Soul Catcher (8 page)

He didn’t analyze the experience; he just pulled away, turning so he could distract himself with the jungle outside the window. He took a long swig, emptying the glass. “I think you’re right. There is alcohol in this.”

“Don’t get too excited,” Ethan said. “Like everything else in Eden, I’m sure it’s rated G. You can drink the alcohol, but it won’t make you drunk.”

Dane gave a breathy laugh. “Yeah, I think I’m safe from getting too excited.” The words came out sounding defensive even though he didn’t mean them that way.

Ethan didn’t seem to notice. He just poured himself another drink. “So, how are the Ps?”

“My parents…not great actually. My dad isn’t feeling well.”

“Sorry to hear that. Something going around on the outside?”

“Yeah, something like that. Hey, would you mind helping on the farm tomorrow, just for a few hours?”

When Ethan didn’t answer right away, Dane pivoted toward him, and the magnetic thing happened again. Right to the chestnut browns.

“Of course I’ll help,” Ethan said. “You know, every time I talk to you, you say how much you hate the farm. Yet every time you invite me to do something with you, it’s on the farm. Are you trying to tell me something?” He chuckled softly.

“No. Ah, maybe. It’s hard to explain.”

Bonnie appeared beside them, swirling the liquid in her cup. “Did you guys know, in Eden, alcoholic beverages won’t make you drunk? Something about the nature of the place.”

Dane glanced at Ethan and laughed, then took another drink.

“Ethan, would you like to dance?” Bonnie asked.

He shifted uncomfortably, glancing at Dane, and took a drink in an all too obvious attempt to delay giving her an answer. Didn’t Bonnie know Ethan was gay? Duh. She was making him uncomfortable. He decided to save the guy the embarrassment of turning her down.

“I’ll dance with you, Bonnie,” Dane offered. “I think Ethan was just about to get something to eat.”

Bonnie looked at Ethan impassively, then gave Dane a hint of a smile. “Of course. Thank you.”

He offered his hand and led her onto the dance floor. When they reached the center, Bonnie’s arms wrapped around his neck, and Dane noticed Ethan looked less than happy about the situation. Of course, now he was alone without anyone to talk to. Dane hadn’t thought of that.

“So how is life outside of Eden?” Bonnie asked flatly as they swayed between the other couples.

Dane raised his eyebrows. “Boring and shallow. I’d rather be here any day.”

“You’ve got to be kidding? Sometimes I’d like to chew my own arm off to get out of this place.”

“Honestly? You’d rather be studying for a calculus final than learning how to mix an herbal cocktail capable of blowing a demon’s head off.”

Her lips parted and a tiny laugh lightened the air between them. “Well, Abigail’s class is pretty interesting. Sorry to be such a butt about it. I think I’ve just caught cabin fever. Not for long though. Lillian says she thinks Abigail is going to send us on a mission.”

“Us?”

“Well, all of the Soulkeepers.”

Dane’s ears grew hot. Not him. She was talking about the real Soulkeepers. He swayed silently, staring at the wall behind her shoulder.

“I’m sorry. How rude of me. I know you want to be part of this,” Bonnie said. “But honestly, I’d like to switch places with you sometimes. I miss having a normal life. School and...boys.” Her eyes darted toward Ethan, who was leaning against the snack table watching them.

Clearing his throat, Dane decided to broach the subject with her. “Are you, um, interested in Ethan? Because I’m pretty sure he’s gay. I mean, he’s told everyone.”

“I know he
says
he’s gay, but he’s only, like, nineteen. Maybe he just hasn’t been introduced to anything else. People can change, you know.”

He frowned. “I don’t think that’s how it works.”

Her fingers toyed with the back of his hair. It tickled a little. “Here’s what I think. Sexuality is a spectrum. You’ve got heterosexuals on one end and homosexuals on the other, but then there are people kind of in the middle.”

“Aren’t they called bisexual?” Dane asked.

“Yeah, I guess. Well, those people can change, right?”

“I guess.” Dane shrugged.

“So, maybe Ethan has just limited himself. Maybe, if the opportunity presented itself, he’d, er, change his direction.”

“Huh. Okay. Well, good luck with that.”

He pushed a strand of her red hair behind her ear. The way her freckles peppered her nose was cute. The sprinkling of brown dots reminded him of a doll his sister once had, which made him think of his mother and how disappointed she was when he took off that evening.

“How about you?” Bonnie asked. “Is there anyone special in your life?”

Dane took a moment to answer. “No, not really. I used to date this girl named Amy, but there wasn’t a hell of a lot there to work with. I’m not sure why we dated each other, exactly. I guess because people in town expected it.”

“Oh, how sad.”

He shrugged. “Not really. I don’t think about her at all anymore. We never, um, you know, got very serious, so.”

She nodded. “Yeah, Sam and I haven’t dated too much either. It’s hard for guys to understand that we are two different people, but we never want to be apart. Our condition is weird for outsiders.”

The song ended. Dane lowered his arms. “Thanks for the dance.”

She nodded. “I think I’ll go get a drink.” Her eyebrows waggled. She wandered off toward Ethan, who glared at Dane expectantly.

“Sorry, buddy, I tried. You’re on your own,” Dane said under his breath.

Malini appeared in front of him, shaking her head in Bonnie’s direction. “That’s a disaster waiting to happen.”

“I know, right?”

“Well, since you are without a dance partner anyway, how about that talk?” she asked.

Dane bobbed his head. Oh, man, here it was. Might as well get this over with.

He followed her out of the room, to the end of the hall, across the veranda, and out into the garden. Night shrouded the tropical plants as they entered the jungle, the full moon’s light glinting off the tops of shiny leaves but not strong enough to reach the path below. Monkeys leapt from tree to tree, and a flock of fluttering wings erupted to their left. The scent of banana and coconut thickened the air. She led him deep into the greenery by touch or instinct, to an overgrown place where the trees pressed in around them, exposing only a sliver of the night sky. Pivoting, she halted and looked up at the stars visible between the branches.

“I like it here. It’s peaceful,” she said.

“Me too.” Dane’s voice sounded small and weak. No hiding his apprehension.

“I’ve wanted to talk to you for some time now about how you were able to come to Eden.”

He nodded, although she might not have noticed in the darkness. Even with the light of the moon, she was barely more than a silhouette under the branches.

“When Dr. Silva traded herself for you, she knew you would die if she didn’t get you to me fast. She carried you to the boat, risking her own life in the process. No one knew how close a fallen angel like Abigail could come to Eden. She wasn’t exactly a Watcher because she’d never eaten flesh, but she definitely wasn’t a Soulkeeper.”

Malini placed a hand on Dane’s. He cringed. Now was the part when she would tell him Abigail had broken the rules and he couldn’t come back after this. He braced himself for the bad news.

“She placed you in the boat, but she wasn’t sure how it worked. With only a few moments before she must return to Lucifer’s side, she left you. Do you remember what happened between the time she placed you in the boat and the time Jacob and I found you?”

“No,” Dane said, but his answer sounded uncertain, even to himself.

“What do you remember? Please.” Malini reached out and touched his hand.

Rubbing his eyes with his finger and thumb, Dane considered his options, and then decided he had nothing to lose by telling the truth. “I remember dreaming.”

She tugged at his hand. “What did you dream about?”

He took a deep breath. “A spider.” Malini didn’t laugh or comment or anything, so he continued. “There was a spider in the boat. A massive spider, bigger than me, and she had one of those bug sacks, all wrapped up in her web.”

“You called the spider ‘she.’”

“Yeah.” He laughed. “When she was real close, she had a face like a woman, long black hair, and big dark eyes with the whole universe inside them. Thousands of twinkling lights.” Dane shook his head. “I must sound crazy. I’ve never told anyone this before.”

“Your secret is safe with me, Dane, but please continue. It’s important.”

“She asked me if I’d like a drink and offered me the web sack. I was disgusted, you know, because I thought it was a bug or something, but I was so weak and thirsty. I nodded my head, and she raised the side to my lips.” Dane’s voice broke and his breath caught. He was remarkably close to crying. “It tasted good, Malini. I don’t know what she gave me. It could have been some half-masticated bug for all I know. I drank it. I think she saved my life.”

“Oh, Dane.” She pulled him forward by the hand and wrapped her arms around him as the tears began to flow.

How could he tell her how scary the dream was? No words could describe his helplessness, or the horror of imagining himself entombed in a spiders web. “I wish I could forget, just forget the whole thing. Do you know how hard it is to go to counseling once a week to ‘work through my abduction’ and not be able to talk about what really happened? I don’t want to waste my parents’ money, but I can’t possibly tell the truth. I’m probably crazy.”

“You’re not crazy.” Malini clasped his the shoulders. “I know the spider.”

“What?”

“I think Fatima—er, Fate paid you a visit. She’ll never admit to it, of course. But I suspect the water she gave you to drink came from the river outside of Eden. The water is blessed. All Soulkeepers are descended from someone who saw and drank that water. Only those who truly have a heart to rid the world of evil can see or drink it. Abigail and Gideon are the only exceptions. God knew the choice they would make to sacrifice themselves for all of us, and when He made them human, He gave them the ability to enter here as a reward for their self sacrifice. But I think Fate helped you drink the water, Dane, and now you are here.”

“I don’t understand.”

Malini tilted her face toward the moon. She sighed. “I think the water changed you. I think you might have the Soulkeeper gene now.”

Dane had to catch himself against the trunk of a tree. A lump formed in his throat. Did she just say what he thought she did?

“Either you are the only exception the cherubim have ever made or...”

“Or I have a latent Soulkeeper gene inside of me?”

“Yes.”

“So how do we find out?”

“We don’t.” Malini squeezed his hand.

“But I have to know.”

“Believe me, you will know if the gene switches on.”

Dane pulled his hand out of hers. “You don’t understand, Malini. This whole time—I thought you were going to say I didn’t belong here. And now, to learn I might be one of you! I have to know who I am.”

“You do belong here, Dane. God let you through the gate for a reason, Soulkeeper or not. You are human now, and you might always be human but, no matter what, you belong here.”

He shook his head and turned back toward the path to the school. He couldn’t put his feelings into words. In one way, this was more than he’d ever hoped for but, in another, to be this close and not know for sure was frustrating.

“Dane,” Malini said softly.

He turned around to face her. “Yeah?”

“I want you to take this.” A leather strap dangled from her fingertips, a red stone at the end of it. He’d seen the stone before. Jacob used to wear it, and then Malini. The chain was different. “I had it reset for you. I want you to wear it until we figure this out.”

“Why?”

“This stone is connected to me. Not physically but metaphysically.”

“Huh?”

“If you need me, hold it up to the light and clear your mind. I’ll help you.”

“Okay.” Tentatively, he reached out and hooked his fingers in the strap, pulling it over his head.

“No matter what, it’s okay to be what you are,” Malini said. “It’s okay to be who you are. The people who love you will love you no matter what. All you’ve got to do is be true to yourself.”

“Yeah,” Dane said absently.

Just then, a violent rustling heralded Archibald’s arrival on the path. “Ms. Malini!” he called. “You have to come. Something’s happened. Ms. Abigail needs to talk with you, right away.”

She took off toward the school at Soulkeeper speed, leaving Dane alone in the jungle with the garden gnome.

“Uh, Archibald, I know it’s your night off and everything, but would you mind showing me the way back to the school?”

“Oh yes,” the little guy said. “On the way you can tell me all about the exotic city of Paris, Illinois.”

Dane grinned in the darkness but didn’t deny him. He followed the gnome through the garden, telling stories about his everyday life while trying his best to process what Malini had told him. A new truth. A truth that could change everything.

Calling Card

M
alini burst into the conference room where The Soulkeepers’ council had already assembled. At the head of the table, Abigail wrung her hands, while Gideon and Lillian flanked her with equal unease. Backs to the entryway, Master Lee and Grace huddled together, staffs leaning against the table. When had they returned? The news must be urgent if they came in person instead of using the stone again. Maybe they’d found Cheveyo?

“What’s going on?” Malini rounded the table to an empty chair positioned between the two groups. She didn’t sit. The despair radiating from the two Helpers froze her in place.

“We found something,” Grace said, her voice shaking. She pushed a folded newspaper across the table, the Arizona Gazette. The headline read: 12 DEAD IN BAR MASSACRE.

Malini scanned the article, noting the mutilation of the bodies. Master Lee cleared his throat.

“Definitely Watchers. The flesh was stripped off while they were still breathing.” He shook his head. “And there was something else.”