With All My Soul
Page 90
When I turned to relinquish the living room to those still actually living, I found Tod watching me from the hall. His eyes swirled with conflicting emotions, in complementing shades of blue, and I watched as rage at Avari and worry for his mother competed with desire for...me.
He smiled when he saw me looking, and I wanted to kiss each of his dimples. I wanted to kiss him until he forgot about everything else. Until all of the fear and anger and horror wed been living with for so long had faded into the background andfor a few minutes, anywaythere was nothing but us and the comfort we found in each other.
I needed some time alone with Tod, and it had to be soon, because Avaris clock was ticking and what Id learned from our phone call with the hellionwhat Id finally been forced to admit to myselfwas that I was the only one who could stop his macabre countdown.
But first...
I slipped into the hall and tried on a smile of my own. Hey. I looked up at Tod, and he stared into my eyes like he could see right through me. Into me.
Hey. His smile faded a little, infused with a more intense, more intimate emotion that couldnt be described with any one word in my vocabulary. Your irises are spinning like crazy. Whatever could be on your mind, bean sidhe?
I stepped closer and put my hands on his chest for balance while I went up on my toes and whispered, though no one else could hear me anyway. Well, reaper, I was thinking that we should get out of here for a little while.
The blue spirals in his own eyes tightened in response, and anticipation tingled up my spine. And where should we go?
You know the place.
Do you think thats safe? He glanced over my shoulder into the living room. Leaving them here?
Nothing is safe. But well be just an autodial away, thanks to the miracle of cell phone technology.
Im convinced. But then his gaze narrowed on me, studying me. You sure youre okay?
Considering the circumstances? Im as okay as Im ever going to be. I dropped onto the balls of my feet so he couldnt see how very true that was. Let me tell them were going, then Ill pick up a snack and meet you there in twenty minutes.
I can get food. What do you want?
I shook my head. My treat this time. I insist.
His brows rose, but he didnt argue. Okay. Ill see you in a few... Then he disappeared.
I ducked into the living room and told the three couch potatoes that Id be at Tods for a while, and that they should text one of us if anything...happened. Sophie pretended to gag. Luca shut her up with a kiss. And Emma gave me such a wistful look that I almost changed my mind, so I could keep hercompany. I owed her that.
But I had to talk to Tod in private. And time was running out.
Chapter Twenty-One
The fact that I hadnt actually lied to Tod didnt ease my guilt as I blinked into his mothers home. The house felt strange and too quiet without Nash and Harmony there. I missed the hum of the dishwasher, the scent of baking chocolate, and the video game sounds usually emanating from Nashs room at the end of the hall.
My shoes squeaked on the linoleum while I searched the kitchen, and I bruised my knees climbing onto the countertop so I could check the upper cabinets, but I didnt find what I was looking for there, or in the bathroom, or the living room.
Walking into Harmonys room while she was suffering in the Netherworld felt like violating a shrine. Her closet was open and her bed was unmade, like shed just gotten up, but the truth was that she hadnt been home in more than a day, and she wouldnt come home at all if I didnt get what Id come for, then do what had to be done.
Avaris clock ticked in my head as I searched her drawers and her bedside table, and a countdown of my own added to the pressure when I glanced at her alarm clock and saw that twelve minutes had already slipped away from me. Tod would expect me in eight more. If I was too late, hed text. Then hed come looking for me.
I finally found what I needed in a shoe box at the back of Harmonys closet. Eleven vials, neatly labeled in her all-caps print, along with a handful of disposable plastic droppers sealed in cellophane and a small notebook full of notes to herself. Most of the sentences were incomplete, but the dosages were clear.
I wondered how shed been testing them. Then I decided I didnt really want to know.
I slid the vial I needed into my pocket, along with one of the droppers. Then I took another dropper, just in case. After Id closed the box, pushed it back into place, and double-checked to make sure I hadnt left anything else out or open, I blinked out of Harmonys house and into Levis office.
Kaylee. Tods boss blinked at me in surprise then hopped down from his rolling chair. His chest barely cleared the surface of his desk. He couldnt have been more than eight years old when hed died, and I found little else in either world creepier than an undead child. Im in the middle of a meeting. He waved one small, freckled hand at something behind me, and I turned to see two reapers I didnt recognize sitting in chairs at my back. Id appeared out of nowhere between them and Levis desk.
I need a favor. Dont look at his letter opener. Dont look at his letter opener.... If hed noticed the missing incubus soul, I couldnt tell, and I wasnt about to alert him to the loss.
He smiled when he saw me looking, and I wanted to kiss each of his dimples. I wanted to kiss him until he forgot about everything else. Until all of the fear and anger and horror wed been living with for so long had faded into the background andfor a few minutes, anywaythere was nothing but us and the comfort we found in each other.
I needed some time alone with Tod, and it had to be soon, because Avaris clock was ticking and what Id learned from our phone call with the hellionwhat Id finally been forced to admit to myselfwas that I was the only one who could stop his macabre countdown.
But first...
I slipped into the hall and tried on a smile of my own. Hey. I looked up at Tod, and he stared into my eyes like he could see right through me. Into me.
Hey. His smile faded a little, infused with a more intense, more intimate emotion that couldnt be described with any one word in my vocabulary. Your irises are spinning like crazy. Whatever could be on your mind, bean sidhe?
I stepped closer and put my hands on his chest for balance while I went up on my toes and whispered, though no one else could hear me anyway. Well, reaper, I was thinking that we should get out of here for a little while.
The blue spirals in his own eyes tightened in response, and anticipation tingled up my spine. And where should we go?
You know the place.
Do you think thats safe? He glanced over my shoulder into the living room. Leaving them here?
Nothing is safe. But well be just an autodial away, thanks to the miracle of cell phone technology.
Im convinced. But then his gaze narrowed on me, studying me. You sure youre okay?
Considering the circumstances? Im as okay as Im ever going to be. I dropped onto the balls of my feet so he couldnt see how very true that was. Let me tell them were going, then Ill pick up a snack and meet you there in twenty minutes.
I can get food. What do you want?
I shook my head. My treat this time. I insist.
His brows rose, but he didnt argue. Okay. Ill see you in a few... Then he disappeared.
I ducked into the living room and told the three couch potatoes that Id be at Tods for a while, and that they should text one of us if anything...happened. Sophie pretended to gag. Luca shut her up with a kiss. And Emma gave me such a wistful look that I almost changed my mind, so I could keep hercompany. I owed her that.
But I had to talk to Tod in private. And time was running out.
Chapter Twenty-One
The fact that I hadnt actually lied to Tod didnt ease my guilt as I blinked into his mothers home. The house felt strange and too quiet without Nash and Harmony there. I missed the hum of the dishwasher, the scent of baking chocolate, and the video game sounds usually emanating from Nashs room at the end of the hall.
My shoes squeaked on the linoleum while I searched the kitchen, and I bruised my knees climbing onto the countertop so I could check the upper cabinets, but I didnt find what I was looking for there, or in the bathroom, or the living room.
Walking into Harmonys room while she was suffering in the Netherworld felt like violating a shrine. Her closet was open and her bed was unmade, like shed just gotten up, but the truth was that she hadnt been home in more than a day, and she wouldnt come home at all if I didnt get what Id come for, then do what had to be done.
Avaris clock ticked in my head as I searched her drawers and her bedside table, and a countdown of my own added to the pressure when I glanced at her alarm clock and saw that twelve minutes had already slipped away from me. Tod would expect me in eight more. If I was too late, hed text. Then hed come looking for me.
I finally found what I needed in a shoe box at the back of Harmonys closet. Eleven vials, neatly labeled in her all-caps print, along with a handful of disposable plastic droppers sealed in cellophane and a small notebook full of notes to herself. Most of the sentences were incomplete, but the dosages were clear.
I wondered how shed been testing them. Then I decided I didnt really want to know.
I slid the vial I needed into my pocket, along with one of the droppers. Then I took another dropper, just in case. After Id closed the box, pushed it back into place, and double-checked to make sure I hadnt left anything else out or open, I blinked out of Harmonys house and into Levis office.
Kaylee. Tods boss blinked at me in surprise then hopped down from his rolling chair. His chest barely cleared the surface of his desk. He couldnt have been more than eight years old when hed died, and I found little else in either world creepier than an undead child. Im in the middle of a meeting. He waved one small, freckled hand at something behind me, and I turned to see two reapers I didnt recognize sitting in chairs at my back. Id appeared out of nowhere between them and Levis desk.
I need a favor. Dont look at his letter opener. Dont look at his letter opener.... If hed noticed the missing incubus soul, I couldnt tell, and I wasnt about to alert him to the loss.
