“Do you care?” Cameron volleyed.
She sighed and hugged a pillow to her. “Cameron, I know what you were doing, why you were following Lorelei. You saw him, didn’t you? You knew what he was.”
He rested back against the window and looked out of it. “I only felt it at first. Then, about a week ago, I saw it following her.”
“You saw Jared? He’s been here for a week?”
“No. At first, there was simply a fine dark mist. It was so unlike Lorelei, I knew something else was there.”
“What do you mean, so unlike her?”
He rubbed the back of his fingers on the cold glass. “Lorelei’s aura is bright, like fire. I’ve never seen anything like it.”
“You can see her aura?” Brooklyn asked, propping her elbows on the pillow.
“I can see everyone’s auras, ever since I was a kid.”
“Wow.” She pondered on that briefly before asking, “So, when you first saw them, when you were a kid, did you know what they were?”
“Not even,” he said, shaking his head. “I used to ask my dad why people didn’t glow in their pictures like they did in real life. That’s when it hit me. Not everyone could see them. My dad made me promise not to tell anyone.”
“That’s pretty amazing.” Pausing thoughtfully, she asked, “So, what color is mine?”
“Oh, no,” he said, turning to her with a wary expression. “Trust me. You do not want to go there.”
She gasped. “Is it bad?”
“Awful.”
Clasping her hands at her chest, she said bravely, “Go ahead. Tell me. I can take it.”
I knew from the tilt of his lips, he would give her a bogus answer. He leaned toward her and whispered. “It’s purple with pink polka dots.”
She threw her pillow at him. “It is not.”
He caught it easily. “How do you know?”
“Just tell me, butthead.”
He laughed and tossed her pillow back. “What are you gonna do for me?”
“What am I gonna do for you?” she asked, sitting up. “What do you mean, what am I gonna do for you? I can’t do anything for you. You’re, like, all strong and crap.”
With a grin more evil than before, he regarded her a long moment. She braced herself for whatever he might say. “You could tell me your deepest, darkest secret.”
She rolled her eyes in disappointment. “I don’t have any deep, dark secrets. Least not any that compare with the likes of yours.”
“Your aura speaks otherwise,” he said. Clearly, he knew something she didn’t.
“Yeah, whatever. So, do auras change color?”
“All the time. When someone gets mad or depressed. Pretty much any strong emotion will change a person’s aura temporarily. You wouldn’t believe how badly a laughing person can be seething underneath. It’s … intimidating.”
“I never thought anything could intimidate you.”
He looked at her in surprise. “I’ve been intimidated by you since the third grade.”
Brooklyn stilled, completely taken off guard. “Me? Get outta here.”
“No, really. Your aura was so different from any I’d seen before. I didn’t know what to think of you.”
“Wow.” She wiggled her shoulders. “I’m intimidating. That’s kind of liberating in a bizarre, dominatrix kind of way. So are you gonna tell me the color or what?”
“I don’t know if I should. I could use it as leverage someday.”
“Fine,” she said, feigning disinterest. I could tell she was dying to know—especially since it was so intimidating and all—but she decided to drop it for now. “I order you to get some sleep, then.”
“Another order?” He raised his brows, amused. “You gonna pull that water pistol on me again?”
With a soft gasp, she asked, “You knew that was a water pistol?” After he shot her a
“Oh yeah,” he said sarcastically, “the differences between a water pistol and a Glock are really subtle.”
“Okay, then why did you back down?”
He lowered his head and asked quietly, “Didn’t you want me to?”
Judging by the look on her face, the question stunned her. I know it stunned the heck out of me. She didn’t seem to know how to answer.
After a moment, her expression changed. “Tell you what,” she said, jumping down, “I’ll take the window seat, and you take the bed. I’m shorter.”
Ouch. That was a big sacrifice for Brooke. She loved that bed. But I totally agreed. Cameron needed to get some Z’s. He was grouchy enough without sleep deprivation adding to his moodiness.
He shook his head. “I can’t go to sleep.”
She walked to him and grabbed his shirt. “Come on, Rocky.”
He let her pull him over to the bed. With a reluctant sigh, he lay down. She tossed a blanket over him and giggled at his feet dangling over the edge. Twin beds and super-tall guys did not go well together at all.
“But I’m not sleepy,” he argued.
“I know, I know.” She took a blanket from a shelf and lay down on the window seat.
Personally, I gave him fifteen minutes tops, but his breaths were deep and rhythmic before Brooke even settled in.
She lifted her head and looked past Jared’s sleeping form at me. “Not sleepy, my left butt cheek,” she said.
I laughed.
“It’s her.”
Oh, no. Not again.
“The prophet,” came another hushed whisper. “I told you we would see her.”
For the love of carrot sticks, let me sleep.
The voice, a child’s, whispered again. “She looks like fire.”
I squinted into the darkness, confused by the soft voices, before looking over at Jared. He was awake, sitting against the wall beside me, one leg bent with an arm resting on his knee. What a heavenly vision.
“Do you feel them?” he asked in a hushed tone.
I glanced around. “What?”
“They’re coming.”
“Who?” I tried to sit up straight, but a sharp pain shot through me, causing my teeth to slam together in agony. My ribs hurt worse today than they had yesterday.
“They’re excited to see you.”
“Who’s excited?” I asked again.
He said nary a word, smiled and, without releasing my gaze, gestured to a point behind me.
I glanced back and started in alarm. A child was sitting on the wall just past my head, as though on a levitating bench. He giggled, turned to his friend beside him, and whispered into her ear. She looked at me and giggled too. They covered their mouths with tiny hands as their laughter sparkled and danced around us, illuminating the room, casting shadows on the walls.
Then the boy glanced at Jared and sobered instantly, tucking his chin and averting his eyes.
“Shhhh,” someone said in a faint whisper, and I looked toward Glitch’s sleeping form. A child stood beside him. He pointed up. “She’s coming.”
I scanned the room and counted a dozen children sitting here and there, all dressed in white linen like little angels-in-training. I half expected to see tiny wings and tarnished halos. A few were looking at me in absolute curiosity, but most were gawking at Jared, and I couldn’t help but see fear in their eyes, uncertainty. They watched him warily, huddled close to one another. Then I realized Cameron was awake. He looked on, his eyes wide,
