Beautiful Redemption by Kami García, Margaret Stohl Page A

the thing that comes to you in the night when you think no one is looking.
    In other words, the thing you are, Ethan Wate.
    Six down.
    G. A. T. L. I. N.
    As in, parochial. Local. Insular. The place we’re stuck, whether in the Otherworld or the Mortal one.
    E. T. E. R. N. A. L.
    As in, endless, without stopping, forever. The way you feel about a certain girl, whether you’re dead or alive.
    L. O. V. E.
    As in, how I feel about you, Lena Duchannes.
    T. R. Y.
    As in, as hard as I can, every minute of every day.
    As in, I got your message, L.
    Then I felt overwhelmed by the thought of how much I’d lost, of everything that stupid fall off the water tower had cost me, and I lost control and loosened my grip on Gatlin. First my eyes filled, and then the letters blurred away, drifting into nothing as the world vanished beneath my feet and I was gone.
    I was crossing back. I tried to remember the words from the scroll—the ones that had brought me here—but my mind couldn’t focus on anything at all.
    It was too late.
    Darkness surrounded me, and I felt something like wind whipping across my face, howling in my ears. Then I heard my mother’s voice—steady as the grip of her cool hand on mine.
    “Ethan, hold on. I’ve got you.”

CHAPTER 10
Snake Eyes
    I felt my feet touch something solid, like I had just stepped off a train and onto the platform at the station. I saw the floorboards of our front porch, then my Chucks standing on them. We’d crossed back, leaving the living world behind us. We were back where we belonged, with the dead.
    I didn’t want to think about it like that.
    “Well, it’s ’bout time, seein’ as I finished watchin’ all your mamma’s paint dry more than an hour ago.”
    Aunt Prue was waiting for us in the Otherworld, on the front porch of Wate’s Landing—the one in the middle of the cemetery.
    I still wasn’t used to the sight of my house here instead of the mausoleums and weeping angel statues that dominatedPerpetual Peace. But standing by the railing, with all three Harlon Jameses sitting at attention around her feet, Aunt Prue looked pretty dominant, too.
    More like mad as a hornet.
    “Ma’am,” I said, scratching my neck uncomfortably.
    “Ethan Wate, I’ve been waitin’ on you. Thought you’d only be gone a minute.” The three dogs looked just as irritated. Aunt Prue nodded at my mother. “Lila.”
    “Aunt Prudence.” They regarded each other warily, which seemed strange to me. They had always gotten along when I was growing up.
    I smiled at my aunt, changing the subject. “I did it, Aunt Prue. I crossed. I was… you know, on the other side.”
    “You might a let a person know, so they didn’t wait on your porch for the best part a the day.” My aunt waved her handkerchief in my general direction.
    “I went to Ravenwood and Greenbrier and Wate’s Landing and
The Stars and Stripes
.” Aunt Prue raised an eyebrow at me, as if she didn’t believe it.
    “Really?”
    “Well, not by myself. I mean, with my mom. She might have helped some. Ma’am.”
    My mom looked amused. Aunt Prue did not.
    “Well, if you want a preacher’s chance in Heaven ta get yourself back there, we need ta talk.”
    “Prudence,” my mom said in a strange tone. It sounded like a warning.
    I didn’t know what to say, so I just kept talking. “You mean about crossing? Because I think I’m starting to get the hang—”
    “Stop yappin’ and start listenin’, Ethan Wate. I’m not talkin’ ’bout practicin’ any crossin’. I’m talkin’ ’bout crossin’ back. For good, ta the old world.”
    For a second, I thought she was teasing me. But her expression didn’t change. She was serious—at least as serious as my crazy great-aunt ever was. “What are you talking about, Aunt Prue?”
    “Prudence.” My mom said it again. “Don’t do this.”
    Don’t do what? Give me a chance to get back there?
    Aunt Prue glared at my mother, easing herself down the stairs one orthopedic shoe at