Soul Betrayed (7 page)

“Do you have a better plan?” I snapped.

Cooper was silent and I knew I had him. As much as he was one of the best Guard I knew, he was just as limited in his knowledge of what the Caeleste and Prognatum were doing to stop the Shadowed as I was.

“Listen,” I said, calming my voice. “Let’s just talk to Father and see what he says. But I know you and I can be an asset to this team if we try to contribute.”

Cooper weighed his options. I could see the resolve on his face faltering with each passing second before he caved. “Lead the way.”

We silently walked down the hallway, lost in our own thoughts. Or at least I was. I wanted to choose the perfect words to convince my father of what I was going to do.

Cooper stopped at the top of the stairwell suddenly, turning to me. “You should let me talk to him.”

I shook my head. “He’s my father and this is
my
plan.”

“In his study he said he wanted to keep you out of it. The only thing you are going to do is make him close off further. You two are a lot more alike than you care to admit.”

I narrowed my eyes. “Fine, but I want to be in there when you tell him my plan.”

Cooper’s mouth quirked up and he nodded. “Sounds good to me.”

In my excitement at the thought of being near Jackson again I misjudged the top stair and my foot met air, but before I tumbled down the stairs, Cooper took my hand in his, twirling me toward him. I wobbled and he steadied me, held close against his chest.

He stepped back, giving me space but still holding onto my hand. “I will always be on your side. You need to trust someone.”

“I’ll try.” It seems I surrounded myself with liars and they always betrayed me, but I wanted to trust him. Except I’d lived long enough to know that everyone had their secrets.

Pressing his lips together he dropped my hand and took the lead down the stairs. I waited a beat before I followed him, one step behind.

We arrived at the dining room. Muffled voices floated under the door as I touched the handle and was about to push through the doors when I heard my father say my name. My feet froze in place and I leaned toward the crack in the door.

“Maggie,” Cooper whispered.

I lifted a finger to my lips and closed my eyes to listen.

“She will remain on the premises the entire time,” Father said. “There is no use getting her involved in this until her transformation.”

“She is what they want.” I was surprised to hear Calliope’s voice but quickly realized it must be Felix Possessing her body again. Calliope was his puppet for interaction on the Living Realm.

“And until we figure out why, she is not to interfere,” Father commanded.

“There is a reason I had Cooper bring her here,” Calliope/Felix continued.

“And every time you get her involved in anything, someone in our family dies. I would assume that you wouldn’t want to continue with that record.”

“You are on thin ice, Nicholas,” Felix warned.

“I am the only one making any progress with hunting down the Shadowed, Felix. I never asked you to bring her back here.”

My face flushed.

“They are who she wants,” Felix said firmly. “She is our best shot at infiltrating the Shadowed and once she has located the source of their power we can work together to destroy it.”

“We should go—” Cooper said, but I quickly hushed him again.

Father continued. “We have a lead on their next location. I think we should continue with what we’ve been doing. We aren’t far behind them this time. Their obsession with Margaret is something we can use to our advantage. I say we can send a decoy in her place, one that can actually fight.”

I leaned against the door for balance. Even though my knees were the consistency of jelly, I pushed through the doors and a dozen pairs of eyes fell on me, but I was only interested in my father.

I’d done my fair share of waiting and fighting against the Shadowed to not be involved in whatever they had planned. “I heard my name.” I said marching up to the table where papers and maps covered the entire surface.

“This is not your concern,” my father stated.

“It’s not?” I countered. The words came from my lips as if they were spoken by someone else entirely. Or as if they came from another part of me. “I destroyed David in his plan to do the same to Ally. I found out their plan to attempt a return to the After.”

Felix smiled through Calliope’s mouth. At least I had someone on my side.

“And you also let Leha die.” Father spoke the words softly but they could have been shouted for the way they echoed in my head.

I hesitated for a moment, reading the room. No one except for Sophia and Cooper met my gaze. I brought my attention back to Father. “I will do anything to get them back for taking her.”

Father slapped his hand on the table, scattering a few of the papers. The movement startled me since he tended to keep his emotions in check.

“That’s the problem with you. You’re always led by your emotions, which are all over the place. We’ve come too far to let you ruin this.”

I furrowed my eyebrows at Calliope. “Then why did you bother bringing me back here if you don’t want my help?”

Father lifted his hand and tucked it into his pocket, returning to his calm facade. “That wasn’t my idea. We don’t need your help. But now that you are here you need to understand that you are just a tool. If you want any chance of this to work then you will act like one.” He lingered on my eyes for a moment before focusing on the table.

Everyone remained silent.

I stood my ground, waiting for someone to say something. Anything. Not even Cooper had uttered a word in my defense.

It wasn’t until my father cleared his throat, that I knew I had been dismissed.

***

I closed the double doors behind me. My breath hitched. I had proved myself to Felix and the rest of the Guard, why should I care if Father felt the same way? Even with the high ceiling of the foyer above me, the room stifled me. I pulled the front door open and nearly crashed into someone.

Bright golden hair filled my vision as all the breath in my lungs whooshed out of me. Ally lifted me from the ground in a tight embrace. She was a lot stronger than she looked, but the Prognatum nature had a lot to do with that.

“Ally!”

She put me down, an ear to ear grin across her face. “I came as soon as I could. Did you like the clothes?”

I couldn’t help matching her smile. Same old Ally, more worried about fashion then the threat to human souls.

I held my hands at my sides, revealing my outfit. She wrinkled her nose. “There were cuter outfits than that.”

I laughed, the sound echoing across the room, bringing the heat of shame across my cheeks. I ushered her out of the smothering house.

She shook her head, rolling her eyes. “It’s better than the dusty outfits they had in the closet anyway.”

“Hey!” I said, only slightly offended. I pulled the door closed behind me and changed the subject. “What have you been up to?”

Ally groaned. “Felix has me on, like, lockdown since last week. I’m helping with several interrogations of Guard because of—”A pained expression crossed her face.

“Jackson?” I helped.

“Yeah,” she replied.

“Aaron too,” Cooper said, appearing next to me. “They are checking for other spies among the Guard and Collectors.”

I stiffened.

“Anyway.” She coiled her hair around her fingers then brushed it behind her shoulders. “It’s boring, but I’m thankful there haven’t been any more spies.”

“Does Felix know you left?” I asked.

Ally bit her lip and smiled. “I told him I needed a break. He thinks I’m still there.”

“Well he is in the house—”

“Which is why we have to get you back as soon as possible,” Cooper interrupted.

She tucked her arm under mine and pulled me across the front lawn. Probably so Felix wouldn’t spot her. “At least you aren’t so pale anymore.”

Always full of compliments.

“How do you feel?” she continued.

“Human,” I said honestly.

She winked at me. “That is the point.”

I looked at the two of them. The tables had turned for me and I was now the weakest link. Another human popped into my thoughts. “How’s Jamie?”

Ally’s eyebrows knitted together. She opened her mouth and closed it quickly. “I actually haven’t spoken to her.” Ally pulled her phone from her pocket, masking her expression with a smile. “But we can find out.” Ally dialed her phone and lifted it to her ear. The three of us waited. I avoided Cooper’s gaze even though I could feel it on my face.

The phone went straight to voicemail. “That’s weird.”

It was weird. Jamie was more attached to her phone than Ally was to hers.

Cooper turned around quickly toward the house. “We aren’t too far from the town, maybe we can drop in?”

I raised an eyebrow. “Don’t you think my father might have something to say about that? He did want me to stay hidden.”

Ally gave us a funny look.

“We will be quick,” Cooper said. “Maybe something with Jamie might help trigger something.”

He was stretching a bit far on that thought but I didn’t argue.

Ally reached out to take my hand.

“Wait!” Cooper grabbed my arm, pulling me away from Ally. “We have to travel by car. She’s human remember?”

I pushed away from him, forgetting that I couldn’t transport out of there. At least not for a while. “Where are we going to find a car without being noticed?”

Cooper grinned. “Follow me.”

CHAPTER SEVEN

At the far end of the property, a work shed had been expanded to an impressive garage. Ally and I waited until Cooper drove out in a sleek red car. I peeked into the garage which had quite a collection of sports cars but practical Cooper chose a safer vehicle. I guessed because Ally would be the one driving. Cooper—as most of the Guard—kept as inconspicuous as possible in the Living Realm.

Ally squealed when he threw her the keys. Cooper adjusted his baldric as he climbed into the back seat. I assumed even though this was a quick trip, he wanted to keep his weapon ready. Ally placed her sword and sheath on the floor by his feet.

A sense of déjà vu overwhelmed me as she sped out of the driveway and zig-zagged through the streets. I held onto the bar above my head for leverage at each corner. Cooper was used to her driving as he didn’t say anything to correct her or offer a comment for her to slow down. I hoped my terror would make her slow down but no such luck.

We arrived at Jamie’s house in less than twenty minutes. It was strange to know how close I’d been to my own house when I had been living in Ally’s house. The small cape looked the same since the last time I had been there. Robert’s car wasn’t in the driveway, but we parked a few houses down just in case he decided to come home.

I detached my fingers from the safety bar. I opened and closed my hand to bring feeling back into it. Cooper opened the door for me and the three of us scanned the street before we continued toward the house.

I’d only been to Jamie’s home a few times but as we neared I had the distinct feeling that something was off. She had taken over a lot of the household duties since her father worked such long hours. But the front lawn looked as if it hadn’t been mowed for some time, the grass reaching past my ankles.

We stood by the giant tree in the front yard that shaded the home. “Maybe you should wait here,” I directed at Ally. “He knows what you look like.”

“His car isn’t here,” she observed.

“It could be in the garage,” Cooper suggested.

Ally snorted. “The garage is used for storage. That’s why he always parks in the driveway.”

“Fine,” I said, unwilling to start a fight over nothing. I’d forgotten how close she and Jamie were since Ally’s birthday. “Let’s go.”

Cooper remained non-corporeal. Ally and I walked up the front steps. I pressed the doorbell and heard it echo inside.

We waited several seconds.

I rang it again.

Ally lifted herself on her toes, peering into the small window near the top of the door. “Maybe she’s in the shower?”

“I’m going in,” Cooper said, his soul shimmering in front of us.

“What if she
is
in the shower?” Jamie could see the After beings unlike normal humans. And I knew Cooper’s annoying habit of randomly popping into existence.

I reached for the handle and turned. The door slowly opened in front of us.

“We could always do that.” Ally pushed her way into the house.

The living room appeared exactly the way I remembered it from my last visit. A faded couch faced the television and there were empty pizza boxes spread across the glass table. I brushed past Ally and went into the kitchen. An empty pill bottle rested on its side on the counter. I picked it up and read that it had been prescribed to Robert a week ago.

“Jamie!” Ally called up the stairs from the living room.

I jumped and glared at her. “We don’t know that he isn’t here and you seem to forget I can’t just transport out of here.”

Ally ignored me and climbed the stairs.

Cooper walked past me into the kitchen. We were alone again yet he still hadn’t said anything about abandoning me in front of my father. I knew I shouldn’t have been upset, but I hated the prickly feeling that raced across my skin at the thought of everyone treating me the same as my father did.

Cooper opened the refrigerator which was nearly empty. Jamie had usually done the shopping too.

“Maybe she went to Yera’s already?” I hedged.

“She would have picked up her phone,” Ally said from the other room.

A putrid scent filled my nose as I neared him. I diverted my eyes to the source. Chills raked down my spine. The garbage bin next to the refrigerator was only half full but inside was a rotted piece of some unknown fruit. I lifted the bag to close it but a cell phone caught my eye.

“Cooper,” I breathed.

He shut the refrigerator and followed my gaze. I plucked the phone from the can and handed it to him. “She doesn’t go anywhere without her phone.” Robert always kept tabs on her, even more since Ally and I had come into her life.

Cooper pressed the power button but nothing happened. He turned around and started searching the drawers just as Ally walked in.