Soul Thief Read online

  “I was right behind that tree. You should’ve been able to sense me from such a short distance.”

  “Well, maybe I suck at this whole being an Angel thing.” Frustration welled up inside of me along with a glaring anger. I kicked one of the larger stones lying around and grimaced when it hurt. The stones were remnants of a cemetery that had been here centuries ago. At least, that’s what Gran once told me when we’d gone for a walk here. I patted the stone, showing I was sorry for kicking it. “Don’t send an evil spirit after me.”

  “Don’t get all wound up over this,” Leander said, ignoring my weird conversation with the tombstone. “It’s not worth it. You’ll get it right next time.”

  “Hmph.” I grunted. “Anything else? I’d like to get home.” I wrapped my arms around myself to indicate how cold I felt.

  “Come here,” Leander said.

  I frowned and walked over to him. He stared at me for a few seconds and then put his hand on my forehead.

  “You’re burning up.”

  “I thought you said we couldn’t get sick.”

  “We can’t. But when we drain our powers too much, we become feverish. No more training for you today. You should get some sleep.”

  “I haven’t exactly been sleeping well.” I sighed and lifted up my backpack from the ground. “I can’t stop thinking about this boy at the accident. He died. He was just a little kid.” I had no idea why I was telling Leander this when I hadn’t told it to anyone else yet — not my parents, not my friends, no one.

  “I’m sorry.” He put a hand on my shoulder. “I forget what it’s like for humans sometimes. When you live as long as I have, you’re used to people dying.”

  “I thought Angels were practically immortal?”

  “They are, but I’m talking about humans. If you think I lived so long without communicating with them, or befriending some of them, then you’d be very wrong.”

  “I never even considered it.” I started walking in the direction I came from, and he followed. “It’s a lot to take in. My mom cheating on my dad with an Angel, for instance. My dad not being my dad. That’s a tougher shock than the whole being an Angel thing.”

  Leander stayed quiet for a minute. He stopped walking. “Want to do something fun?”

  “Not sure if we have the same definition of fun, but what did you have in mind?”

  “How about a little trip through the sky?”

  My jaw dropped to the floor, and before I could stop myself I smiled from ear to ear. “You mean flying?”

  “Yes.”

  “Duh! What do I do?”

  “Hold on tight.” Leander opened up his arms.

  My cheeks must’ve blushed about ten thousand shades of red. I stepped into his arms and grabbed him tightly around the waist. He held on to me as well. Fire soared through my body where he touched me.

  “I said hold on tight, not strangle me to death.”

  I loosened up a little. “Sorry.”

  “That’s okay. You ready?”

  “Definitely.”

  He spread his wings, and I whispered, “Wow!” They were magnificent, large and black, with hundreds of feathers. They ran the length of his body, surrounded by the same ethereal glow as he was. My breath got stuck in my throat and seconds later we floated above the earth.

  I held on tighter as the ground became tinier and tinier below us. “Oh my God,” I whispered. It seemed like the kind of moment that required whispers, not talking out loud, for the risk of ruining it.

  Fairhaven stretched below us, a miniscule version of itself, as if I’d gone to Legoland to see miniature buildings. Thousands of tiny lights glistened from the streets below. Wind rushed around us.

  “This is amazing.” Tears welled up in my eyes. Now I finally knew what freedom tasted like. “Can I see my house?”

  “It’s not dark enough yet. We’re safe here above the forest, but I don’t want to risk anyone seeing us when we enter civilization.”

  “I get that.” I was barely able to hide my disappointment. “God, this is breathtaking. Can we fly to the stars?”

  “We’d be too exhausted to reach the stars. Our powers would be drained before we’d make it halfway.”

  I turned to face Leander. My face was only inches away from his and when he breathed out, his breath tickled my skin. “Thanks for this.”

  “You’re welcome.” He smiled the kind of smile that lit up his entire face. “I’ll take you home now.”

  “Yeah.” I gazed at the world below one last time, and wished I could stay here forever, floating in the sky, where everyday problems didn’t exist and I didn’t have to come face to face with the dad who wasn’t my dad, and the mom who cheated on him even before I was born.

  “What’s wrong? You were smiling one minute ago, and now you look as if your pet cat just died.” There was no humor in Leander’s voice, just concern.

  “Nothing. I just… this is amazing.”

  “I can read your thoughts, you know, so you can’t hide anything from me.”

  “Well, then pretend that you can’t. These are my problems,” I snapped, “and I’ll solve them myself.”

  His lips turned into a grim line. “Very well.”

  With that, we descended back to earth and I felt lonelier than ever.

  Chapter 9

  MY SOUR MOOD HADN’T improved by the time I got home. Leander had offered to drive me home but I refused, which I regretted as soon as the words had left my lips. Dreary raindrops created puddles in front of my feet and clouds gathered in the darkened sky. A storm was brewing and I raced the last few blocks to get home before the storm broke loose.

  I fumbled with the key of the front door, my hair damp and my clothes as wet as if I’d taken a shower in them. When I finally managed to get the door open, I let out a sigh of relief. Before I could take my shoes off, Cassie appeared in the kitchen doorway. “You’re late.” She crossed her arms in front of her small frame.

  “Who are you? My governess?” I rolled my eyes at her and kicked my sneakers in the corner.

  “What’s a governess?” Cassie frowned at me.

  “Forget it.” I waved my hand at her. “Where’s Mom and Dad?”

  “I’m in here, honey,” Mom replied from inside the kitchen.

  I gritted my teeth and forced myself to remain calm. Ever since I heard about Mom and the Angel, just hearing her voice put me on edge. Part of me wanted to confront her, but the other part didn’t want any additional drama right now.

  I walked into the kitchen.

  Cassie tagged along behind me, glancing at me as if she was a police officer checking out a suspect.

  “Hey,” I said, dropping my backpack on an empty chair.

  Mom put a plate on the table and looked up at me. Tears blinked in her eyes and red streaks on her cheeks revealed she’d been crying.

  “What’s wrong?” My anger at her was immediately replaced by worry. “Is something wrong with Dad? Gran?”

  “No, no, don’t worry.” She shook her head. “You remember Dan, your Dad’s co-worker?”

  “Yes.” Dan had come by our house a few times before, and every six months or so our families met up and had dinner. He had a daughter my age, Tara, and when we gathered for dinner we always chatted and gossiped. “What about him?”

  “His daughter, Tara.” Mom bit her lower lip. “She passed away last night.”

  “What?” I clenched the table with both hands. “How? What happened? Was there an accident?”

  “No.” Mom ran a hand through her hair. “She had a heart attack.”

  I sniffed and breathed out. “Poor Tara. I’m so sorry for her and her parents.” I still couldn’t quite grasp it, couldn’t understand that the bubbly, funny girl I didn’t really know that well, but knew well enough to like, had died.

  M
om patted me on the head. “I know. The funeral is this weekend. Your dad went over there to talk to them.”

  This put things in perspective though. If a sixteen year old girl could die from a heart attack, then my issues about being an Angel of Death and about Dad not being my real dad sounded ridiculous in comparison.

  Tears burned behind my eyes. “I didn’t know her that well, but she was nice and she had a great sense of humor.” I paused and looked down at the table. “Her parents must be in shock.”

  “They are. She never had any heart troubles before, seemed perfectly healthy. She even had a checkup last week.” Mom sat down next to me and dabbed her eyes with a tissue. “When I heard about what happened to her, it brought back all the fear I’d bottled up when I heard you were in the accident.” She put her hand on mine.

  She may have made a terrible mistake once, but she was still my Mom. I squeezed her hand.

  “When the hospital called and told us you had been in an accident, the entire world vanished from under my feet. Honey, I’m so glad you’re okay.” She opened up her arms and I let her hug me.

  “You two are being cheesy.” Cassie sniffed her nose at both of us. “If you’re going to hug, I want a hug too. I knew Tara too you know.”

  “Did you know already?” My voice raised an octave and I immediately let go of Mom.

  “Dad told me before he left.” Cassie walked toward us as if nothing was wrong. “He told me Tara went to see the Angels in Heaven, and that they’ll love her and will take care of her.” She narrowed her eyes at me. “He was telling the truth, right?”

  I nodded, unsure of what to say.

  “Well, then we should be happy for her. Heaven is a happy place, right?”

  “It is, sweetie,” Mom said through her tears.

  “Can I have a hug now?”

  “Come here.” I spread my arms so she could squeeze in. The three of us hugged each other and I fought against the tears.

  It took forever until we let go. Cassie was the first one to wiggle away out of the hug. She sniffed her nose at me. “You smell weird.”

  “Weird like how?”

  “Like trees and forests.”

  “You’re dreaming.” I gave her a kiss on her forehead.

  * * *

  Dad didn’t come home until late. I was still up when I heard the front door open. Minutes later hushed tones filled the hallway.

  I’d tried to study but my mind had wandered back to Tara. Guilt rushed over me because I’d never taken the time to get to know her well. During the obligatory family dinners we talked like old friends, but I never found the time to talk to her otherwise. She’d texted me a few weeks ago to ask if I wanted to go to a party with her, but I lied and told her I already had plans. Truth was I was free that night, but I felt dead tired and too lazy to go out. I should’ve texted her and set up another date, but I never did. I was happy with keeping her in that box reserved for family dinners, not for real friendship.

  “I’m sorry, Tara,” I whispered, as I looked down at my Spanish textbook. The words were gibberish through my tears.

  With everything that had happened lately, I half-expected her to show up as an evil spirit looking for vengeance, but that didn’t happen.

  I threw the Spanish textbook back in my backpack and dug up my math book. In the middle of sketching a matrix, the skin on the back of my neck began to tingle.

  I ignored the tingling, but the longer I ignored it, the more aggressive it became. I glanced behind me a few times.

  “Just your imagination,” I told myself out loud as I turned back to my homework.

  I hadn’t even picked up my pencil when a swooshing sound came from behind me. I jumped up, kicking the chair on the ground, and ducked just in time to avoid being hit in the head with a textbook.

  “What the hell?”

  Leander had appeared next to my bed. He smiled as if he hadn’t just thrown a textbook at me. “You’ve got some fast moves, Riley Scott.”

  “Huh? What the hell are you doing here? Why are you in my room?” I lowered my voice to a whisper. “If my parents find you here, they’re going to freak out. And why would you think it’s okay to appear in the middle of my room?”

  “Relax. I just wanted to prove something to you.”

  “Prove what?”

  “That you have powers. You can move faster than humans — you just did. You can sense me. All you needed was to be endangered, even if it was by a flying book, and your powers activated.”

  I took a deep breath and let my hands drop to my hips. “You came here just to prove to me that I have powers?”

  “Yep.” He grinned. “And it worked.”

  I nodded and licked my lips. Anger flared up inside of me and rage ran through my veins. I took a step toward him, raised a finger and said, as slow and low as I could, “I don’t care if you’re a Guardian Angel or the Pope, for that matter. You don’t come into my room unannounced or uninvited. You don’t startle me. You nearly gave me a heart attack and I’m not in the mood for games. I played your little game in the forest, I’m willing to learn to control my powers, but I need my privacy.”

  To my surprise, Leander smirked. “You certainly have a lot of guts, threatening someone who’s probably ten times as strong as you are. But I get your point.” His smile faltered and he shrugged. “I just wanted to cheer you up. I’m not good with… this.”

  I looked at him, waiting for him to continue.

  “It’s been a long time since I communicated with humans. They act completely different than Angels. It hurt me when you told me your troubles were none of my business.” He sighed and struggled for words. “It’s a Guardian thing — I always want to help people. So I took it out on you and then I felt bad. This was me trying to make up and being very stupid about it.”

  I sighed and gave him a half-smile. “It’s okay. I had the longest day ever, so I’m not exactly in a good mood either.”

  “I know. A girl you knew died.”

  I frowned. “How do you know?”

  “Sorry, your mind was practically screaming it.”

  I put my hand over my face. “Yeah, I’m still not used to the whole mindreading thing. And I feel bad about what happened to Tara.” I paused, and a sickening feeling spread through my bones. “You weren’t… you weren’t the one who had to collect her soul, right?”

  “No, wasn’t me. I cleared up my schedule so I could spend more time training you, so I gave some of my duties to Diane, like deciding who gets to collect whose soul. Tara’s soul… I’m not sure who had to collect her, but I didn’t do it.”

  I nodded. “Thanks. I… just thinking about it…” The words choked in my throat. “I’d like to be alone for a while.”

  Leander nodded. “I’ll go now. Sorry for coming over here uninvited. It’s been a few centuries since I befriended humans and I forgot how uptight you are about privacy.”

  “Wait.” I grabbed his arm. “Thanks. You may have been clumsy about it, but you tried to cheer me up and I appreciate the effort.”

  He smiled, his entire face lighting up.

  My heart skipped a beat and a hot blush crept up my face. I tried to keep my thoughts in check. Don’t think about how handsome he looks, Riley.

  If he read my thoughts, he didn’t comment on them. “Goodnight, Riley.”

  “Goodnight.”

  Seconds later, he’d vanished from my room. I stumbled back onto my bed, smiling and trying to keep from crying at the same time.

  Chapter 10

  DURING THE NEXT FEW DAYS, Leander and I spent countless hours building a protective mental wall in my mind, brick by brick. It was a tiring and annoying job, but the sooner I got that wall in place, the sooner nobody would be able to read my mind.

  “Very powerful empaths, like Archangels, will still be able to read your thoughts tho
ugh,” Leander said when I started about it again.

  We were sitting in classroom 217, which had become our private sanctuary during school hours. He kept me busy most of the day and my grades were suffering as a result. Some teachers gave me a break because of the accident. Not Mr. O’Toole though, the dreaded math teacher. Of course math was the one subject at which I was exceedingly horrible.

  “I know, and I don’t care. I’ll be glad if the rest of you can’t read my thoughts anymore.” I kept my eyes shut, picturing a brick dropping on top of the nearly-finished wall.

  “Humans and privacy… I’ll never get it.” Leander sighed. “Fine, but after we build this wall, we’ll do something fun with your powers for a change.”

  “Like what?”

  “Maybe we could go collect a soul.”

  My blood froze in my veins. I opened up my eyes and stared at him. “No.”

  “What, no? This is what we do, Riley. Sooner or later, you’ll have to start collecting souls.”

  “Yeah, well, that’s not on top of my ‘to do’ list.” I let go of his hands and dusted off my jacket. “Can’t we skip the whole ‘collecting a soul’ thing? It’s almost the weekend. I don’t want any other emotional ordeals before I get a few days’ rest.”

  Leander opened up his mouth as if he was going to say something, and then shut it again.

  “What?”

  “It’s that girl’s funeral, right? Tara?”

  Way to ruin my good mood. “Yeah. That’ll be enough emotional turmoil to last the entire weekend.”

  “All right, then. We’ll wait until after the weekend to collect a soul.”

  “Thanks.” I smiled at him, and when he smiled back an army of butterflies gathered in my stomach.

  Keep it together, Riley. He’s your mentor. This is like falling for your teacher. Not done.

  “You know, I will miss reading your thoughts,” Leander teased. “especially when you’re thinking about me.”

  “Do you have to be so obnoxious? You probably hear about how handsome you are every day.” I ignored the warmth rising to my cheeks and turned away from him, focusing on the floor instead.