Soul Remembered (Soul Series Book 2)

by Laura Winter

  “And all this time I thought I was just a really good kisser,” I replied, hovering just in front of his face.

  “Yeah, that too,” he said, winking before he let go of me.

  I groaned. “You’re such a tease,” I said, scrunching my nose.

  He smiled. “Let’s maybe wait until our friends leave.” He took my hand and led me out of the bathroom.

  24

  Nate

  We had dinner at my house after Glitch and Luci left. Luci had told her dad she was spending the weekend with Clara, and I think he believed her. We had offered to let her tell her dad about what had happened if she wanted to. It seemed fair, since she hadn’t really asked for this, but she wasn’t a fan of that idea. After all we had been through, she didn’t want him to worry even more. And she wasn’t even sure how he’d take the news about powers to begin with.

  Clara sat at the table and explained Finnley’s theories and research to my parents and Ellie, flipping through the books and reading off Finnley’s notes. She had even started a new notebook to consolidate all of her research. She was scribbling notes furiously as she talked until I finally reached over and pulled the pen out of her hand.

  “C, slow down and eat.”

  She looked up and realized everyone was already done with their dinner and she hadn’t even touched her plate. We were all looking at her, impressed with her research, but also concerned. The last time she had dug into research and books like this, it was nearly impossible to get her away. When she was focused, she could sit for hours at a time and not even get up to eat.

  “This is a good start for us. We’ll keep working on the theory,” Ellie said, eyeing Clara carefully.

  “Start for you?” Clara looked offended. “This is brilliant. I’m not just gonna hand it over and be done. I’d appreciate the help, but I’m not walking away from this. I was on the verge of something great, and I’m going to see it through.”

  “C, that’s not what she meant,” I said, pushing her place closer to get her to eat.

  My mom frowned. “Actually, that is what we meant. You two still have to finish high school. Let us worry about this.”

  Clara pushed her plate away. “This is my research. I’m the one who can decipher the notes. I’m the one that was moving toward an answer.”

  Ellie gripped the table. “It’s Finnley’s research. Clara, this worries me. I think this is what you were working on before your Trials to find a way to locate Nate without realizing who it was. But… that last year…”

  Ellie released her grip as she chewed on the inside of her cheek, unable to finish the sentence. I looked to my mom in confusion, who just hung her head as she spoke. “You started secluding yourself more and more… and you started acting out, beyond what you had done before.”

  Clara folded her arms. “That was the Cold Soul driving me crazy. Plus, I was avoiding Richard.”

  “It was a factor, yes, but you also didn’t work on anything except this,” Ellie said, wringing her hands together. “You told me you were studying for the Trials, but I knew that was a lie. You could have aced them in your sleep. I think this research was consuming you too.”

  “I won’t let that happen this time,” Clara said, softening. “I really think I can figure this out. I promise, I’ll let you in. I’ll let you help. Just please let me keep working on this.”

  I reached out and held her hand as my dad spoke up. “No matter what we say, we know you’re going to work on this anyway. If we can’t stop you, please limit the time you give yourself to work on it.”

  Clara seemed to agree. She got up to put her plate in the microwave since her food had gotten cold.

  “Nate,” Ellie whispered, leaning over the table to get my attention. “You can’t let her get consumed by this.”

  “Of course not. Why would I ever let that happen?” I asked, confused.

  “You don’t get it. That last year, it was worse than just seclusion. I didn’t see her for weeks at a time. When she finally came home, she was pale, weak, and hollow. She essentially shut out the world while she was looking for answers and didn’t even notice.”

  Ellie leaned back in her seat and kept her eyes locked on me as Clara came back over. I nodded and she relaxed, shifting her gaze to make sure Clara really did eat.

  * * *

  Clara made the stars on the ceiling sparkle as she moved them into different shapes and patterns. I knew she was bothered by the dinner conversation, but she was quieter than usual.

  “I heard what my mom said to you,” Clara sighed, keeping her hand dancing above her as the stars kept flashing.

  “I thought you weren’t listening to her thoughts anymore?” I asked, turning my head to look at her.

  She frowned. “I listen when I think she’s hiding something from me.”

  “She does it because she’s trying to protect you.”

  “But I needed to know that part,” Clara said, dropping her hand to play with the ring on her finger. “The problem is… I didn’t just hear my mom’s thoughts. I saw it.”

  “That’s happened to me before. I’ve seen some of your thoughts, especially when they’re vivid and you don’t have your walls up.” I rolled onto my side and rested my hand over her stomach. I remembered her picturing the scene of stabbing herself when The Assembly forced her to relive that terrible moment.

  “Well, I saw what she told you. About disappearing for weeks and coming back. I saw what I looked like through her eyes. I know she thinks that was the research, but you have to remember I was also dealing with Aidan, the Cold Soul, and Richard.”

  “C, we’re just trying to look out for you,” I said, resting my head back on the pillow.

  She rolled to face me. “I know. I understand why she was worried, and I know that right now I’m a little fragile. It’s just hard to be treated like this when I know I can be better.”

  I reached up and held her cheek. “You are getting better. I wish you would start seeing what I’ve seen from you. The things you’ve gotten through recently? They aren’t little things.”

  “I get that, but there’s still stuff I’m not ready for,” her voice trailed off as her hand brushed over her stomach. She still hadn’t looked at the scar.

  “Take all the time you need. You’ll know when you’re ready, but until then, keep being my sharp-tongued, fierce fiancée because that’s what I know you can be.” I leaned forward and kissed her as she smiled under my lips.

  “You are the greatest thing to ever happen to me. I don’t know what I would become if you weren’t here to keep me sane.” She rolled over and scooted back into me as I wrapped my arm around her side.

  25

  Nate

  Graduation was just a couple weeks away and the only college acceptance we shared was Harrisville University. It was the nearest big city to Forest Hills, about an hour and forty minutes south of town. Luci was excited to stay close to her sister and dad, especially because her grades essentially got her entire tuition covered in scholarship. Glitch grumbled that he couldn’t afford to go to a different and better school, but he decided it was worth it if we were all going to be together. None of us really wanted to make new friends and have to hide our powers all the time.

  I had successfully distracted Clara from the library and her research. We limited ourselves to an hour a night, and only if we were done with our normal duties as high school students. Our parents had been doing their own work, figuring out how the cuff had been able to block our powers. They determined it was another charm, similar to the one Clara had used on our keys to hide our scars. If Jackson had been able to do that charm without the resources of The Complex, we had to wonder if he had access to more stuff we didn’t know about.

  He hadn’t bothered us since we escaped, but that wasn’t exactly comforting either. We were used to people chasing after and threatening us. I don’t really know what else he could want from us, but I figured he was probably at least a little curious about The Complex we h
ad come from. I wasn’t able to give him a lot of information about it. I’m glad I hadn’t told him everything, though. He was an ass and didn’t deserve to know. I don’t care if the Cold Soul destroyed his past. He didn’t have to be rude. We probably would have given him a lot of information if he hadn’t.

  Clara was still interested in finding out why we were born with powers, and especially how Jackson had been able to track energy signatures, but the last clue we had died with the doctor after the Cold Souls blew up The Complex. That day we had snuck in to listen, the doctor had mentioned to The Assembly that it would be difficult to track the Cold Souls and their energy. Our parents weren’t sure where they were going with that research. It had been a private directive after Finnley had run away. The Assembly was worried about finding Finnley before she exposed any of them.

  But we still had our high school duties to finish, and that took over most of our time. The last weekend before finals and graduation, we all met at the coffee shop to study together. Glitch and Luci were studying for their math class. I guess they could get college credit if they met a certain grade on the final. I felt like the dumb one at the table as I flipped through my science notes, struggling to understand them. Clara was studying for English, History, and Calculus at the same time, moving from one subject page to the next. She hadn’t noticed that she finished her third cup of coffee and tried to take a drink from the empty cup. She frowned and got up to refill it.

  “She is going to be an unstoppable ball of energy soon if we don’t cut her off,” Glitch warned, watching her dump sugar into her cup.

  Luci leaned over Clara’s notes, admiring her handwriting. “She’s literally putting us to shame by studying three subjects at once. And she’s probably going to ace all of them. How does she even do that?”

  “I used to have a million voices in my head. I think it’s harder to single-task than multi-task now,” Clara shrugged as she sat back down. “The more there is, the better I can focus. My brain needs to be going at full speed.”

  “Your brain might be able to function normally if you stopped drinking so much caffeine,” I groaned, shutting my notebook. I leaned back in the chair, exhausted. Caffeine didn’t do much to help me right now. “I need a break. My only hope of passing is if the questions are all multiple choice and every answer is C.”

  Clara reached over and held my hand. “Don’t sell yourself short. I’ve been listening to your thoughts so I can study science too. You know this stuff better than you think you do.”

  Luci’s jaw dropped. “Wait, you’ve been studying four subjects at the same time?”

  “Yeah?” Clara said it as if that was a normal thing to do.

  “That’s my girl. This is another reason why I’m marrying you,” I said, squeezing her hand as I laughed.

  Glitch closed his notebook and finished his last bite of food. “You keep saying that. Are you ever going to have a wedding?”

  “We’ve been engaged for a month, Glitch,” Clara replied, rolling her eyes. “We haven’t even graduated high school,” she added, mocking our parents.

  Glitch shook his head. “Let’s be real, here. You two have essentially been engaged since you met. I just need to know when to start planning a bachelor party.”

  I raised my eyebrow. “Who said I want you to be my best man?”

  “I’m your only friend, idiot. And I’m more annoyed that you haven’t asked me yet,” Glitch said, folding his arms.

  “Do you want me to get down on one knee and ask you?” I joked.

  The girls weren’t interested in our exchange as Clara turned to Luci. “Is that what I’m supposed to ask you about too? What is it, first lady or something?” Clara looked around confused as we all burst out in laughter. “What? What did I say? Come on, how am I supposed to know how any of this works?”

  “It’s maid of honor,” Luci said through laughter. “And of course I’ll accept that position. If you were useless at prom planning, I’m sure this will be even more of a challenge.” She reached out and held Clara’s other hand. “Don’t worry. Ellie, Angie, and I have already been planning it all behind your back.”

  Clara narrowed her eyes. “I’m not wearing heels again.”

  “You didn’t even wear them more than ten minutes at prom. You changed into the Converse you hid in my car,” I laughed.

  “Well, I can’t exactly beat anyone up if I can’t balance in my shoes,” Clara said, leaning back over her notes to keep studying.

  “Wait, why are you planning to beat someone up at our wedding?” I asked, confused.

  Clara just shrugged. “I don’t know. I just figured with my track record of pissing people off, I should be prepared by wearing combat-approved footwear.”

  26

  Clara

  House made a soft humming sound as I walked out of the closet. He had hung a beautiful dark gray dress in the back of my closet, probably so my mom wouldn’t see the ‘lack of color choices’ in my wardrobe. She didn’t seem that disappointed in the dress since I had let her curl my hair for graduation.

  “You know,” she smiled, brushing out a wrinkle in the dress, “I imagined this day a lot differently, but I think this one is much better than The Complex graduation would have been.”

  “Well, I blew up the school. So, yeah, it would have been much different,” I said, shrugging. I slid my key necklace down the dress. House had of course prepared for that by making something with a high collar to hide the chain.

  My mom’s smile faded for a second, but she tried to hide it. “I just meant the ceremony, and who you would have been with at the time. Now look at you. Engaged and preparing for college after you set up an entirely new life.”

  I picked up her hands. “You raised me to be a fighter, and that’s exactly what I did. I fought to create something better, to find answers, and to live.” I paused for a moment. “I know I’m not entirely fixed yet, but thank you for working with me. I still need you, and I always will.”

  “Baby girl, I will always be here for you. I’m glad you still fight for yourself and for everyone you care about. Don’t ever give up,” she said, giving me a big hug before we headed out the door.

  * * *

  I waited until Nate fell asleep before I went back into the library. I had already used my allotted hour while he was awake, but without any more homework, I felt like I had nothing to do. An hour wasn’t enough time to get anything accomplished, and I was anxious to find answers.

  I poured over the notes and textbooks, running to find references that Finnley had written in books all over the library. I guess at the time I hadn’t wanted anyone to figure out what I was researching. Things were stuffed in bookcases, hard to reach shelves, and other random locations. Finnley was paranoid, and rightfully so. The Cold Soul was always screaming at her and Richard and Aidan were constantly watching.

  As I reached the end of a larger text, I found what I was looking for. Finnley’s notes were getting clearer. She was trying to find a different kind of power source, one that didn’t actually give people powers. She called it a beacon, mostly because it was a source that could signal about other sources. Finnley thought that she could use the beacon to figure out what power was inside her, and potentially a way to use it against the Cold Soul.

  Finnley had been trying, without luck, to make a beacon herself. She was convinced she could somehow charm a stone, mess with elements, and create something even better, but nothing would respond how she wanted it to. That’s why she had gone to the school in the middle of the night, before the Cold Soul interfered. That’s what was happening before it blew up.

  I slammed my head into the book. Finnley had been so close to something, and I thought I was finally going to get the answers I needed. But once again, I had failed. I pictured Jackson laughing in the back of my head, making fun of me for not being able to beat him. I hated that he was smarter than me.

  No, that’s not fair. I shot my head up. He and his family had been working on this f
or ninety years, and Finnley had figured it out in a fraction of that time. I didn’t have to work to catch up to Jackson, I just had to be smarter than him. I didn’t need to create a beacon.

  I jumped out of the chair and ran back to my room. Nate was still dead asleep as I ran and leapt onto the bed. “Nate, wake up. I know how Jackson is tracking power sources. I have an idea.”

  Can you please just let me sleep in for once? Once, that’s all I’m asking. He groaned and pulled my loose pillow over his face.

  “It’s the middle of the night,” I said, still bouncing in the bed.

  “The sun is out, C…” he grunted, throwing the pillow at me as I stopped jumping.