My Soul to Save
Page 2
It was even stronger for Nash; I could see that at a glance. He couldnt tear his gaze from her, and we were so close to the stage that his view was virtually uninterrupted. His eyes swirled with emotionwith needbut not for me.
A violent, irrational surge of jealousy spiked in me as fresh sweat dampened his forehead. He clenched his hands at his sides, the long, tight muscles in his arms bulging beneath his sleeves. As if he were concentrating. Oblivious to everything else.
I had to pry his fingers open to lace them with mine. He turned to grin at me and squeezed my hand, beautiful hazel eyes settling into a slower churn as his gaze met mine. The yearning was still therefor me this timebut was both deeper and more coherent. What he wanted from me went beyond mindless lust, though that was there, too, thank goodness.
Id broken the spell. For the moment. I didnt know whether to thank Tod for the tickets or ream him.
Onstage, soft lights illuminated dancers strutting out to join Eden as the huge screen tracked her every movement. The dancers closed in on her, writhing in sync, hands gliding lightly over her arms, shoulders, and bare stomach. Then they paired off so she could strut down the catwalk stretching several rows into the crowd.
Suddenly I was glad we didnt have front-row seats. Id have had to scrape a puddle of Nash goo into a jar just to get him home.
Warm breath puffed against my neck an instant before the sound hit my ear. Hey, Kaylee!
I jumped, so badly startled I nearly fell into my chair. Tod stood on my right, and when the cowboys swinging arm went through him, I knew the reaper was there for my viewing pleasure only.
Dont do that! I snapped beneath my breath. He probably couldnt hear me, but I wasnt going to raise my voice and risk the guy next to me thinking I was talking to myself. Or worse, to him.
Grab Nash and come on! From the front pocket of his baggy, faded jeans, Tod pulled two plastic-coated, official-looking cards attached to lanyards. His mischievous grin could do nothing to darken the cherubic features hed inherited from his mother, and I had to remind myself that no matter how innocent he looked, Tod was trouble. Always.
Whats that? I asked, and the cowboy frowned at me in question. I ignored himso much for not looking crazyand elbowed Nash. Tod, I mouthed when he raised both brows at me.
Nash rolled his eyes and glanced past me, but I could tell from his roving stare that he couldnt see his brother. And that, as always, he was pissed that Tod had appeared to me, but not to him.
Backstage passes. Tod reached through the cowboy to grab my hand, and if I hadnt jerked back from the reapers grasp, Id have gotten a very intimate feel of one of Edens rudest fans.
I stood on my toes to reach Nashs ear. He has backstage passes.
Nashs scowl made an irritated mask of his entire face, while on stage, Eden shed her jacket, now clad only in a bikini top and short skirt. Where did he get them?
Do you really want to know? Reapers werent paid in moneyat least, not the human kindso he certainly hadnt bought the passes. Or the tickets.
No, Nash grumbled. But he followed me, anyway.
Keeping up with Tod was a lost cause. He didnt have to edge past row after row of ecstatic fans, or stop and apologize when he stepped on one girls foot or spilled her dates drink. He just walked right through seats and concertgoers alike, as if they didnt exist in his world.
They probably didnt.
Like all reapers, Tods natural state of existenceif it could even be called naturalwas somewhere between our world, where humans and the occasional bean sidhe reside in relative peace, and the Netherworld, where most things dark and dangerous dwell. He could exist completely in either one, if he chose, but he rarely did, because when he was corporeal, he typically forgot to avoid obstacles like chairs, tables, and doors. And people.
Of course, he could easily become visible to both me and Nash, but it was evidently much more fun to mess with his brother. Id never met a set of siblings with less in common than Nash and Tod. They werent even the same species; at least, not anymore.
The Hudson brothers were both born bean sidhesthat was the correct spelling, though most people knew us as bansheesfrom normal bean sidhe parents. As was I. But Tod had died two years earlier, when he was seventeen, and thats when things got weird, even for bean sidhes. Tod was recruited by the grim reapers.
As a reaper, Tod would live on in his own un-aging body. In exchange, he worked a twelve-hour shift every day, collecting souls from humans whose time had come to die. He didnt have to eat or sleep, so he got pretty bored for those other twelve hours of each day. And since Nash and I were among the few who knew about him, he typically took that boredom out on us.
Which was how wed gotten kicked out of a mall, a skating rink, and a bowling alley, all in the past month. And as I bumped my way through the crowd after Tod, I had a feeling the concert would be next on the list.
One glance at the irritation glowing in Nashs cheeks told me he still couldnt see his brother, so I pulled him along as I tracked the headful of blond curls now several rows ahead of us, heading toward a side door beneath a red exit sign.
Edens first song ended in a huge flash of purple light, reflected on the thousands of faces around me, then the lights went out.
A violent, irrational surge of jealousy spiked in me as fresh sweat dampened his forehead. He clenched his hands at his sides, the long, tight muscles in his arms bulging beneath his sleeves. As if he were concentrating. Oblivious to everything else.
I had to pry his fingers open to lace them with mine. He turned to grin at me and squeezed my hand, beautiful hazel eyes settling into a slower churn as his gaze met mine. The yearning was still therefor me this timebut was both deeper and more coherent. What he wanted from me went beyond mindless lust, though that was there, too, thank goodness.
Id broken the spell. For the moment. I didnt know whether to thank Tod for the tickets or ream him.
Onstage, soft lights illuminated dancers strutting out to join Eden as the huge screen tracked her every movement. The dancers closed in on her, writhing in sync, hands gliding lightly over her arms, shoulders, and bare stomach. Then they paired off so she could strut down the catwalk stretching several rows into the crowd.
Suddenly I was glad we didnt have front-row seats. Id have had to scrape a puddle of Nash goo into a jar just to get him home.
Warm breath puffed against my neck an instant before the sound hit my ear. Hey, Kaylee!
I jumped, so badly startled I nearly fell into my chair. Tod stood on my right, and when the cowboys swinging arm went through him, I knew the reaper was there for my viewing pleasure only.
Dont do that! I snapped beneath my breath. He probably couldnt hear me, but I wasnt going to raise my voice and risk the guy next to me thinking I was talking to myself. Or worse, to him.
Grab Nash and come on! From the front pocket of his baggy, faded jeans, Tod pulled two plastic-coated, official-looking cards attached to lanyards. His mischievous grin could do nothing to darken the cherubic features hed inherited from his mother, and I had to remind myself that no matter how innocent he looked, Tod was trouble. Always.
Whats that? I asked, and the cowboy frowned at me in question. I ignored himso much for not looking crazyand elbowed Nash. Tod, I mouthed when he raised both brows at me.
Nash rolled his eyes and glanced past me, but I could tell from his roving stare that he couldnt see his brother. And that, as always, he was pissed that Tod had appeared to me, but not to him.
Backstage passes. Tod reached through the cowboy to grab my hand, and if I hadnt jerked back from the reapers grasp, Id have gotten a very intimate feel of one of Edens rudest fans.
I stood on my toes to reach Nashs ear. He has backstage passes.
Nashs scowl made an irritated mask of his entire face, while on stage, Eden shed her jacket, now clad only in a bikini top and short skirt. Where did he get them?
Do you really want to know? Reapers werent paid in moneyat least, not the human kindso he certainly hadnt bought the passes. Or the tickets.
No, Nash grumbled. But he followed me, anyway.
Keeping up with Tod was a lost cause. He didnt have to edge past row after row of ecstatic fans, or stop and apologize when he stepped on one girls foot or spilled her dates drink. He just walked right through seats and concertgoers alike, as if they didnt exist in his world.
They probably didnt.
Like all reapers, Tods natural state of existenceif it could even be called naturalwas somewhere between our world, where humans and the occasional bean sidhe reside in relative peace, and the Netherworld, where most things dark and dangerous dwell. He could exist completely in either one, if he chose, but he rarely did, because when he was corporeal, he typically forgot to avoid obstacles like chairs, tables, and doors. And people.
Of course, he could easily become visible to both me and Nash, but it was evidently much more fun to mess with his brother. Id never met a set of siblings with less in common than Nash and Tod. They werent even the same species; at least, not anymore.
The Hudson brothers were both born bean sidhesthat was the correct spelling, though most people knew us as bansheesfrom normal bean sidhe parents. As was I. But Tod had died two years earlier, when he was seventeen, and thats when things got weird, even for bean sidhes. Tod was recruited by the grim reapers.
As a reaper, Tod would live on in his own un-aging body. In exchange, he worked a twelve-hour shift every day, collecting souls from humans whose time had come to die. He didnt have to eat or sleep, so he got pretty bored for those other twelve hours of each day. And since Nash and I were among the few who knew about him, he typically took that boredom out on us.
Which was how wed gotten kicked out of a mall, a skating rink, and a bowling alley, all in the past month. And as I bumped my way through the crowd after Tod, I had a feeling the concert would be next on the list.
One glance at the irritation glowing in Nashs cheeks told me he still couldnt see his brother, so I pulled him along as I tracked the headful of blond curls now several rows ahead of us, heading toward a side door beneath a red exit sign.
Edens first song ended in a huge flash of purple light, reflected on the thousands of faces around me, then the lights went out.
