Short, violent life or not, I was proud of our success with Ace. Not only had we saved his soul and life, but we managed to keep his best friend, Shoe, out of the crapper, too.

It had been really hard, though, and our success was as much due to Shoe working to save his own skin as me, Barnabas, and Nakita trying to save it as well. Together Josh and I stepped up beside Nakita at the curb, squinting into the sun at the unfamiliar school. “I know that everyone thinks that Ace was a fluke,” I said softly as Josh’s hand slipped away with a last squeeze. “That’s why we have to do it again.”

Tucking her purse under her arm, Nakita shrugged. Clearly she didn’t believe it was possible, but as far as I was concerned, this scything was already going better than the last. Nakita had agreed to not kill Tammy unless she was sure she couldn’t be helped, and we knew where Tammy lived. We were halfway there.

“Is that them?” Nakita said suddenly, and I followed her pointing finger to a blonde girl standing impatiently with one foot on the steps of a bus, the other on the sidewalk. She was yelling at a cluster of boys still on the school steps, their heads together over a handheld game. “She’s got a greenish aura with that orange center.”

“Hold your horses!” a dark-haired boy yelled back, making an ugly face at her. “I’ve got to get to a portal, or I’m going to lose my place!”

“You’re going to lose your ride home, you idiot!” she yelled back. “Mom is going to be ticked if she has to leave work to pick you up again, Johnny!”

The memory of my heart gave a pound and vanished. Johnny. That was Tammy’s brother’s name.

The girl turned in a huff and stomped up the stairs. In the line of buses, the second one revved its engine and left. Two more to go until Tammy’s could leave.