Читать книгу The Life After Trilogy: Soul Taken / Soul Possessed / Soul Betrayed - Katlyn Duncan - Страница 24

The tires squealed as Jamie nailed the gas. I gripped the back of the passenger seat as we took a sharp right turn. Looking back toward the house I couldn’t see much past the window as the rain picked up. So I hopped over the divider and sank into the passenger seat, clicking the seat belt in place.

“Is he following us?” Jamie asked, her eyes squinting. The windshield wipers lightly thumped against the window, clearing the rain for a short time until it covered the glass again.

I turned in my seat. “I don’t think so. Cooper is the one with the connection to Ally so he’d be the first to find us.”

“Won’t Aaron go and tell him?” she asked.

I grinned. “Not if he wants to keep his job.”

“So where is this place?” she asked, matching my grin.

This girl liked adventure just as much as I did.

“I thought you said you knew where it was?” I asked.

She sighed. “I know around where it is but I can’t see anything in this mess. Here,” she said, digging her cell phone out of her jacket pocket. “Plug the address into the navigation app.”

It took several attempts to make Ally’s fingers press hard enough on the tiny keyboard to make each letter type in, but I finally plugged in the address.

Jamie laughed. “That alone would have alerted anyone that something was wrong with Ally. She’s always typing away on her phone.”

“This one has buttons,” I said. “Tiny buttons, by the way. Hers just has a screen.”

Jamie’s hands tightened against the steering wheel. “Well, we aren’t all able to get the newest phone when it drops.”

I sensed a little bit of disdain in her voice. “That’s not what I meant.”

“I know,” she said, taking a left turn. “I know you are in her body, but you do sound like her.”

I flinched.

“I mean your voice, her voice.” She shook her head furiously. “You know what I mean.”

“Sure,” I said. I’d seen not so pretty things come out of Ally’s mouth through her memories. Even though I had to pretend to be her for a little while, I didn’t want to be her.

The phone spoke through a robotic female tone. We were close. In our dash to get to the location, I hadn’t really thought of what we might find there. If the owl and memory had been an indication, I knew Jackson had to do with it. Were we walking into a trap? Although he’d had plenty of opportunities to harm me and hadn’t. Could I trust him based on that?

Cooper had said Jackson turned Shadowed at some point, but his turning and his involvement with me seemed unrelated. I didn’t know how much longer I’d have access to him in the Living Realm, and it wasn’t as if either of us had a cell phone that worked in the After. I wanted, no, needed answers more than anything.

“You will reach your destination to the left in 0.2 miles,” the GPS said.

The rain had let up a lot; only a few drops hit the windshield as we neared our destination. Jamie drove the car through a winding road that opened up to dozens of brick buildings nestled close to each other. Most of them were closed for the day, but a few pickup trucks idled in the lots or passed us on the way out of the park.

Ally’s skin crawled as we got closer.

“This is it,” Jamie said. She slowly drove by a gray building with a bright white sign that read, ‘Anderson Landscaping’. “Seth works for his father’s business.”

“How do you know that?” I asked, even though I had known this through a quick peek at Ally’s memories.

“Everyone knows that,” Jamie said, driving past the building.

“Where are you going?” I asked.

“We can’t just sit in front of the place. There was a light in the upstairs window.” She pulled the car close to the curb and turned it off.

Her phone blasted a rock song from its speakers. I dropped it.

“Crap,” she said, grabbing the phone. “It’s my dad.” She lifted it to her ear. “Yeah, Dad?… No, I’m still here at Ally’s house… yes… it’s in the top cabinet… no, the other one… keep going…” She rolled her eyes at me and mouthed an apology.

My soul buzzed. We were so close. I had to know what Jackson had to say about Seth and possibly Krystal.

“Stay here,” I said. “I’ll be right back.”

I shoved the door open and hopped out of the car before Jamie could stop me. Abandoning the crutches in the car, I put on a limp just in case anyone Ally knew was around.

Including Seth. I hoped he was innocent in all of this, and a small part of me hoped Krystal was as well. I just couldn’t imagine two of the people that Ally trusted would ever go to those lengths for… what? Revenge? They couldn’t have known what she was. But why had Jackson opted to meet me at Seth’s father’s business if it didn’t include him?

I pulled Ally’s coat tight around her as the rain picked up again and rounded the wide open fence into the lot. The light that Jamie had seen was still on, but nothing inside the room moved. Ally’s blood ran cold. Had Jackson lured me here, thinking Seth had been a part of all this then hurt him so he couldn’t warn Ally? I kept my eyes glued to the window, yet I still didn’t see anything or anyone.

Thunder rumbled in the distance, and I looked up at the dark gray clouds above me. I held Ally’s arms tight against her chest, holding back a shiver.

“You made it,” Jackson said, appearing in front of me.

I thought back to the memory of his hand touching mine in the woods, the need to feel that again burned inside of me, but I stood my ground.

“I don’t have a lot of time,” I said.

He stepped forward and I side-stepped him until my back faced the building.

“I will not harm you, Maggie,” he said firmly holding his hands out at his sides. “I wish you didn’t do this to us. Then you would know that.”

“Us?” I asked.

He ignored my question. “Did you get my message?”

“I’m here, aren’t I?” I snapped.

His gaze fell to the space between us. “Not that one,” he said. “Do you have it with you?” he asked, as if I should know what he meant.

I did. I took the owl from Ally’s pocket and held it between her fingers. “What does this mean?”

He raked a hand through his thick tresses. “You’re smarter than that, Mags. I showed you my memory and brought you something you’d lost a long time ago. You made the connection yourself. Why did you come here if not to find me?”

He took a step forward and Ally’s hands stretched out between us. Jackson kept coming and I couldn’t move, his eyes capturing me in their wicked net.

“What does Seth have to do with this?” I asked, finding my voice, although it sounded too high.

Jackson looked down at me, our bodies nearly a foot apart. “He is the experiment.”

“Experiment for what?” Ally’s heart raced. I yearned to look at the window, checking to see if Seth was okay, but I couldn’t take them off Jackson.

“I know I can pass along my memories,” he said, brushing two fingers across Ally’s cheek.

The touch sent an electric shock pulsing through me. I inhaled deeply.

A grin spread across his face. “But I want to see if we can access yours.”

Closing my eyes, I waited for the visions to unfurl from his touch, but after a few seconds the pressure of his hand against Ally’s cheek disappeared. I opened my eyes and Jackson was gone. I scanned the lot. Where had he gone?

“What the hell, Maggie?” Jamie said, storming up the lot, holding the crutches in both hands.

I shushed her, shaking off the residual fluttering inside me.

“I thought,” she said, her voice low, “we were in this together? You could have waited.”

If I’d waited I wouldn’t have found Jackson, or maybe I would have and at the same time revealed Jamie’s gift to the so-called enemy.

“Sorry,” I said sincerely, taking the crutches from her, tucking them under Ally’s arms. “I was just checking this place out; no one is around out here.”

“Thank God for that. What if someone saw you without your crutches?” She stopped and shook her head. “I sound like my grandmother.”

“Let’s go inside,” I said. “I want to be back at the house before Cooper gets there.”

The office door opened easily. Jamie and I shook off the cold rain from our coats and continued further into the building, passing through a door at the back of the office into a cavernous room. All the lights were off, except for a few emergency lights scattered on the walls that created hulking shadows across the equipment. Jamie and I moved closer together as we walked.

A crash from the second floor stopped us in our tracks followed by a high-pitched scream that echoed through the room. I dropped the crutches and ran to the wooden steps at the far end of the room taking them two at a time, Jamie only a few steps behind me.

At the top of the stairs, a small hallway branched off into three doorways. Light shone out of the bottom of one of them. A girlish whimper sounded from behind it. Without thinking I grabbed the door handle, twisted it, and pushed through into the room. The door drifted out of my hand as I tried to comprehend the sight in front of me.

Seth and Krystal.

Their grins turned to open-mouthed stares. Krystal was down to her skirt and bra, her legs straddling Seth’s body. Her dark skin was a stark contrast to his naked cream-colored chest. A broken chair was on the floor under them.

I barely noticed Jamie gasp as she took in the sight before us.

Black spots filled my vision and Ally’s limbs went numb. I leaned on the door frame as pin pricks jabbed into her legs. The black dots soon turned to red ones. Blood-red. I tried to focus but, between the rush of air whirring in my ears and the smell of blood enveloping me, I eventually succumbed to it. A familiar heat fluttered in my stomach. I nearly passed out before a vision flew to the front of my mind.

The images flicked by as quickly as they had before, unable to decipher one from the next. I closed my eyes, willing them to slow down, but, even though I couldn’t see them, I felt them. The taste of betrayal flooded my mouth. The coppery scent of blood wafted into my nose. A girl’s scream pierced my ears. A mix of shouting and sobbing voices rang in my head. I tried to decipher what the voices were saying but my ears still roared with the sound of my heartbeat. Hot tears streaked my face. But through everything there was a sense of satisfaction that completely overruled the rest of my emotions.

“Ally!” Seth’s shout broke my trance.

I blinked, focusing on Seth and Krystal’s faces. Seth stood in front of Krystal, his body blocking hers. His bright white skin seemed more vibrant against hers. I was closer to them. When had I moved? Something heavy weighed in my hand. I looked down. One hand gripped a baseball bat. Where did that come from?

Krystal was shaking violently and crying—the sound cut the thick silence of the room.

“Jesus, Ally,” Seth said while holding his arm out for protection.

My fingers slowly loosened and the bat fell to the floor and rolled under the desk.

“You weren’t supposed to find out this way,” Krystal said through sobs. “We were going to tell—”

A hand touched Ally’s arm and I whipped around, raising it to the unseen threat.

Jamie shrunk back into the hallway.

“What is she doing here?” Krystal asked between sniffles.

I turned around slowly, facing the people who had betrayed Ally. The girl who I was meant to protect. Too bad I hadn’t held onto the bat.

“How could you do this to her?” I spat. “She trusted you,” I said to Krystal then turned to Seth. “Loved you. And now she’s gone.” I let the simple fact settle deep inside of me. If the Guard hadn’t found her by now, was there any hope left of finding her before her transformation?

“Ally.” Seth stepped forward, reaching out to me.

Krystal grabbed his arm, pulling him back. “She’s referring to herself in the third person. I don’t think she’s well.”

I shot her a glare. That strange yet strong energy flowed through me again. I could bring these two down without a second thought.

“Ally,” Jamie said from the hallway. “We should go.”

“No,” I said. I didn’t dare move, unwilling to let the sensation go.

“Fine,” Jamie said. “I’ll be in the car.”

Jackson appeared next to me. “Maggie.”

I looked up at Jackson, his eyes filled with pride. I smiled.

“Let’s go,” he said softly.

I clenched my jaw.

“There is more where that came from,” he said, as if reading my mind. “But our work is done here.”

I turned my glare to the humans for the last time, moving to within inches of Seth. “Don’t ever speak to her—me again, either of you. Enjoy your dysfunctional relationship. I’m better off without either of you.”

Turning on my heel I stormed from the room and descended the stairs, picking up speed until I reached flat ground. The tension in Ally’s body unwound the further I got from Seth and Krystal and by the time I got outside, the weight of whatever I had felt upstairs had lifted, leaving behind a sick feeling in Ally’s gut.

I ran to the edge of the building, another pair of footfalls close behind me. Ally’s heart pounded harder and a pain in her side made her collapse. I panted, sucking in gulps of air, then knelt on the wet concrete and gagged, shudders ripping through Ally’s body as I struggled for control.

Two arms wrapped around Ally’s body. I tried to twist from Jackson’s embrace but he held me tighter. “You’re fine, Mags,” he whispered close to my ear.

“What the hell was that?” I said breathlessly.

Turning me to him, he pressed his forehead against mine. “I wanted it to work, and it did. But I don’t want you to hurt. It’s in the past.”

“What is in the past?” He was being entirely too cryptic.

“What did you see?” he asked gently.

I shook my head. “I didn’t see anything. Someone was screaming and there were many voices all mixed up together. I smelled blood. Whose blood did I smell?”

“What you experienced was a memory. One of your last, I’m afraid.”

“I thought memories couldn’t be experienced by souls?”

Jackson stood up, bringing me with him. “There is a lot that you don’t know, Mags. A lot that Felix needs to tell you. Coming from me it wouldn’t be enough, he has the whole story.”

“I can’t see him, though, not like this.” I waved Ally’s hands up and down, encompassing her human form. I couldn’t go into the After and Felix couldn’t come to the Living Realm. “And if Ally’s soul isn’t found—”

“Would that be such a bad thing?” he said quietly.

Ally’s jaw dropped. “Yes, it would. Why would you even say that?”

“Ally!” Jamie’s voice called from up the street. “I have to head home soon!”

Jackson’s gaze flitted across Ally’s face. “You’ll understand soon in any case.”

He reached out to touch her face again but I brushed past him toward the car.

How could he say that about Ally? If he wanted me, then me being stuck inside of her wouldn’t help that. Not that I considered being with him, in any capacity. Or did I? I shoved the thought away. I just wanted answers. Answers that seemed to be tangled up in my human past, and his.

“If you want to know more, ask Felix,” Jackson called after me.

I turned around to answer but he was gone.

Good riddance, I thought.

“Would you like to explain to me what happened back there?” Jamie asked, pulling out of the park and toward the Greene residence.

“I’d like to know the same thing,” I said, staring out the window. The rain had stopped for good, but the day quickly faded into evening, bright purples and pinks lit up the horizon.

“Who was that other guy?” she asked.

“That’s Jackson. I’d advise you to steer clear of him.”

“Should I warn you of the same thing?”

“Definitely,” I said.

We arrived at the estate just as the sun dipped below the back of the house and pulled into the garage, as if we’d never left.

Aaron appeared in front of the car, his expression tight.

“I think you’re in trouble,” Jamie whispered.

“He wishes,” I said, getting out of the car. I took the crutches from the backseat and tucked them under Ally’s arms, balancing on one foot.

“If Cooper was here you’d never have done that,” Aaron said, following us into the house.

“I’m sorry you’re an idiot who can’t take control of a human,” I mumbled.

Jamie went ahead of us toward the parlor. “I should grab my things. Dad will be here soon.”

Cooper appeared in the kitchen. “Still getting along well, I see?”

I grinned at Aaron. “Always.”

Cooper looked between us, his eyebrows furrowed. “Okay, well, thanks, Aaron, for covering for me. You can head back to the office now; there is another lead.”

Ally’s heart leapt. Mostly because there was a lead, and the fact that Aaron was going away.

With that, Aaron disappeared from the room.

I sighed. “Okay, what did Felix say?”

Cooper looked everywhere in the room except in my direction. “He, uh, he wants to speak with you himself. Tomorrow night.”

“About what? The transformation? How can I talk to him while I’m in this body? Do they have a lead?” I had so many questions and now I needed to get some answers.

Jamie stepped into the kitchen. “Sorry to interrupt, but I have to head out; my dad is outside.”

“Okay,” I said. “Talk to you tomorrow?”

Jamie grinned. “Yeah.” She offered a little wave to Cooper before turning toward the door.

“You shouldn’t get her hopes up,” Cooper said.

“What do you mean?”

“When this is all over,” Cooper said, “she’s not going to be able to keep you as a friend. Ally will have enough to worry about.”

As much as I wanted this to be over and for Ally to be safe, a minute part of my soul wished it would never end. Or maybe it was the new ability to dig deep into my own memories. I knew which path I should go in but the other tempted me. The power that I had felt at Seth’s had been released but a part of it still smoldered within me like hot coals doused with water. It had been unexplainable, and somewhat infelicitous, yet I wanted more.

“I know,” I said. “But I’m thinking Jamie will be able to help us.”

“How?” he asked, just as Marie walked into the kitchen.

“Dinner will be ready in a few minutes,” she said.

“Thanks,” I said, walking into the dining room. Cooper followed. I closed the door behind me. “We saw Marie get into the office with a key today. The wards aren’t against humans.”

“I know,” he said.

I balked. “You knew?”

“I’ve been with Ally since she was born,” he said. “I know everything that goes on around here.”

I crossed Ally’s arms across her chest. “And that wasn’t a detail you felt you could share with me?”

He shrugged. “It’s not a detail worth mentioning. There’s nothing in there that could help us. Like I said before, it’s just her body starting to transform.”

“Speaking of—” I said.

The dining room door opened, lightly hitting me. Marie shuffled into the room. “Why are you standing here? Sit, sit.”

I sat at Ally’s usual seat and Marie placed the plate in front of me. A blend of spices wafted up from the meal: grilled chicken, rice, and vegetables.

Ally’s stomach grumbled. “Thanks.”

“Is there anything else I can get for you?” she asked.

“I’m good, thanks,” I said, managing a smile.

She left the room, leaving the door open.

Well, I guess I couldn’t make any dinner conversation with Cooper. He stood at the window, staring outside with a strange expression. I peeked into the kitchen but Marie was still there. I’d have to save my questions for later.

After I inhaled the food, barely tasting any of it, even though it could have very well been my last meal, I went up to Ally’s room. Cooper followed me there, taking the slow route. I sensed it was deliberate. He didn’t seem in any rush to speak with me.

“So what did Felix have to say?” I asked, settling on the bed.

Cooper swiped a hand over his face. “He’d like to speak with you in person.”

“How is that possible?” I asked, knowing full well Caeleste couldn’t transport to the Living Realm.

“He has ways,” Cooper said with finality.

For an immortal soul, he sure looked weathered.

“That took you a few hours to figure out?” I asked. Ally’s heart sank, he wasn’t telling me everything.

His head snapped up as if woken from a trance. “We went over a few leads.”

I sat up. “Anything good?”

His eyebrows flattened to a straight line. “I didn’t think you were that interested.”

“Of course I’m interested,” I said, confused. “Why would you think that?”

He shrugged.

Had Aaron said something to him? In the kitchen it hadn’t seemed like he had, since he would have probably been Recycled if Cooper knew anything about him letting me out of his sight. Cooper did have a direct line to Ally’s body; had he felt what happened earlier with Jackson?

Cooper continued. “The Guard followed up on some of the locations that David had sent them in the past but they came up empty-handed. It’s almost as if they are waiting for something.”

“Her transformation?” I suggested, forming a coherent idea. “Hear me out.”

Now I had his full attention. Anything involving Ally had his full attention.

“That seems to be a key point in all of this,” I said. “If the Shadowed are looking to influence her to their side, they have to wait for her birthday to do it.”

“But why take her soul?” Cooper said as he started pacing. “Why not take her whole?”

“You said the soul was weaker when it was taken before it was supposed to be. Maybe they are working on influencing her soul. They don’t need her body to do that, right?”

“Right,” he said a little apprehensively.

“What about the True Soul?” I asked. “Do you think a Shadowed was able to cross into the After?”

“It’s not possible,” Cooper said. “The Shadowed aren’t capable of crossing into the After.”

I scoffed. “You keep saying things are impossible. Open your mind a little bit. I never thought it was possible to be sucked inside of a human body.”

“But that is something Felix knew was a possibility. The Shadowed tried for a long time to get there, with no success.”

“Maybe they were waiting for the right moment? If they knew they could cross over, wouldn’t they want to keep that secret from the Caeleste until they could use it to their advantage? Like taking a Prognatum True Soul.”

Cooper shook his head. “I don’t see that.”

I crossed Ally’s arms. “You don’t or you can’t?”

He shot me a glare.

I picked at an errant thread in the duvet. “Fine, that theory is off the table.” For now.

Ally’s mouth opened in a wide yawn. It was almost seven, yet the day had been full and quite exhausting.

“You should get to bed.”

“But we should talk through this,” I said, battling against another yawn.

“Nothing will happen tonight anyway; tomorrow is another day.”

“One more day closer to her birthday,” I murmured, padding across the room toward the closet. I changed into a T-shirt and baggy shorts and went into the bathroom to brush Ally’s teeth quickly before sliding into the bed. The whole day washed over me as I sunk deeper into the sheets.

“Sleep well,” Cooper said.

Anxiety settled deep in Ally’s stomach. I knew what would happen when I fell asleep but this time I was ready for it.

Even though I was unconscious, I knew the visions I experienced while sleeping were not my own. My soul and Ally’s body created mixed visions that unfolded before me.

I was back at Seth’s and, instead of walking away with Jackson, I had used the bat to pummel Seth and Krystal. Their blood splattered everywhere, soaking their clothes. When I was satisfied, I dropped the weapon, examining my hands that were covered in them as well. The arms weren’t Ally’s, they were my own. Images flickered as if they were on an old movie projector but they only showcased my arms. The image of my bloody arms superimposed over an image of my smooth bloodless arms but in one hand I held a smoking pistol. Blood. Pistol. Blood. Pistol. The images sped up until they became one. Then everything disappeared and a new vision came through.

One that wasn’t mine.

I tried to open my eyes but I couldn’t. It was as if something covered them. I moved my arms but I couldn’t feel them. I struggled against the binds that held me in a seated position.

“If you stop struggling, I will take it off,” a voice said.

I sat still for a few seconds. The weight against my eyes lifted. I was sitting on a small leather couch by a window in the same study I’d been in recently, I think. I looked down at my arms but they remained still at my sides, even though I tried to move them. My skin was paler than normal, almost translucent.

“I can take away the wards, Ally,” he said. “But you have to promise to stay here.”

I nodded, figuring that every time I complied with his requests he gave me a little more freedom. My arms were freed, yet I held my position, until that familiar tugging sensation moved me up and forward. I passed through objects in the room. A chair, then a desk, another couch.

“No, no, Ally,” the voice chided.

“Mumph,” I said. I hadn’t been able to speak since I’d arrived in this place. At least not coherently.

I moved toward the door again, the sensation growing with each inch.

“I said no,” he said forcefully. “You need to stay here.”

“Muumph!” What was wrong with my mouth? I’d felt the same way when I’d gone to the dentist for a root canal, full of cotton and undecipherable. I wanted out of there. How much longer would I be in this room? I needed to go to whatever called for me. My body buzzed with the need.

“Now, now,” he cooed.

The pressure of his hand pulled me back toward the couch.

“I brought you back here because you promised you’d be a good girl. If you keep leaving me, I will take you back there.”

No way. I didn’t want to drown in darkness again. I had spent days alone in a room with no light. When was the last time I ate? I knew it was something I should have done, but I didn’t feel the urge any more. The only urge was to get behind that door.

I drifted toward it again.

“Alright, Ally,” the voice said, disappointed. “I warned you.”

I turned to my captor, his face blurring as the room dissolved around me.