twenty-Two
  71. TWENTY-TWO
  72. Twenty-Three
  73. TWENTY-THREE
  74. Twenty-Four
  75. TWENTY-FOUR
  76. Twenty-Five
  77. TWENTY-FIVE
  78. Twenty-Six
  79. TWENTY-SIX
  80. Twenty-Seven
  81. TWENTY-SEVEN
  82. Twenty-Eight
  83. TWENTY-EIGHT
  84. Eleven Months Later
  85. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
  86. Copyright

‘What would happen to me?’ I ask before I can tell myself that I don’t want to know.

‘You, Miss Persaud?’

‘Yeah, if someone that knows me recognised me while the window is open?’

‘Nothing.’ Deborah shakes her head. ‘It’s not your fault if you bump into someone you used to know.’

‘So I wouldn’t be punished?’

‘Of course not.’

I should be relieved because it wasn’t my fault. I didn’t know Poppy was going to be at the graveyard, did I? It’s not like I was hanging around near Roedean, hoping to see her, like I’ve considered doing so many times.

I was there.

Then Poppy was there.

And now . . . what?

‘I’d only be punished if I intervened, right? If I tried to stop them from dying.’

That gets her attention.

She takes her glasses off again and looks up from the book in her hand. ‘Why would you intervene?’

‘I don’t know,’ I say, trying to sound unperturbed by the look she’s giving me. ‘But say I did.’

I want to hear it from her.

Not Esen or Dev.

I want to her to tell me.

‘Well, if you intervened.’ She arches an eyebrow and shakes her head. ‘That would be a very different story.’

‘What would happen to me?’

‘That isn’t for me to decide, Miss Persaud.’

‘But it would be bad, right?’

She doesn’t look at me as she puts her glasses back on. ‘Just makes sure you never do.’

I know then that I have two choices: tell Deborah about Poppy or not tell her about Poppy.

It really is as simple as that.

If I tell Deborah now, she’ll be pissed, but not as pissed as she’ll be if she finds out . . . after.

But Esen’s right, she’s not going to let Poppy and I skip off into the sunset. As soon as I tell her, she’s going to send Poppy straight to Charon and that will be it.

I won’t be able to stop it.

That’s what this is about, isn’t it?

Why I’m here.

Esen’s right about that as well.

I’m going to stop it.

‘So that’s it?’ I check. ‘It’s never happened that someone has seen a grim reaper and they haven’t died?’ I make sure that I say each word precisely, as though I’m reciting a spell and if I don’t say it exactly right, it won’t work.

‘Never,’ she says, opening one of the books and flicking through it.

‘Why?’

‘Because, Miss Persaud.’ She finally looks up at me, slamming the book shut with great flourish. ‘That would be a miracle and we’re not in the business of miracles. Quite the opposite, in fact.’

Eighteen

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EIGHTEEN