Soul Thief Read online

  “What’s your favorite movie?”

  “That’s like asking a parent who their favorite kid is.”

  “Fine, be annoying. At least tell me your favorite genre.”

  “You’ll laugh, but all right. Romance.”

  “What?” I grinned. “Why the heck would you choose romance? That’s not very manly.”

  “Well, it’s the truth. I enjoy watching romance movies because they show humanity at its strongest and at its weakest.”

  “You’re as cryptic as a crossword puzzle.” I bumped my shoulder into his and let it linger there. I wanted him to believe I was too tired to move, but in reality I enjoyed the warmth of his body against mine.

  “Love,” he said, his voice lower, “it’s humanity’s greatest strength, but also its greatest weakness.”

  “Why?” I lowered my voice as well, although I had no idea why.

  “People are willing to risk everything for love, including their own lives. Love makes humans better, but it also makes them worse when that love is put to a test.”

  “You don’t seem to be a huge fan of the concept.”

  “Oh, but I am. It’s just… well, Angels don’t fall in love half as easily as humans do. It takes us years, centuries even.”

  “Oh.” My heart gave me a painful stab but I ignored it.

  “But then, when we love… it makes us a thousand times stronger and a thousand times weaker too. I just wish we could love sooner or love more.”

  “Have you ever been in love?” My voice sounded hoarse now, as if I’d spend an entire night singing karaoke.

  “Once.” Leander licked his lips and I wanted to kiss him right then and there. He looked so fragile, so heartbroken, as if even the memory of it could crush him.

  “What happened?” I moved away to sit in front of him. I sat on my knees and he was still slumped against the wall, our eyes at the same height.

  Instead of replying, he reached forward and touched my hair, letting it slip through his fingers. “She had blonde hair too, like flowing gold. A little darker than yours, the most beautiful color in the world.”

  “Did she… die?”

  “No. But after the war with Darius… it didn’t end well. She lost so much and she decided she wasn’t the same person she’d been before and so she couldn’t be with me any longer. She didn’t want to, I guess. Maybe she thought I betrayed her. Maybe I did.”

  “I don’t know you all that well, but you don’t seem like the kind of person who’d betray anyone.” My voice was barely more than a whisper. His hand still touched my hair and I wished I had the guts to reach for him as well, but I didn’t.

  “I was different back then. Younger. Reckless. I thought we had nothing to lose, thought I could make the world a better place.” He shook his head slowly, as if the weight of the world rested on his shoulders. “I was stubborn and careless and…”

  I leaned closer toward him, so I was almost sitting in his lap. It was as if the exhaustion of building the mental wall had eliminated any embarrassment I would’ve otherwise felt. “You did what you thought was right. That makes you one of the good guys.”

  “You really think so?”

  “I know you are. Heck, you’ve had more than enough patience with me.”

  “But you don’t know me,” Leander argued. “It’s been what, two weeks? You can’t know a person in two weeks.”

  “I didn’t need two weeks to figure that out, I knew it right away. It’s more like a feeling, a sense of knowing.”

  “So what’s your favorite?”

  “Huh?” I frowned, having no idea what he was talking about.

  “Genre of movies,” Leander replied.

  “Um…” This time I was struck with embarrassment. I was so close to him that I only had to move a little and I’d be touching him. If I turned my head, our lips would kiss. But he seemed unaware, or oblivious to what was going on. Maybe he really had no idea how these things worked and he thought we were just being friendly. But moving away now would be awkward as well, so I stayed rigid, unmoving.

  “Horror movies,” I replied.

  “What’s so great about those?”

  “They show how clever and brave people can be in the face of danger. I’ve always envied that.”

  “You’re brave, too.” Leander tucked a strand of loose hair behind my ear and a shiver went down my spine.

  “I’m not,” I said, barely able to keep my voice from trembling. “I nearly chickened out when Diane brought me to the Council and I was terrified when they decided I had to be executed.”

  “Being brave doesn’t mean not being afraid.” His breath touched my cheek, almost like a kiss of air. “It’s about being afraid but still doing the right thing. Still standing strong and fighting. That’s what courage truly is.”

  “And you think I’m brave? You barely know me.”

  “But I knew that from the moment we met,” Leander said, using what I’d just said against me.

  Well, if he thought I was brave then maybe it was time to do something brave.

  I turned my head slightly, facing him. My lips were inches away from his. I looked at his mouth and every inch of my body wanted to kiss him. But my brain screamed at me, asking me if this was a good idea or not. He may not be my real psychologist but he was my mentor.

  I could think of a dozen reasons why we shouldn’t kiss and only one reason why we should. Because I wanted to… with all my soul, with everything I had.

  “Are you okay?” Leander asked.

  “Yes.” I pulled back a little. The moment was lost, forever vanished into the folds of time. “Sorry.”

  “That’s okay. Come on, let’s get up. You already look like you have some color back.”

  We got up and I brushed imaginary dust off my pants. At least he couldn’t read my thoughts anymore, which made this a lot less embarrassing than it would’ve been otherwise.

  “Now it’s time for lesson two of the day,” Leander said. “We’re going to collect a soul.”

  I groaned, unwilling to hide my displeasure. “Do we have to? I have a Spanish test tomorrow and I really need to study.”

  “It won’t take that long. But this soul needs to be claimed today, and there’s no one around to do it, so either way it’s up to me.”

  “What, did Diane take a day off?”

  “She’s being debriefed by the Council. Standard policy,” he added when he saw the look in my eyes.

  “Never knew Heaven would be so… bureaucratic.”

  “There are rules for everything. Probably best that way. Now, come on, grab my hand. It won’t be as bad as you think.”

  “Right. But after this, I deserve a nice night of movies and relaxation, so if there’s some Angel spell to get rid of nasty Spanish teachers for a day or two, enlighten me.”

  “We’re Angels, not witches.” He held out his hand.

  I hesitated for a moment before taking it. Collecting souls seemed like the worst thing ever. My stomach clenched at the thought of it. But either way, this was my number one job description, so I’d have to learn to live with it one way or another. His comment had given me an idea though — maybe Grandma had a potion that would temporarily render Mrs. Bloom, my Spanish teacher, unable to work. It was the least she could do after keeping my heritage a secret for so long. Or maybe I just had to do it the old-fashioned way: pray to God.

  Before I could think anything else, the floor disappeared under my feet.

  Chapter 14

  THE FLOOR APPEARED AGAIN, but this time the dark brown tiles of classroom 217 were replaced by greyish, checkered tiles. Bile rose up in my throat. “Am I ever going to get used to this?” I asked, between deep, sharp breaths.

  “Eventually,” Leander replied. He nodded at the scene in front of us.

  An old man was lying in a h
ospital bed, his chest connected to a dozen different machines. He looked exhausted, his face pale as a corpse, with dark circles under his eyes making him look like a raccoon.

  “Can he hear us?”

  Leander shook his head. “We’re invisible and we can’t be heard either. We’re here, but we’re not really here. We’re on a different plane. Once his soul escapes from his body he’ll be able to see us.”

  “How much longer is that going to take?” The man’s chest moved up and down slowly, and he peeped and squeaked as if every breath took him a Herculean effort.

  “Not much longer, I reckon. Some people keep on fighting for a long time though, and then we play the waiting game. But this one won’t last for another fifteen minutes.”

  “Poor guy. He looks like he’s in real pain.”

  “He is. They’ve got him on numerous sedatives.”

  “How do you know that?” I asked.

  “I studied medicine in the 1980s… and it’s on his file here,” Leander said, pointing at a piece of paper hanging on the front of the bed.

  “Why isn’t anyone else here? They must know he’s dying.”

  “He doesn’t have any family left.”

  Now I felt even sorrier for the guy. He looked as old as time itself and his entire face was distorted from pain.

  I was about to ask Leander if we couldn’t do something for him when the old man groaned loudly. He opened up his eyes, stared right at me, and then fell down again, eyes closed forever. I didn’t need to be an Angel of Death to know he died. The beeping signal of one of the machines was proof enough.

  Seconds later, an army of doctors and nurses marched into the room. Leander pulled me to the side but they ignored us, which I guess was normal since we were invisible.

  “Can they hear us?” I whispered.

  “No.”

  “What if they bump into us?”

  “They’ll walk right through us,” Leander replied. “But you’ll feel drained, cold to the bone. Colder than you’ve ever felt before. So best we don’t let that happen.”

  “Agreed.”

  We gazed at the deceased man, whose soul, a spectral, see-through replica of himself, lingered in front of his body. He frowned and shook his head as if he could barely believe what was happening. Then he noticed us. He vanished and reappeared in front of my nose in a matter of seconds.

  I cried out and rushed backward. Leander stepped forward instead, taking the lead.

  “We’re here to take you to the afterlife.”

  “Light…” the man mumbled. “There’s light all around you. Are you angels?”

  “We are,” Leander said. “Take my hand. We’ll go to a better place.”

  For the first time, the man smiled. He looked years younger. “I don’t feel any pain.”

  “This is dead. There is no pain here,” Leander said.

  “What waits for me in the afterlife?”

  “Only you can know that. The people you love will be waiting there for you, that’s for sure.”

  “My wife?” The man’s face lit up like a candle. “My son?”

  “Everyone who passed away will be there.”

  “Take me!” he yelled out. “Sorry, guess that was a little overexcited.” He took my hand and Leander’s. Leander held out his other hand for me to take so we formed a full circle.

  Nerves tickled my stomach. We teleported again, but I managed to keep the nausea down this time by sheer willpower.

  We arrived in a place I’d never been before. The place was bathed in light. Clouds appeared under our feet, and in front of us stood a tall, wrought-iron, golden gate.

  “There is your afterlife,” Leander said to the old man, “through that gate.”

  “You’re not coming?” the man asked.

  “Here is where the journey ends for us.”

  “Well, thanks,” the old man said. “Oh, dear Lord, that’s my wife, Ingrid…” He rushed forward, and with each step he took he became faster and younger, as if the years vanished the closer he got to that gate.

  He opened up the gate, stepped through and waved at us one last time before leaving in a bright, golden light that almost blinded me.

  I turned away from the light, my eyes prickling. When I touched my face, I felt tears streaming down my cheeks.

  “It was so beautiful,” I whispered. “Is it always like this?”

  “Yes. Sometimes they need a bit more convincing though. But afterlife is different for everyone. We all get to see our family again, but based on which religion someone has it can look a little different. We each get the afterlife we believe in.”

  “So if you believe in reincarnation, you’re reincarnated?”

  “Everyone has a chance to get reincarnated. This isn’t the first time I’ve seen that guy either. But it’s a choice everyone has to make for themselves. Live happily forever after in your afterlife or go back and give life another chance.”

  “So Buddhist Heaven looks different from Christian Heaven?” I asked.

  “Everyone’s personal Heaven looks different. It’s not just a matter of general religion, but of what you’re longing for.”

  “Have you ever been behind the gate?”

  “No. There’s only one way to go through that gate, Riley, and that’s when you’re dead.”

  But in a place like this, filled with so much light and joy, even the promise of dead didn’t sound threatening.

  A feverish feeling crawled into my bones and I yawned. It seemed like days since I’d last slept.

  “Come on, I’ll take you back.”

  “Okay.” I was kind of sad to leave but at the same time, the more time I spent here the more tired I felt.

  Leander took me back to his house and I collapsed onto the couch. “I need to get a quick nap,” I said, curling up my legs.

  “I shouldn’t have taken you there.” Leander sounded mad.

  I pinched open one eye. “Why?”

  “Because it drained you. After setting up the mental wall and now this, you’re so drained you could get sick. And it gets messed up when angels get sick.”

  “You said we never get sick.”

  “Not unless our powers are drained. Every teleportation trip takes a bit of your powers. Every time we worked on your mental barrier it took some power. I just forgot that you’re only a Halfling. You get drained faster than the rest of us.”

  “The old man seemed fine.” I yawned again and twisted my arms until they formed a pillow. “I just need to get a quick nap and I’ll be up and kicking.”

  ”It’s not that draining for them. They’re just going along for the ride — we’re the ones using our energy to bring them to the Gate.” He paused and sighed. “I should’ve waited until tomorrow. Riley, I’m sorry.”

  I waved his concern away. “Don’t be. Could you get me a blanket?”

  “You can’t go to sleep right now. You’ll stay asleep for hours. We need to get you home.”

  “Pft,” I groaned. Then I closed my eyes and took a trip to dreamland.

  * * *

  I woke up in complete darkness, and more importantly, in my own bed. I groaned and propped myself up on my elbows. My muscles hurt as if I’d run a marathon. My stomach groaned from hunger.

  I reached for the nightlight and almost screamed when it revealed a figure lingering in the corner.

  “What the hell, Leander?” I whispered. “Didn’t I talk to you about this whole privacy thing before?”

  He breathed out. “I was scared you wouldn’t wake up again. You’ve been out for eight hours already.”

  “It’s called sleep.” I grunted and ruffled a hand through my hair. “What are you doing here?”

  “How much do you remember?”

  I frowned. “We went to the afterlife gate with that old man… then I
collapsed on your couch. And now I’m here. And I’m wearing pajamas.”

  A sickening thought crawled into my stomach. “Did you… did you…”

  “No,” Leander reassured me. “All I did was bring you home.”

  “Right, I find that almost impossible to believe,” I snapped.

  “I told your parents you had a nervous breakdown in therapy and that you were given some sedatives.” He grimaced. “You’ll probably get a cuddle treatment tomorrow morning.”

  “All right, I’ll bite. But why are you still here?”

  “Because I wasn’t sure you’d wake up. I messed up. I had no idea your powers would be drained that quickly, and to be drained completely is dangerous for regular Angels of Death, and about ten times as dangerous for Halflings. I’m so sorry.”

  “Don’t be. I’m all right. I’m more worried about you being here than anything else. What if my parents come in?”

  “I can vanish in the blink of an eye.”

  “They’ll think I’m talking to myself.” I rolled my eyes. “Guess that just goes with what they already believe about me.”

  “There’s one good thing about this too, you know. At least now you’ve seen how soul collecting works. Not as bad as it sounds, eh?” He sat down on the edge of my bed and I became terribly aware of the flimsy pajamas I was wearing and the short distance between us.

  “No. Can you please go now? I’m not comfortable with you here.”

  “Oh, sorry, I…”

  I grabbed his arm. “No, I’m sorry. I’m acting like a bitch. You were just worried, but it’s just… I’ve never had a guy in my room before and it feels weird.”

  “I see.” He stayed quiet for a minute. “I’m glad you’re all right. The longer you were out, the more I began to worry you might never wake up. You wouldn’t be the only Angel who died that way.”

  “If my powers are drained by doing so little, doesn’t that mean I’m like the worst Angel ever?” I asked.

  “Well, they certainly drained rather fast. But the more powerful you become, the less power it’ll take to do that and the larger your reserves will be.”