I jump up, my heart hammering. I want to ask more questions, but I can't waste time. I grab my bag and run downstairs to where Es and Pete are watching television. "Something's wrong with my mom. We have to go back to the hospital."

Chapter 4

THERE'S NO PLACE LIKE HELL

"There are monsters in the world, Arianna. They are real. I am real."

—Asher

I'm in my mom's room, watching the machines pump life into her as the doctor explains what's happening.

"Her body is failing," Dr. Cameron says. "She doesn't have much longer, I'm afraid."

"I don't understand." I walk over and hold her hand, my finger once again brushing on the strange mark on her wrist. "Why can't the machines keep her alive longer? Can't people live for years this way?"

"Some, yes," the doctor says. "But not everyone. Sometimes the damage is too great. The body too weak." She's firm, calm, so sure of herself and her diagnosis.

But I can't accept this is it. The end of her story.  "How long does she have?" I ask, my voice shaking.

"Hours, at most." She glances down at my mother's chart. "Maybe less." When she looks up, her eyes are compassionate, but in a detached, doctor way. She must see death all the time. "I'm sorry. I wish there was more we could do. I'll leave you alone to say your goodbyes."

Tom, the nurse who has always been so kind to me, squeezes my hand as he follows the doctor out. "I'm sorry, honey."

Once they leave and the door is closed firmly behind them, I sink into the chair next to my mother. I'm not ready to say goodbye. Not yet. Not forever.

My eyes fall to my bag. I still have the file Asher gave me. His note said it would show me the truth. I reach for it and tear it open, spreading the papers out on the edge of my mother's bed. There are newspaper clippings and police reports. I read through them quickly, then again more slowly.

Then once more. Word by word.

Seventeen years ago a fiery car crash in Seattle, Washington claimed the lives of David Stranson and his two-year-old daughter. The mother, Camilla, survived with severe injuries. Attached to the police report are death certificates for both the father and child.

The newspaper article also features a picture of the family. A mother and father smiling over their baby.

It is the picture that freezes my blood. That stops my heart. That shortens my breath.

It is the picture my mother has on her dresser.

The picture of me with my parents.

I study each document carefully. The names are different, but everything else is the same. Dates, birthdays, physical descriptions.

I squeeze my eyes shut as my nightmares flash in my mind. Screeching metal. The smell of burning rubber. Blood everywhere. Screaming. Pain. Darkness.

"You are remembering. That is good."

My eyes pop open and land on the mysterious man—the demon... the vampire—standing on the other side of my mother's bed. "What is this?" I stand and hold the papers in my fist. "How could any of this be true?"

"I have already told you," Asher says, his voice smooth, polished, hypnotic. "You died that day in the accident. Your mother made a deal, her soul to save your life. She was smart. She bargained for more time, time to raise you to adulthood. Then her payment came due, and deals made with devils cannot be broken."

My hand is shaking as I drop the paperwork onto the bed and collapse in the chair. "So it's all true? This is real?"

"It is. And you must decide soon, if you want to save her life." He looks pointedly at my mother. As if on cue, her monitor begins to beep.

"Did you do that?" I ask.

"No. Her body is failing. Make your choice, Arianna. Sign in blood and let this be done. The moment you do, she will stabilize."

I pick up the paperwork and shove it into my bag before the hospital staff come to check on the monitors. "And your contract guarantees her physical safety until her soul is returned to her?" I ask as I pull my bag to me. "She will not die by any means? She will return to her body in full health?"

"As you wish," he says.

I pull the scroll out of my bag and hand it to him. "Write that in. Include that specifically. That she will be restored to full and perfect health when she awakens. That she will not die or be harmed while she is in the coma. That you will make sure she has the best medical care and that all her bills will be covered."

He raises an eyebrow. "Very well." Pulling out a pen, he adds a few lines in neat scroll to the contract.

My mind is spinning. My mother is dying. I have to hurry, but once I sign this, it's over. I have no more room for negotiation. "Also, I want to be able to come back here for one day every week to check on my mom and see my friends."

Asher shakes his head. "You ask too much. This is not as simple as taking a drive to the town over."

I narrow my eyes at him. "You sure seem to get around fast enough when you want. It can't be that hard. I have to be able to check on my mom, to make sure you are holding up your end of the bargain. I don't know why I'm so important to your plans, and I'm sure I'll find out in some mysterious and nefarious way, but in the meantime, if you really do need me, then make this happen."

"Not every week," he says. "That is too much. Once a month. And only for half a day."

"Fine, once a month, but for a full day."