“Still, no kissing … Eli wouldn’t like it.”
“Eli is unimportant.”
“Not to me, and I can’t lie to him.”
His sea eyes darkened and for a moment I was afraid he was angry. But then he smiled. “I understand. If not with a kiss, entwine both of your hands with mine.”
“Is that safe? Won’t it drain me of energy? I mean, since you’re a Dark Lifer.”
“I promise — it’s completely safe.”
“But how will this teach me powers to help Alyce?”
“You’ll have infinite power, Amber. Trust me.”
But his words, rather than offering reassurance, shot me with fear. “Trust me.” I’d heard him say that before — once on a cliff to another girl, and then to me on a boat. Instead of trusting, I pulled my hands back.
“Never be afraid of me, Amber,” he assured with a nod of his head that seemed to shower me with a cool wave of calmness. And I did feel calmer, sinking into that sweet dizziness again. His spirit form rose and shone so dazzlingly bright that he reminded me of an angel. His hands were the most amazing of all — exploding with luminescent rays as if he held the sun in his palms.
And I wanted to share that sun, to let it fill me, too. It would be so easy to do as he asked, to take his hands and fuse our energies. More intimate than anything physical I could imagine on Earth, as if we were truly one spiritual being.
His eyes were completely of the sea, waves of blue and gray spilling into me. “Clasp my hands,” Gabe told me. “I swear it won’t hurt and afterwards you’ll share my powers and more. No loneliness, sadness, or grief. All past sorrows will be washed away and I’ll be your protector, teacher, and soul mate.”
“Soul mate?” A tremor rocked me.
“We’re destined for each other.”
“To help each other, you mean,” I corrected.
His tone sharpened. “Amber, do you understand what I’m offering?”
“Not exactly,” I murmured, uneasy but unwilling to break away from his radiant gaze. “Tell me.”
“When I saw you on the boat — not your Host Body, but the real Amber — I knew you were the soul mate I’d been hoping to find; a girl I could finally trust.”
“I turned you in to the DD Team,” I reminded him.
“That showed bravery and resourcefulness, as well as compassion because you gave me time to escape.”
“That’s not how it really—” I started to explain, but he wasn’t listening.
“I was intrigued that an Earthbounder would choose to be a Temp Lifer,” he went on with intensity. “I knew you were the soul mate I longed for, so I followed you. Even in another’s body, your beauty shined through, and I was willing to wait until you were ready. But waiting is over. Soon your earthly ties will be gone. There will be no going back, only forward as my companion.”
“Companion! You mean to stay with you … like this?” I gestured to his glowing essence, which was more like a holograph than solid body. “Forget it. I want my real life with my family and friends. If anyone’s my soul mate, it’s Eli.”
Gabe frowned. “He can’t offer you what I can. I meant it when I said I wanted to change. I’m weary of lying and loneliness. Fuse with me and we’ll see the world, travel endless lives in borrowed bodies, together forever.”
Forever? Um … no thanks.
And what would happen to Alyce if I suddenly left her body? Would she automatically zap back or would she be lost in soul limbo?
“No!” I wanted to run, but didn’t know where to turn or how to escape. Trapped in a spirit limbo, I wasn’t flesh and blood, only energized soul. Gabe had all the power and knowledge. Instead of teaching me, he tricked me — as he had tricked countless other girls — and I’d been stupid enough to believe him.
“You can’t stop what we’ve started,” he told me, as if he were a wise adult and I were a foolish child. “Take my hands and I’ll guide you into this new journey.”
“NO! I can stop it and I will.”
“Amber!” His tone snapped with warning. “You don’t know what you’re doing!”
But I did know, as if by some inner instinct, and I visualized the happy feelings of my first meeting with Eli over the chocolate buffet. This memory buoyed me and I felt something shift away from Gabe. I thought of another happy moment — dressing up as a vampire with Dustin so Alyce could snap a photo. We’d used raspberry jam for blood, and soon were completely covered in the sticky jam.
I jerked away from Gabe so sharply that the shock of separation ripped like tearing through fabric. I pulled all my energy away from this surreal place and threw myself back into Alyce’s body. I landed with a thud that sucked out all my air. Then I was breathing, on my own.
Blinking, I started when I saw Gabe — or at least the body he’d borrowed — slumped over on the couch. He didn’t move; his tanned skin was as pale as a corpse. Was he still in that limbo plane? What would happen to him if he couldn’t come back to his borrowed body? Or, more urgent — what would happen to
Got to go — and fast!
I jumped to my feet, poised to run, but I had barely lifted my foot when something hard and steel-like clamped around my ankle. Looking down, I saw Gabe’s hand.
“Leaving so soon?” he said, in a chilly tone of controlled fury.
“Let go! You can’t force me to become like you.”
“I won’t have to. You’ll come willingly.”
“Never!”
“Oh yes, you will. You have forty-eight hours.” He paused, his smile wicked. “Or the next body I possess will belong to your beau Eli. A fall from a high building or in front of a speeding train. I can switch to another body quickly, but your beau won’t escape. Earthbounders are so easy to kill.”
19
Gabe didn’t stop me from leaving the garage.
There was no need for him to go after me physically, not when his threat bound me tighter than duct tape. He knew I’d do anything to save Eli.
Before I left, Gabe told me to not to bother setting up a meeting with my grandmother. He’d never planned to meet her, he admitted proudly — he’d only used that pretense to gain my trust. And heaven help me, it had worked. Not only had I fallen for his lies, but there had been something more in my feelings for Gabe.
“Stupid, stupid,” I repeated as the garage door slammed behind me and I returned to the house.
I was angrier with myself than with Gabe. I’d been warned over and over not to trust a Dark Lifer. Yet it turned out I was no smarter than Sharayah and the other girls who’d fallen for his poetic, old-world charm. He’d told me what I’d wanted to hear and I’d believed him.
Now I had to figure a way out of this mess.
The GEM!
I could use it to alert the DD Team. Gabe couldn’t have gotten far yet, which should make it easy for the DDT to capture him. But could I trust the DDT? If they hadn’t caught Gabe in over a century, how could I expect them to get him now? And if Gabe found out I reported him, he wouldn’t take his anger out on me — he’d go after Eli.
Lying on Alyce’s bed, staring at nothing, I tried to think logically. I didn’t turn on a light because Gabe might still be lurking outside, waiting for me. Although why should he bother? In less than two days he would take a new body (and if he wasn’t caught by then, my mission would be cancelled anyway). If I didn’t go with him willingly, Gabe would possess and destroy Eli’s body.
