My Soul to Take
Page 32
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For a moment, I could only stare at him, struck numb and dumb by an outpouring of words that contained no real information. And I have to admit there were a couple of seconds there when I wondered if maybe I wasnt the one in need of a straitjacket.
But hed believed me when I told him about Heidi, as crazy as the whole thing sounded, and had talked me through two different premonitions. The least I could do was hear him out.
What am I? The very questionand my willingness to ask itmade my heart pound so hard and so fast I felt like the car was spinning. My arms were covered in goose bumps.
Fading daylight cast shadows defining the planes of his face as he squinted through the windshield into the sun, now a heavy scarlet ball on the edge of the horizon. But his focus never left my eyes. Youre a bean sidhe, Kaylee. The death premonitions are normal. Theyre part of who you are.
Another moment of stunned silence, which I clung toa brief respite from the madness that each new word seemed to bring. Then I forced the pertinent question to my lips, fighting to keep my jaw from falling off my face as my mouth dropped open. Sorry, what?
He grinned and ran one hand over the short stubble on his jaw. I know, this is the part where you start thinking Im the crazy one.
As a matter of fact
But I swear this is the truth. Youre a bean sidhe. And so are your parents. At least one of them, anyway.
I shook my head and pushed my hair back from my face, trying to clear away the confusion and make sense of what hed said. Banshee? Like, from mythology? Wed done a mythology unit in sophomore English the year before, but it was mostly Greek and Roman stuff. Gods, goddesses, demigods, and monsters.
Yeah. Only the real thing. He took a drink from his cup, then set it in the holder. Theres a bunch they dont teach you in school. Things they dont even know about, because they think its all just a bunch of old stories.
And youre saying its not? I found myself scooting closer to the door, until the handle cut into my back, trying to put some space between myself and the only guy in the world who could make me sound normal.
No. Kaylee, its you! He watched me intently, expectantly, and while I wanted to wallow in denial, I couldnt. Even if Nash was one grape short of a bunch, there was something compelling about him. Something irresistible, even beyond the sculpted arms, gorgeous eyes, and adorable dimples. He made me feelcontent. Relaxed. Like everything would be okay, one way or another. Which was quite a feat, considering his claim that I was unqualified to run in the human race.
Think about it, he insisted. What do you know about bean sidhes?
I shrugged. Theyre women in long, wispy gowns who walk around during funerals,wailing over the dead. Sometimes they wail over the dying, announcing that the end is near. I sipped watered-down soda, then gestured with my cup. But, Nash, banshees are just stories. Old European legends.
He nodded. Most of it, yes. They spell it wrong, for starters. The Gaelic is B-E-A-N S-I-D-H-E. Two words. Literally, it means woman of the faeries.
My eyebrows shot halfway up my forehead as I dropped my cup back into the drink holder. Wait, you think Im a faerie? Like, with little glittery wings and magic wands?
Nash frowned. This isnt Disney, Kaylee. Faerie is a very broad term. It basically means other than human. And forget about the wispy gowns and following funerals. All that went out of style a long time ago. But the rest of it? Women as death heralds? Sound familiar?
Okay, there was a slight similarity to my morbid predictions, butTheres no such thing as bean sidhes, no matter how you spell it.
There are no premonitions either, right? His hazel eyes sparkled in the fading light when he grinned, refusing to be derailed by my cynicism. Okay, lets see how much of this I can get right. Your dadHe looks really young, right? Too young to have a sixteen-year-old daughter? Your uncle too. Theyre brothers, right?
Unimpressed, I rolled my eyes and folded one leg beneath me on the narrow leather car seat. You saw my uncle an hour agoyou know hes young. And I havent seen my dad in a year and a half. Though as a child, Id always thought he looked young and handsome. But that was a long time ago.
I know your uncle looks young, but that means nothing to a bean sidhe. He could be a hundred.
That time I laughed. Right. My uncles a senior citizen. Wouldnt it piss Aunt Val off to think he could be more than twice her age and still look younger!
Nash frowned at my skepticism, his face darkening as the last rays of daylight slowly bled from the sky. Okay, what about the rest of your family? Your ancestors are Irish, right?
I rolled my eyes and crossed my arms over my chest. My names Cavanaugh. Thats not a big leap. Plus, he already knew my dad lived in Ireland.
Bean sidhes are native to Ireland. Thats why the stories all stem from old Irish folktales.
Oh. Now that was quite a coincidence. But nothing more.
Got anything else, Houdini?
Nash reached across the center console and took my hand again, and this time I didnt pull away. Kaylee, I knew what you were the minute you told me Heidi Anderson was going to die. But I probably would have known earlier if Id been paying attention. I just never expected to run into a bean sidhe at my own school.
But hed believed me when I told him about Heidi, as crazy as the whole thing sounded, and had talked me through two different premonitions. The least I could do was hear him out.
What am I? The very questionand my willingness to ask itmade my heart pound so hard and so fast I felt like the car was spinning. My arms were covered in goose bumps.
Fading daylight cast shadows defining the planes of his face as he squinted through the windshield into the sun, now a heavy scarlet ball on the edge of the horizon. But his focus never left my eyes. Youre a bean sidhe, Kaylee. The death premonitions are normal. Theyre part of who you are.
Another moment of stunned silence, which I clung toa brief respite from the madness that each new word seemed to bring. Then I forced the pertinent question to my lips, fighting to keep my jaw from falling off my face as my mouth dropped open. Sorry, what?
He grinned and ran one hand over the short stubble on his jaw. I know, this is the part where you start thinking Im the crazy one.
As a matter of fact
But I swear this is the truth. Youre a bean sidhe. And so are your parents. At least one of them, anyway.
I shook my head and pushed my hair back from my face, trying to clear away the confusion and make sense of what hed said. Banshee? Like, from mythology? Wed done a mythology unit in sophomore English the year before, but it was mostly Greek and Roman stuff. Gods, goddesses, demigods, and monsters.
Yeah. Only the real thing. He took a drink from his cup, then set it in the holder. Theres a bunch they dont teach you in school. Things they dont even know about, because they think its all just a bunch of old stories.
And youre saying its not? I found myself scooting closer to the door, until the handle cut into my back, trying to put some space between myself and the only guy in the world who could make me sound normal.
No. Kaylee, its you! He watched me intently, expectantly, and while I wanted to wallow in denial, I couldnt. Even if Nash was one grape short of a bunch, there was something compelling about him. Something irresistible, even beyond the sculpted arms, gorgeous eyes, and adorable dimples. He made me feelcontent. Relaxed. Like everything would be okay, one way or another. Which was quite a feat, considering his claim that I was unqualified to run in the human race.
Think about it, he insisted. What do you know about bean sidhes?
I shrugged. Theyre women in long, wispy gowns who walk around during funerals,wailing over the dead. Sometimes they wail over the dying, announcing that the end is near. I sipped watered-down soda, then gestured with my cup. But, Nash, banshees are just stories. Old European legends.
He nodded. Most of it, yes. They spell it wrong, for starters. The Gaelic is B-E-A-N S-I-D-H-E. Two words. Literally, it means woman of the faeries.
My eyebrows shot halfway up my forehead as I dropped my cup back into the drink holder. Wait, you think Im a faerie? Like, with little glittery wings and magic wands?
Nash frowned. This isnt Disney, Kaylee. Faerie is a very broad term. It basically means other than human. And forget about the wispy gowns and following funerals. All that went out of style a long time ago. But the rest of it? Women as death heralds? Sound familiar?
Okay, there was a slight similarity to my morbid predictions, butTheres no such thing as bean sidhes, no matter how you spell it.
There are no premonitions either, right? His hazel eyes sparkled in the fading light when he grinned, refusing to be derailed by my cynicism. Okay, lets see how much of this I can get right. Your dadHe looks really young, right? Too young to have a sixteen-year-old daughter? Your uncle too. Theyre brothers, right?
Unimpressed, I rolled my eyes and folded one leg beneath me on the narrow leather car seat. You saw my uncle an hour agoyou know hes young. And I havent seen my dad in a year and a half. Though as a child, Id always thought he looked young and handsome. But that was a long time ago.
I know your uncle looks young, but that means nothing to a bean sidhe. He could be a hundred.
That time I laughed. Right. My uncles a senior citizen. Wouldnt it piss Aunt Val off to think he could be more than twice her age and still look younger!
Nash frowned at my skepticism, his face darkening as the last rays of daylight slowly bled from the sky. Okay, what about the rest of your family? Your ancestors are Irish, right?
I rolled my eyes and crossed my arms over my chest. My names Cavanaugh. Thats not a big leap. Plus, he already knew my dad lived in Ireland.
Bean sidhes are native to Ireland. Thats why the stories all stem from old Irish folktales.
Oh. Now that was quite a coincidence. But nothing more.
Got anything else, Houdini?
Nash reached across the center console and took my hand again, and this time I didnt pull away. Kaylee, I knew what you were the minute you told me Heidi Anderson was going to die. But I probably would have known earlier if Id been paying attention. I just never expected to run into a bean sidhe at my own school.
