If that’s what I’m supposed to do, they’ve got the wrong guy. I am so out of my league it’s laughable.
I rush downstairs, ready to call off the plan. I need to stop Lucy from making a huge mistake. But I’m stopped in my tracks by a shriek. Heart pounding, afraid I’m too late, I turn the corner to find Ms. Alvarez, alive and well, wiping at a huge, wet stain on her pink, satin blouse.
“Sorry.” Lucy doesn’t sound particularly sorry, but I note the spilled tea and stifle a laugh.
Alvarez glances over at me, and I go completely still, realizing I’ve just given myself away. But far from showing surprise, she narrows her eyes, and the edges of her thin lips turn up ever so slightly, like a challenge: too late, I’m winning.
“Never you mind,” she simpers, regaining control and snatching a napkin from Lucy’s hand. “It doesn’t matter.”
“Sure it does,” Lucy says. “Let me make you fresh tea. I insist.” She smiles, letting her hair fall over her eye so she looks as innocent as possible.
“Very well.” Alvarez sits and smiles as Lucy exits into the kitchen. Then she turns to me, cocking her head to the side. “Well, if it isn’t the boy who loves to interfere with my plans. You can’t possibly think you can beat me at my own game, do you?”
“I don’t know that I can,” I admit, “but I’m sure as Hell going to try.”
The cry of a teakettle interrupts her retort and I dive back around the corner before Lucy comes out. It would be too crazy to try and explain the situation if she found us chatting like old friends. She’d think I was trying to stop her—and I’m suddenly not sure whether I should.
That woman murdered me.
She murdered Grace and framed me for it.
And here she is, sipping her fucking tea.
I swallow, remembering Keira’s ear-piercing scream and the way her finger nearly disintegrated when I brushed it with mine. If I hadn’t even intended to do that, what would happen if I purposely touched Alvarez?
My pulse throbs in my head. How can I even contemplate this? Grace would never consider killing anyone for any reason—even if that person was already dead. If I needed any more proof that I’m not truly Angel material, this is it.
Alvarez’s smirk infuriates me further as she accepts a new cup of tea from Lucy. Now’s my chance. Do I intervene? I’m still standing there uselessly when Lucy’s smile lights up her face.
Chills crawl up my arm because her smile doesn’t fit the situation…until Alvarez bursts out in a coughing fit, spastically reaching for her throat between convulsions. Lucy begins chanting under her breath as the teacup tumbles to the edge of the table, sprinkling delicate shards of china like a perverse snowstorm.
Alvarez’s hands fly to her throat as she jerks with the effort of taking a breath. Clear liquid spills from her lips, the flow growing stronger by the second. Her body spasms as she falls to her knees, her rapidly bluing lips moving, trying to cut off the flow.
“Lucy, stop.” I step forward, suddenly positive I have to stop this, but unsure what to do to help Alvarez.
Lucy’s chanting grows louder as she moves closer. I step toward her, and she makes eye contact with me.
Alvarez’s body stills. Lucy stops directly between us, voice faltering over the foreign words she’s mumbling. The water coming from Alvarez slows to a trickle. When she no longer moves, I lean down and feel for the pulse I hope will be there.
Only it isn’t.
“You drowned her,” I say, not quite believing it myself.
“I…I did it?” Her eyes widen as she takes in Alvarez’s body on the floor. “I used the spell and my power, but I felt it falling apart again at the end. When you told me to stop.”
“I was too late. I should have yelled sooner.”
She swallows hard, staring at the body.
“How are you planning on covering this up?” I ask, still waiting for Alvarez to come back to life. She has to. She was already dead.
“I’ll clean up the broken cup, I have a spell for that. You get the body upstairs to my room.”
“Um, why?” I ask, voice cracking.
“Because there are things I want to try with it. There’s a chapter on necromancy.”
She wants to make a zombie Alvarez? I’m gonna be sick. I pull my sleeves down over my hands to prevent touching Alvarez’s skin directly and drag her ass up the stairs. Lucy will probably think I’m doing it to prevent leaving fingerprints.
I drop her ankles the moment I get her over the threshold of Lucy’s room and shut the door before I panic. Alvarez still hasn’t woken up. I nudge her head with my shoe.
“Boo!” She jumps up unnaturally fast and makes monster claws with her fingers before bursting into laughter.
“You’re nuts.” I’m sure I’m not telling her anything new.
“And you’re an accomplice to murder once again.” She straightens her outfit, tugging out the wrinkles. “I suppose I should thank you for helping move my plans forward so much faster than I could have on my own.”
“Demons don’t count,” I say, nauseous. “She’s not lost yet. I just need to convince her to use her powers for good.”
Alvarez snorts. “She enjoyed it. She’s going to want—no, need—more.”
“She’s going to come upstairs soon to experiment on you with some more magic,” I say, wanting to disturb her.
“That is a bit problematic,” Alvarez says, tapping her chin with a pudgy finger. “It won’t be pleasant to play dead while she does whatever she does, but I suppose I must make up for my sins somehow.”
“What?” I can’t even process how insane her statement is.
“Well, if I’m going to be welcomed back into Heaven when I start Armageddon, then I want to have a clean slate.” She says it like a patient teacher.
“Just show her you’re not dead,” I suggest, not sure why I’m bothering other than it disturbs me way too much to picture her going through with her plan.
“Oh, I mustn’t!” Alvarez scolds. “She has to believe that there are other people like myself that see nothing wrong with what she’s doing. That’s part of the role of a Demon, my dear boy.”
I run from the room, taking three stairs at a time, needing to get away from this fruitcake. Lucy’s on her hands and knees, humming while the water, glittering with tiny shards of porcelain, is sucked into the air from the carpet and into a bucket she’s placed nearby.
One tap on her shoulder and the water stops as she looks up at me with a shaky grin, her veiled eye somehow communicating both joy and malice.
“Lucy, we need to talk.” I guide her to the kitchen table.
“Don’t worry, Josh, I’ll finish everything before anyone gets home. You can leave if you want.”
“Lucy,” I take her shoulders in my hands. “You can’t be this detached. You just killed a human being. You took a life from someone.” I put up a hand to stop her from a speech about how annoying Alvarez is. “I don’t care how bad you thought she was. What if she had a granddaughter who needed her because she was the only family the kid had left? What if she was the favorite aunt of some abused child?” I’m pulling all of this out of my ass, but I have to get through to her. I can’t just leave this mess I created. It was my worst idea ever.
“Josh,” she says, shaking her head. “I’m sorry I involved you. I know how delicate you are.”
What?
“You should take the rest of the day off. When you come back tomorrow, everything will look normal and it’ll all be like a bad dream.” She says it in such a numb way, I suddenly wonder if she’s trying to convince herself as well as me. Maybe there really is hope?
She removes my hand from her shoulder and retreats to the other room. A shadow moves across the table like a passing cloud, and I turn to peer out the window over the sink. Outside, clouds gather overhead, moving faster than I’ve ever seen. Everything else stays unnaturally still, though. Not even a leaf moves on the maple tree.
To say I screwed
up would be the understatement of the century. It’s time to fess up to Griffith even if it means getting kicked out of Heaven. I’m no Angel. I just sat by and watched a young girl murder her tutor. I can’t pretend to be someone I’m not. Grace is better off without me. And what does it matter where I am if I can’t be with her?
Chapter 29
Grace
I wake with Noah’s shell digging into my palm. I don’t care about the pain; it gives me something to focus on instead of my grief. I conjure a gold chain so I can wear it around my neck, tucked beneath my sweater. It lays right on top of my heart.
The first thing I have to do is find Kobe. I might be afraid to see him, but he doesn’t deserve to be ignored.
I run through the starlit passageway, trusting it to bring me to the right place. It stops at a simple wood door, but it’s one I remember. I smile, wishing I could hear the dog barking on the other side like when he took me to his house on Earth.
“Kobe?” I knock a few times, then cautiously turn the knob.
He’s there on the other side, clean and dressed in a Green Lantern shirt and jeans. His molasses-colored eyes are huge, but bright and I start crying again, this time from relief.
“Grace?” he whispers, dropping the basketball he’d been holding. I realize that, while we’re in his little house from Detroit, the room is somehow also big enough to hold a full basketball court.
I laugh and drop to my knees, throwing my arms open.
He runs into them and hugs me tight.
“Oh, Kobe, I’m so sorry. Can you ever forgive me?” I rock him back and forth on the ground.
“I thought at least I saved you. I guess that asshole shot you down, too, huh?”
“Kobe!” I pull back, registering his words. “I was already dead when we met. Well, more than just that… I’m an Angel.”
I hold my breath while he takes this in, his face a mask like the old Kobe. He’s deciding he can’t trust me, which makes my chest hurt.
“So you were my Guardian Angel?” he asks, finally.
“Yeah.” I sigh.
“You did a pretty shitty job, huh?”
I half laugh, half cry as I nod in response.
But then he smiles and relaxes. “Nah. You did great. You made me remember there are good people out there. That’s why I wanted to protect you. I probably shouldn’t have gotten all macho. But shit, this is better than down there. Did you see my court?” He throws out a hand and the ball flies back into it.
“I did,” I say, sniffling. “But Kobe, I’m so sorry. You had so much to live for. And your mother and siblings…”
“It’s okay, Grace. It wasn’t your fault. You helped us. Tom, the guy who brought me here, said my brother’s not here. So I guess he ended up…you know.” His eyes dart downward.
“Oh.”
“But maybe, well… You’re an Angel, right? Could you maybe help my mom so she doesn’t get so sad this time? She’s got a lot of kids to take care of.”
“You’re a good kid, Kobe,” I say. “I’ll try.” I don’t mention Mr. Griffith and his rules. Maybe I can actually convince him to help.
His little shoulders relax. “Thanks, Grace. You’re the best. I’m kinda glad I can’t do it myself. I think it would probably hurt more for her to see me like this, you know? She used to have these dreams about Martin after he died where she got to see him again. Then when she woke up she’d cry even harder. She should be taking care of my brother and sisters, not thinking about me.”
My mouth drops open.
“Is something wrong?” he asks.
“No, I just—you’re a really smart kid. I think maybe I got it backward. I think you might be my Guardian Angel.”
Kobe straightens up. “I would look good in wings and a halo. Gold’s my color.”
I laugh and it feels so right. Then something occurs to me. “Kobe, can I ask you something? Did you ever get jealous of any of your brothers or sisters?”
Kobe dribbles the ball, then takes a shot. It hovers for a moment in midair before doing a spin and landing right in the basket. “Hell yeah. Especially Martin. He was Mama’s favorite. She always spoiled him; gave him extra helpings of everything and bought him new clothes. She used to tell us all to be more like Martin and talk about how he was gonna be somebody important like the president.” Kobe shakes his head. “She didn’t know he was in the gang. Not until the cops told her during the investigation.”
I nod, scooping up the ball so I can shoot, too. “She must’ve been shocked.” I make a two-point shot, then catch the ball again to pass to Kobe.
“Shoot, that’s putting it mild. It was like everything crumbled. She stopped talking about how we was gonna get out of there and started working more as a dancer. After that, I didn’t feel so jealous. Martin was a dead liar and Mama knew it. But instead of feeling better, it made me feel angry. At Martin and the whole unfair world.”
“Thank you, Kobe. I think you might have just solved a big problem for me.”
“Glad to help, Angel Grace. I’m gonna go round up some other dead dudes to play a game if you’re interested.”
Huh. I’d never even considered finding other souls to befriend outside of my job. I guess I didn’t have the chance at first. I wonder again what else Ms. Alvarez should’ve told me when I got here.
“No thanks, Kobe. I have to visit someone. Someone I gave up on too easily. You go and have fun. We can hang out later.”
“Suit yourself.” Kobe tosses a three-pointer.
It’s time to find Josh and clear the air.
I head through the starlit hall, concentrating on getting to Josh, but after a few minutes of walking through space, no door appears. I turn back to find Kobe’s door gone and I start to panic, wondering if I’m going to be stuck floating alone in the universe for the rest of my eternal life.
Concentrate, I order myself and I focus on Shona, the only other person I can think of. A new door appears, and, with a sigh of relief, I recognize her grand entrance. Her room is a library.
“Grace!” Shona stands the moment I appear in the doorway. She’d been sitting on a red chair with an open book and a steaming cup of tea. I shudder for a moment, thinking of Ms. Alvarez, but remind myself that just because they both drink tea doesn’t mean they’re similar in any other way.
“Hi,” I say, unsure how to tell her everything that’s happened.
“Please, sit down. She conjures a second chair, and a mug of coffee lightened to a milky tan appears right beside it.
I smile and sit, reassured. “You know me so well,” I say, taking a sip. “Thank you.”
“I heard about your punishment,” she says in a low voice.
“Why doesn’t that surprise me?” I ask, lowering the mug halfway and wrapping both hands around it for warmth. “So you know everything?”
She nods. “I wish you hadn’t gone to Noah, but I do understand why you went.”
“Thank you.”
“You’re welcome.”
We sit in silence for a few minutes, soaking in the scent of aged books and the taste of our drinks.
“I was actually looking for Josh,” I admit, studying my coffee as it refills itself. “But the hall wouldn’t take me to him. Has that ever happened to you before?”
“Mmm. It means he’s not up here.”
My heart sinks. He must be on Earth with Hope. It’s my own fault. I pushed him away because I wasn’t ready to acknowledge that he wasn’t perfect. I refused to listen to him when it came to Noah, but he was right. Everyone has flaws.
“I need your help, Shona.”
“What can I do for you, Grace?” She sets her cup down and smiles at me, making what I have to ask even harder.
“I need to find a way to get back to Earth.”
The smile on Shona’s face melts. “You can’t visit Earth. You’ve been banned. I’m sorry, Grace.”
“I know, I know. It’s just…Mr. Griffith is the one who suggested I patch things up with Josh. He
told me to talk to him.”
“I’m sure he meant when he’s here. He will be back eventually.”
“Please, Shona.” I put every bit of desperation I feel into those two words.
Shona sits perfectly straight. “If you’re caught anywhere near your family or interfering with any potential Antichrist, you’ll be banished from Heaven, Grace. Being banished is the end. I know you came back once, but it’s never happened before and it would be beyond a miracle if it happened again.”
A shaft of light from the overhead window falls between us, illuminating hundreds of particles of dust. It must be the way Shona pictures her library. Funny, some of the things people conjure in Heaven. “I know that. I have to find him. I can’t explain why, but I have this feeling that it can’t wait. That I need to go down there.”
“Expecting to get back together with him now is nothing more than wishful thinking. If he’s really happy with someone else, you’ll get your heart broken all over again.” She leans forward, stern, but gentle with her words.
“I still have to talk to him. I can’t leave things the way they are. Please? We’re friends, right?”
“Of course,” she says, exasperated.
I have no more ammunition, so I chew a stray curl, hoping that even with her warnings, she’ll still consider helping me.
“Grace, you must not go looking for Noah or your parents. Promise me that.”
“I swear. This trip is about finding Josh.” I cross my heart.
“Very well. I will assign you to another soul. It’s rarely done. I’ll probably be scolded for it, but it’s my first offense and I won’t be risking what you would.”
“Thank you!” I jump up from my seat and throw my arms around her skinny frame.
“Good luck, Grace.”
Chapter 30
Keira
“Put on your other face and go to the coffee shop. Now,” Lucifer snaps, and I barely have time to morph into Hope before I’m transplanted inside the buzzing coffeehouse. The smell of fresh roast fills the room and I have to compel a guy to take his laptop and leave so I can have a table.
“Oh.”
Soul Corrupted Page 15
