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“Now, Michael,” she says with honey in her voice. “I know you said
you
didn’t want to go but that doesn’t mean
we
can’t go.” She flashes the dazzling smile I saw in the cafeteria.

Michael holds a steady scowl, contemplating her adept manipulation, and then slowly pulls a sideways grin. His eyes sweep over us with a certain amount of mischievousness. The last time I saw Michael, he ordered me to be ready for our study date at nine. I’ve never seen him playful like this.

Duffy claps his hands. “Aw, c’mon, man. We’re bored.”

“Yeah,” Bailey calls. “
Uno mas!
Last time this season.”

Katarina whispers something to Michael, and his eyes cut to mine. I hold my breath, and watch as his lighthearted mood melts into something somber. The moment stretches long and awkward and I wonder if I am welcome here.

“Okay.” Michael announces to everyone’s relief. We all troop back through the gate, but I have an unsettling feeling. Katarina’s penetrating stare makes glass of my skin, nothing hidden. Raw emotions are laid bare for examination, and she knows me without effort,
just like Mom
. I look over my shoulder as I climb into the truck bed and find her watching me. She smiles and inclines her head as though accepting a compliment, and my breath sticks in my throat.

Milvi dumps a load of old towels at our feet. “Michael’s decided to go after all so I’m riding with him. See ya there.”

I consider the pile of towels. “Oh, so we’re just going swimming,” I say. Everybody smiles but nobody agrees.

*  *  *

We follow tire tracks across a field and turn left around a clump of trees. We stop and crawl out. I look for a pool or lake but don’t see any. We walk to the edge of a sloping precipice. Now I see it.

The back side of the hill is wet from the storm and worn into a long, brown, slippery slide that dumps into the biggest mud pit I’ve ever seen.

“You gotta be freakin’ kidding me,” I gush, and everybody bursts out laughing.

“C’mon, Sophia, let’s get dirty,” Duffy says. His grin is naughty and makes me blush. He strips off his shirt and shoes, trying to coax me along but I won’t budge. He gives up and throws himself down the slide, hollering and sliding on his butt and landing in the pit. Mud whooshes out in every direction.

Bailey drapes an arm across my shoulders. “Listen, doll face, we gotta do something for fun around here. This town is as tight as a frog’s butt. So we improvise.” She winks and then takes off running at the slide. With wild abandon, Bailey dives headfirst and flies down the mud chute. One by one the others plunge in, feet-first, headfirst, or swirling on their butts. Even Rachel and Milvi spin and scream all the way down.

Raph cranks Duffy’s stereo to “Sweet Home Alabama” and everyone in the pit cheers and sings and dances along. Then he saunters over barefoot and shirtless with shorts riding low on his hips.

“Hiya, Sophie. You coming?” I shake my head, and he cops a mischievous grin and snags my T-shirt. “Don’t be shy now.” I am pulled unwillingly to the top of the muddy slide where Michael is standing. Even relaxed, Michael’s eagle eyes scrutinize everyone in the pit like a designated lifeguard. The throbbing springs to life in my chest, and I wonder if it will always be like this.

Far below in the pit, mud and laughter are flying in every direction. The guys are nearly unrecognizable and the girls are brown from the neck down. Milvi flings slimy mud balls at Casey, who lunges after her. An earth-shattering scream follows as Milvi gets her due. J.D. and Holden are twin towers of dripping, gooey muck. They stomp after Bailey and Rachel like the rotting zombies.

“The best way to do this,” Raph tells me, “is to slide right in.”

“I’m not going in there,” I state firmly. It looks like fun but I have too much homework to waste the evening digging mud out of my long hair. “I’ll just watch.”

Raph gives me a sly smile and then rubs his hands together in sweet anticipation. “Well, here I go.” He plunges down the hill, slipping and spinning and taking three people down with him. Everybody howls with laughter.

Temptation wants me to march down to the pit and finish my conversation with
Casey, but this hardly seems the time or place. I’ll wait patiently, biding my time.

“They’re going to throw you in if you don’t go yourself.” Michael’s warning is soft but sure.

“They wouldn’t dare,” I say indignantly. “They don’t know me well enough.” I am smug, crossing my arms and shifting my weight to one hip.

We fall silent, watching. It’s not long before sporadic glances come my way. An unspoken understanding passes around the muddy group, a fissure breaking my resolve.

“How long do I have?” I murmur.

Michael says, “About thirty seconds,” and then bursts out laughing at my startled expression. I’ve never heard him laugh before, and I’m caught by surprise. The deep, rich tenor is like a warm breeze settling on top of my heart. It’s the most wonderful sound I’ve ever heard, and I smile cautiously, feeling myself give way.

Michael’s laughter gradually dissolves into a gentle smile that eventually melds into a sobering look of awareness. We stare without blinking and I’d swear something unique passes between us. Something beyond the clumsiness of words …

And then it’s gone, and his lips twitch like he’s hiding a secret. There is orneriness in his eyes and without looking away, he methodically slips his T-shirt over his head and drops it.

Holy Mother of God
.

Okay, so he is slightly more muscular than I imagined. Not that I spend a lot of time imagining how Michael Patronus looks without his shirt, but with those broad shoulders and muscular arms … a girl has to wonder.

I step back, and he lifts a skeptical eyebrow. I lengthen my retreat. “Think I’ll go wait in the truck,” I mumble. His mouth curves into a wicked grin that sends me spinning around. I manage one step before his arm wraps around my waist and hoists me up. “No, please!” I beg and squirm. “I’m not dressed for—” He is marching toward the slide, and I flop like a rag doll over his arm. “My shoes!” I call out anything to stop his progress. But I have alerted the zombies below, and they see my struggle and holler their depraved approval.

Michael swings me over his shoulder and yanks off my Vans. The zombies shake their fists and cheer at my imminent demise. Then he rolls me back into his arms.

“Anything else you’d like me to take off?” he asks, and my mouth falls open. “Didn’t think so.” He laughs as I blush, and then yells down, “Somebody catch her!” He tosses me onto the gloppy slide, and I fly through sludge and land on a horde of mud eaters. Thick, brown waves gush out on impact and coat everything but the top of my head. I am sitting in a giant bowl of chocolate pudding like a Willie Wonka reject.

Clapping and shouting and jeering follow, everybody satisfied that I’ve been sufficiently initiated into the pit. Flying mud balls resume. At some point, the guys start a competition of sludge surfing, and only Raph can make it all the way into the pit without crashing. This is followed by the high-don’t-dive belly flop competition, and then the clash of the backward back-breakers. Wimps need not apply.

After a couple of hours of sliding, sludging, and slinging, we are fatigued from the thick muck. Bailey and Rachel grope for the grassy edge and lean against me, as I sit there panting from sheer exhaustion.

“We should’ve thrown in some straw,” Rachel muses weakly. “We’d have enough bricks to build a new school.”

My legs are sore and I have mud in my ears. I contemplate sliding back in for a mud nap when Michael clomps over.

“No sitting. Come on.”

“There’s more?” I groan. The girls and I pull each other up on shaky legs. They understand what comes next and follow the others migrating left along a path. It is slow going for me, and they disappear into a dark outcropping of trees before I can catch up.

I gaze across the countryside and watch the sun as it gives up on the day. It’s getting dark and I wonder what time it is. I don’t know where the others have gone but I think I should be getting home.

“You don’t want the mud to dry,” Michael says, coming up behind me. We look down at the brown coat hardening on my legs in the cool night air. “Your knees aren’t bending so easy.”

“I don’t suppose you have a garden hose in there?” I nod toward the trees where everyone disappeared.

“Better. A waterfall.” He flashes an easy smile that I hardly have time to return. His smile drops like a stone, and my second heartbeat jerks into a double-time beat. I want to ask him what’s wrong, but there is movement over his left shoulder.

I catch my breath in recognition. That grungy guy is at the edge of the forest, about fifty yards behind Michael. Just like the night of the accident, Michael goes ramrod straight as though he knows that the guy has appeared. My attention is piqued and my eyes swing back and forth between them like a pendulum. The grungy guy takes a step forward, igniting something more in Michael. His eyes wash out, and he averts them.

“What’s wrong?” I stare in wonder, uncertain of what I have seen. Michael refuses to answer. The grungy guy beckons me with a wave and a smile.

Oh, Lord, he doesn’t want Michael this time. He wants me!

A thrill shoots through me. I don’t feel scared or agitated like Michael, but
curious. Who is this guy? What on earth does he want with me?

Maybe I should walk over
.

“Don’t,” Michael growls against my unspoken deliberation. His chest is heaving and his jaw muscle is flexing violently. His silhouette is blue in the muted night but I can see his alarm; I can feel his anxiety.

I try to understand the situation in the way Mom did, reading the underside of silence, the inside of feelings. I narrow my focus on Michael but it’s no good. He won’t look at me or give anything away. Maybe this guy will. Maybe he’ll explain about the night of the accident. Maybe he’ll relieve my hallucination fears.

I am going to walk over
.

Michael’s head jerks up, and I see his eyes, wide, worried, and translucent. It’s enough to make my chest swell like a balloon. And then the air between us ripples like water, and I feel a mild tingling sensation. It starts in my hands and feet, making them feel as though they’ve fallen asleep. It spreads by degrees up my arms and legs, racing toward my chest with a fierce urgency. I feel a tug at my heart, barely a nibble but enough to draw me a step closer. It intensifies like it’s coming to a head. The second heartbeat is raging out of control until the nibble snaps like a band and I spring forward, flying through the air and slamming into Michael’s chest. We gasp on impact, and he rocks backward, stunned and off balance. His arms envelope me and I am crushed against him. We stay like this for several moments, and then he gently lowers me to the ground and takes my shoulders. He holds me at arm’s length, steadying me while we stare in sheer wonder.

“I … didn’t do that,” I murmur because Michael isn’t saying anything. His eyes are sparkling prisms that hold me in place as though he is willing me to be quiet. I feel caught in the beautiful myriad of colors that tilts the world around me. My vision begins to swirl and I feel my head grow heavy and loose on my shoulders. My eyes close without my permission and I am weighty with too much gravity working against me. I am a lifeless marionette. Through the fog I hear Michael order Milvi to take me to the house.

No, I don’t want to go! I want to know what’s happening!

I fight the bizarre effect dulling my senses and push my eyes open. “Stop it!” I demand.

Michael and Milvi startle at my outburst. They exchange astonished looks like they didn’t expect me to struggle. Whatever strange hypnosis technique Michael was using was supposed to quiet me.

“Michael, what’s going on? Tell me … what’s happening?” My head is waterlogged and I blink hard to focus on their static images. Michael stares like I’m
speaking in tongues. After a moment he overcomes the confusion, defaulting to an alternative plan.

He sighs like he’s so bored his teeth might fall out. “What are you
talking
about? You got dizzy and almost fainted. Probably one of those
girl
things.” He snarls like I gave him cooties. “Milvi can walk you back to the house if you—”

“What?” I yell. “Are you gonna tell me—”

“Come on.” Milvi whisks me around and I stumble with stiff, muddy legs. My knees are crackling.

“I’m not finished!” I say, craning to see if the grungy guy is still around. All I see is Raph striding up to Michael and looking furious.

“Yes you are!” Milvi snaps, and then calms down and adds cheerfully, “I mean, everybody’s headed back, okay, Sophia?”

“Milvi, what happened? Tell me, please?”

“You got dizzy.”

I stare at her but she won’t look at me. I know she is lying. She didn’t appear out of nowhere for nothing. Her grip tightens against my tugging, and I relent. It’s no use; I’m stiff as a board in all this mud and she’s a strong little sucker. When we reach the trucks, I look back. Michael and Raph are arguing, and my mind is screaming to be heard.

Look at me, Michael Patronus!

Michael whips around, and we lock eyes, and the earth falls off its axis.

Chapter 13

Michael

Michael scrubbed a towel over his wet head, tossed it aside, and grabbed a fresh T-shirt. Raph and Gabe were taking up space in his bedroom, waiting for him to explain what happened to Sophia at the mud pit. He was purposely prolonging the inevitable, wanting to analyze it for himself.

One thing he did know, that slimy soul seeker, Degan, had no reason for skulking around in the shadows. There were no souls in jeopardy. So had he come to talk to Sophia? She’d obviously seen him again and was willing to speak to him. That alone required Michael to tell his parents about her unique ability.

Michael’s mother, Katarina, was a Seer for The Council of Guardians. She sensed when the boys would receive a call for help before they did. Her job was to ensure the guardians answered the right calls at the right time. When Michael’s father sent him to watch over the nurse at the accident, no one mentioned seeing any probable complications. Not even his mom. And certainly no one mentioned a human girl who would see into both spirit realms. All that the family knew was what little Michael had told them; Sophia showed up at the accident, and he felt an unusual pain when she came near him.