Color of Angels' Souls (21 page)

Jeremy only shrugged. He was used to his new life now. He certainly wasn't going to hold it against Allison—but he couldn't say the same for that bastard who had killed him. He could see the same anger brewing in the young woman's eyes.

“We're not going to let him get away with it, are we?” she whispered, with a determined look on her face. “We'll find a way to make him pay for what he did. I know we can't touch him or hurt him, but he
has to
put that product on the market. With every passing day thousands of people die of that horrible illness, and that lunatic is holding back the drug just so he can make more money. He's a monster, Mr. Galveaux, a horrible monster. He's the one who should be here, and not us!”

“Call me Jeremy,” he said without thinking. “But I don't know what we can do. After all, I couldn't even find a way to save you, and I honestly don't see how we'll be able to get revenge on our murderer and also force Ventousi to put his product on the market!”

Allison clenched her teeth. Jeremy could tell she was still frightened. It was as if he had a sixth sense, and he could also tell her anger was just as much fear as anything else. Angels didn't produce any Mist—at least, not any that Jeremy was capable of detecting. But if he could, Jeremy would have bet anything that Allison's was red and black at that moment.

Jeremy looked at her affectionately. Allison was brave, that was for sure, and also stubborn and headstrong. He would have liked to kiss her right there on the spot, because it was both incredibly wonderful and scary to be able to touch her now, after all those hours he'd spent contemplating her.

“What is it?” she asked. “Why are you looking at me like that? Listen, I know that this is all probably a bit too much for you, and that all of this is my fault and you'd probably like to kill me for what I've done—I mean, in a matter of speaking. But I really need you. For the time being anyway. I need you to explain to me how this new world works, and how we can go to Ventousi's house.”

She walked up to him and grabbed hold of his hand.

“You have to help me!” she pleaded desperately.

Jeremy realized that if he didn't agree she would become hysterical. Albert had warned him about Angels who lose their minds. Like his father. He squeezed her hand so tightly that it made her wince, to help her regain her composure.

“First of all, you've only been dead for a couple hours at the most,” he said calmly. “It's a bit premature to want to launch a crusade right now.”

She tried to speak but he immediately cut her off.

“Listen to me! You and I have both found ourselves in a strange new world, dictated by laws we don't always understand—as far as I'm concerned anyway. I know just as well as you do that with each passing minute, a man or woman dies from cancer. And that this Ventousi guy has found a cure for it. But let me say this: First of all, dying isn't such a bad thing after all, and in this world, at least the dead can find some peace. A kind of peace. Second, in order to get the information we need, we'll have to find other Angels to help us who have been here much longer than we have. Who know how to break the laws that govern this universe. Who will give us their help, provided that our worries don't become an obsession. They don't like that here. Obsessions almost always end up making you sick in this world.”

Jeremy paused.

“Actually, they can drive you mad.”

He insisted on this final point, as she stared intently at him with her gleaming, blue eyes.

“Do you understand what I'm saying, Allison? This is not a game, or some sort of quest. I'm talking about your survival. If I see that you're becoming obsessed with your quest for vengeance I won't help you. Is that clear?”

After having gone through the whole “avenging angel” business himself just a few days earlier, Jeremy knew perfectly well what he was asking of Allison, who had only just died. She hesitated for a moment.

“Please,” he whispered, his voice trembling. “I don't want to lose you. Not again.”

She opened her mouth to reply, but his words, the emotion in his voice, left her dumbstruck. Almost more than everything else that had just happened to her. She looked at him. He was good looking, with dark-brown hair and steel-gray eyes, and an open, forthright expression on his face. He also had a nice body. He wasn't as handsome as Clark, but not many men were. For the first time in her
two
lives, she realized that she had a real man before her. Someone solid, someone whom she could count on. Someone who'd help. A shoulder to lean on. Without letting go of his hand, she moved up close to him and looked him right in the eyes.

“I won't become obsessed,” she whispered, nearly hypnotized by his long brown eyelashes. “I promise.”

Then she released his hand and moved back. He felt a pang when he released her hand. The two of them had just met, and he would have to give her some time—even if he did already know her most intimate secrets.

“C'mon,” he said. “There's a place I want to show you.”

“What about my body?”

“You don't need it any more. Trust me.”

She looked back worriedly, not sure what to do, but then decided to follow him.

“Where are we going?”

Jeremy grinned happily as they crossed the street, which was still nearly empty except for a few early birds on their way to work, and the Angels who flew above them to get some breakfast.

“It's time you met Albert!”

As he led Allison to Rose's & Blues, he realized with hindsight what a clumsy oaf Albert must have thought he was when they had gone on their expedition to New Jersey. He was now capable (or fairly capable) of passing from one car to another without too much difficulty. But Allison was afraid. Whenever a car touched her or passed right through her, it broke her concentration and she would jump back, trip, fall, or drag Jeremy down to the ground with her. After about a half hour, he finally gave up.

“I think it's a little bit too early for all these acrobatics,” he said. “You only died a little while ago, and you still have to get used to all this. Let's just take the subway.”

They quickly made their way to the club, but even in the subway Allison would jump whenever an arm, hand, or body passed through her.

“It's … it's really unpleasant,” she said with a quavering voice when they had finally reached the exit near the club.

“Yeah, I know. It took me a long time to get used to it too.”

Suddenly Allison came to a stop in the middle of the platform, oblivious to all the rush-hour commuters passing through her body.

“Oh no! Frankenstein! I forgot all about Frankenstein!”

Jeremy spread wide his hands in resignation. “I'm really sorry,” he said. “I was really growing fond of your clever little dog as well. Unfortunately, there's nothing you can do for him now. The dead can't take care of him, because he's still alive. Maybe Clark can take him?”

She was about to burst into tears but then stopped with a start.

“You know Clark?! How stupid of me, of course you know Clark. You …” she swallowed hard. “You were there when—”

Ouch. He quickly came up with a lie.

“… when he came to your apartment with the two police officers, yes. What a stupid idea that was! I'm sure that was why the killer panicked and came to kill you.”

“But for now, my poor little Frankenstein is an orphan.” She shivered. “I hope you're right and Clark takes him in. But with the crazy life he leads, I don't think he'll want the responsibility.”

Neither one spoke the rest of the way. Jeremy noticed the tears streaming down Allison's cheeks, but didn't say anything. It looked as if she were crying just as much for her own lot as for her dog's. He respected her grief, only taking hold of her hand for a moment and squeezing it tightly. She squeezed his hand back to show her gratitude but then quickly released it. He ripped a piece of Mist off of his loincloth to make a handkerchief for her, and she took it from him gratefully. After the third one, she finally laughed nervously.

“At this rate, you're going to end up completely naked!”

Jeremy smiled at her.

“If it can be any help to you, that's all that matters.”

He looked at her out of the corner of his eye before adding: “You're already lucky enough to behold my impressive abs and powerful thighs, so I'm not surprised you want to see a little bit more!”

At first Allison was unsure how to react to his ironic comment, but then she laughed.

“Oh my God,” she said. “You're even more pretentious than Clark! I didn't think it was possible.”

Well, he had managed to make her laugh anyway. Good. And she had also stopped crying. Even better.

“Speaking of nudity,” he said. “I forgot to warn you that your clothes are going to disappear.”

She immediately began to scrunch herself up into a ball, but Jeremy started waving his hands.

“No, no, not right now!” he quickly added. “In a few hours. I'm a young Angel; I still haven't mastered the techniques. My clothes and yours will evaporate. But I'll make us some new ones, don't worry.”

Huh, he probably shouldn't have said that so casually, because now she was looking at him suspiciously.

“You're kidding, right?”

“No, unfortunately. Not at all.”

“And … do our clothes warn us before they disappear?”

He couldn't resist the temptation.

“No. Unfortunately, they can't talk or send us any warning notice, and no celestial horns ring out in the heavens.”

“Very funny. What I meant was, do they start to fade away or anything?”

After having once found himself stark naked in the middle of a group of elderly blue female Angels, he could state without a doubt that there were no warning signs. He told her how amused the Angels had been and how horrified he had been, managing to make her laugh a second time. There was no way he could make her forget her death. That was impossible. However, he thought he was more than capable of helping her make a smooth transition.

Although she still looked nervously at her clothes from time to time, Allison seemed more relaxed when they arrived at Rose's & Blues.

But now there was the problem of the doors. At that morning hour, it was either too early or too late, depending on how you looked at it, and the club had already closed. But in some weird way, Jeremy realized that he could “feel” the Angels that were inside, probably still partying away, even if there were no more living patrons. How could they get inside if the doors were closed? It had been easy enough to pull Allison through the wall of her apartment by catching her off guard, but this time it might not be so easy. Well, they'd just have to give it a shot. Jeremy took her hand and started walking toward the door. She tried to follow him, doing her best to dematerialize just like him, but bounced violently back onto the sidewalk.

Jeremy quickly spun around in a panic and found Allison stretched out on the ground, rubbing her head groggily.

“Owww!” she groaned. “Ow, that hurt!”

She began rubbing her chest and forehead, still a bit cross-eyed.

“What kind of paradise is this, where people can still feel pain?” she complained.

“Um, actually, I'm not really sure we're in paradise,” Jeremy replied. “And yes, you can feel pain here. I'm sorry, I forgot to tell you. But our new bodies can heal very quickly. If you have a broken arm or a dislocated jaw, all you have to do is snap it back in place, and in a few seconds you don't feel any pain—or
very little
pain, I should say.”

Once again, he was speaking from experience. Before understanding what it meant to be an Angel, his many pratfalls had taught him that his body was bound by very few limits. On the other hand, pain was just as intense as on Earth, even if it didn't last nearly as long.

He helped Allison to her feet. She was still wobbly for a few seconds, but then finally regained her balance.

“Ouch! OK, what now?”

“We try again.”

Her whole body grew tense.

“Are you crazy?” she asked. “I already smashed into the door once; there's no way I'm going to do it again!”

“You're going to have to learn how to walk through walls at some point, Allison,” Jeremy lectured patiently. “If not, your time here will really seem very, very long!”

“No,” Allison snapped stubbornly. She crossed her arms across her chest with difficulty. “There's no way I can … aaah!”

The heck with good manners, Jeremy decided, and brusquely shoved the young woman forward through the wall before she could even peep in complaint. He sighed in resignation, then followed her through, expecting a thorough haranguing when he arrived in the club. But Allison was so blown away by the sight of the floating tables, where the Angels were talking, squabbling and laughing loudly, that she forgot to berate him.

“Welcome to Rose's & Blues,” he said, all smiles.

Allison quickly snapped out of it and gave him a dirty look.

“If you ever pull a stunt like that again I'll make you regret you were ever bo—ever died, you got that?” she said, stabbing her finger into his chest.

“
Ach
, you finally met your
Liebchen
, I see,” said a voice nearby. “
Gut, gut
.”

Albert had grown a few inches and even put on some weight. He could probably pass for fourteen now rather than a tenyear-old. Before Allison could respond, he gently took hold of her hand, clicked his heels (which made him look slightly ridiculous since he was wearing tennis shoes), leaned over and kissed her hand. The perfect gentleman.

“Einstein. Albert Einstein, very pleased to meet you.”

Allison pulled back her hand and looked him over suspiciously.

Albert saw the expression on her face and gave her a disarming smile.