Soul Thief Page 5

  “Gossiping about me again?”

  I turned around to face Michelle. “You’ve got to stop sneaking up on people. I know you’re the queen of spies, but you’re lucky it’s my head and not my heart that got hurt in the accident or I’d have a heart attack right about now.”

  Michelle shrugged. Her dark blonde, curly hair looked disheveled as usual. Her large blue eyes peered into mine, as if she wanted to find out whether I was okay or not by reading my eyes. After a few seconds she broke into a smile, revealing teeth that were a little too big for her mouth. “Glad to see you’re back to the land of the living.”

  “Jeez, Michelle, just because Riley got to spend her weekend wearing those filthy hospital gowns doesn’t mean that you had to go all casual too.” She scrunched up her nose. “Why are there four holes in your jeans?”

  Michelle looked down at her washed-out jeans and sneakers that looked like she just ran cross country. “It’s a fashion statement.”

  The clothes banter was a continuous fake argument between Katie and Mich. Katie was a self-proclaimed fashion icon, while Michelle’s clothing style always lingered somewhere between casual and nerdy.

  Michelle offered me a chocolate bar. “A feel-better snack.”

  “Well, I wouldn’t dare say no to chocolate.” I opened up the wrapper and took a bite. “Katie was just telling me how worried both of you were. Very touching.”

  “Laugh about it all you like,” Katie said while she looked in disgust at my chocolate bar. “You should’ve seen the accident on TV, and then you’d be worried out of your mind as well. And then the explosion…”

  “Maybe it’s better if we don’t bother Riley with the gruesome details right now, “Michelle interrupted her, giving her a pointed look before she turned to me. “I’ve read up on concussions, and if you feel a headache coming on, or nausea, let me know.”

  “It was only a minor concussion. Nothing to worry about.”

  I wanted to tell them about the Council, about Angels of Death, even about my Dad not being my Dad. But it all seemed so unreal while we were standing there in front of the solid, dull school building with teenagers chatting away as they walked in and out. Birds chirped in the distance and cars honked down the street, reducing everything I’d been through since the accident to nothing more than a bad dream.

  A black sports car rolled into the school’s parking lot. It looked far more expensive than anything kids my age could buy.

  Goosebumps ran down my arms, and my heart raced in my chest. I couldn’t pull my gaze away from the sports car, as if I was watching a horror movie, and I knew something spooky was about to happen. The car stopped and the driver opened up the door. Leander stepped out. Even if I hadn’t recognized him, the golden glow surrounding him would’ve given him away. He turned around to face me and nodded.

  Katie whistled. “Smoking hot.”

  “Are you talking about the car or the boy?” Michelle asked.

  “The car. The boy looks cute too.”

  “You say that about all the guys.” Michelle rolled her eyes. “Either way, he doesn’t go to school here or else we would’ve seen him before.”

  “Exchange student?”

  “He looks too old to be a student. Probably an interim teacher.”

  While they talked, my mind worked in overdrive. Leander had mentioned that we’d have to work several hours a day to learn to control my powers. But if he signed up here as an interim teacher then how would that help? Maybe he enrolled as a tutor. That would make sense. I didn’t really need tutoring for any courses, but he could probably find his way around that. If he had enough connections to get here, then he could deal with the details.

  “Earth to Riley.” Katie waved a hand in front of me. “I know that guy was smoking hot, but that’s no excuse to keep gazing off into the distance like you’re already imagining a fairytale ending.”

  “You only saw him for two seconds. How can you even know he’s ‘smoking hot’?” I imitated Katie’s voice.

  She shrugged. “I have a hotness-radar. I can smell it from miles away. Now come on, I want to find out why he’s here. I call dibs, by the way.”

  “You always call dibs.” I rolled my eyes.

  “Well, someone has to take the lead. Besides, you two little girls probably still think boys are yucky. Ever since you broke up with that guy from your orchestra, what’s his name,” she said to Mich, “you’ve been wary of hanging out with any boys. And you, Riles, well, I’ve never even seen you talk to a boy.”

  “I talk to Craig and he’s a boy,” I said.

  “He’s also gay, so technically he doesn’t fall into the potential-dates category.”

  “Give her a break, will you?” Michelle intervened on my behalf. “She just came back from the hospital.”

  “Exactly.” Katie sighed. “You’d think that after what happened, she’d want to live a little. Do stupid stuff. Not always be Miss Perfect.”

  Michelle sighed and lifted her backpack on her shoulder. “Let’s just get to class. I’m not in the mood to argue.”

  “I’ve just never met a guy who seems interesting enough to date,” I said. “Just because you find everyone intriguing doesn’t mean I do.”

  Katie slapped my comment away with a wave of her hand. “You don’t give them a chance. You’re way too picky.”

  “Now that Katie has successfully analyzed both our personalities, can we please get to class?” Michelle asked. “I don’t want to be late.”

  “Fine,” I said. “Besides, how exactly can we ‘live a little’ when we’re stuck in school for the next six hours?”

  “Point taken.” Katie lifted her bag on her shoulder and led us into the hallway.

  * * *

  My worst nightmare became reality.

  Leander hadn’t planned on being a tutor at my school. No, he’d decided he’d pretend to be a licensed psychologist. Since I was the only person in school directly involved in the accident, that meant I was the only pupil he was going to counsel. This instantly made me the target of everyone’s pity. The few kids in my class who weren’t aware I’d been in the accident all turned to me, their eyes wide. Seconds later they started whispering to each other.

  I shot my angriest glare at Leander, who was standing in front of the class looking as innocent as a newborn babe. He’d dressed up to play the part of a psychologist, wearing a navy blue sweater and dark brown pants.

  “Mr. Pyne has requested to have a talk with you after second period,” the principal droned on. He’d barged into Mr. O’Toole’s class with Leander in tow, had given a speech about how terrible the accident was and how glad he was that I made it out alive — even though he’d never even talked to me before, so I doubt he was as glad as he pretended to be — and how the school had arranged for a psychologist if I wanted to talk to someone.

  Mr. O’Toole sat on his desk, his arms crossed in front of his large belly. His mouth was a thin line, a look he always got when he wasn’t pleased with something. This time it was probably the principal interrupting his class.

  I didn’t want anyone’s sympathy because I’d been in the accident. I was fine. If anyone deserved their sympathy it was that little boy who died, or Claire and the other paramedics who’d risked their lives to save others.

  It took me a minute to realize the principal was waiting for my response. “Oh. Um. Okay,” I mumbled.

  “Classroom 217,” the principal said. Then he diverted into another speech about how thoughtful the school was and how well they took care of their students.

  Leander gave me a small smile, but I deliberately ignored him and focused on my desk instead.

  When they finally left, I relaxed in my seat. My shoulders burned from tension, and I sighed. If one of my Angel powers involved giving myself a massage, that would’ve been great.

  Mr. O’Toole conti
nued his lecture, drawing matrices on the blackboard and telling us about the importance of mathematics. I wrote down everything he said without taking much notice of it.

  I paused to look up at the blackboard when my neighbor, Stacey, leaned over and whispered to me. “Are you okay?”

  I sighed and resisted the urge to run away out of the classroom and not come back. But Stacey was just about the nicest girl in school. When I was sick for two weeks with the flu, she brought my homework over every evening and even helped me study for a test I missed. “I’m fine,” I whispered. “Just a slight concussion.”

  “Good to hear that. Want to meet up after school? We’re heading over to the Shack. It would be awesome if you and your friends came too.”

  I frowned and stared at my notebook. Katie would be thrilled, of course. She loved hanging out after school, and the Shack was just about the place to be. Mich would come too, after some convincing. But what if Leander wanted to meet up to train my Angel powers?

  Oh, screw that. My entire life had turned upside down, so I deserved some mindless fun.

  “Deal,” I said. “I’ll ask the others.”

  “Great.” Stacey smiled and bright lights sparkled in her eyes. She was the most popular girl in school, not just because she was the captain of the cheerleading squad, or any of those things you see in movies. She was popular because she was nice to everyone. She probably knew the name of every single student in the entire school. “And if you ever want to talk to someone, I’m here. I went through something similar once.”

  I nodded and smiled, hoping to come across as grateful instead of preoccupied. As much as I appreciated the offer, I’d rather everyone just forgot about it and moved on with their lives.

  Chapter 7

  I BARGED INTO LEANDER’S newfound office, classroom 217, and threw my backpack on the ground.

  He was sitting behind a desk, reading the newspaper as if he had no care in the world. He looked up at me, a frown appearing on his handsome face.

  “So let me get this straight,” I said. “You thought, ‘Hey, I need to squeeze in a few hours a day to teach my newest Halfling Angel of Death the basics. She just went through a traumatizing experience, so here’s an idea… how about I pose as a psychologist?’” I paused and rolled my eyes. “Did you ever stop to think that maybe I needed an actual psychologist after all that’s happened?”

  “Well, then you’re in luck.” Leander put the newspaper down and looked up at me. His smile was disarming, but I wasn’t ready to give up my battle just yet. “I happen to be a licensed psychologist.”

  I frowned and slumped down on the nearest seat. “You’re kidding me.”

  “Nope. When you live forever, or at least close to forever, you pick up a few degrees here and there.”

  “And your psychology degree is still valid? Because if you picked it up sometime in the nineteenth century, then I’ve got a news flash for you — lobotomy isn’t all that fashionable anymore.”

  His eyes sparkled when he laughed. Katie had been right when she said he was hot. He was perfect. He was one of those good-looking guys you only find on the covers of magazines or in perfume commercials, not in real life. Yet there was something off-putting about that perfect look, about the white teeth, curly hair, and masculine jawline.

  “I’m glad you’re taking all this with the necessary amount of humor,” he said, flashing some of those white teeth.

  I shrugged and leaned back in my seat.

  Leander got up and walked over to me. He grabbed a chair and sat down at the other side of the desk, so close that our knees touched. “We’ll start with a simple exercise. I want you to get a vibe of this whole mindreading thing. I’ll think of something, but I won’t tell you. I’ll lower down my protective walls and I want you to go find out what I’m thinking.”

  “That doesn’t sound simple.”

  “Hold my hands and close your eyes.”

  I did as he told me to. My hands trembled a little.

  “Now, this is just to make things easier. In time, you’ll be able to do it even from a distance. But we’re not doing this exercise to teach you to read other people’s minds — we’re doing it so you can feel where the border is between your mind and someone else’s mind.”

  I frowned. “That makes no sense.”

  “Just give it a shot. Picture your energy expanding. Think of it as a bolt of light coming from your mind and streaming into mine.”

  I pictured the bolt of light. But when I tried to picture the energy moving, a flashback of the accident appeared instead. My car, crashing into the car in front of me. The chaos, the fire.

  I yanked my hands away from his and took a few deep breaths. “I’m sorry.”

  “What happened? Are you all right?”

  “I’m fine. Just… I got an image from the accident. I don’t remember all of it, but sometimes I have these flashes.”

  “It’s all right,” Leander said, patting my hand. “I didn’t expect this to work from the first try. Let’s give it another go.”

  We tried again, and again, and again, until I had a clear picture of a bolt of light flying from my mind to Leander’s, accessing his most secret thoughts. Then, something happened. A wave of energy traveled from my mind into his, past a border I didn’t even know was there. I became a spectator riding on top of this energy wave. The wave flew past the crumbling walls of a mental barrier in Leander’s mind, until we ended up in a desert beyond that. In the middle of the desert lay one single thought, spelled out right in front of me.

  “The sky is blue,” I said. “That’s what you were thinking about.”

  “Not a very original thought, I admit,” Leander said. “But you did find it. Did you feel the wall I’d pulled down to let you through?”

  “I think I saw it. It looked like a medieval fortress wall, but it had crumbled down.”

  His lips curled into a smile. “That’s because I let it crumble down so your energy could pass through. We’ve made good progress, Riley.”

  My smile swelled with pride.

  “We’re going to make a similar wall in your mind. It’ll help protect your thoughts from others.”

  “So when I build this wall and you try to access my thoughts, you’ll see that wall too? Not just feel it?”

  “Yep. It’s not exactly seeing though. We call it ‘seeing with our mind’s eye’. That’s why it’s easier to do this with your eyes closed; it helps distinguish what you can see with your eyes from what you see with your mind’s eye.”

  “This sounds like some new-age spiritual thing. Not to be too curious or anything, but what powers do we have besides the mindreading?”

  “I thought you’d never ask.” Leander leaned back in his seat and smiled like a cat who’d just got milk. “We can fly, for one.”

  “No way. Like the teleportation thing wasn’t cool enough.” My heart fluttered at the thought of flying.

  “Teleportation drains a lot of our powers. We’re only meant to do it when there’s an emergency, when we’re collecting souls, or when we have a meeting with the Council. Apart from that, no teleportation.”

  “What if someone sees us when we’re… flying?” It sounded weird, rolling off my tongue. Humans didn’t fly. It had always been something I dreamt of — being able to fly — but I thought more along the lines of airplanes or helicopters, not this.

  “We try to do it only by night, when no one will notice us.”

  “Makes sense.” I bit my lower lip. “Hold on, if I can fly then why don’t I have any wings?” I already daydreamed about flying to the top of church, through the mountains, over the seas…

  Suddenly, the idea of being an Angel of Death didn’t sound so bad after all.

  “They will appear of their own accord. Impossible to rush it. When they’re ready to grow, they’ll grow.”

  “The
Council Members had wings. Large black ones. But I didn’t see Diane’s wings.”

  “That’s because hers are smaller.” Leander hesitated. “If you value your life, I suggest you don’t ask her why. But in general, the rule is that the older or the more powerful an Angel is, the longer their wings are.”

  “So my wings will be small? But I’ll still be able to fly, right?”

  “Of course.”

  “And while I’m waiting for these wings to mysteriously grow…wait! Will these wings grow out of my back?” My eyes went wide and I cringed at the thought of how much that would hurt.

  “Yes. And even when you close your wings, you’ll still have some scar tissue on your back.”

  My earlier enthusiasm melted like snow in the sun. “So basically, no more trips to the beach for me. My back will forever be deformed?”

  “It’s not that bad. Here, I’ll show you.”

  Before I could stop him, Leander got up and took his sweater off.

  I swallowed and licked my lips. My throat went dry. Not only was this the first time I’d been alone in a room with a guy who was semi-naked, but on top of that, he was gorgeous. I’d expected him to be on the thin side, but he was actually a lot more muscular than I would’ve given him credit for. Not bodybuilder-bulky muscular, but lean and slim.

  “Don’t stare, that’s rude.” Leander grinned before he turned around, his back toward me. “Now come on, I won’t bite.”

  I wanted to move but my feet were glued to the ground. It took all my determination to lift my left foot, then my right foot, and to walk over to him.

  Two large cuts under his shoulder blades deformed the otherwise perfect skin of his back.

  “Does it hurt?”

  “Nah. I’ve gotten used to it. At the start, it hurts every time you open up your wings though.”

  Mesmerized, I touched his skin. My fingers travelled along the small cuts.

  Leander gasped, and I pulled back right away. “I’m sorry.”

  “That’s okay. I….” He stepped away from me and reached for his t-shirt. “You startled me, that’s all.” He pulled the sweater back over his head. “Any more questions?”