Okay, well come up with something, I said as Styx laid her head on my lap and closed her eyes. What time will you be home?
Were still almost six hours away, but hoping to be home a little after midnight. I dont want to miss any of your last day.
Ill wait up for you. My heart ached, and I couldnt quite separate sadness for his loss from my own fear. I gotta go.
Okay, see you tonight.
I flipped my phone closed, then leaned back in the recliner to slide it into my pocket.
What are we coming up with? Em asked, before I could organize everything I needed to tell them into anything resembling coherence. And what was he saying about babies and souls?
It sounds like Becks incubus children need a nonhuman soul to survive, Tod said.
Yeah. I was impressed with how much hed put together based on what little hed heard. If the mothers not human, the incubus will kill her to provide the baby with her soul. But if the mothers human, he has to find an alternate source.
Tod nodded grimly. And you think Beck had something to do with Farrah and Lydia rooming together?
I think its too much of a coincidence to have happened on its own, I said. Em still looked confused, but Id have to explain in the car. It was almost six-thirty. Beck would come calling at eight, if not before. We need to go get your over night stuff and talk your mom and sisters into leaving for the night. Right now.
Hey, Kaylee! Ms. Marshall stuck her head out of the bathroom when I followed Emma down the hall toward her room. What are you girls up to tonight?
Sleepover at Kaylees, Em said, pulling her sleeping bag from the top of the hall closet.
On a school night? Ms. Marshall frowned, her lips out lined, but not yet filled in with lipstick. I dont think so.
Were cramming for a big math test, I said, leaning against the door frame, where I could see them both. And I swear well get plenty of sleep. Lies, all lies When had my life become a series of disasters barely strung together with lies?
Mr. Cavanaughs fine with it, Mom. Em crossed her room and started pulling clothes from her dresser, as if her mother had already agreed. And hell be there the whole time. This is totally legit.
Yeah. Legitimately guaranteed to save Emmas life and keep her uterus unoccupied. Her mother should have been thanking us.
Besides, youre going out with Sean tonight, right? Em zipped her duffel. This way you could stay the night.
Emma! Ms. Marshall stuck her head into the hall again, curling iron wrapped around a strand of hair all the way up to her skull.
Oh, come on, Mom. Im seventeen. I know what happens when the lights go out, and thisway you wont have to drive home in the middle of the night and try to sneak in without waking anyone up.
Ems mom released her curl and set the iron down, seeming to consider. Fine, go stay with Kaylee. But whether or not I spend the night with Sean is none of your business.
Em grinned. Duly noted. Caras staying at the sorority house tonight, right?
Ms. Marshall gave her a puzzled look. Yeaaah. Just like she has every night for the past two years. Why?
No reason. We just had to make sure. What about Traci?
New guy! Ems nineteen-year-old sister called from down the hall. Hes picking me up in fifteen minutes. But that does not mean you can raid my closet.
Wouldnt dream of it Em lied, reaching around her mother to grab her makeup bag from the bathroom counter. How the three of them shared one bathroom was beyond me.
Five minutes later, we climbed into Emmas car and headed back to my house for what would surely be my last sleepover. Ever.
20
With our incubus-busting plans rightfully canceled and my father still on the road, we decided to spend what would probably be my last evening on earth finishing the Alien marathon and eating junk food. Em and I hit the grocery store for brownies and enough ice cream to overload our small freezer while Tod left to procure pizza.
Id just finished popping the first bag of popcorn when the doorbell rang twice in rapid succession, then again before I could get to the door.
I looked through the peephole to see my cousin standing on the front porch, hands on her narrow hips, scowling at my front door. Her new car was parked in the driveway behind mine, shining in the streetlight, a fresh reminder that Sophie had been unleashed on the world as a new drivera frightening prospect for all of humankind.
Swallowing a growl of frustration, I pulled open the door and frowned at her. What are you doing here?
Dinner, remember? Sophie brushed past me into the living room, where she scowled at Emma, then at the spread of junk food laid out on the coffee table. I dont eat carbs or processed sugar, so I hope you have something better than that.
Sophie, dinner was canceled. And it was supposed to be two hours ago.
She shrugged. I want to be here even less than you want me here. Though I had good reason to doubt that. My dad said if I didnt come hang out with you for the rest of the night, then give him a ride home when he gets here, Id regret it for the rest of my life. I said hed never been more wrong. Then he said hed donate my car to some charity Ive never heard of and make me take the bus to school for the rest of my life if I wasnt at your house in ten minutes. So what is this? She tossed her purse onto a chair and glanced at Emma, then back at me. Fashion intervention or suicide watch?
Were still almost six hours away, but hoping to be home a little after midnight. I dont want to miss any of your last day.
Ill wait up for you. My heart ached, and I couldnt quite separate sadness for his loss from my own fear. I gotta go.
Okay, see you tonight.
I flipped my phone closed, then leaned back in the recliner to slide it into my pocket.
What are we coming up with? Em asked, before I could organize everything I needed to tell them into anything resembling coherence. And what was he saying about babies and souls?
It sounds like Becks incubus children need a nonhuman soul to survive, Tod said.
Yeah. I was impressed with how much hed put together based on what little hed heard. If the mothers not human, the incubus will kill her to provide the baby with her soul. But if the mothers human, he has to find an alternate source.
Tod nodded grimly. And you think Beck had something to do with Farrah and Lydia rooming together?
I think its too much of a coincidence to have happened on its own, I said. Em still looked confused, but Id have to explain in the car. It was almost six-thirty. Beck would come calling at eight, if not before. We need to go get your over night stuff and talk your mom and sisters into leaving for the night. Right now.
Hey, Kaylee! Ms. Marshall stuck her head out of the bathroom when I followed Emma down the hall toward her room. What are you girls up to tonight?
Sleepover at Kaylees, Em said, pulling her sleeping bag from the top of the hall closet.
On a school night? Ms. Marshall frowned, her lips out lined, but not yet filled in with lipstick. I dont think so.
Were cramming for a big math test, I said, leaning against the door frame, where I could see them both. And I swear well get plenty of sleep. Lies, all lies When had my life become a series of disasters barely strung together with lies?
Mr. Cavanaughs fine with it, Mom. Em crossed her room and started pulling clothes from her dresser, as if her mother had already agreed. And hell be there the whole time. This is totally legit.
Yeah. Legitimately guaranteed to save Emmas life and keep her uterus unoccupied. Her mother should have been thanking us.
Besides, youre going out with Sean tonight, right? Em zipped her duffel. This way you could stay the night.
Emma! Ms. Marshall stuck her head into the hall again, curling iron wrapped around a strand of hair all the way up to her skull.
Oh, come on, Mom. Im seventeen. I know what happens when the lights go out, and thisway you wont have to drive home in the middle of the night and try to sneak in without waking anyone up.
Ems mom released her curl and set the iron down, seeming to consider. Fine, go stay with Kaylee. But whether or not I spend the night with Sean is none of your business.
Em grinned. Duly noted. Caras staying at the sorority house tonight, right?
Ms. Marshall gave her a puzzled look. Yeaaah. Just like she has every night for the past two years. Why?
No reason. We just had to make sure. What about Traci?
New guy! Ems nineteen-year-old sister called from down the hall. Hes picking me up in fifteen minutes. But that does not mean you can raid my closet.
Wouldnt dream of it Em lied, reaching around her mother to grab her makeup bag from the bathroom counter. How the three of them shared one bathroom was beyond me.
Five minutes later, we climbed into Emmas car and headed back to my house for what would surely be my last sleepover. Ever.
20
With our incubus-busting plans rightfully canceled and my father still on the road, we decided to spend what would probably be my last evening on earth finishing the Alien marathon and eating junk food. Em and I hit the grocery store for brownies and enough ice cream to overload our small freezer while Tod left to procure pizza.
Id just finished popping the first bag of popcorn when the doorbell rang twice in rapid succession, then again before I could get to the door.
I looked through the peephole to see my cousin standing on the front porch, hands on her narrow hips, scowling at my front door. Her new car was parked in the driveway behind mine, shining in the streetlight, a fresh reminder that Sophie had been unleashed on the world as a new drivera frightening prospect for all of humankind.
Swallowing a growl of frustration, I pulled open the door and frowned at her. What are you doing here?
Dinner, remember? Sophie brushed past me into the living room, where she scowled at Emma, then at the spread of junk food laid out on the coffee table. I dont eat carbs or processed sugar, so I hope you have something better than that.
Sophie, dinner was canceled. And it was supposed to be two hours ago.
She shrugged. I want to be here even less than you want me here. Though I had good reason to doubt that. My dad said if I didnt come hang out with you for the rest of the night, then give him a ride home when he gets here, Id regret it for the rest of my life. I said hed never been more wrong. Then he said hed donate my car to some charity Ive never heard of and make me take the bus to school for the rest of my life if I wasnt at your house in ten minutes. So what is this? She tossed her purse onto a chair and glanced at Emma, then back at me. Fashion intervention or suicide watch?
