Название: The Life After Trilogy: Soul Taken / Soul Possessed / Soul Betrayed
Автор: Katlyn Duncan
Издательство: HarperCollins
Жанр: Детская проза
isbn: 9781474007368
isbn:
“You’re no angel,” he said.
I rolled my eyes.
“Kidding!” One side of his mouth quirked up. “Collectors are not angels… well, the angels that humans believe in.”
“Let me guess,” I said, gently placing the flowers at the base of Kimberly’s stone. “The Guard are.”
“Well, yes,” he said. “Since the purpose of the Guard is to lead a human on the right path, it’s only fitting. Plus religion has a lot to do with it. Mostly they are a way to explain that there is something beyond human comprehension.”
“What’s with the wings, though? I’ve never seen a Guard with wings.”
Cooper smirked. “I guess it’s their way of making sense of the fact that we can be anywhere.”
Lucky you, I thought.
I stood up, studying the nearby stones. The people seemed unrelated but equally un-flowered. I opened another bouquet, placing flowers at each of the stones. A bit further down, a strong sensation built inside of me and I stopped in front of a stone, Ally’s hand holding the flowers in mid-air.
Its inscription read: “M. Thomas. July 28, 1888 – September 6, 1905.”
The age of the person struck a chord deep within me. He or she had died at seventeen. The same age I was when I died and the same age Ally’s body was at that moment. If Ally were to die at seventeen would she have lived a fulfilling life? Did I?
Thunder rumbled in the distance. I looked up at the darkening sky.
“We should head home,” Cooper said, gathering the plastic wrapping from the ground.
“Sure.” I placed the final bouquet in front of the stone next to Kimberly’s, looked up at the name and froze.
“Gemma Packard. September 19, 1889 – September 6, 1905.”
In my dream, Jackson had mentioned a Gemma. It must have been a coincidence. It had to be. All souls lost their memories at Gate Seven. Right?
“Maggie,” Cooper called.
I looked at him. “Yeah?”
“Are you okay? We should get going.”
I shook my head and thoughts of the dream away. I followed Cooper’s lead toward the car, but not before stealing one last look at the stone of, possibly, my human sister.
The drive home wasn’t as bad as the drive out. I was no expert but I could manage in a binding situation, yet I secretly hoped I’d never have to do it again.
Cooper didn’t say much, allowing me to concentrate on the road. But my thoughts wandered back to the cemetery. Had the name been a coincidence from the dream? Since Ally’s mother’s grave was near Gemma’s stone, Ally had to have seen it before. And since we were sharing memories—well, not exactly sharing; it was definitely one-sided—maybe the name came into the dream from a residual memory? The longer I kept the secret from Cooper about Ally’s memories, the harder it became to tell him. We’d had a lovely day together; I didn’t want to ruin that. Maybe they’d find Ally tonight and we could joke about it tomorrow.
Will he even want to know you when this is all over? I winced at the thought.
The rain started as we drove through the entrance to the Greene estate. It pounded the windshield, but I navigated the car into the garage around the back before I panicked too much. I put the car in park and sat back in the seat.
“Perfect,” Cooper said.
“Well, thank you.” I grinned, opening the door. Ally’s knees gave out from under me as a huge weight slammed into her body, stealing away her breath. I toppled over and smacked her knees on the concrete floor.
Cooper appeared at my side and his arms wrapped around me, holding me up. “Are you okay?”
Ally’s pulse raced as if her heart would burst from her chest at any moment. I stood up, untangling myself from his grasp. An unseen force lifted my legs and I bolted into the house, not caring if Marie was around. The cast barely slowed me as I pumped Ally’s arms, picking up speed through the kitchen, then the foyer, and up the stairs, down the opposite hallway from Ally’s room. I hadn’t explored that side of the house; I had no need or desire to. Until now. Adrenaline coursed through Ally’s veins. The source of the force radiated from a door across the hall from David’s room, but when I tried the doorknob it wouldn’t budge. I slammed my hands on the door over and over, harder and harder, until Cooper grabbed them and pulled me away.
“What’s in there?” I demanded.
“That’s David’s office. No one is allowed in there.”
A sharp pain jolted my side. “There’s something in there. I feel it. Let me in.”
“I can’t. And you can’t,” he said, tightening his grip on my hands. “If the wards around the house are strong, the ones for this room are even stronger. I think that is what you are feeling.”
I shook my head furiously; the need to get in the room overwhelmed me. “No, it’s something else. I haven’t even been down this hallway in the three days I’ve been here. Something has changed.”
Cooper’s mouth tightened in thought. “Maybe her body is starting to undergo the transformation. Each Prognatum is different; sometimes the change is quick, other times the body takes a little longer to adjust. Our kind feels the wards more intensely than humans do.”
As suddenly as the feeling had come, it lifted as if tethered to a balloon.
Cooper’s eyes widened. “What’s wrong?”
“It’s gone,” I said, sucking in a deep breath and exhaling slowly. I blinked a few times, staring at the door. “I think you were right.”
A stinging sensation from Ally’s foot drew my attention away from the door.
“Ugh!” I cried, storming across the hallway, back down the stairs and into the kitchen. I searched the drawers until I found the right tool. “Ah ha!” I said, wielding a wooden spoon.
“What’s that for?” Cooper asked.
I shoved the thin handle of the utensil between the cast and Ally’s skin and moved it up and down, somewhat relieving the itch.
“You’re going to rip her skin off,” he said.
“If it stopped the itching I’d do it.” This thing had to come off, now. I raided the drawers until I found one full of knives and pulled the longest and sharpest one out, wielding it in front of me.
“What are you doing?” СКАЧАТЬ