“I learned two important lessons from that rendezvous. The first was that I know only a small part of the workings of Destiny. I have a role to play in helping souls pass on to the Great Beyond, but I also have the ability to improvise in ways I hadn't realized before. To alter the lives of the living. I'm neither alive nor a part of the Great Beyond. I'm something else. And the longer I remain as master of the in-between, the more alone I truly feel. There isn't much I remember about my life before death. It's another one of the countless lives I've observed and come to understand during my strange journey. But recently, during my meeting with Samantha, and now with you and Rose, I'm reminded of the things I had once and lost, those things that were snatched from me: a family, a future, a wife who loved me. I remember the things I felt, and how strongly I felt them. Being with Rose has brought the past to life in ways you can't imagine. Past naturally precedes future; the two go hand in hand. And the clearer the one, the clearer the other, at least that's what I've found these past few days. I'm changed, Blythe. I can no longer be an observer. I'm a part of the world again. I'm part of Rose's world. If that means I must renounce my calling, then I'm willing to do whatever it takes. I don't even know if it's possible. All I know is that my encounter with Samantha spun my destiny off its course. It sent me to you and, thankfully, to Rose.”

Blythe shuffled uncomfortably on her cushion. His story stirred intrigue, even excitement—he was talking about defying the laws of the universe, for God's sake—but in the middle of it all was Rose, sweet, troubled Rose, ready to rush headlong into the least promising relationship in the history of the world. A forbidden romance straight out of Greek tragedy, the stakes beyond comprehension.

“That's either the most recklessly irresponsible thing I've ever heard,” she told him, “or you've just made a believer out of me.”

“I don't have any answers, Blythe. I can't tell you how or even if it can work out between Rose and I. All I can tell you is that I must try.”

“Are you going to tell all this to Rose?”

He hesitated, nervously wiped his palms on his pants. Was Death sweating? Was he even that same entity anymore? Or was he now more man than reaper?