Reilly had chosen to come out to the lake for one reason and one reason only:


He knew that Darrin would pull a stupid stunt like this whether or not he was there, and Reilly was going to stop his friend before he killed himself in a horrific accident.


It had never occurred to Reilly that he would be the one at death’s door. Well, he had known that the ice might still be dangerously thin. That, alone, should have been enough to keep him safe at home. But he had figured that if Darrin fell through the ice, someone ought to be there to pull him to safety.


But of all the figurines that have ever been figured, Reilly figured this figuring wrong.


For in the next moment, the crystalline spiderweb shattered. As the lake claimed Reilly in its bone-chilling embrace, a shower of orange sparks fizzled upon the water. Ice shards reflected the glow, creating for an instant a beauty Reilly was glad to have lived to see. The irony that it was the last thing he would ever see was not lost on him. His last coherent thought was that he wished he could have told Ranelle he loved her under such a magnificent sky.