I jolted awake to a kick in my side. "Wake up, Zoe, you infuriating girl!" the Grim Reaper snarled as he kept kicking me. "Do you want to go back to your blasted town or not?"

"Do we have to go so soon? I don't think Wren will be very accepting of your return," I remarked.

"Do you think I care about what that vampire thinks of me?" He was even more short-tempered than usual, and he started to prowl the room like a predator waiting to pounce.

"Jeez, don't sound so excited." I combed my fingers through my tangled hair and stretched my arms above my head.

Reaper tossed his bag at me, which clubbed me in the stomach, and threw open the door. "The children are probably waking by now, girl, move faster!" he grouched as I groggily followed him, everything in a haze.

We trekked back to Moonalila, and nothing seemed so threatening in the daylight. Colorful flowers blossomed on the trails, the sky above cloudless, and the birds twittered out songs on their stages made from trees.

However, so many voices made my ears ring and head throb, but the Moon Goddess's words were the ones that stuck with me the most: Your master is going to kill a lot more people. He's planning to make you a part of it.

Kill. Kill people. Me, kill people.

"Zoe! Zoe, did you hear what I said?" I blinked wearily at my master, who was staring at me stubbornly.

"Can you repeat that again?" I asked.

He sighed and snatched his bag away from me. "I'm going back to my house alone. You take some money and buy groceries in town. Understand?"

I held my hand out as he poured some koses into it. The weight bunched up on my shoulders began to relax as the Grim Reaper walked away from me. I wonder what he'll think if I spend you on a tiger, I silently whispered to the money.

They sat, cold and silent, in my hands.

I took a lot more time than was needed in town. First I spent all the money on food, but then I inspected some charms and fake spellbooks for a while. Every mage in my clan would be so disappointed in this place, I couldn't help but scoff at the books that promised spells to make people become invisible and fall in love. To perform magic, you needed to be blessed by the Sun God or the Moon Goddess, not recite lines from silly books.

As I started to walk back to the house, children's voices drifted from the next street, and my ears caught the familiar names in the rhyme.

Sun God, Sun God,

Give us your power and might.

With your shoulders broad

And your ever-seeing sight.

Moon Goddess, Moon Goddess,

Give us your wisdom and kindness.

Applaud us, applaud us,

And let us avoid the night blindness.

They giggled and repeated the rhyme as they skipped over scrawled symbols on the ground.

I smirked a little and walked back home. Did they even test children to see if they had blood of the mages in Moonalila? Would those singing kids test positive?

The Moon Goddess has a lot more than wisdom and kindness. When you meet her in real life, she's got some backbone, I imagined telling them.

"What kept you, Zoe? Did the crowds stampede you to the ground?" Wren was the one who opened the door for me, a light grin on his face as the groceries clunked on the table.

"Are you speaking from personal experience? Stomping on a vampire seems like fun," I snapped back.

"Why is it impossible to have a conversation here?" He clucked his tongue while he grabbed the broom and swept the floors.

"Has my master promoted you to a maid now?" I teased him, a small hope fluttering in my heart. Learning new spells would be so much easier if he made the vampire do the chores instead of me...

"Only for today, when you took so long." The hope was a balloon, and it popped at his words. I sighed and took a seat at the kitchen table.

"Where is my master, anyway?"

"In the basement, doing some detective work. How was your trip?"

"Better than the one to your cage."

Wren blew a raspberry and tossed the broom against the wall. "What did you even do?"

"Top Grim Reaper apprentice stuff," I replied vaguely.

Without any notice, an idea hatched in my brain. Can I tell Wren about the Moon Goddess's message? I wondered. No, he's a filthy vampire! He deserves to walk barefoot on hot coals!

I snuck a glance at him as he kicked his feet up on the table and examined his nails. He didn't seem so evil at his time in the Grim Reaper's house... but out of my master's reach, how wild could he become? It was too risky, but could I stop my master all by myself?

Why would I stop him? I granted my allegiance to him, so why am I thinking about betraying it? I gave up the path of the Moon Goddess long ago, so I should just ignore her words and continue my studies as an apprentice. I pursed my lips and tugged on my hair. When you joined a clan, could you ever really abandon the gods?

Do it for me, Zoe. If you don't believe in me anymore, do it for the people, the Moon Goddess gently spoke in my head.

She had a point. Even if I didn't follow her anymore, could I really stand by and watch as millions of people died? Could I kill one person, much less millions?

Talking suddenly seemed so much easier than keeping it to myself.

"Wren," I began. "I need your help with something."