LITMIR.BIZ

       Chapter Eleven

      At the house, Henry assisted me inside and then bid me goodnight. I watched him walk back to the car with a little skip in his step and smiled. This was probably the earliest he’d been off work since he’d driven for Ally.

      “I’ll meet you upstairs,” Cooper snipped.

      Before I could ask what his deal was—although I had a pretty good idea—he disappeared.

      The stairs loomed before me. I craned Ally’s neck toward the kitchen to make sure Marie wasn’t around to see me lose the crutch act. I started toward the stairs, holding them at my side, but a slip slip sound stopped me in my tracks.

      “Ms. Ally?” Marie said, standing in the parlor doorway in a matching bathrobe and slipper set. “Are you okay?”

      I guess this girl was a partier.

      I tucked the crutches back under Ally’s arms. “Yeah, just tired.”

      She cocked her head. “Did you eat anything?”

      I could have lied, but at the thought of food Ally’s stomach responded with a low grumble, probably audible from two towns over.

      Marie smiled. “I know you don’t like to cheat on your skinny girl diets, but I made your favorite. Come, follow me.”

      Cooper stood at the top of the stairs. I shrugged and followed Marie into the kitchen.

      I sat at the white marble island that nearly took up half the room. I smoothed my hands over the hard, slick surface, but stopped when I thought of Cooper’s warning not to feel things too much.

      Marie shuffled over to me with a heaped slice of chocolate cake, and a scoop of vanilla ice cream.

      My mouth watered. “I can’t eat this whole thing.”

      “Sure you can,” Marie said, revealing two forks from her pocket. “You’re going to have some help.”

      The small woman hopped up on the stool next to mine. “We haven’t done this in a long time, Ms. Ally.”

      A memory bubbled forward through Ally. Actually, several memories from her childhood. She and Marie had been close ever since Ally’s mother passed away when she was five. They had their chocolate cake “talks” frequently when David was away. Mostly things that only mothers would hear from daughters, yet Ally seemed to have no guidance besides her housekeeper.

      Why had Ally been so cruel to Marie? And Marie continued to do nice things for the girl! It was Marie’s job, but it was as thankless as they came.

      I reached out and touched a hand to Marie’s, hoping she could feel my gratitude. “Thank you.”

      I pierced the cake with the fork, bringing it to my lips. The warm, moist texture flooded Ally’s taste buds, sending waves of pleasure down to my soul. I scooped some ice cream with the cake for my next bite, not thinking the taste could get any better.

      Boy, was I wrong.

      It took a lot of restraint not to plow through the rest of the dessert before Marie could have more, but I succeeded. Barely.

      “It’s quite a miracle that you’ve recovered so quickly from your accident.”

      I stretched Ally’s “bad” leg out and feigned a wince.

      Marie squinted at me. “I’ll be sure to refill your prescription tomorrow.”

      I scooped up the last bit of cake and licked the fork clean.

      “Beginning to rethink the diet?” Marie beamed.

      I nodded, my mouth too busy dying in ecstasy.

      Marie slid off the chair, stretching her arms over her head. “Oie, I’m tired. Do you need anything else, Ms. Ally?”

      I lifted the plate and forks before Marie could grab them. “Nope, have a good night. And thanks again for the cake.”

      “Two thanks in one night,” Marie crossed her arms. “How hard did you hit your head?”

      I grinned, offering a tiny laugh.

      Marie squealed with laughter. “There’s my Ally,” she said. “Don’t lose her again.”

      And, with that, she left the kitchen, still laughing.

      “What was that?” Cooper asked.

      The plate fell from my hands and, before it crashed to the ground, Cooper snatched it up, not a crumb of cake on the floor.

      “Nice reflexes,” I snipped. “But a little lacking on the entrance.”

      He walked to the sink, rinsing the plate and forks before placing them in the dishwasher. He closed the dishwasher door and leaned against the counter. “I think we should have a talk.”

      “Okay,” I said, having an idea what he wanted to talk about.

      He looked in the direction Marie had gone. “Not here.” He brushed past me and opened the sliding door to the porch, indicating for me to go first.

      I hobbled to the door and nearly fell as the cast caught on the threshold. Cooper’s hand gripped me and whirled me around until we were almost nose to nose.

      Ally’s heart raced, but I wasn’t sure if it was her almost-fall or the way Cooper’s gray eyes penetrated my soul.

      “Like you said,” he whispered, as his fingers moved against Ally’s skin. “Good reflexes.”

      “Show-off,” I grumbled.

      He steadied me with two hands and shut the sliding door behind us. He paced the length of the stone patio a few times before stopping a few feet in front of me. “Can you sit? I’d feel better if you sat.”

      I raised an eyebrow, but settled into one of the chairs at his request.

      He stopped pacing, yet his hands were closed in tight fists. “I’m sorry about tonight. I was reckless with you. You shouldn’t— he shouldn’t have—”

      He hesitated.

      “Shouldn’t have what?” I willed him not to stop. I needed answers. Answers about Jackson and how my soul reacted to him. All the questions I had since the party burst out of me. “Who is Jackson? Is he a Guard? Does he have anything to do with Ally’s soul-napping? Why did he tell me he knew me in my human life? I thought all souls were stripped of their memories at Gate Seven?”

      Cooper held up a hand and I stopped, slightly out of breath. “Jackson used to be a Guard, but was turned to the Shadowed.”

      He sat down in the chair next to mine. He leaned forward, his elbows resting on his knees. “Jackson was a Guard for nearly three hundred years. He protected Ally’s ancestors through many transformations. When I crossed over fifty years ago, he was my trainer.”

      “He trained?” I repeated, leaning back in my chair. “Why wasn’t he with the family?”

      Cooper’s

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