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  “Aunt Lily, I can’t believe Grandmother is gone,” Elise said. Lily broke into loud sobs.

  Daisy took Lily by the hand. “You’ve had a shock, Lil,” she said. “Sit down and I’ll get you some water.”

  It took hours before everything was sorted out.

  “What should we do with all the marionettes?” I asked.

  “Load them up in my van,” Flo said. “We’ll go burn them in the dumpster outside the diner. After we remove the jewels from their eyes, of course.”

  “I want to keep my Vincent Price puppet,” Eva protested.

  “Why don’t you make a new one instead?” I suggested. “I’m not sure you want something Mr. Martin helped you with.”

  “You’re right,” she said glumly. “Maybe I can make two of them this time. A young VP and an old one.”

  “Maybe I should just buy you the poster,” Evan said.

  We all laughed.

  “You’re right,” Eva said. “After tonight, I never want to see a puppet again. Unless it’s on Sesame Street.”

  “You still watch Sesame Street?” Andy asked.

  “What? I can’t watch scary stuff all the time,” Eva replied. “And besides, Big Bird rocks.”

  She had a point.

  “This place is a mess,” I said. “We should clean up so Elise doesn’t have that to deal with on top of everything else.”

  Bianca overheard me. “Go ahead and go home, Jessica,” she said. “Mrs. Wilder”—she cleared her throat before she continued—“Mrs. Wilder arranged a cleaning crew. They’ll be here first thing in the morning.”

  “Let’s go to Slim’s,” Flo said. “I didn’t have time to eat tonight.”

  “But it closed for the party,” Ryan said.

  She gave him a tiny smile. “I know the owner.”

  “I don’t feel like being alone right now,” Eva admitted. “It’s been quite an eventful night.”

  “I know I should go home and get some sleep,” I said. “But I’m too wired.”

  “Me, too,” Daisy said.

  “It’s settled, then,” Dominic said. “We’ll meet everyone at Slim’s.”

  Dominic and I got into his car, but he didn’t start it up right away. “I was worried about you tonight,” he said. “A little freaked out, even.”

  I inhaled. Had the evening been too much for him? “I know it’s tough for you, me being a virago,” I said softly. “But I can’t help who I am.”

  “I know,” he said. “My mom was wrong, you know. You’re not like she is. She pushes everyone away. You don’t.”

  “Speaking of your mom,” I said. “Where was she tonight?”

  “You’re not going to believe it,” he said, “but she’s on a date.”

  I waited to see what else he would say, but instead, he kissed me. A long time later, he started the car and we headed to Slim’s.

  “What took you so long?” Eva whispered when I slid into the booth next to her at the diner.

  “Nothing,” I said, but my blush gave me away.

  “That must have been some nothing.” She giggled.

  “What are you two talking about?” Evan asked.

  “Nothing,” Eva and I said at the same time.

  “Okay,” he said. “I get it. Girl stuff.” He turned his attention back to the menu.

  “Poor Mrs. Wilder,” Andy said.

  “Poor Elise,” Ryan said. Daisy leaned her head on his shoulder.

  “Good work, Jessica,” she said. “I can’t believe we caught two killers in one night.”

  “The clown confused me at first,” I said. “She distracted me from the real killers. But she won’t be bothering anyone from now on.”

  “Are you sure?” Dominic asked.

  “She’s heading home soon,” I said. “That’s not a problem, is it?” I was teasing him. I already knew the answer.

  He kissed me. “I’m sorry my ex dressed up like a clown and terrorized you.” His breath tickled my neck. “But now I know your weakness.”

  “I can’t believe that five people died this fall,” Poppy said. “Even more would have if you and Daisy hadn’t stopped them.”

  “I had a good time working with you, Jessica,” Daisy said. “We should do it again.”

  Ryan gave her a long kiss. “Gotta go,” he said. “Mr. Bone gets cranky if I keep the council waiting.”

  “But it’s after midnight,” I said. “You can’t possibly mean that they’re meeting at this hour.”

  He winked at me and I blushed. “I can’t tell you, but that doesn’t mean it’s not true.”

  Maybe I sounded a tad too concerned that he was leaving, because Dominic gave me a kiss of my own.

  Ryan smiled at Daisy. “Are you coming with me?”

  “You don’t have to ask me twice,” she said. “Jessica, the Nightshade City Council is special. Maybe one day you’ll see.”

  I’d thought I knew a lot about Nightshade, the city I was supposed to protect, but I was realizing I’d only scratched the surface of its secrets.

  She Loves Me, She Loves Me Not

  Six Years Later

  My boyfriend had a surprise for me, but he refused to give me any hints, even though we were in his car, headed . . . somewhere.

  “Ryan, you still haven’t told me where we’re going,” I said.

  “It’s a surprise,” he said. “Don’t be so impatient, Daisy.”

  “You’re headed toward Main Street,” I said smugly. “Are you taking me to Slim’s?”

  He laughed. “Always the detective, aren’t you?” Ryan kept his eyes on the road, but I could tell there was mischief in them.

  I gave him a triumphant smile when he parked in front of the diner, but instead of heading to Slim’s, he steered me across the street, toward the police station.

  Ryan kissed the palm of my hand and then held up a set of keys. “Guess what I have?”

  I recognized the keys. “The big surprise is in the morgue?”

  When he grinned, my heart beat a little faster.

  He took my hand. “Don’t you remember?” he asked softly.

  “Of course I remember,” I replied. “Our first kiss.” Ryan and I had been friends since we were little, but things had changed the night we’d snuck into the morgue to solve a mystery.

  He opened the door. “After you.”

  There was the same beat-up metal desk and filing cabinet, but there were daisies everywhere. Daisy chains concealed the steel drawers along one wall, daisies were scattered in a path leading to a candlelight picnic, laid out on a yellow and white gingham blanket.

  “How did you manage all this?”

  “Chef Pierre cooked everything,” he replied. “And Sam and Sean helped me decorate.”

  “It’s beautiful,” I said. “But what’s the occasion?” It wasn’t my birthday or anything. “Not that I’m complaining,” I added.

  He took a deep breath. “I know this is an unconventional place for this.” His face was serious, and for a brief second I wondered if he was going to break up with me. But Ryan and I were solid, and besides, why would he make such a big effort to dump me? He would, however, make a big production out of a proposal.

  Ryan plucked a daisy from one of the vases. “She loves me, she loves me not . . .”

  I finished his sentence. “She loves me.”

  He gave me a serious look and then took another deep breath. “The flower’s never wrong. Here goes, unconventional location or not.”

  My hand went to the locket he’d given me for my seventeenth birthday. Was Ryan Mendez going to propose to me?

  “For what?” My voice trembled as I asked the question.

  “For this,” he said. He took a small black box out of his pocket. “Daisy Giordano, will you marry me?”

  “Yes.”

  He kissed me. “You haven’t even seen the ring yet,” he joked, but his voice was choked with emotion. “It’s a sapphire, as blue as your eyes.”

  He slid the ring on my finger, and
we both stared down at it.

  “You didn’t have to propose just because I’m leaving town for a few months,” I teased. I was starting a six-month post-grad program in New York to hone my cooking skills.

  “You mean we are leaving town, don’t you?” he asked.

  “You’re coming with me?” I asked incredulously. “But what about your job?”

  “I took a leave of absence,” he said. “My job will be waiting for me when we get back.”

  “Ryan, you didn’t have to do that,” I said.

  “I didn’t want to be away from you for six months,” he said. “I couldn’t imagine it.”

  I gave him a long kiss. “You’re the best boyfriend ever.”

  “I’m not your boyfriend,” he said, deadpan.

  “You’re not?” Then it dawned on me, and I smiled. “Okay, you’re the best fiancé ever.”

  “I’m all packed,” he said. “And I’ll be able to help out at a detective agency there.”

  “You know what this means?” I asked.

  “What?”

  “That Poppy and Rose are probably already planning the wedding for us.” The last few days, my two psychic sisters had been giving me strange looks and bursting into giggles at odd times.

  “I have been so worried that you’d read my mind,” he said. “I wanted it to be a surprise.”

  “It was,” I told him. “The best surprise of my life.”

  “And it’s only the beginning,” he said.

  “It will be hard to say good-bye to Nightshade,” I said.

  “Katie Walsh will be here looking after things,” Ryan replied.

  “Katie? Sean’s sister?” I leaned out to take a look at his face. “Little Katie from next door?”

  He nodded. “She’s going to do big things,” he said. “And she’s thirteen, not so little anymore.”

  “That’s a relief,” I said. “With Jessica and Flo traveling so much with the band, Nightshade needs someone to take care of things while we’re gone.”

  “We’ll be back,” Ryan said.

  “Of course we will,” I replied. “No matter where we go, Nightshade will always be home.”

  Back in the car, I put my head on his shoulder, content. I could see my future, full of adventures, mystery, friends, and family. Most importantly, I could see Ryan and me. What else did I need?

  Acknowledgments

  Thanks to my readers, the nicest group of people ever. Also, big thanks to the Houston Teen Book Con, where the question “What are you afraid of?” came up during my panel. This book is the answer.

  Visit www.hmhbooks.com to find all of the books in the Dead Is series.

  About the Author

  MARLENE PEREZ is the author of eight books in the Dead Is Series, including Dead Is the New Black, an ALA Quick Pick for Reluctant Young Adult Readers. She lives in Orange County, California. Visit her website at www.marleneperez.com.