A deep breath later, Niko said to Tomas’s now soaked jacket, “Without really knowing it, I’d let myself fade. I stopped taking in residual energy. Sickleton saw it, was worried about me, but I ignored him. Played the tough guy. Snapping at Janika gave me an out. If she killed me, I would have the perfect excuse. But the bitch wouldn’t. So, I tried to go home, but the last of my powers took me to a bench by a hospital instead. I didn’t know why until my angel came down from the heavens and saved me.”
Tomas held Niko at arm’s length to lock gazes with him. “Angel?”
“Arianne.” Niko swiped the back of his hand under his nose and sniffed. “Would you believe she quoted Kofi Annan at me?” The facial expression on Tomas told Niko his father-figure didn’t quite get what he meant, so he said with a half-sigh, half-laugh, “To live is to choose. There’s more to it, but that’s the part I like the best. She said, to live is to choose. So, I choose to live.” He stood up, walked to the towel he’d dropped on the floor, and dried his face with it.
Under Tomas’s watchful gaze, he exchanged the towel for the button-down shirt Sickleton had laid out for him and put it on. “Why are you here?” he asked as if he hadn’t shared a moment with Tomas. “I don’t believe the master sent you just to tell me what a mess I’m in.”
Tomas returned his hands to the safety of his pockets. His lips disappeared into a thin line. “I’m sorry, Nikolas, but you’ve been placed under observation.”
Niko ignored the hand of dread that closed around his neck. “What does that entail?”
“That I’ll be watching you.”
“Well, thank you, Big Brother.”
“Nikolas, you know what I mean. And I agree with our master’s decision. You need to be watched.”
“I won’t repeat what happened yesterday. You have my word on it.”
Tomas squeezed his charge’s shoulder. “I believe in your word. But I would also like to see for myself that you’re all right. What happened to me all those years ago is nothing compared to what you did. You let yourself get to the point where you were actually in the process of the Fade. I will not allow that to ever happen again, even if I have to siphon energy for you.”
“You can do that?”
“You won’t believe what I can do.”
“How long are you babysitting?”
“Until the master and I agree it won’t happen again.”
“I have to go.” Niko moved toward the door and picked up his backpack.
“Where?”
“Uh, school?”
Tomas smiled before he disappeared.
At the street corner, Niko shifted his weight from one foot to the other, waiting for the approaching bus to come to a stop. He wanted to see Arianne again. He owed her his life. If she hadn’t held herself together, he wouldn’t be standing in broad daylight. And after admitting to Tomas what he’d been through all those years, the slow decline into nothingness, his chest rose and fell easier. Every breath he took in reminded him how good the act of breathing felt. Like a recharged battery, he zinged with energy and life. No longer did he want to return to that downward spiral.
Once the doors parted, he hopped on with a spring in his step. But before he could move forward, he caught a glimpse of Arianne seated by the window two rows from the back. The morning sun brought out golden highlights in her hair. Even in a plain blue top, jeans, and ratty sneakers, she looked like a movie star. She rested her chin on her palm and the pout she sported made him want to take her bottom lip between his teeth and nibble until she sighed.
The bus’s forward momentum pulled his mind away from racier thoughts as he slid in beside her.
“You’re sitting beside me,” she gasped.
He liked her surprise.
“I see that you don’t have your BF by your side today,” he teased. “What’s his name?”
“Ben. He’s not my boyfriend.”
A pinch of jealousy brought mischief into his eyes. “I didn’t mean boyfriend. I meant best friend. Why is that, by the way? I assume you’ve been friends for years.”
“He’s at baseball practice. Coach Simmons has him filling in again. Important game and all that. And I don’t think of Ben that way. He’s like a brother to me.” Her cheeks moved into a deeper shade of pink with each word. “And, anyway, he likes my sister.”
Niko couldn’t believe how happy that admission made him—like he’d been given a gift he hadn’t expected to get but always wanted.
“You look better,” she said.
“I owe you my life.”
She switched from surprised to guarded. “I haven’t seen anything like
“Shhh,” Niko cut her off. “Lower your voice, please.”
The gifts kept on coming.
Arianne ducked closer to him until their heads were only inches apart. The warmth in his chest smoldered. All he had to do was tilt his head to the side and tip his chin closer toward—
“You have to tell me what happened yesterday,” she insisted in hushed tones, shredding his thoughts like a steak knife.
“Not here, not now.” He caught her gaze in his. “You have to at least understand that.”
“But you’ll tell me.”
“When the time is right.”
“When will that be?”
“You’re a selfish little thing.” A corner of his lips quirked up.
She twisted away from him. “I resent that. I’m just curious. You almost died. Or whatever it was that was happening.”
“Is that concern I hear?” He found himself hopeful. Morbidly so.
She faced him again, losing some of the stubbornness on her chin. “What do you think? I wouldn’t have helped you if I wasn’t worried. Niko, you were
His eyes widened. “You knew what was in my basement?”
Arianne paled. “I…uh…I—”
“It seems you have something to tell me as well,” he said, low and deep, eliciting a different kind of flush on her face.
The bus lumbered into the school parking lot. Niko strode to the door along with a line of other students and stepped onto the pavement. Arianne’s admission both confused and frustrated him, which did a good job of bringing up his defenses. He shut her out by leaving. A part of him felt sick to his core because of it. But what could he do? She admitted to having seen the souls.
“Surely, she couldn’t be a threat,” he murmured to himself.
“Hey, man, what are you standing there for?” Desmond called.
Darla, in her usual cardigan and skirt, stood with him, but her attention lay elsewhere.
Niko climbed the steps, but before he could say anything, Darla said, “Why were you seated with Arianne Wilson?” Her eyes narrowed—intent on watching Arianne alight from the bus.
He glanced over his shoulder and his stomach crumpled. Arianne’s expression was one of sad confusion. The culprit? Him.
He returned his attention to Darla and asked, “How’s the dance planning going? Two weeks away, right?”
“Oh man! Why do you have to open the floodgates so early?” Desmond said in mock annoyance.
Darla’s face shone like the noon day sun. “The decorations have been ordered and are coming at the end of
