Soul Catcher (4 page)

“Of course.” Malini nodded.

“Good.” Abigail scribbled a note to herself.

“Well then, Lillian filled us in on yesterday’s mission. What is your plan with regard to Harrington Enterprises?” Gideon asked.

“None yet. I need your help with some research. Maybe one of the helpers can bring you resources.”

“No need. We have all the resources necessary. Follow me.” He gathered his notes and headed for the door.

Confused, Malini said her goodbyes to Lillian and followed Gideon into the hall. Abigail joined them at her side.

“Where are we going?” Malini asked.

Abigail smiled mischievously. “We have something to show you, something I believe you will find quite interesting.”

“Interesting like The Huffington Post or interesting like a hive of Watchers trying to decapitate me?”

“The first.”

“Excellent!”

Through a door at the end of the hall, Malini followed Abigail into an antechamber.

“I don’t remember ever being in here before,” Malini said.

“This room wasn’t accessible.” Abigail pointed toward the door they’d just entered. “That used to be a solid stucco wall.”

Malini lowered her chin and raised her eyebrows.

Gideon paused to face her. “I was lamenting the lack of outside information in Eden when Archibald, the good gnome that he is, asked if there was anything he could get for me. I said, ‘Yes, a New York Times.’ And, without leaving Eden, he brought me one.”

“What? How?”

“As we’ve come to expect here, there’s more to this place than meets the eye. Turns out Warwick sealed off this room with magic when he left. I don’t blame him. The content is worth protecting.”

“Show me.” Malini was smiling now. She suspected what might be behind the double doors and crossed her fingers, hoping she was right.

Abigail grasped the carved wooden handle and pulled. Behind the heavy door was a golden, three-story, round room from a fairy tale.

“A library!” Malini said, stepping inside. A winding staircase led to the second and third floor, where curved shelves stretched floor to ceiling, laden with tomes.

“Oh yes, a library. An enchanted library. Come, a demonstration is in order.”

“Please!” Malini said excitedly.

“We’ll start with the fiction section. What are you in the mood to read?”

Malini grinned. “Romance.”

Abigail led her to a shelf of books labeled with a hand carved plaque in a language Malini didn’t know. “Choose a book,” she said.

“But the spines have no titles,” Malini said, confused. She lifted a leather volume off the shelf and flipped it open. “The pages are blank.”

“You didn’t tell it what to be,” Abigail said. “Close the book again.”

Malini did.

“Now concentrate on the book you want to read.” Abigail waited. “Open it again.”

Delighted, Malini opened the book and read the words that appeared on the page. “‘It is a truth universally acknowledged that a single man in possession of good fortune must be in want of a wife.’ Holy magical library, this is Jane Austen!” Malini gaped at Abigail who was laughing as if she still couldn’t believe it.

“And that’s just the beginning,” Gideon’s voice boomed from above. He hung over the gold railing on the second floor. “Come check out the Google section.”

Malini jogged up the stairs to his side. “Google section?”

“My nickname for this section.” He pointed to a row of black tomes. “Ask these books a question—out loud. It seems to work better that way.”

Rubbing her hands together, Malini asked the question weighing on her mind. “Where is the Soulkeeper Cheveyo?”

The spines blurred and then filled with print. “Arizona Live Births, the History of Hopi Civilization in America, Flagstaff Arizona visitors’ guide. Looks like Grace and Lee are searching in the right place!”

“Incredible, yes? Anything we need is at our fingertips.” Gideon lifted the first tome and started flipping to the section labeled “C”.

“What does it say?”

“There isn’t a Cheveyo listed,” Gideon said.

“Figures. But like anything else here, it’s a matter of asking the right questions.”

Gideon nodded.

“I wonder…” Malini ran her fingers along the spine of a book. “Do you think this place is connected to my power somehow? Where does the information come from?”

Contemplative, Gideon rubbed his chin. “Anything is possible, I suppose, although these books mirror what’s available in the outside world and nothing more. They can’t predict the future or focus on a specific soul any more than a biography.”

“I see.”

“I hate to disturb you, Malini,” Abigail called from below. “I know there’s more you’d like to do here, but the gnomes are expecting to see you before you go, and I think, the students too. It means a lot to them.”

Malini nodded. Part of being a leader was being
there
for people. It was something she’d had to get used to, a part of growing up she’d never expected. Her presence, her attention, brought comfort to others. Even on days she didn’t believe in herself, she had learned others did with an almost mystic reverence, and it was important that she uphold the responsibilities of her station.

“Gideon, would you mind researching Harrington Enterprises for me? And continuing to dig for more information on Cheveyo?” she asked.

“Of course not. I’d be happy to,” he said.

Thank goodness
. Malini descended the stairs, straightened her spine, and cleared her head. At Abigail’s side, she prepared to give her full attention, her full self, to whoever needed her.

Strange Expectations

I
n the small town of Paris, Illinois, Dane Michaels adjusted his bright orange tray on the brand new folding table in the remodeled cafeteria. After the disaster at prom last year, an act of violence the town labeled domestic terrorism, reconstruction had taken an entire summer, but Paris High School was fully operational again.

“Are you guys going to the school dance?” Dane whispered across the table to Jacob and Malini. Not that anyone was listening anyway. The rest of the school had long since decided the three friends, who always sat in the far corner, had nothing interesting to offer. Better they never knew the truth.

Jacob glanced at Malini. “Considering the last dance we went to resulted in Lucifer blowing up the school, I wasn’t planning on it. Plus, Malini and I have work to do.”

Malini lowered her fork and huffed in his direction. “Jake, yes, okay. There’s always work to do. But it’s our senior year. We can’t miss homecoming just because the devil wants us all dead. I’m not letting him get the best of me.”

“Sorry,” Jacob said, leaning away from Malini’s tantrum. “You wanna go to homecoming?”

“Yes, thanks for asking. I’d love to.” She forced a tight smile.

Dane leaned forward in his seat. “Actually, I was talking about the
other
school dance. Although I am on the Paris homecoming committee, and it is going to be fabulous.”

His two best friends exchanged glances. Malini raised an eyebrow. “Other school? How have I not heard of this? The Healer should be the first to know.” She laughed.

“It’s something Ethan’s been organizing.”

“Ah.” Malini poked her baked beans with her fork.

“I guess since there are so few of us, you could just call it a back-to-school get together,” Dane said. Maybe he shouldn’t have told Malini. He hoped Ethan wouldn’t get in trouble because of him. Dane liked the school in Eden better than Paris. He felt safe there. Unlike Malini and Jacob, he didn’t have Soulkeeper powers to protect him if the Watchers returned for a replay of prom night. He was vulnerable to any demon who wanted him dead. Worse, the time he spent in Hell gave Lucifer an imprint of his soul. Outside of Eden, the devil had constant supernatural GPS on his ass and could demand his astral projected presence on a whim. He was a sitting duck.

“You’ve been spending a lot of time with Ethan, huh?” Jacob said softly.

Malini elbowed him.

“Ow! What the hell? Just making an observation.” He rubbed his arm vigorously.

Dane pretended not to catch that Jacob’s inference had to do with Ethan’s sexual orientation. He didn’t want to go there. “Well, uh, he doesn’t have many friends here, you know, and he’s not allowed to leave Eden much. He’s been helping me on the farm a little. It gives him something to do. Probably boring considering he’s from California and used to work in a club, but he doesn’t seem to mind.”
And he makes me feel safe.

“Yeah,” Malini said. “He needs you, Dane. You’ve been a great friend. He and the twins are probably going stir crazy. When is this dance?”

“Friday night. After training. Everything’s cleared with Abigail.”
Damn
, he sounded too excited. He had to remember Eden wasn’t
his
school. As lucky as he was to be included, he didn’t belong. Not really. When they all graduated, he’d go away to college, hopefully, and then what? He wouldn’t be hanging out in Eden every weekend, that’s for sure. Or he could do things his dad’s way and take over the farm. Not much time for battling evil when there’s corn to grow.

A soft brown hand landed on his pale one. How did she know?

“We wouldn’t miss it, Dane. We can all go together. Sounds fun. Plus, maybe while we’re in Eden, you and I can talk,” Malini said.

Warmth infused his arm, and an easy calm settled over him. “Okay.” The bell rang, but he couldn’t look away from her soothing topaz eyes.

Jacob groaned and swiped her hand from his. “All right, that’s enough healing for the time being. Come on, Malini. We’ll be late for English.” He placed a protective arm around her shoulders and steered her body toward the exit.

Dane followed them from the cafeteria, rolling his eyes at the theatrics. Jacob knew as well as Dane did that he had nothing to worry about when it came to Malini. Those two were destined for each other.

What was his destiny? He frowned as the image of himself dressed in overalls and carrying a pitchfork slid across his mind. Panic shot through his abdomen, and he was reminded of why he needed to concentrate on his studies. Melding into the hallway traffic, he hurried to his next class.

* * * * *

The hinges of the screen door screeched as Dane entered the farmhouse, his bulging backpack weighing down his shoulder. Homework in every subject. So much for easing into the school year. Still he’d have to buckle down to get it all done if he wanted his Friday night free to spend in Eden.

“That you, Dane?” his dad called from the family room.

“Yeah. I’m home.”

“Good. I need your help in the grain silo. Problem with the blower. Need to get ‘er fixed before harvest.” The old man rushed into the kitchen with long, quick strides and rubbed his forehead with the back of his thumb. As always, he was in a hurry. A farmer’s work was never done.

“Can’t today, Pop. I’ve got tons of homework.” Dane eased the backpack off his shoulder and dropped the weighty cargo on the kitchen table for effect.

His dad stopped abruptly, a rarity in the Michaels’s household; the man was never still. “Can’t you do it tonight, after dark? Only so much daylight left.”

“Like I said, I’ve got hours of homework, and I’ve got to be awake. All AP classes, remember?”

Plugging his burly hands into his pockets, he shook his head. “This is ludicrous. There’s only so much education a boy needs. You’ve got responsibilities ‘round here!”

“Luke, you heard the boy!” Dane’s mother yelled from the hall, a basket of laundry on her hip. The miserable expression on her face said what her words didn’t. There’d be hell to pay if his father pushed it.

His father grunted and turned his head away, like he couldn’t stand to look at Dane a moment more.

“I can look at the blower on Saturday. I’m sure Ethan would help me if you can wait a couple of days.”

“Ethan, huh?” His dad shook his head and stomped through the squeaky screen door. “I’ll check if Walter can do it.” Dane hoped he’d go easy on his younger brother; his dad was in a mood, again.

Robotically, his mom entered the kitchen, her thin lips pursed. She’d aged this year. New wrinkles carved out the path her frown took on her face, and her hair was gray at the roots. “You haven’t helped ‘round here much since you’ve been home,” she said, her voice heavy with disappointment.

“I help when I can.”

“Which ain’t often.”

“It’s not what I want to do.” The words were out before Dane could consider the implications of the admission.

His mom scooted the basket off her hip and onto the table near his backpack. She started forcibly folding the laundry. “Sometimes a thing grows on a body once they try it.”

“I spent the first seventeen years of my life trying it,” Dane murmured, then immediately regretted it. Tears gathered in his mom’s eyes. He hated to hurt her. None of this was her fault, and he’d put her through so much this summer when he disappeared.

Of course, it wasn’t
his
fault either. He’d been captured and held prisoner by Lucifer. But he couldn’t tell his parents the truth about what happened. Instead, he’d said he didn’t remember anything, and the town assumed his fate was the same as Stephanie Westcott’s, who also couldn’t remember anything. Dane was told he was abducted, drugged, and kept in a warehouse, a victim of a human trafficking ring. He was freed, just in time, by an FBI sting operation. While a good story, there wasn’t a grain of truth to it. Nevertheless, his family welcomed him home and eventually stopped asking questions.

Things hadn’t been the same since because Dane wasn’t the same. Not only was he still a bit thinner, his mind was constantly elsewhere. He couldn’t force himself to pretend anymore that he wanted anything to do with the farm.

Now his mother stared at him with dull eyes as if she didn’t know who he was anymore. “You may not remember anything about your abduction, but I do. You left a gaping hole in our family. It broke my heart.”

“I’m sorry—”

She held up one bony hand. “You’re eighteen, a legal adult, and I suppose you’ll do what you want to do. But we need you, Dane. Whatever happened to you was traumatic. Your father and I’ve let you do your own thing for a while so you could recover. But I’m beginning to think this isn’t about recovering. Don’t you want to be part of this family anymore?”