“I know exactly what kind of guy you are — my kind.” I lightly touched his arm. “And when this is all over I’d love to go out with you.”
“It’s a date,” he said, nodding.
I nodded, too, feeling tingly all over. I really, really wanted to kiss him.
But I could wait.
“I don’t understand why you’re going to the airport.” Eli rubbed his chin, giving me a puzzled look.
“What do you mean?”
“Won’t the body change happen wherever you are? So why not leave Sharayah here to enjoy her vacation?”
“I have to get home ASAP so I can talk to Alyce. She needs me today. And since I don’t know exactly when the change will happen, I’m flying home immediately. A taxi will be here soon.”
“Cancel it,” Eli said firmly.
“I can’t.” My throat tightened as I remembered Alyce’s accusations. “I have to fix things with Alyce.”
“Still, you don’t need a taxi to get to the airport. I can drive you.”
“You’d do that for me?”
“I drove all the way here, didn’t I?”
“Yes.” I met his gaze. “You did.”
He met my gaze with such honesty that I trusted him completely.
After I cancelled the taxi, we cleared a space on the couch and sat down to talk. The house was quiet, without even the scamper of kitty feet.
“Interesting place you’re staying in.” Eli’s lips curled with amusement as he gestured at the mismatched furniture, boxes and other oddities scattered around the room. “Not exactly a five-star hotel.”
“More like a no-star hovel. But it came with a cat, so I can’t complain.”
“I didn’t know you liked cats.”
“We have one at home, part Siamese and all attitude. And I love dogs, too,” I said fondly, thinking of Cola.
“Cats, dogs … I’m a fan of almost all animals,” he said.
“Almost? What animals don’t you like?”
“Well … it’s kind of embarrassing to admit.”
I pantomimed zipping my lips. “I won’t tell. What?”
“Birds — they freak me out. My grandpa had this mean parrot once that bit my ear. I was only four, but that kind of pain you don’t forget. I still have a scar right here,” he added, pointing to his left ear.
I leaned closer to look at the tiny jagged white scar on his ear lobe, aware of the few inches between us and careful not to accidentally caress him with his sister’s hands. It was safe to talk about animals and not about what was really on our minds.
But it was time to get serious.
“Eli, did you bring it?” I asked quietly.
He knew exactly what I meant and reached into his coat pocket. “Here,” he said, handing me a small book.
I took my GEM, frowning a little because now that I finally had it there was no need to use it. My mission was over — whether I wanted it to be or not. Still, it felt good to hold my tiny link to the other side.
“Thanks for bringing it all this way,” I told Eli.
“I said I would — although getting here hasn’t been easy.”
“I wondered why you didn’t call me back.”
“Sorry,” he said sheepishly. “I wanted to but I couldn’t. Remember the girl from the dorm I told you about who was helping me?”
How could I forget? Gritting my teeth I said, “Yeah. Katelyn.”
“Well it turns out we have the same cell phone model — and she took mine by mistake. So I didn’t get your message with your address until she realized the mistake and called me. By then, I had other problems. Dad was mad that I hadn’t returned right home with the car he loaned me, and he ordered me to ‘haul my ass home or else.’”
“Did you go home?”
“You bet — no one defies Dad. I’d already disappointed him by refusing to work at the car lot and I didn’t want to make things worse. Besides, going home gave me a chance to talk to Mom. She’s been so worried about Sharayah.”
For good reason, I thought grimly.
“When I told her I was trying to help Sharayah, she was thrilled,” Eli continued. “I don’t know what she told Dad, but next thing I knew he was handing me the keys to a brand new car and slipping me a credit card for gas. I finally got a call from Katelyn, who explained the phone mix-up, and once I had the address I drove right here.”
“Thanks so much — especially for my GEM.” I rubbed my hand over the smooth cover. “Although it’s not much use to me now.”
“Are you sure?” he asked, frowning. “There could be information in it that would help Sharayah. What will happen to her when you switch back?”
“She’ll resume her own life.”
“But will she be okay?”
I wanted to answer “yes,” but the intuitive connection I shared with Sharayah told me otherwise. Her fragile soul, sleeping in my physical body, was getting a needed rest, but that was only a Band-Aid on a much deeper wound. She needed to get over Gabe’s cruelty and regain her self-confidence.
Unfortunately, I could no longer help her.
Still, Eli was right about there being no rush for me to get to the airport. In fact, why get on a plane at all? I could travel on more mysterious planes. All I had to do was wait for Grammy to return me to my own body. In a blink of a soul switch, I’d travel over 400 miles and I’d wake up in a hospital bed. Once I was myself again, I’d go right to Alyce and stay with her all night if that’s what it took to mend our friendship.
“Aren’t you going to open it up?” Eli asked, gesturing toward the book.
“No,” I said wryly. “My mission is over.”
“Not officially. You’re still my sister.”
“For a few hours, anyway — which isn’t long enough to finish my job. I totally messed up as a Temp Lifer.”
“You did your best in a crazy situation. And after the switch, I’ll stick around here to help my sister. Your insider information will make it easier to convince her to come back home with me.”
“But she can’t go home until after the
“I will,” Eli promised. “Even if it means kidnapping her.”
“Don’t cause her to scream — that’s terrible for her vocal chords.”
He stared at me uneasily. “You’re kidding … right?”
I fixed him with a dead-serious look, then relaxed into a grin. “Of course I’m kidding. Besides, you shouldn’t have any trouble convincing Sharayah. You’re her brother, she’ll listen to you.”
“Her
“Oh. Then I better consult the GEM for advice.” I looked down at the small book. “I’ll find out what we should do about the audition and whether the DD Team caught the Dark Lifer.”
“What Dark Lifer?” Eli nearly jumped off the couch.
“Oh, didn’t I tell you about him?”
“No, you did not,” he said accusingly.
I wasn’t eager to talk about what had happened, but Eli had done so much for me, I owed him the truth. So I told him everything — except about my rescue by Dyce. Somehow that seemed like a bad idea.
“Anyway, it’s all over now,” I finished. “The DD Team will get rid of the dead guy hiding out in Warren.”
“What about the real Warren? What happens to him?”
