Of Breakable Things (5 page)

“I’m not sure of the time,” Ellington said. “But I assume the sessions are still in progress.”

“Sessions?”

“Like workshops. There’s so much you don’t know about this afterworld.”

“You make it sound like
school
,” she said with a grimace.

“The actual city is farther that way.” Ellington pointed through a gap between the two buildings. “But where we stand now is Eidolon’s Brigitta Square, a campus where the newly buried must stay.”

“How long?”

“A few years.”

“And I have to take sessions here? Or workshops, whatever they’re called.”

“I think you’ll appreciate all there is to learn.”

“Learn about what?”

“Being a spirit.”

Alex looked down at herself. “But I already am a spirit.”

“Were you not a person when you were born? And yet you still had a lot to learn, right?”

Alex had no counterargument, so she merely crossed her arms.

Ellington smirked. “Remember when you asked how I was able to cross the river so gracefully? It wasn’t because I’ve crossed it so many times before, although I’m sure that helps. It’s because I was able to calculate how quickly I needed to walk based on the speed of the moving water.”

She recalled that he hadn’t even hesitated at the riverbank. “How did you do that?”

“My mind. You can do it too. You just don’t know how yet.”

“I hate math.”

“You won’t hate it when you realize how good you are at it. You need to learn to use the new capacity of your intellect. Why do you think a learning center was built inside the city? And besides, you can’t just be thrown into a world without knowing the rules.”

Spirits had rules?

“People have difficulty dealing with the concept of death. The learning, the people, the campus—they help the newly dead to cope.”

“And I would live here?”

He stretched his hand towards a door that stood poised in its elegance with
Brigitta
carved above the frame. “Right there, but we’re waiting on someone.”

Alex felt a pounding in her chest. Her mind hadn’t forgotten what anticipation felt like.

“I have no idea what’s keeping her. She’s usually very punctual.”

Alex’s heart sank.
Her
. Not Chase.

Ellington stood tapping his foot, checking the sky, and fidgeting with a button on the cuff of his shirt.

“What’s the matter?”

“I wish I knew what time it was.”

She reached out for his wrist. “Why don’t you just use that watch?”

His mouth popped open in surprise. “I hadn’t even realized I had one.” He rubbed his head. “It still gets me sometimes.”

“What does?”

“You’ll find out soon enough. And, oh, it’s later than I thought. It’s going to be very crowded here soon.” He lifted a hand and began to nibble on his nails. “Stay here. I’m going to see if I can find her.”

“Can’t I go with you?”

“You won’t be able to get in.”

Alex inspected the door for a lock but realized it didn’t even have a knob. “But you can?”

“I used to live here. A long time ago.” Ellington approached the monstrosity of a door, and it swung open with a groan of welcome. “I’ll be right back. It will only take me a minute.” The door slammed immediately behind him, reinforcing the idea that Alex was uninvited.

Before a minute passed, Alex heard the creaking of another door, and a boy emerged from the fog. He darted through the archway connecting the two buildings and disappeared without noticing her. The way her anxiety began to rise, Alex could have been standing in a room at the bottom of the ocean and hearing the first drip of water seeping through the cracks.

The door opened again. Drip. And again. Drip, drip. It leaked out spirit after spirit. They were very diversely dressed, to say the least. Their attire ranged from sundresses to prom dresses, rainy day sweats to runway chic. No one else seemed to think this was strange. Despite their differences, they swam together, immersed in the same air of excitement, like it was the last day before a holiday.

Some of them noticed Alex and began giggling or elbowing one another. How ironic, Alex thought, that a girl in a bathrobe was eying her like
she
was the oddball. And then came the flood.

The doors of the building burst open, releasing dozens of spirits who spilled out into the square. Alex had to move with the tide to avoid being trampled. As she treaded among the crowd, she couldn’t be sure if they were staring because of her frail appearance—her size had always generated attention—or because in a small setting like this one, a new face stood out.

The attention only increased when Alex broke away from the current to stand alone in the corner of the square. The whispers and the pointing didn’t bother her, but the paranoia did. Kids stood on tiptoe, scanning the perimeter, and some covered their heads with their books. Alex tried to ignore them and keep her focus, searching for Chase. Hoping.

She probably wouldn’t have seen it coming if not for the eruption of screams. A dark shadow inched across the crowd. Above it, a stone boulder of a bench arched to the peak of its height and surrendered to gravity.

Ellington had not been lying about the new extent of her mind. Now that she thought about it, she could see the trajectory of the object, as though someone had used a marker to trace it in the air. The bench was set to land on the crown of her head. In that split second, she could even visualize exactly where the pieces would land once the bench was demolished.

Instinctively she thought to run, a logical reaction, but before she could move, an unexplainable energy tugged at her brain. She cried out as her head filled with pressure like a screeching teapot. She feared her skull might burst, and prayed for the pain to release her. It aptly obeyed, shooting from her, detonating like a bomb, forcing her to her knees. The granite bench halted above her, colliding with an invisible barrier. It fell to the ground and landed with five simultaneous claps of thunder.

Alex remained on her knees, head in her hands, arms shaking like she had just bench-pressed three hundred pounds, and all the weight had landed on her throbbing head. The whispers commenced, but in shock now instead of curiosity. Everyone turned to gawk at her.

As the dust cleared, there was a figure walking towards her, his shoulders thrown back in a familiar stance of confidence. A moment later, his arms were around her. But something didn’t feel right. His grip was too tight, and his build was too bulky. Alex realized then that it was Jonas Lasalle, and not his brother, who was burying his face in her hair.

Jonas Lasalle had never been speechless in his life. He was actually quite proud of his big mouth. But when he saw Alex, it took him a few moments to find his voice. He had known she would join them eventually; the girl had been a walking corpse since birth, but it still didn’t prepare him. There she was. Alive. Prettier than ever. Alone. Without Chase around to distract her, to hover over her like a canopy, hell-bent on preventing her from having any fun in life.

Who the hell had thrown that bench? Usually when new kids arrived someone would throw a rock or a book at them. It was a barbaric form of initiation, but it was also hilarious. Most boys ran away while the girls screamed like their lives were ending all over again. But not Alex.

He smirked, listening to the kids around him.

“Who did that?”

“How did it explode?”

“Forget that, who threw it?”

“How did she do that?”

He strutted forward, blinded by the dust that stubbornly hung in the air alongside his anticipation. When she saw him, her face twisted into such an expression of joy that Jonas supposed Chase had appeared right behind him. But that was impossible. Chase was gone. For the time being, at least.

He forgot himself and wrapped his arms around her. Her shock was tangible. He could feel it emanate from her. The fact that he was hugging her was certainly uncharacteristic. Of all the Lasalles, Jonas knew he was considered to be the least likeable, especially in Alex’s eyes. As a child he had ridiculed her. He’d kicked her shins, pulled her hair, hid her belongings, and once even locked her in an old trunk. Now he was hugging her. This PDA went against the image he’d tried so hard to maintain his whole life. He was a desperado of a boy who was acting like he needed a place to rest his reckless head, and he knew it.

He hated to admit it, but he could get used to it.

Alex’s arms hung stiff at her sides until Jonas finally let go.

“You look like you’ve seen a ghost.”

Bad joke
, he thought to himself, cursing loudly in his head. None of this was funny. But Alex’s face broke into a smile, and they both began to laugh. And they kept on laughing until they were practically holding each other for support.

It felt good.

Alex composed herself. “And your brothers? Are they here too?”

Annoyance tasted like a mouthful of salt. Jonas tried to keep it from showing on his face. Before he could answer, the door of the Brigitta building swung open. Ellington Reynes emerged, looking antsy.

Oh, not this guy
, Jonas thought with a roll of his eyes. Ellington was way too serious for his liking.

“I’m so sorry, Alex,” Ellington said, nodding to acknowledge Jonas. He didn’t seem surprised at all to see Jonas standing there.

Ellington had been the one to greet him at the gates of Eidolon, and he had access to various milestones in Jonas’s former life. How did Ellington interpret his odd history with Alex? Judging by the knowing look on his face, he’d seen enough.
Damn it
.

“I’m afraid the Brigitta director is detained at the moment.”

“That means you can’t get in the building,” Jonas informed Alex before turning to Ellington. “I’m willing to bet that Romey will be gone the rest of the day. She had to take care of my brother.”

Ellington groaned. “Not again.”

“Yep.”

“Where?”

“No idea.”

“Which brother?” Alex demanded, interrupting them.

“Your favorite one.” Jonas tried to wipe the salty taste from his lips. He watched Ellington begin to bite his nails. “At least Chase didn’t get anywhere this time. He was caught pretty early.”

“Any other newbury would have been expelled by now.”

“Newbury?” Alex cut in.

“Newly buried, like you.” Ellington paused, noticing the large slabs of granite scattered throughout the courtyard. He cringed at what was left of the bench. “Is this what I think it is?”

“If you’re thinking that a bench the size of a standard midsized sedan came flying at Alex’s head, then yes,” Jonas replied.

Ellington huffed. “They didn’t waste any time, did they? I take it you were forced to run for your life?”

“Actually,” Jonas said, “she diverted it.”

“She what?”

“You heard me.”

Ellington closed his eyes tightly, as if some secret was out of the bag. “She can’t just stay out here until Romey returns.”

Jonas sensed the opportunity. “I’ll just take her with me. I’m heading to Lazuli Street now, and then we’ll be back for curfew.”

Ellington looked wary. “That is probably the last thing she should be subjected to on her first day here. It will probably scare her a bit.”

“Might as well rip off the Band-Aid.” He glanced at Alex, satisfied to see that she was stepping closer to him.

“What’s Lazuli Street?”

“If you come along, I’ll show you.”

Ellington didn’t look convinced. “I’d feel better if I could join you.”

A chaperone was the last thing Jonas wanted.

“But I have a meeting in the city at the Dual Tower.”

Score.

“You’ll probably find Romey there,” Jonas said eagerly. “I think that’s where they took Chase.”

Alex opened her mouth, but Jonas held up a hand to shush her. “Cool it,” he warned. Alex crossed her arms in frustration, and the way she stuck out her lower lip was kind of adorable. He did his best to ignore it. “It’s a masque. She’ll be fine.”

“That’s true. I’ll meet you back here before curfew, just in case,” Ellington said. “Alex, will you be okay?”

“Don’t worry,” Jonas said. “She’s tougher than she looks.” He took Alex’s arm and she followed obediently.

As they departed, Jonas heard Ellington mutter under his breath, “She’ll need to be.”

Wrong
, Jonas thought. Alex would finally be able to make her own choices. She wasn’t made of glass anymore.