Before I Wake
Page 67
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Look. My dad said you saved my life that night, Sophie said, and I shrugged. Id actually saved her life several times, but who was counting? So I wanted to say thank you, and tell you Im sorry for all the mean things I said about you being a crazy freak before. I swear I had no idea those werent personal life choices.
I didnt know whether to pity her or smack her. Fortunately, the decision was taken out of my hands when the bell rang and students started pouring into the quad with lunch trays.
Nash and Sabine arrived first, but Luca was only a minute behind, and one glance at what passed for chili on their trays was enough to make me grateful that I didnt have to eat ever again, if I chose.
Is my brother here? Nash asked, sliding onto the bench seat across from me and next to Sabine. Sophie sat on his other side, so she could stare across the table at Luca.
No, and I dont know if he will be. He has to cover all the hospital shifts, with Mareth gone. Levis filling in for him tonight, though, so he can do a shift at the pizza place.
Because delivering pizza is more important than reaping souls? Sophies brows rose as she took a carrot from Lucas tray.
Spoken like someone who doesnt have to cover her own cell-phone bill. Or make her own car payment. Or buy her own clothes, Sabine said, and I realized it would be hard for me to choose sides in a Sophie/Sabine cage match.
So who pays your cell bill? Sophie asked.
Its a prepaid phone, Nash supplied, and from the look on his face, I could tell he regretted sitting between them.
And how does she prepay for it?
Sabine leaned around Nash to glare at Sophie, and I swear a cloud rolled across the sun and the whole quad got darker. Dont ask questions you dont want answers to.
Okay, truce! Luca threw his arms out across the table, like an umpire declaring the batter safe. Lets talk business before Jayson gets here. Em had been holding him back at the beginning of every lunch periodI could only guess her method of distractionto give us a chance to talk about something more important than prom and postgraduation parties.
Was your aunt able to ID the souls in the dagger? I asked. The knife had been on my desk when I got out of the shower that morning, but Madeline hadnt waited around to talk to me.
Yeah. You were right. Other than the incubus, there were two souls, and one of them has been missing for seven months. It was last reported in the possession of a rogue reaper Levi says he killed. Marg, of course. They have no reason to doubt that Belphegore ended up with the soul, and as for how Avari got it from her Their guess is as good as ours.
Which meant we had yet to uncover the connectionbetween Avari and Belphegore, or figure out what Avari wanted with the reapers.
Did you find Thane? I asked. Thanks to Tod, I already knew Mareth was still missing. Tod was pretending that didnt worry him, but how could it not?
No. Luca exhaled heavily. Either hes left town, or hes left the human realm altogether.
My moneys on the latter, Sabine said, and Sophie laughed so hard she nearly choked on a carrot.
What money?
Sabine stood, fists clenched, and Nash pulled her back down.
Sophie, Sabine beat up a reaper two nights ago, I said. And its entirely possible that she may one day be the only thing standing between you and a hellion ready to rip your head off and suck out your soul. Do you really think its wise to piss her off?
Sophie glanced from me to Sabine, then back, scowling. Im not scared of her. I can handle myself.
Yeah, and hissing kittens think theyre badass, too, Sabine said.
Okay, listen, I said, and I couldnt quite shake the discomfort of having all four sets of eyes turned my way. I wasnt used to being the center of attention, and the recent media coverage of my so-called attempted murder had done nothing to change that. But someone had to say what needed to be said. Everyone here has some reason to dislike everyone else at this table. Except for Luca, I added when he started to object. But we dont have the time or energy to waste hating one another, so from here on out, everyone gets a clean slate. No more grudges. Got it?
You know thats a lot easier said than done, Kaylee, Nash said softly, and we all knew he was thinking about Tod. About a betrayal he didnt think he could forgive. But he was wrong about that.
Yeah, I know. But Im willing to The rest of that sentence died on my tongue as my gaze snagged on something behind him. A girl in a green-and-white-letter jacket, watching me from the edge of the quad, half-hidden by the brick wall of the building.
Kaylee? Nash twisted to see what I was looking at.
I stood and the girl smiled at me. My heart stopped beating.
No. It couldnt be.
But it was.
Meredith Cole. Sophies fellow dance-team member, whod died last September, here in the quad. Id screamed for her soul. Which Marg the reaper had then given to Belphegore, the hellion of vanity.
Meredith was back, and that could only mean one thing.
Shit, Luca mumbled, and in my peripheral visionI didnt dare let Meredith out of my sightI saw him scrub one hand over his face and through his hair. Theres a body. In the parking lot, I think.
I didnt know whether to pity her or smack her. Fortunately, the decision was taken out of my hands when the bell rang and students started pouring into the quad with lunch trays.
Nash and Sabine arrived first, but Luca was only a minute behind, and one glance at what passed for chili on their trays was enough to make me grateful that I didnt have to eat ever again, if I chose.
Is my brother here? Nash asked, sliding onto the bench seat across from me and next to Sabine. Sophie sat on his other side, so she could stare across the table at Luca.
No, and I dont know if he will be. He has to cover all the hospital shifts, with Mareth gone. Levis filling in for him tonight, though, so he can do a shift at the pizza place.
Because delivering pizza is more important than reaping souls? Sophies brows rose as she took a carrot from Lucas tray.
Spoken like someone who doesnt have to cover her own cell-phone bill. Or make her own car payment. Or buy her own clothes, Sabine said, and I realized it would be hard for me to choose sides in a Sophie/Sabine cage match.
So who pays your cell bill? Sophie asked.
Its a prepaid phone, Nash supplied, and from the look on his face, I could tell he regretted sitting between them.
And how does she prepay for it?
Sabine leaned around Nash to glare at Sophie, and I swear a cloud rolled across the sun and the whole quad got darker. Dont ask questions you dont want answers to.
Okay, truce! Luca threw his arms out across the table, like an umpire declaring the batter safe. Lets talk business before Jayson gets here. Em had been holding him back at the beginning of every lunch periodI could only guess her method of distractionto give us a chance to talk about something more important than prom and postgraduation parties.
Was your aunt able to ID the souls in the dagger? I asked. The knife had been on my desk when I got out of the shower that morning, but Madeline hadnt waited around to talk to me.
Yeah. You were right. Other than the incubus, there were two souls, and one of them has been missing for seven months. It was last reported in the possession of a rogue reaper Levi says he killed. Marg, of course. They have no reason to doubt that Belphegore ended up with the soul, and as for how Avari got it from her Their guess is as good as ours.
Which meant we had yet to uncover the connectionbetween Avari and Belphegore, or figure out what Avari wanted with the reapers.
Did you find Thane? I asked. Thanks to Tod, I already knew Mareth was still missing. Tod was pretending that didnt worry him, but how could it not?
No. Luca exhaled heavily. Either hes left town, or hes left the human realm altogether.
My moneys on the latter, Sabine said, and Sophie laughed so hard she nearly choked on a carrot.
What money?
Sabine stood, fists clenched, and Nash pulled her back down.
Sophie, Sabine beat up a reaper two nights ago, I said. And its entirely possible that she may one day be the only thing standing between you and a hellion ready to rip your head off and suck out your soul. Do you really think its wise to piss her off?
Sophie glanced from me to Sabine, then back, scowling. Im not scared of her. I can handle myself.
Yeah, and hissing kittens think theyre badass, too, Sabine said.
Okay, listen, I said, and I couldnt quite shake the discomfort of having all four sets of eyes turned my way. I wasnt used to being the center of attention, and the recent media coverage of my so-called attempted murder had done nothing to change that. But someone had to say what needed to be said. Everyone here has some reason to dislike everyone else at this table. Except for Luca, I added when he started to object. But we dont have the time or energy to waste hating one another, so from here on out, everyone gets a clean slate. No more grudges. Got it?
You know thats a lot easier said than done, Kaylee, Nash said softly, and we all knew he was thinking about Tod. About a betrayal he didnt think he could forgive. But he was wrong about that.
Yeah, I know. But Im willing to The rest of that sentence died on my tongue as my gaze snagged on something behind him. A girl in a green-and-white-letter jacket, watching me from the edge of the quad, half-hidden by the brick wall of the building.
Kaylee? Nash twisted to see what I was looking at.
I stood and the girl smiled at me. My heart stopped beating.
No. It couldnt be.
But it was.
Meredith Cole. Sophies fellow dance-team member, whod died last September, here in the quad. Id screamed for her soul. Which Marg the reaper had then given to Belphegore, the hellion of vanity.
Meredith was back, and that could only mean one thing.
Shit, Luca mumbled, and in my peripheral visionI didnt dare let Meredith out of my sightI saw him scrub one hand over his face and through his hair. Theres a body. In the parking lot, I think.
