Whoa! Here's an update to the story. Hope you like the addition. MORE to come promise!

Jake's eyes widened when he caught a glimpse of himself crumpled on the floor, blood staining his shirt. He ran a hand through his thick hair, ruffling it up like a rooster.

"Tessa... You can fix this." He dragged his gaze back to me. "Right?" He shuffled forward, his glassy blue eyes catching the light. "You can do your necromancer thing."

"I can't—" My tight throat made my voice sound pitchy, like it belonged to someone else.

I wanted to pull him into my arms and tell him it would be okay. That I could fix this and set everything back as it was—but I couldn't. I wiped my wet cheeks across my sleeve.

He took another step closer, our feet almost touching. Never in the countless times I imagined standing this close to him would I have dreamed seeing him like this. When he reached for my hand, my breath hitched, and I sucked in a gulp of cold air.

"Can't or won't?"

"There are laws," I said, pursing my lips. "Even if I could, you wouldn't be the same."

It was almost as if I heard my heart shattering into million pieces as I said the words. I blinked back my tears in vain, feeling their tiny wet paths trace down my cheeks.

"Oh—" Jake drew in a breath. "Not even if I do your math homework for the rest of the year?"

That was how I got to know Jake. He used to help me with math, in exchange for help with editing English papers and stories.

"Not even if you did my math homework for the rest of high school."

"Wow—" He licked his lips. "You really can't."

I swallowed and crammed my hands into my pockets. "Afraid so."

Being so close to the gate, we could still see and hear what was happening on the physical plane, even if they could't hear us.

"Tessa! Snap out of it!" Wynter screamed, shaking the shoulders of the body I left behind.

Her voice reminded me this plane was only temporary, at least for me. Nick had Chloe tucked under an arm trying to protect her from another attack. Wynter looked like she was going to try and carry me out of the cemetery.

"You have a freaking sword?" Jake's wide eyes stared at the spatha strapped to my back. "That's pretty badass."

More like a lame-ass one. I hung my head and looked at my feet. My spatha was with me, and I pulled a gate key? Rookie move, Tessa. I shook my head and tears dripped onto my boots. If I'd been holding my sword, maybe Jake would still be alive. The most costly stupid mistake of my life—Jake's life.

When I glanced up, Jake held out a hand like he wanted to touch the blade, but pulled it back like he knew it was a bad idea.

"Does it always glow like that?"

I lifted my head and nodded. "So long as it's on me."

The ancient script marking its blade glowed an eerie green against the darkness of the astral plane. The heaven-blessed steel offered protection from the evils that lurked in this world—my sole reason for carrying it.

"Fortunately, the script makes it invisible on the physical plane, or getting in the front door of school would be awkward," I said, breaking the silence.

He chuckled and gave me a lopsided smile. It was always the way he smiled at me that made me feel special. Whenever he gave me one, I'd want to wrap my arms around him, drag his lips to mine, and kiss him until we were both out of breath. I let out a groan and wiped my face against my already damp sleeve.

Soft singing rolled over the plane like a siren's call. I wasn't surprised to hear the angels' welcome. Jake was a good guy. He glanced toward their beckoning call to join them where the light touched the peak of the mountain in front of us, just before the first gate.

"Their song—are they singing my name?"

I nodded. "You're one of the chosen."

That was part of my role here, guiding souls toward the light. Somedays the task was easier than others—but today? Yeah, not so easy.

"Walk with me?" he asked. "I'm not ready to be alone here."

A knot caught in my throat when his arm brushed mine. He turned and faced the light radiating angels' voices on high. Their song always made my heart sing, feeling the joy of heaven above pour over me. But right now, not even heaven itself could mend how broken I felt seeing Jake take his final walk toward the celestial call.

Keeping his eye on the horizon, he sighed. "So—what happens now?"

"I find Seth, and you get to see..." My words caught in my throat.

The thought of a world without Jake tore me into pieces. He reached out and squeezed my hand, making me feel even more guilty that he was trying to reassuring me. That was my role, comforting and protecting the new souls here.

"You won't have to face Seth alone, will you?" he asked, sounding concerned.

"I'll have to find him first, but yeah, he's my responsibility to deal with," I replied.

Jake's brows furrowed. "There's no one else?"

"Another necromancer?" I shrugged, I'd never met one if there was. "No idea. It's not like there's a school or social committee."

"I guess not. But you'd let me know if there was, right? I might consider sticking around if there were a school filled with hot chicks carrying swords." He smirked and bumped the side of his body into mine.

I groaned. "This isn't one of your video games—you geek." I pushed back hard enough to knock Jake off the path.

He stepped back on the trail. "And here I thought this was heaven where all my dreams came true."

"That's heaven." I pointed up the mountain to where the light would take him to his new home. "This," I said, motioning to our surroundings, "is just somewhere in between."

We walked in silence, listening to the singing get louder the closer we got to the top. The last stretch before the peak, the light danced through the trees, twisting the shadows. This section of the path always put me ill at ease. It reminded me of when I was little, and how I'd scream for my dad once I was in bed, demanding he check my room for monsters. My dad never complained. He always did a thorough search of my closet, under the bed and behind my curtains before declaring it safe to sleep.

The backs of my arms prickled, and the temperature dropped. I slowly let go of Jake's hand, drew my sword and scanned the shadows. I wasn't going to lose Jake twice in one day.

Jake stopped beside me. "What is it?"

"I don't know. It's just a feeling..."

I held out a hand in front of him and grasped the hilt of my sword in the other. The spatha hummed and vibrated, letting me know my senses weren't playing tricks on me—something was here.

Go. I pushed him farther up the trail. "It's just around the next bend."

"I'm not leaving you here to face—God knows what."

God had nothing to do with things that lurked here. Jake's clueless innocence was going to land him in trouble if I didn't get him out of here.

Something growled behind me, and I swung my blade in the direction of the noise. A beast pulled from the shadows, its fur almost indistinguishable from the surrounding black night. Its yellow eyes and sharp teeth, however, were easy to see. Lucky us.

"A dog?" Jake asked, sounding surprised.

"That's no dog—" I whispered.

The thing placed one paw on the path, and by the time it put the other down it had already doubled in size. I held the blade in front of me and continued to walk backward until I collided with Jake.

"Holy shit..." Jake said, frozen behind me. "What the hell is that thing?"

"A garm," I answered, shoving him behind me. We scrambled to make it around the last bend, where heaven's lights lit a small clearing ahead of us.

The wolf-like beast, now the size of a van, snarled and padded closer. Clumps of bloodstained fur hung from its patchy hide, showing off the numerous scars it had acquired from previous fights.

The thing leaped through the air and landed in front of us. Jake yanked my arm, throwing me off balance. My butt slammed into the ground, and my arm hit the dirt. The spatha clattered free from my grip, and its light faded into darkness.

"Run, Jake! Get to the light," I screamed.

He turned to make a run for it. The beast jumped between us and turned its attention to me. I grabbed my bracelet and blew on the keys, lighting two of them up.

The garm snarled and lunged for me. I rolled over and slammed the pointy end of a key into its paw. It yelped and pulled its foot back, and I hung on to the bracelet with all my might, dangling in the air as it held up its foot. I twisted and jerked on the keys until they pulled free, landing in a messy heap.

Jake grabbed my spatha and screamed, drawing the garm's attention.

"Here!" he hollered.

He tossed the sword toward me. The blade flipped through the air, hit the ground, and slid to stop next to me in the dirt. I grabbed the hilt and the relic's script hummed alive, vibrating through the steel.

The gigantic beast had Jake cornered against the cliff. With my heart pounding in my ears, I took a running leap up onto the thing's back. I flipped the sword in my hand and drove the blade between its ribs.

The blade squealed and screeched the moment it touched the creature's skin. I clung to the handle as the garm wretched in pain. A black pus oozed from its wound, making me gag on the sulfuric stench emitting from it.

"Jake, go!"

The beast howled and spun, while the sword shook violently in my hands. The cut's pus dripped over my jeans eating the denim away. I clenched my teeth and held back a scream. Circling, it tried to shove me off with its nose, its tail sliced through heaven's beam of light—and everything went dark.

I landed with a thud, my blade clanging loudly against a rock and echoing off the stone wall. The devil's beast was gone and the doorway to heaven closed. I snatched my sword and looked around.

At my feet, there stood Jake Magee with his hand stuffed in his pockets.

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