“Neither are vacations, but as you said, she makes her own rules. And she’s not the only one. The DD Team can’t wait to toss me in a dark pit and doom me to eternal hell. I won’t get the chance to make up for my mistakes and see the light of auras again — unless your grandmother could talk to them first.”
“Talking to my grandmother is impossible.”
“When will she return?”
“Um … I don’t really know.” I looked down at my temporary body and shook my head. “But when I hear from her, I’ll tell her you’re sorry and ask her to go easy on you. I’m sure that when I explain everything, she’ll help you. Being banished to a hell pit isn’t fair. I’ll tell Grammy that I think you should have a chance to make up for your crimes.”
He bent close to my face, not touching me but so near that warm tingles sizzled through me. “There’s a light in you that makes me want to be better, to do good things.”
“I hope you get the chance.”
“A chance is all I ask for.” He closed his eyes, grimacing as if haunted with dark thoughts. “It’s like I’ve been lost forever and suddenly I can see the right doorway ahead, but it’s blocked and there’s no time to find my way.”
“Grammy says time doesn’t run the same on the other side.”
“But it’s running out for me here. I’m weary of going from body to body and all the pretense. It’s time to stop. When my time in this body expires, I won’t find a new one.”
“What if I can’t talk to my grandmother before then?”
“My soul is already heavy with my crimes. I won’t add any more.”
“But if you don’t switch, the DD Team will find you.”
He sighed. “Yes, the worst may happen.”
“So you should escape now, while you have the chance.”
“I should, but my soul is so weary of hiding.”
“I really will talk to my grandmother for you.”
“While I appreciate the offer, I need to talk to her personally.”
“You can’t — not now, anyway. But maybe there’s someone else you can talk to.”
“There’s no one else. If I can’t talk with your grandmother, I might as well give up now and turn myself in.”
“You don’t mean that! Fight for your life … or lives … or death.” I wasn’t really sure how all the worked, but I hated to see anyone give up.
“I didn’t beg for mercy when I was walking those final steps to the gallows, and I won’t beg now. All I can hope for is your grandmother’s sense of fairness and mercy. I’m not asking you to defend me to her, just to set up a meeting so I can plead my own case.”
“I would if I could … ” I glanced down at the damp ground and a smudge of dirt on my sneakers. With a shake of my head, I lifted my gaze back to his. “Like I said, it just isn’t possible. She can’t meet with anyone now.”
“So be it,” he said, with such agonized resignation that my heart crumbled. “I’ll leave now, so you’ll never be burdened by my problems again.”
A half hour ago I would have jumped for joy if he’d offered to leave, but now it felt all wrong. By refusing to help, I’d signed his death sentence. “Don’t go, Gabe. Let me help—”
I thought about his story of the betrayal that ended his life. He hadn’t been much older than me, yet his life was over. Stealing bodies and breaking hearts was wrong and I couldn’t forgive him that easily. But I couldn’t forgive myself if I didn’t at least try to help.
So I agreed to set up a meeting with my grandmother.
Heaven help me.
* * *
The drive back to the cemetery was surreal.
Along the way, though, the fear I felt toward Gabe started shifting into something I couldn’t define. Although he made no move to touch me, I was very aware of his arm casually resting on the compartment separating our bucket seats. Not his arm, I reminded myself, but a borrowed arm from a stolen body. I may feel sorry for him, but that didn’t suddenly make him a paragon of virtue. His personality was closer to a devil than an angel, and I had no business sneaking glances at him and inhaling his salty sea scent. If the light touch of his hands electrified me, how would it feel to be in his arms …
Down, evil thoughts! What was wrong with me? It was wrong to think these kind of thoughts about anyone except Eli. He was the only guy I cared about — not someone who’d died over a century ago.
What I should be thinking about was how to set up a meeting with my grandmother. If I explained everything to her, would she understand? Would she agree to talk to him? I’d like to think so … but I doubted it. More likely she’d be furious I’d broken rules in such a big way and kick me right out of my temporary body.
As we parted and Gabe slid into his own car, I kept my expression calm but inside I was quaking. Damn. Why had I promised to help him? It was almost like I’d been under a spell.
Resisting the urge for one last look at him, I shifted into reverse and got the hell out of there. I should have driven straight to my real home and talked to Grammy. Except if I saw her and explained about Gabe, she might get angry that I didn’t report him. Even worse — I might start blushing, which would lead to lots of awkward questions. It was confusing how Gabe made me feel, and I didn’t want Grammy to get the wrong idea. Eli was the guy I cared about; Gabe was just someone who needed help. I needed to make careful plans for how to approach Grammy about Gabe.
So I headed back to Alyce’s. Her mother would be at work and I’d have the house to myself. I’d make some lunch, maybe watch some TV, then get on with my plan to save Gabe’s soul.
When I reached Alyce’s, the door was locked and I had to dig down to the bottom of Monkey Bag to find a key.
That’s when I heard Alyce’s cell phone beeping.
Picking it up, I saw a text from Dustin.
Hoping he hadn’t been arrested at the protest and needing a lawyer, I tapped a button and read the short message.
9
Convincing Grammy to meet with a Dark Lifer would be hard, but going out on a date in the wrong body with someone I was sure was the wrong guy was seriously scary. How had Dustin arranged this so quickly? He was too damned efficient for my own good. I really, really did not want to do this …
At least Zachary was an okay guy — his rep was for being boring, not for beating up his girlfriend like Kyle. Still, I couldn’t imagine him and Alyce as a couple. Popularity-wannabe Zachary matched with anti-everything Alyce? Ridiculous! What could they possibly have in common?
But the more urgent question was — what was I going to wear?
Even though I had a key and the legal right to enter Alyce’s house, I still felt like a trespasser. There were no sounds of life, only echoes of emptiness that shivered up my skin. Smoke and a scent of candle wax lingered in the air, and the only sound came from my footsteps and a steady ticking, like a heartbeat, from the wall clock over the TV. Peering around nervously, I half-expected Mrs. Perfetti to suddenly jump out and demand to know what I was doing here.
I bypassed the kitchen (despite growls of protest from my tummy) and headed straight to Alyce’s closet. I’d
