Before I Wake
Page 16
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Sophies expression frosted over, like it used to when I bought an off-brand pair of shoes or went out without fixing my hair. Like she was thoroughly disappointed in me. Thats specist, Kaylee. Specism is just as bad as racism. Maybe worse. I thought youd have a little more compassion than that, considering youre neither human nor alive. Her voice dropped into a fierce whisper on the last few words, and I could only stare at her in astonishment as her hand slid into Lucas and she tugged him up from his seat. Come back over here, where people appreciate you for who and what you are.
Great to meet you, Kaylee and friends, Luca said, slowly walking backward while Sophie tried to pull him away from us.
When they were gone, I turned back to Nash and Sabine. Is it just me, or did the earth suddenly do an about-face in its rotation? Cause thats what that felt like.
That was definitely weird, Nash agreed, and the fact that he hadnt argued with me made me unreasonably happy.
No one over there even knows who or what he is, Sabine pointed out, staring at Luca as he sat with Sophie and her friends like hed known them all his life.
How does Sophie know? I asked, and she shrugged.
They already seemed to know each other when he started school. Sabine leaned closer to me from across the table. But enough about necro-boy and the dancing queen. You lied about the reaper, she whispered. You knew him. Spill.
I sighed, then concentrated to make sure they were the only ones who would hear my next words. I didnt want to say anything in front of Luca, but it was Thane. We thought he was gone, but now hes obviously back.
Thane, the reaper who killed your mom? Nash asked. The reaper who killed you? Where did you think hed gone?
I blinked at Nash, surprised. Id assumed someoneHarmony?had filled him in on how I died, but I was obviously wrong. Nash, Thane never got the chance to reap my soul. Tod fed him to Avari. Which is why we thought he was gone.
Tod gave him to the hellion of greed? Sabine said, and I could hear admiration in her voice. Bold. Risky. Dramatic. I approve.
Nash scowled, and I could practically feel the progress wed made toward friendship slipping away. Why the hell would he do that? It obviously didnt save your life.
He wasnt trying to save me, I said. He was trying to make sure Thane wouldnt be the one to end my life, when the time came. Because he waskind ofstalking me. And threatening my friends and my dad. He was there that day you and I fought about Tod. In my kitchen. I didnt want to remember that. But Nash had aright to know. He was asking me questions while we were arguing, and it was impossible to hear you both at once. You thought Tod was there. Do you remember?
He did. I could tell. Thane was stalking you? He was there with us, and you didnt tell me? His voice was soft and angry. His irises were too still. Exactly how long have you been lying to me, Kaylee?
I was trying to save your life. He said hed kill you if I told you he was there.
Maybe you should have let him. Maybe then Nash bit the rest of his sentence off, but I had no trouble finishing it in my head. I cant do this with you, Kaylee. Not yet. Nash scrubbed his face with both hands. Then he stood and headed for the cafeteria, without another word or a look back. Sabine only hesitated long enough to grab another burger for the road, then she jogged after him, leaving me alone at my table, in the middle of lunch.
What was that all about? Em asked, and I looked up to find my best friend and her new boyfriend, Jayson Olivera, staring after Nash and Sabine.
History. Secrets. Drama. You know, the usual. I pushed the fast-food bag toward them as they sat. So, tell me what I missed. Having been abandoned by a necromancer, a mara, and an angry male bean sidhe in the past five minutes alone, I could sure use a dose of normal. At least until my undead boyfriend showed up.
4
AFTER SCHOOL, I lay on my stomach on my bed, with my chemistry text open in front of me. Id read the assigned chapter three times, but it still hadnt sunk in, so Id moved on to staring at the not-a-locket Madeline had given me, which Id found lying on my dresser when I got home.
It didnt look like anything important. But it was the difference between final rest and eternal torture to anyone unlucky enough to have his or her soul stolen at death. Madeline had called it an amphora. Id looked the word up. An amphora was an ancient Greek style of vase with a skinny neck and two handles.
My heart-thing looked nothing like an amphora. Yet the name seemed oddly appropriate, because like an old jar, my amphora was made to hold things. Specifically, souls.
My phone buzzed in my pocket, and I dropped the necklace into the crack between the pages of the open book, then dug my phone from my pocket. The screen showed a text from Tod.
Incoming in fivefourthreetwo
One, he said, and I looked up to find the reaper standing in the middle of the rug at the end of my bed.
Cute. I rolled over to make room for him, and Tod stretched out on the bed next to me.
Shouldnt you be at work? he asked, glancing at the Cinemark uniform draped over my desk chair.
Great to meet you, Kaylee and friends, Luca said, slowly walking backward while Sophie tried to pull him away from us.
When they were gone, I turned back to Nash and Sabine. Is it just me, or did the earth suddenly do an about-face in its rotation? Cause thats what that felt like.
That was definitely weird, Nash agreed, and the fact that he hadnt argued with me made me unreasonably happy.
No one over there even knows who or what he is, Sabine pointed out, staring at Luca as he sat with Sophie and her friends like hed known them all his life.
How does Sophie know? I asked, and she shrugged.
They already seemed to know each other when he started school. Sabine leaned closer to me from across the table. But enough about necro-boy and the dancing queen. You lied about the reaper, she whispered. You knew him. Spill.
I sighed, then concentrated to make sure they were the only ones who would hear my next words. I didnt want to say anything in front of Luca, but it was Thane. We thought he was gone, but now hes obviously back.
Thane, the reaper who killed your mom? Nash asked. The reaper who killed you? Where did you think hed gone?
I blinked at Nash, surprised. Id assumed someoneHarmony?had filled him in on how I died, but I was obviously wrong. Nash, Thane never got the chance to reap my soul. Tod fed him to Avari. Which is why we thought he was gone.
Tod gave him to the hellion of greed? Sabine said, and I could hear admiration in her voice. Bold. Risky. Dramatic. I approve.
Nash scowled, and I could practically feel the progress wed made toward friendship slipping away. Why the hell would he do that? It obviously didnt save your life.
He wasnt trying to save me, I said. He was trying to make sure Thane wouldnt be the one to end my life, when the time came. Because he waskind ofstalking me. And threatening my friends and my dad. He was there that day you and I fought about Tod. In my kitchen. I didnt want to remember that. But Nash had aright to know. He was asking me questions while we were arguing, and it was impossible to hear you both at once. You thought Tod was there. Do you remember?
He did. I could tell. Thane was stalking you? He was there with us, and you didnt tell me? His voice was soft and angry. His irises were too still. Exactly how long have you been lying to me, Kaylee?
I was trying to save your life. He said hed kill you if I told you he was there.
Maybe you should have let him. Maybe then Nash bit the rest of his sentence off, but I had no trouble finishing it in my head. I cant do this with you, Kaylee. Not yet. Nash scrubbed his face with both hands. Then he stood and headed for the cafeteria, without another word or a look back. Sabine only hesitated long enough to grab another burger for the road, then she jogged after him, leaving me alone at my table, in the middle of lunch.
What was that all about? Em asked, and I looked up to find my best friend and her new boyfriend, Jayson Olivera, staring after Nash and Sabine.
History. Secrets. Drama. You know, the usual. I pushed the fast-food bag toward them as they sat. So, tell me what I missed. Having been abandoned by a necromancer, a mara, and an angry male bean sidhe in the past five minutes alone, I could sure use a dose of normal. At least until my undead boyfriend showed up.
4
AFTER SCHOOL, I lay on my stomach on my bed, with my chemistry text open in front of me. Id read the assigned chapter three times, but it still hadnt sunk in, so Id moved on to staring at the not-a-locket Madeline had given me, which Id found lying on my dresser when I got home.
It didnt look like anything important. But it was the difference between final rest and eternal torture to anyone unlucky enough to have his or her soul stolen at death. Madeline had called it an amphora. Id looked the word up. An amphora was an ancient Greek style of vase with a skinny neck and two handles.
My heart-thing looked nothing like an amphora. Yet the name seemed oddly appropriate, because like an old jar, my amphora was made to hold things. Specifically, souls.
My phone buzzed in my pocket, and I dropped the necklace into the crack between the pages of the open book, then dug my phone from my pocket. The screen showed a text from Tod.
Incoming in fivefourthreetwo
One, he said, and I looked up to find the reaper standing in the middle of the rug at the end of my bed.
Cute. I rolled over to make room for him, and Tod stretched out on the bed next to me.
Shouldnt you be at work? he asked, glancing at the Cinemark uniform draped over my desk chair.
