LITMIR.BIZ

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      Sophia smiled encouragingly. “Your situation is unlike anything we’ve experienced. Even the Caeleste are somewhat befuddled. So in the nicest way possible you are our guinea pig from here on out.”

      “That’s comforting,” I mumbled, glancing at Cooper.

      He stifled a smile.

      Sophia’s eyes narrowed. “Like I was saying. You died in the month of September and your eighteenth birthday would have been the following July. That should leave us plenty of time for you to infiltrate the Shadowed, leading us to them. But since you were able to access your Rodas power already we think that it will want to be released sooner rather than later.”

      I looked down at my hands. The soul-sucking essence was staying put, for now. “I don’t understand—”

      She sighed. I guessed she wasn’t used to being interrupted.

      I didn’t care. For once I was going to know everything. I had been blind-sided by surprises long enough. I’d vowed to take down the Shadowed, and Hannah and Jackson were at the top of my list.

      Jackson. He had manipulated my amnesia, making me believe pretty much anything he said. He had done the same to my daughter. Even though she had sought him out many years ago, he made her think that we had been in love. Why had he gone through all the effort? There was so much I didn’t understand. If I had my memories back, I might be able to repay the favor to him.

      Sophia continued breaking me out of my thoughts. “A normal Prognatum holds incredible power, but the Rodas gift is unpredictable and a hundred times more formidable. Once it has been released it is hard to cage. And you’ve already released it twice. There’s no calculating how that will affect the timing of your transformation.”

      I stepped away from her. “So you have no idea when my transformation will take place?”

      She shook her head.

      The transformation was an important piece of a Prognatum’s life. At eighteen it brought out the Caeleste half of the person with all the perks; strength included. Even though I had almost experienced it through Ally, the process wasn’t pleasant.

      Cooper came up beside me. “But it will be fine.”

      I curled my hands into fists. “How will it be fine? Did anyone think this plan over? What if I am with the Shadowed when my transformation happens? The only indicator is a birthday and now you are saying that is irrelevant?”

      Sophia touched my arm tentatively. “Once you are able to access your memories, you might be more in tune with your talent than you think. It is, after all, your body.”

      “One that I haven’t been inside for a hundred years!” I moved away from the group, unable to concentrate. “And speaking of my memories, I still don’t understand why I need my body when Cooper and Dylan and the rest of the souls still carry their memories in soul form?”

      Sophia glanced at Cooper then back to me. “Since you were influenced, Felix wasn’t sure if keeping your memories was a great idea.”

      “Keeping me in the dark was a better option?” I could feel the anger rolling inside of me and tried to swallow it back down.

      “Yes,” Cooper confirmed. “He suspected you were a Rodas, you could have done a lot of damage.”

      “Felix created the barrier for your memories. He was just trying to protect everyone. You included,” Sophia pointed out, sounding perfectly reasonable.

      A pressure built in my chest. Did they think I would hurt the After souls?

      Just like you wouldn’t hurt your family? I shoved down my conscience.

      “I’m not saying you would have—” Cooper backpedaled.

      “No,” I said slowly, understanding Felix’s motivation. “Felix did what he had to.” I took a deep breath and returned to Sophia’s side, turning to Cooper and the other Guard. “Now I am going to do what I have to.”

      Sophia grinned and for a flash of a second I saw Leha. With her memory by my side, I wouldn’t fail to destroy the Shadowed. They had taken innocent souls and I would do everything I could to prevent that from happening again.

      The five male Prognatum swept into the room, the vapor spreading over their feet. I tucked my arms close to my body, letting them pass. Thomas waggled his eyebrows at me as he went by, as if we shared an inside joke. It was nice to know that other members of my family supported me more than my father did. Wherever he was.

      Together the Prognatum pressed their hands onto the clear, hard surface of the freezer and, after a few moments, a hiss like the sound of an opened can of soda burst from the container and the lid started to rise. I expected my body to come tumbling out but it remained in place. I stepped forward, bracing myself for the unknown.

      Cooper nudged my arm. “You’re going to do great. I’ll be with you the whole time.”

      I looked up at him. Even though I’d trained with Jackson for the last two months, Cooper had never been far from my mind. He’d been there for me all through Ally’s disappearance and, even though we’d had many differences of opinion, I knew without a shred of doubt he had my back. “But what about Ally?” I couldn’t help worrying about her.

      He shrugged. “Calliope took over her training. I’m all yours.”

      My eyebrows shot up.

      Cooper shook his head. “For the mission. I’m your Guard for this mission.” He avoided my eyes.

      I nudged him back. “Thank you.”

      “You’ll do great.”

      “You already said that.”

      He laughed. “I know. But it’s true.”

      I was grateful for his reassurance but I had no doubt in my mind. I had to succeed. For Leha. Moving in front of my body, I inspected the details of her face, details that I knew intimately, but there were subtle differences from my soul form. She appeared much younger than I felt. I wondered if that would have an effect on my transformation, when it was time?

      Dylan bounded across the room, his soul bumping into mine and instinctively I reached for the True Soul as his hands tightened around it. I grinned. “Sorry. Old habits and all that.” Dropping to my knees, allowing him full access to the back of my neck, I got into position. Normally, a Collector used the True Soul to take the soul from the body and bring it to the After, but this time we were going the other way around. It was a first for me, but I knew Dylan could do it. He’d been trained by the best.

      “Remember what I taught you?” I said, my voice a little shaky.

      Dylan nodded. “Of course.”

      He grasped my shoulder for leverage. I closed my eyes and waited until the silky essence came in contact with my soul. When it did, I gasped as a sudden sense of wholeness filled me to the brim.

      “Are you okay?” Dylan asked.

      “Yes.” I stood up slowly, keeping Dylan in contact with me. There wasn’t much of a height difference but I didn’t want to lose the connection, and we moved as one unit closer to the container. The light surrounding my body flickered as the edge of my vision started to shimmer. “Something’s happening.” My words sounded far away, echoing in my head. The shimmering intensified, making me dizzy. I grabbed onto the container the room starting to spin.

      Dylan’s fingers twitched. “It’s working!”

      Cooper came toward me but Sophia barked at him. I found her eyes, her expression slightly alarmed. That wasn’t helping much.

      Instead, I searched for Cooper’s gray steady gaze. He nodded, his expression tight, and we didn’t break eye contact until the room disappeared in a burst of colors.

       CHAPTER

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