Soul Thief (17 page)

I WOKE UP EXHAUSTED,
as if I hadn't slept at all. I nearly murdered my alarm clock when it rang at seven o'clock.

For the majority of last night, I'd behaved like a deranged stalker. I'd checked the newspaper articles, read the girls' Facebook pages to see if they had anything in common besides being sixteen and female, put their names through Google and more, but there was nothing. By the time I went to bed I began to suspect the Reaper just picked them up randomly — any teenage girl would do.

But something nagged in the back of my brain. I couldn't wrap my mind around it though, definitely not now that I was halfway to being brain dead.

I sat up in bed, leaned on my elbows, and tried to clear my head.
She lived near the club I was at on Saturday.
The thought kept haunting me, but I couldn't make sense of what it meant. But if I took Marissa Meyers out of the equation was there something that connected Tara and Emily?

I pushed the blankets away and got out of bed. Like a zombie, I moved behind the laptop and waited for it to start. A fever burned in my mind and I typed in their names again.

Tara's Facebook page mentioned that she'd hurt her knee playing girls' varsity soccer and had surgery to repair it at the same hospital where I'd been. She was there the same morning I was released.

There was a connection there but I had no idea what, although I sensed it was important.

Frustrated, I shut the laptop and went for a shower.

* * *

Four hours later, the mystery still bugged me. I'd bitten my nails until they almost bled and I wanted to scream from frustration.

“What's the matter with you?” Michelle asked. “And no, I'm not prying for your secrets again, you look genuinely upset.”

We were in the girls' bathroom and Michelle was washing her hands while I leaned against the wall. I shrugged. “All right, let's work from the assumption you know three people and you want to figure out what they have in common, if anything. You can't ask them or anyone they know directly; how would you go about that?”

Michelle raised her eyebrows. “That's an odd question, even for you. What is this about?”

“Those girls who died,” I said, deciding to give her at least part of the truth. “The first one, Tara, she was in the hospital the same day I was, and the last girl, Marissa, she lived on the same street as the club we went to on Saturday.”

“So now what? You think they're after one of us?” Michelle arched her eyebrows.

“It was just a thought.”

“That Emily girl doesn't match the pattern though,” she said, as if she was seriously considering my idea.

Katie stepped out of one of the stalls and walked past Michelle to wash her hands. “Emily's sister was in my jewelry class.”

“How come you didn't tell us that?” I asked her.

She shrugged. “I didn't think about it. It's a pretty big leap, but then again, so is your theory.”

“Never mind, it makes no sense.”

“It doesn't, no. By the way, I'm having a slumber party Wednesday night and all of you are invited.”

“A slumber party? Are you home alone?”

“Great guess,” Katie said while she fixed her hair in the mirror. “So, are you up for it?”

“Sure. But didn't you have a date that night?” I asked.

“I did, but something came up and it's pretty important, so Myron won't make it, and I thought, why not spend some time with my buddies instead?”

“Very thoughtful of you,” I said, arching an eyebrow. “Anyway, count me in, even if it's just for lack of something better to do.”

“How are things between you and the therapist guy?” she asked.

“He's not a therapist,” Michelle said. “I checked his credentials and he's fake.”

“What?” Katie turned to me, mouth agape. “Did you know about this?”

“Yes,” I said, “it's a long story though. And thanks, Mich, I thought you promised you wouldn't tell anyone.”

“I lied. Guess that makes me a member of your little club now,” she said, harsher than I'd ever heard her speak before. “Come on, we'll be late for class.”

Katie kept looking at me as if I was about to burst into an explanation, which I wasn't. My friends seemed farther away than ever and it was my fault.

* * *

That evening, I became a master sleuth.

Leander and I were in my room. He hadn't found out anything from his underworld contacts, which bothered him. He kept pacing up and down the room. Thank God my parents weren't home — weekly cooking class — or they'd hear him stomping about.

I'd laid a map of Fairhaven out on my desk and circled the homes of the three girls. If this was some kind of ritual that required a figure, then I wasn't seeing it.

“You've watched too many CSI episodes if you think this is going to work,” Leander complained. “There's no connection between them, and even if there was, we won't find it out by drawing maps.”

“Actually,” I said, “I learned this from a documentary about Jack the Ripper. One of the detectives on the case noticed that the locations where the corpses were found formed a pentagram if you connected them. These murders might form a figure too, but there aren't enough of them to figure out what.”

“I didn't think you'd be the type to watch documentaries.” Leander stood next to me, so close that we almost touched. I froze rigid, afraid to move. My breath choked in my throat.

“Well, I am,” I squeezed out eventually. “But you're probably right about this theory. Don't worry, though, I've got a few others. Did Diane get any leads, by the way?”

Leander shrugged. “I haven't heard from her. She's usually rather sporadic about checking in.”

“She seems to know you really well.”

“A bit too well, I suppose,” he said. “We've known each other for more than a millennium. She's like the annoying kid sister I can't get rid of and who keeps getting herself into trouble.”

“And what am I? The baby of this family?”

“Nah,” he said. “You're just you. Riley Scott, detective extraordinaire.”

I snorted. “If I was, I'd be able to see the connection between all of them. Would it be possible the Reaper just went from house to house?”

“That would be stupid and cost too much energy,” he said. “We're not master thieves. If we wanted to break into a house unnoticed, we'd have to teleport, which drains our energy. Same thing goes for Reapers. He must've known the girls lived there, that's for sure.”

“He could've followed Marissa home from the club,” I mused out loud. “I didn't remember seeing her at first, but the longer I look at her picture, the more I'm convinced she was in there.”

“So he must've been in or near the club as well,” Leander concluded. “What about Tara?”

“He followed her home from the hospital.”

“Why was he in the hospital?”

“What are we doing now, some cop routine you've seen on TV?” I sat down on the edge of my bed. “I have no idea why he was there. Maybe looking for someone he had a deal with? Maybe getting a doctor's check-up?”

“If we leave Emily out of the picture for a moment,” Leander said, “then it sounds like he might be after you.”

“I thought that too, earlier, but I figured it was kind of egocentric of me. Why would he be after me?” I asked him.

“It all makes sense now,” Leander said. His face lit up as if he was suddenly standing under a spotlight. “He must've heard about the Halfling angel. But he doesn't know your name, so all he knows is that you were in an accident and that you were at the hospital. He followed you from there.”

“Hold on.” I grabbed his arm. “Then he saw me at the club and… but why did he go after Marissa then?”

“Your mysterious savior,” Leander said. “It could've been a Reaper.”

“Why save me then? That doesn't make sense.”

Leander was all excited now. He sat down next to me and grabbed my hands. “Do you remember what I told you about some souls being worth more than others in the underworld? Well, the soul of a Halfling angel would definitely make some big cash, enough to persuade a Reaper to go after you. He must've figured since you were new and unprepared, you wouldn't be much of a threat.”

“'Which is true,” I said.

Leander ignored me and continued. “So he went to Fairhaven Hospital looking for a teenage girl. He followed the wrong girl and went after Tara instead.”

A pang of guilt rose in my stomach. So not only had I bailed on Tara, I'd also caused her death. Bile rose up in my throat and I wanted to curl up and cry.

“Wait,” I said. “How could he have it wrong? I mean, I give off this golden glow and she doesn't. He could've just kept looking until he found me.”

“Hm.” Leander put his fingers to his chin, lost in thought. “It sounds like he has some kind of quota, like he has to deliver these souls to someone or pay off some debt. Maybe he's thinking about getting your soul because it'll be enough to pay off that debt. Demons make deals with each other all the time, so it could be.”

“It seems farfetched.” I lay down on the bed and crossed my arms behind my head. “Either way, I don't want to think about it. The thought that those girls died because someone was after me, I… it's too much.”

Leander licked his lower lip. He reached out and caressed my hair. “Even if we're right, Riley, that doesn't mean it's your fault. That's like saying that because a madman wants to kill you, you'd be responsible for other people he kills.”

“Well, my gut tells me your idea is right,” I said. “But it also tells me that it's all my fault.”

“Your gut sucks.”

I smiled weakly. “Maybe it does.”

He stared at me, and I looked straight back at him. An unanswered question lingered between us as energy drifted from me to him and the other way around. His hand moved to my cheek and I caressed his cheek as well.

A thousand different emotions welled up in my stomach: guilt that I could feel this way even though people might have died because of me, worry that he didn't like me the same way, desire, passion.

“You're in danger,” Leander said, “as long as he's out there.” His hand moved to my mouth, his thumb touching my lower lip.

“I know.”

“We need to find a way to protect you.”

“You could teach me how to defend myself.”

“I will. I hoped we could rely on our mental bond in case of danger, but I'm not confident about that anymore.”

“Maybe we could try.” I took his other hand and guided him down next to me. “I'll open up my mind and you open up yours.”

I lowered the mental barrier in my mind, imagined a tiny door in the wall for Leander to walk through. Then I pictured his wall in my mind and began working on a door for me to get through.

Minutes passed, but it might as well have been hours. Time had little meaning when you were locked in your own mind. Eventually, I was in, and a thousand different thoughts swarmed through his mind. The most prominent one was about how he could possibly protect me if his theory was right. His mind pulsed with worry and concern.

It'll be all right
, I told him.
I'm not some damsel in distress constantly needing help. I kicked some serious butt on those vampires. Which reminds me, if you think my mysterious savior is this Reaper, then why didn't he let me get killed?

Because,
Leander answered in my mind,
if he did, he wouldn't have your soul. He saved you for purely selfish reasons, so he could get you for himself.

And here I was hoping I had a knight in shining armor waiting for me somewhere.

Leander chuckled in his mind.

Why not kill me straight after then? It was just me and Katie in the parking lot.

He was probably drained after the fight, so he waited for a while and then followed Marissa home. Want to know something very selfish?

Tell me.

I'm glad he followed her. I'm glad he was there that night, even if that meant an innocent girl's soul was stolen. Because if those vampires had gotten to you and the Reaper hadn't stopped them, you'd be dead. It's disgusting to think this way, I know, but I feel responsible for you and I don't want you to get hurt.

His mind trailed back to the day we kissed and I followed along, saw his image of me right before he kissed me, felt what he felt before we did.

I'm not sure what I feel,
he told me,
and perhaps it's too soon to draw conclusions, but I know that I don't want to lose you, no matter what it takes.

He turned to me, looked at me.
Let me protect you.

“You can,” I said. I pulled the wall up again. I had no idea what he'd read in my mind, but I was done probing around. “But I'm not going to sit around and do nothing. You have to teach me how to protect myself as well.”

“I promise. We'll start tomorrow. I think this exercise proved that we can hear each other's thoughts when we want to.”

“As long as something doesn't block it again.” I hadn't wanted to, but there was a reprimanding tone in my voice.

“Don't worry, it won't,” Leander said. He touched my face again and he was about to say something when the front door opened and footsteps hurried into the hallway. My parents' chattering voices echoed through the house.

“You have to go,” I whispered to him.

“Do I? I don't really want to.”

I rolled my eyes and pushed him away. “Not funny.”

“Fine,” he said as he got up. “I'll leave. But I'll keep hanging around the house to make sure he doesn't show up.”

“Total stalker mode,” I said. “I've got a better idea. How about I ask my Grandma about a spell to keep the house protected? That way I can sleep without having to worry that you're hanging around outside my house, and you can save your energy for when something does happen. Besides, if the bugger shows up, I'll scream and you can come dashing in like a heroic knight.”