Angelfire

  "You lose," I said cruel y. My power receded and my body relaxed. I col ected my fal en sword and wil ed them both away.

  Wil smiled and rose to his feet.

  I promptly punched him in the face hard enough to make him drop back to his knees. "You're a bastard!" I shrieked down at him, my voice cracking.

  He laughed and rubbed his jaw firmly. "And you're frightening." He stood back up.

  I hit him again, making his head snap around. "Why'd you scare me like that?"

  As I swung a third time, he grabbed my wrist. "That's enough hitting," he growled. "You don't exactly hit like a girl, you know."

  I wrenched free and walked away from him, breathing heavily. "Good God, that felt amazing."

  "Hitting me?"

  "Yes," I said, glaring back at him briefly. "And the power. I felt like I could punch through wal s." My gaze found the crater I had made in the concrete floor. The column was twisted and mangled, barely connecting to the ceiling any longer. It groaned, as if just a gentle nudge would send it crashing to the ground.

  "You can," he said.

  "I'm afraid, Wil ," I confessed. "I scare myself. If I'm capable of doing that, what's preventing me from doing it to someone who doesn't deserve it? What if I hurt someone?"

  "I'l help you avoid that," he assured me. "When you're faced with a reaper, you can't worry about anything else. That's my job. You've got to use everything you've got to defeat it. If you hesitate, you wil die. You hesitated just a moment ago, and that's how I was able to overpower you. You can't stop for any reason. Trust me always to guard your back in battle. I wil protect you."

  He walked past me, but I grabbed his shoulder. "Wait." I guided him around to face me, my hand sliding to his col ar. I was picturing that shiny plus sign I thought I'd seen before, and I slipped the chain out from beneath his shirt. Dangling from the end of the chain was a silver crucifix, not a plus sign. As soon as I saw it, I remembered what it was and my heart warmed. It felt good to see it again.

  I looked up and saw that his gaze was glued to mine. "I remember it."

  His body was stiff and his jaw tightened. Suddenly his reaction was as fascinating as my remembering the crucifix around his neck. "It was a gift," he said. "From my mother."

  "Does it protect against the reapers?"

  "No."

  "Then why do you wear it?"

  "My mother gave it to me."

  I nodded, angry at myself for asking such a stupid question. Despite his stone-hard expression, I could sense that I'd hurt him. The crucifix had sentimental value to him. Maybe it meant as much to him as my winged necklace did to me--if only I could remember where my own pendant had come from. His crucifix must have been centuries old. If he'd held on to it for so long, it must mean a great deal to him, and so must his mother. "I'm sorry."

  "Don't worry about it." He tucked the crucifix back into his shirt. "It's nothing, real y. It's stupid."

  I stared at him for a few moments. It didn't seem right to me that he was so evasive. The object obviously wasn't nothing to him, but I didn't feel it was my place to probe him about it.

  "Training tomorrow evening?" he asked, interrupting my thoughts.

  I frowned. "No," I said. "It's my birthday party."

  "Oh, yes. I forgot." He sounded not disappointed but neutral, as if simply observing a fact. "Are we stil on for the library at three then?"

  "Sure, but there's no way I'm missing my own birthday party."

  "I'l stick around close by for that."

  "I'd like it if you were there," I said. "As a guest."

  "Nonsense. I'l guard on the roof."

  "You don't have to be a creeper all the time, you know. Come to my party and have a little fun for once in your life."

  "I have fun."

  I scoffed. "I'm pretty sure our ideas of fun vary drastical y."

  He flashed me a grin. "I'l show you someday."

  I smiled back. "Now you've got me al intrigued."

  "And you'l have to stay that way until the day I decide to divulge my secrets to you."

  I laughed. "So wil you come? Indoors, too, and enjoy the party?"

  His smile was sly. "Don't you think Landon wil have a problem with that?"

  "How did you--? Oh, right."

  "I've seen the way he looks at you," he said. "What shocks me is that you don't."

  "Wel , now that it's been pointed out to me, I just may."

  He drew his face close to mine. "You don't read people very wel , do you?"

  I playful y shoved his shoulder away. "I read people just fine. I just don't have a thousand years of practice like you."

  He stepped back and laughed. "Al right, I'l come by, as a guest. I'l al ow you to see me there."

  I blinked. "Oh, you allow me to see you, is that it?"

  He nodded, failing to stop a smirk from forming. "Oh yes. You have only ever seen me when I wil it. I'm spectacular at hiding."

  "You're sure of yourself, aren't you?"

  "You have no idea."

  I narrowed my eyes. "We'l see about that." I turned away from him and left the warehouse. I climbed into my car, but when I looked for Wil , he was standing at my window instead of getting in the passenger seat. "Aren't you getting in?"

  He bent over to look at me through the window. "No."

  "You're going to walk al the way back home to Bloomfield Hil s?"

  He nodded. "I can travel easily."

  "That's a load of bul . Get in."

  "Just go," he said. "Don't worry about me."

  "I'm not stranding you out in the middle of Pontiac. Get in."

  "I can obviously take care of myself. I'm not driving with you."

  "Yeah, you are. Don't lie to me and say you're going to walk."

  "Good-bye, El ie," he said, walking away from the window.

  "Wil !" I cried out, opening my door and jumping out. He was gone.

  I spun around, looking for him, but he was nowhere to be seen.

  "Wil ?"

  The street was dark, and the wind blew leaves and old papers down the sidewalk--the only movement I could see. "I am so sick of you pul ing this Batman shit on me!" Exhausted and angry, I got back in my car and drove home.

  UNCORRECTED E-PROOF--NOT FOR SALE

  HarperCollins Children's Books

  ..................................................................... 9

  I WOKE AT NINE, AND AS SOON AS I CLIMBED OUT of bed, I felt the effects of my training with Wil the night before. My back and shoulders ached, and the anti-inflammatory pil s I had taken did pretty much nothing to ease them. After a shower I made myself some coffee to try to wake up. Kate cal ed at ten, confirming she'd be there at eleven to pick me up, but I told her we had to be done by two so I would have time to get to the library. It was already warm enough outside for me to feel comfortable wearing a denim skirt and flip-flops. Despite being sleepy, I felt good. I felt different and I liked it. Taming my wavy hair, I pul ed half of it up and pinned it behind my head. Straightening sounded like too much work today. Back in my room, I pul ed on a favorite knit top and was ready to go.

  There was a knock on my door. "Yep?" I cal ed.

  The door opened and my mom came through. I didn't like the look on her face. "El ie, is there something you want to tel me about?"

  Panicked lists streaked through my head. What had I done? Did I get back too late? "Uh, don't think so," I noted, trying to sound calm as my heart picked up pace.

  "About your car, maybe?"

  Light bulb. "Oh yeah," I groaned. "Somebody must have hit my car at school and driven off. I couldn't believe it."

  She watched me disapprovingly. "I'm surprised you forgot to mention it. You didn't hit a sign or something, did you? Be honest, El ie."

  I would have much preferred to have just hit a sign instead of what had actual y happened. "I found my car like that yesterday," I explained. "I swear I didn't hit anything, Mom. It made me so angry and I didn't want it to ruin my day, so I tried not t
o think about it. I was so busy with homework and then going out for Movie Night, I total y forgot. I'm sorry."

  She frowned. "I guess we'l have to take care of that. I hope the dealership's repair shop wil fix it up since you've only had the thing for two days." She stressed those last two words uncomfortably. "Whoever you've pissed off at school . . . You should try to make nice before that someone slashes your tires and breaks your windows."

  "Yeah, for sure," I added. If she ended up having to pay for it, I'd feel real y crappy.

  "I'l give them a cal ," she sighed. "Try parking in the back of the lot, El ie."

  "Mom, it's almost winter," I protested. "I don't want to park out in the middle of nowhere and freeze to death walking inside. Not to mention, my car is white. He'l camouflage in the snow and I'l never find him."

  "You're wearing a skirt," she observed. "It's perfectly warm outside."

  I huffed. "Not for long."

  She frowned again. "Wel , I don't know what to tel you. Have fun with Kate today." She handed me a credit card. "Be reasonable. One dress. And get yourself lunch while you're out. You look tired, and I don't want your blood sugar to get too low. You know what a grouch you become when you don't eat."

  I smiled. "Thanks, Mom."

  She turned but did a double take. "Where did that necklace come from?"

  I touched the pendant. "A friend."

  "A boy?"

  Yikes. "He's a friend who's a boy."

  Her mouth twitched in amusement and her gaze left the necklace. "First roses, and now a necklace? Are you sure Landon isn't your boyfriend?"

  "This wasn't from him, Mom."

  "So you have two boyfriends?"

  "No, Mom!" I almost shouted. "Neither of them is my boyfriend. Trust me. They're just boys who are friends. No connecting of words going on . . . or connecting of anything else, for that matter."

  She stared at me. "Hmm." Then she left my room. She was so weird sometimes.

  A few minutes later Kate was almost obnoxiously cheerful as she burst into my bedroom.

  "So!" she chirped, flopping onto my bed, blond hair flying.

  "How did it go?"

  "How did what go?" I asked, pul ing a bit of the front of my hair out of my eyes and pinning it down with a bobby pin as I stared into the mirror over my dresser.

  Kate chucked a pil ow at my butt, knocking me into my dresser and making me rattle a couple of perfume bottles.

  "You know what I mean! How was your date with Wil ?"

  "It wasn't a date," I said, scowling at her through the mirror, steadying the vase of Landon's roses. "I promise you."

  "Then enlighten me. What exactly was it?"

  "He's been helping me with . . . homework. Econ has been kicking my ass." And so had Will, I thought. Kate laughed aloud. "He's your tutor? Oh, El ie, that is the biggest load of crap I have ever heard."

  "Wel , it's the truth," I lied. I hated lying to my best friend, but it wasn't like I could tel her what was real y going on. "I don't like him or anything, trust me. He's kind of a jerk, actual y. He's not as nice as I thought."

  "I wish I had a hot tutor."

  "Don't be so smart then."

  "Whatever," Kate said, sitting up. "You're a big, fat liar. Let's go shopping."

  We drove in Kate's BMW to the mal and pul ed up to the Saks Fifth Avenue entrance. Kate gave her keys to a real y cute valet guy and tucked her ticket into her purse before we went inside. Glamorous counters gleaming gold and ivory lined the main floor with just hints of frosty hues announcing the fal and winter arrivals. Kate stopped to ogle a table topped with shoes by Chanel and slowed us down again to fondle a particular bag in the Valentino col ection as I dragged her up the escalator to the dress boutique. I decided on a cute, strapless, cream Badgley Mischka cocktail dress. The bodice fit comfortably and the poufy chiffon layers of the skirt fel to just above my knees. I knew I had the perfect matching black Marc Jacobs satin shoes to complement it. I wasn't surprised when Kate chose a rather adventurous black mesh-front Dolce&Gabbana bustier sheath dress. If anyone could pul it off, Kate could. She had legs that went on for miles, and if al she wore was a handful of raggedy old washcloths pieced together with duct tape, she'd stil look ready for the red carpet.

  I paid with the card my mom gave me and then we walked around for another hour before we went to eat lunch at P. F. Chang's. Kate knew a manager there who helped us skip the two-hour wait and seated us immediately.

  As I ate my Szechuan chicken and listened to Kate run her mouth about spotting Josie Newport leaving the Louis Vuitton boutique with a new bag, I found myself thinking about Wil . I wondered if he was in the Grim at that moment. I felt comforted, safe, knowing that if something decided to attack, he'd be there in an instant. Even though I'd rightful y kicked his ass the night before, I stil didn't want to fight on my own. To be honest, it probably would have felt very weird if he had decided to accompany us where we could see him. I imagined him wandering around the mal , fol owing us on our shopping trip with our bags in his hands, helping us choose dresses, and I couldn't help letting out a little laugh.

  "I know, right?" Kate asked with a nod, mistaking my laugh as a reaction to something she'd said about Josie. I looked around me, hoping to maybe spot him and disprove his claim that I could never see him unless he let me, but I failed. The restaurant was too crowded, too noisy, and too dark. Disappointed, I turned my attention back to my meal and Kate's colorful conversation.

  "So when are you seeing Wil again?" Kate asked, as if reading my mind.

  "He's coming to my party tonight," I said.

  Her face lit up. "He is? Is he bringing any of his friends?

  He's got to be in col ege. Where does he go? University of Michigan? Oakland University?"

  I nodded. "Uh, yeah. U of M. I don't think he'l bring any of his friends, though."

  "Oh, come on! No hot col ege boys coming? Why do you get to hog the only one?"

  I prodded my rice. "Guess I'm just lucky." For a brief moment I imagined myself dancing with Wil , and the next moment I felt like spitting up my chicken.

  On our way out of the mal , Kate stopped by Valentino and bought the bag she had had her eye on earlier. Surprise, surprise.

  When we got home from shopping, I told my parents that I would be at the library for a few hours. That wasn't a lie, but I wouldn't be there to study for Monday's math test,as they'd assume. I'd be reading up on something else. I didn't know why there would be books that had anything on reapers or whatever the Enshi is at an ordinary library, but I suspected Wil would know better than me.

  When I arrived at the library, I parked, and immediately I saw Wil sitting on the front steps. He wore his usual serious expression.

  "I can't believe you're making me study on my birthday," I grumbled. "You aren't my real tutor, you know."

  "Today isn't your birthday."

  "My birthday party is today and that's as good as actual y being my birthday."

  He stood. "Let's go inside. I want you to meet someone. He's been a friend of mine--of both of ours--for a very long time."

  That got my interest. "Who is this guy?"

  "You'l see," Wil said. "I think he might have an idea of where we should start on figuring out what this Enshi is."

  I fol owed him inside and spoke quietly. "Why do you think that? What information about reapers could we possibly find at a library? It doesn't seem a likely place."

  "You need to trust me more."

  He led me past the front desk and waved at a plump woman in glasses who sat there shuffling through a stack of papers. "Hey, Louise."

  The woman nodded and smiled to us as I fol owed Wil through a set of doors on her right and down a flight of stairs to another set of doors. We entered a long hal way whose scuffed white wal s were lined with wooden doors. I heard nothing except for the hum of the air conditioning system and our footsteps echoing off the linoleum floor.

  Wil final y stopped at a door indistinguishable from the others,
opened it, and stepped aside so that I could walk through. The room within was dul and smel ed thickly of musty, old books. Al four wal s were lined with large, leatherbound volumes, and double-sided bookcases stood tal on either side of an aisle that led to the back of the room. A desk was placed up against the wal with a young man sitting at it, reading a book that I was sure was thicker than my upper body. A girl who looked about Wil 's age sat in a chair across from him. She turned her head to look at us, her long, black-brown hair swinging. She was a beautiful Asian girl, and she smiled sweetly as we approached.

  The young man--maybe the same age as Wil --was unnatural y pale, as if he didn't get out much, and he looked up at us as we approached his desk. He looked kind of nerdy, but the adorable kind, with a sil y, lopsided grin. His maple brown hair was untidy, but I got the impression that he was one of those guys who didn't real y care how presentable he appeared.

  "Hey, Nathaniel," Wil said. He nodded to the girl.

  "Lauren."

  Nathaniel looked only at me, smiling the type of smile that reminded me of Mr. Meyer, even though he looked barely any older than Wil . I smiled back, instantly liking him. His eyes were vivid and coppery, like iridescent pennies. With every movement of his gaze, they glinted.

  "Hel o again." Nathaniel beamed brightly. "It's been a while."

  "I'm sorry, but have we met?" I asked, unable to recal his face.

  "Oh, yes," he said. "We've known each other for many ages. Wil told me that your memory is having a little trouble coming back to you, but that's al right. You wil remember in time."

  "I hope so," I said honestly.

  "You're as lovely as ever," he offered.

  "Thank you," I said.

  The Asian girl stood and held a hand out for me to shake it. "You must be El ie."