My Soul to Save
Page 15
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Fine, Tod said through teeth clenched with either fear or anger. Or both.
What? Nash stopped for a red light and glanced in the mirror again, his brows low in confusion. Hed obviously expected an argument, as had I.
Tod shifted on the cloth seat, his corporeal clothes rustling with the movement. I said fine. This is my problem, not yours. Ill do it myself.
This isnt your problem, either, Nash insisted, and I turned in my seat again so I could see them both at once. She sold her soul of her own free will for fame and fortune. The contract is legally binding, and it has a legally binding out-clause. Let her get it back herself. He stomped on the gas when the light changed, and the tires squealed beneath us as I grabbed the armrest.
She didnt know what she was doing, Nash, and she still doesnt. Tod leaned forward, glaring into the rearview mirror. She has no idea what rights she has in the Netherworld, and she cant even get there on her own. The out-clause is no good if you cant enforce it. You know that.
Wait I loosened my seat belt and found a more comfortable sideways position as dread twisted my stomach into knots a scout couldnt untie. She really cant do this on her own?
Tod shook his head. She doesnt stand a chance.
I sighed and sank back into my seat.
Nash glanced away from the road long enough to read my expression, shadows shifting over his face as we drove under a series of streetlights. No, Kaylee. We cant. We could get killed.
I know. I closed my eyes and let my head fall against the headrest. I know.
No! he repeated, his knuckles white on the steering wheel, jaw clenched in either fear or anger. Probably both.
Nash, we have to. I have to, anyway. I stared at his profile, desperate for the words to make him understand. I couldnt save the souls Aunt Val sold. Heidi, and Alyson, and Meredith, and Julie are going to be tortured forever, because I couldnt save them. My throat felt thick, and my voice cracked as tears burned my eyes.
Kaylee, thats not your fau
I know, but, Nash, I can help Addison. I can stop the same thing from happening to her. I wasnt sure how, but Tod wouldnt have offered our help if there was nothing we could do. Right? I have to do this.
Nash clutched the wheel even tighter, and he looked like he wanted to twist it into a pretzel. Then he exhaled, and his hands relaxed. Hed made his decision, and I held my breath, waiting for it. Fine. If youre in, Im in. His focus shifted to the rearview mirror, where he glared at Tod. But Im in this for Kaylee, not for you, and not for your idiot pop princess. Thelook he shot me then was part disappointment, part anger, part loyalty, and all Nash. His gaze scalded me from the inside out, and I squirmed in my seat as that heat settled low within me.
But when he turned back to the road, the flames sputtered beneath a wash of cold fear. Nash would get involved for me, but the truth was that I had no idea what I was doing.
What had I just gotten us into?
5
OKAY, KAYLEE, FOCUS. Harmony Hudson, Nashs mother, leaned forward on the faded olive couch, licking her lips in concentration as she watched me. She wore jeans and another snug tee, her blond curls pulled into the usual ponytail, a few ringlets hanging loose around her face. Harmony was the hottest mom Id ever personally met. She looked thirty years old, at the most, but Id seen her blow out her birthday candles a month earlier.
All eighty-two of them.
Close your eyes and think about the last time it happened, she continued, and I sucked in a lungful of the fudge-brownie-scented air. The last time you knew someone was going to die.
And thats where I lost my motivation. I didnt want to think about the last time. It still gave me nightmares.
Pale brows dipped low over Harmonys bright blue eyesexact copies of Todsand her dimple deepened when she frowned. Whats wrong?
I stared at the scarred hardwood floor. Last time waswith Sophie and Aunt Val.
Oh Harmonys eyes took on a familiar glint of wisdom, which, at first glance, seemed at odds with her youthful appearance. She was there when the rogue reaper killed my cousin and tried to take her soul. She saw my aunt give her life instead of Sophiesa last-minute act of courage and selflessness that had gone a long way toward redeeming her in my eyes.
Until Id learned that the other souls shed sold to Belphegore would be tortured for eternity along with my aunts. Now I was leaning decidedly toward the Aunt-Val-deserved-what-she-got school of thought.
Harmony watched emotions flit across my face, but as usual, she reserved her own judgment. That was why I liked her. Well, that, and the fact that she always had fresh-baked goodies ready to be devoured after our how-to-be-a-bean-sidhe lessons. Okay, then, pick a different time. Just think back to any death premonition. One that was less traumatic.
But the truth was that they were all traumatic. Id only known I was a bean sidhe for six weeks, and so far every premonition Id ever suffered through had thoroughly freaked me out. And every wail was largely uncontrollable.
Thus the lessons.
Okay I closed my eyes and leaned against the soft, faded couch cushions, thinking back to the most memorable premonitionother than that last one.
What? Nash stopped for a red light and glanced in the mirror again, his brows low in confusion. Hed obviously expected an argument, as had I.
Tod shifted on the cloth seat, his corporeal clothes rustling with the movement. I said fine. This is my problem, not yours. Ill do it myself.
This isnt your problem, either, Nash insisted, and I turned in my seat again so I could see them both at once. She sold her soul of her own free will for fame and fortune. The contract is legally binding, and it has a legally binding out-clause. Let her get it back herself. He stomped on the gas when the light changed, and the tires squealed beneath us as I grabbed the armrest.
She didnt know what she was doing, Nash, and she still doesnt. Tod leaned forward, glaring into the rearview mirror. She has no idea what rights she has in the Netherworld, and she cant even get there on her own. The out-clause is no good if you cant enforce it. You know that.
Wait I loosened my seat belt and found a more comfortable sideways position as dread twisted my stomach into knots a scout couldnt untie. She really cant do this on her own?
Tod shook his head. She doesnt stand a chance.
I sighed and sank back into my seat.
Nash glanced away from the road long enough to read my expression, shadows shifting over his face as we drove under a series of streetlights. No, Kaylee. We cant. We could get killed.
I know. I closed my eyes and let my head fall against the headrest. I know.
No! he repeated, his knuckles white on the steering wheel, jaw clenched in either fear or anger. Probably both.
Nash, we have to. I have to, anyway. I stared at his profile, desperate for the words to make him understand. I couldnt save the souls Aunt Val sold. Heidi, and Alyson, and Meredith, and Julie are going to be tortured forever, because I couldnt save them. My throat felt thick, and my voice cracked as tears burned my eyes.
Kaylee, thats not your fau
I know, but, Nash, I can help Addison. I can stop the same thing from happening to her. I wasnt sure how, but Tod wouldnt have offered our help if there was nothing we could do. Right? I have to do this.
Nash clutched the wheel even tighter, and he looked like he wanted to twist it into a pretzel. Then he exhaled, and his hands relaxed. Hed made his decision, and I held my breath, waiting for it. Fine. If youre in, Im in. His focus shifted to the rearview mirror, where he glared at Tod. But Im in this for Kaylee, not for you, and not for your idiot pop princess. Thelook he shot me then was part disappointment, part anger, part loyalty, and all Nash. His gaze scalded me from the inside out, and I squirmed in my seat as that heat settled low within me.
But when he turned back to the road, the flames sputtered beneath a wash of cold fear. Nash would get involved for me, but the truth was that I had no idea what I was doing.
What had I just gotten us into?
5
OKAY, KAYLEE, FOCUS. Harmony Hudson, Nashs mother, leaned forward on the faded olive couch, licking her lips in concentration as she watched me. She wore jeans and another snug tee, her blond curls pulled into the usual ponytail, a few ringlets hanging loose around her face. Harmony was the hottest mom Id ever personally met. She looked thirty years old, at the most, but Id seen her blow out her birthday candles a month earlier.
All eighty-two of them.
Close your eyes and think about the last time it happened, she continued, and I sucked in a lungful of the fudge-brownie-scented air. The last time you knew someone was going to die.
And thats where I lost my motivation. I didnt want to think about the last time. It still gave me nightmares.
Pale brows dipped low over Harmonys bright blue eyesexact copies of Todsand her dimple deepened when she frowned. Whats wrong?
I stared at the scarred hardwood floor. Last time waswith Sophie and Aunt Val.
Oh Harmonys eyes took on a familiar glint of wisdom, which, at first glance, seemed at odds with her youthful appearance. She was there when the rogue reaper killed my cousin and tried to take her soul. She saw my aunt give her life instead of Sophiesa last-minute act of courage and selflessness that had gone a long way toward redeeming her in my eyes.
Until Id learned that the other souls shed sold to Belphegore would be tortured for eternity along with my aunts. Now I was leaning decidedly toward the Aunt-Val-deserved-what-she-got school of thought.
Harmony watched emotions flit across my face, but as usual, she reserved her own judgment. That was why I liked her. Well, that, and the fact that she always had fresh-baked goodies ready to be devoured after our how-to-be-a-bean-sidhe lessons. Okay, then, pick a different time. Just think back to any death premonition. One that was less traumatic.
But the truth was that they were all traumatic. Id only known I was a bean sidhe for six weeks, and so far every premonition Id ever suffered through had thoroughly freaked me out. And every wail was largely uncontrollable.
Thus the lessons.
Okay I closed my eyes and leaned against the soft, faded couch cushions, thinking back to the most memorable premonitionother than that last one.
