LITMIR.BIZ

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She looked on the floor around us.

      “Are you missing something?” I asked innocently.

      “Did you see a key anywhere?”

      I ‘helped’ her look for a few minutes but we came up with nothing. When Ally’s phone rang from her bedroom I jumped at the opportunity and hobbled down the hallway, keeping up appearances.

      I grabbed the phone from Ally’s purse. I’d missed a call from Heather. Sailing through the rest of the phone calls, I saw most of them were from Seth. I deleted each one. Several texts from Ally’s friends filled her message box, but I ignored them.

      A voicemail popped up, I touched the screen and pressed the speaker button. Heather’s voice filled the room: “Why didn’t you tell me about that scum sucking loser of an EX boyfriend? Dry your tears, honey, he is worthless. Seth had no idea how good you were for him. I’m coming over tonight and bringing our favorite DVDs and a lot of ice cream. Screw the diet and screw men!”

      I smiled at the message. Ally definitely had a great friend there.

      Cooper appeared in the room, looking paler than normal.

      “You don’t look so good,” I said, walking over to him.

      He stumbled and I caught him in my arms, both of us toppling to the floor. I groaned as the weight of him pressed hard against Ally’s body. He’d chosen the wrong time to be corporeal.

      I gently pushed him off as I wriggled beneath him, and finally freed myself from his weight.

      “Callie,” he breathed.

      “No,” I said. He sure seemed to have a hard time remembering my name. “It’s me, Maggie.”

      He blinked hard and his eyes widened. “Need. Callie.”

      With those words, Calliope appeared next to us; she fell to her knees, tucking Cooper’s weak body against hers. “What did you do?” she snapped, her fierce gaze falling on me.

      “What did I do?” I asked. “I didn’t do anything. He came in here like this.”

      Her normally unthreatening chocolate-brown eyes turned to slits. She opened her mouth to say something but Cooper moved his arm up between us, then it dropped.

      “It was me,” he said weakly. “I influenced.”

      Calliope’s expression softened. “Okay, I’ll take care of you.” Her gaze snapped to mine. “Can you handle yourself for a few minutes?”

      I sniffed. “Of course I can. What’s wrong with him?”

      “There’s no time, I have to get him well again. Don’t screw anything up while we’re gone. I don’t have time to get you another babysitter.”

      And with that she disappeared.

      “Rude,” I murmured. She’d been kinder to me a few days ago; what had changed? I sat back on my heels and the key I’d shoved in the pocket of Ally’s jeans poked me. I couldn’t just sit there and wait. Maybe I could prove that Cooper didn’t get sick, or whatever he was, for nothing.

      Opening the bedroom door I peeked down the empty hallway and padded across the carpet, just in case Marie was nearby. At the stairs, I leaned over the railing, listening. The only sounds were Ally’s ragged breathing and the whirr of the vacuum in one of the downstairs rooms. I darted to the office door and shoved the key inside the hole. A bolt of electricity flowed through me and I snatched Ally’s hand back. I touched the key again, but the shock returned with a vengeance. I sucked it up and turned the key, pushing the door open and lifted my hands to the barrier but they moved through it this time.

      “What the—?” I took a tentative step forward and the same electricity from the key flowed through me again. I shuddered as the energy slammed into Ally’s body over and over. I bit Ally’s lip, drawing blood, but I didn’t stop moving forward even when I thought both Ally and I would explode from the pressure. Black spots danced in my vision but the further I got into the room, the less the energy resisted and by the time I stood a few feet from the door, it had dulled to a vibrating caress across her skin.

      How had I been able to pass through now when I hadn’t before?

      No time, my rational side thought.

      I went straight for the desk, opening each drawer, sifting through pens, paperclips, blank notepads and other office supplies in one drawer. The next was filled to the brim with receipts. I took a few of them out and a low whistle escaped Ally’s lips at the amount of zeros attached to a lot of them. I searched the other two drawers, but they were just filled with random papers and logs. I took out one log dated several years ago. David had kept a daily journal of his tracking of the Shadowed. I took the most recent ones and placed them on the desk.

      I went to the bookshelf, scanning the titles for possibly more logs or any other information on where the Shadowed might have Ally. Cooper would have to give me a glowing recommendation for the Guard after witnessing these investigation skills.

      I stopped in front of the third bookshelf, the leather-bound book beckoning me. In my rush to get into the room I’d forgotten about the gift from David to Ally on her last birthday. I searched Ally’s memories but no thought of the book came up after that day he’d given it to her. The memories became unclear, as if I saw them through fogged glass.

      I lifted the book from the shelf and held it in front of me. I didn’t know if it was Ally’s body or the book that buzzed, but the rhythm surged through me as if I’d been reunited with something I’d lost.

      Then the world disappeared around me into another memory.

       Chapter Eighteen

      “You wanted to see me?” I said, stepping into Father’s library.

      He stood at the far window, looking out onto the estate. Even though it was late, he still insisted on a constant watch of our home. I sometimes wondered if he ever slept. “Close the door behind you,” he said without turning.

      I did as he asked. Father was never one for many words but the ones he did use were powerful and commanded obedience and respect. I moved closer to him, my skirts rustling against my legs. The heat from the fireplace warmed my skin and cast dancing shadows across the dim room.

      His expression was guarded, his eyes not quite meeting mine as I neared.

      “Is there something wrong?” I asked.

      He turned his gaze on mine. Those same blue eyes I saw in the mirror every day stared back at me. One hand scratched at his dark beard, and the other was shoved into a pocket. A gesture that I’d known over the past fifteen years of my life to be one of nervousness. An emotion he rarely showed to anyone, including me.

      “I’ve chosen a husband for you,” he said quietly.

      My heart leapt. Please let it be Tristan. Tristan had called for me over the past few months and even though I had several callers, he’d been my top choice. He was handsome and one of the wealthiest men in the country. Even though he was almost a decade older we connected as if we were two halves of the same whole. I knew he loved me just as much as I loved him. And I silently prayed for him to be the choice.

      “Who is it?” I said, wringing my hands together.

       Father sniffed. “Tristan Thomas. You are to be married two weeks after your sixteenth birthday.”

      I squealed, jumping up and down. Father’s hands reached out and he pulled me into a hug.

      “I only wish for your happiness, daughter,” he said into my hair.

      I squeezed him back, pressing my cheek to his chest. “I am the happiest girl in the world. No, the universe!” Me and Tristan.

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