Once Dead, Twice Shy (Madison Avery Trilogy #1)(20)
Author: Kim Harrison

Josh leaned back with his arms over his chest. "Well, there you go. You should try something else. Something that doesn’t have anything to do with reapers. If you could go misty, you could walk up to him and just pftt. His new amulet would be yours."

I stared at him, considering it. Stealing Kairos’s new amulet might very well be that easy. Smiling at Josh, I felt like I had hope again – a reason to try. "Will you help me?"

From the light fixture, Grace murmured, "I don’t like this," which perversely made me feel even more hopeful.

"Absolutely!" Josh’s enthusiasm made me think he wasn’t eager to sleep in his closet tonight, hiding from the dark reaper. Who could blame him, though?

Smiling, I stood, chair scraping. "Come on. Let’s get out of here."

"Why?"

I cocked my head toward the other end of the house. "I’m not going to practice when my dad is around." I knew my dad wouldn’t let me entertain in my room, but there had to be somewhere public we could go where no one would look twice at us. Maybe the library. I’d snuck in there a couple of times at night after I caught the librarian hiding the key behind a brick. I was starting to like this small town.

"But…" he said slowly, worry pinching his eyes.

"You’ll be fine," I moaned, dragging him up out of his chair. "The guardian angel goes where I do. You’re covered. We’ve only got till six thirty. Do you want to trust that Barnabas will show between now and then?"

Nodding, Josh took his glass to the sink. "Okay."

Excitement raced down to my toes. "Dad?" I called loudly. "Josh and I are going into town to get an extra card for my camera. Okay?"

"Take your phone," his voice came filtering back. "Buy more minutes. Be back by six."

"Got it!" I slapped my hand to the back pocket of my shorts to feel the bump of my phone. I turned to Josh, really glad he had a set of wheels. "Ready to go?"

He looked at me, bemused. "Where? My house is out. My mom works from home."

There was a little tinkling laugh from above me somewhere. "There once was a girl who liked lying, who only got worse after dying."

"The library?" I said. "But can we go to the mall first? I really do have to pick up a new memory card. Since I’m playing photographer at the carnival now. Thanks," I finished dryly.

Josh grinned. "If I’m still alive tomorrow morning, do you want a ride?"

"You know it," I said, smiling. He wanted to pick me up, and I didn’t think it was just because of the black wings. I think he liked me.

I waved bye to my dad when he rolled his desk chair to his office door to see us leave, giving me a smile. I couldn’t help but feel good. It wasn’t simply that Josh might like me, either. I’d been banging my head against a wall for months trying to use my amulet, feeling more and more stupid as Barnabas got more and more despondent. If I could figure this out with Josh, then I wouldn’t have to rely on Barnabas or Ron so much. I could do this on my own.

Well, I mused as Josh closed the door behind me and searched his pockets for his keys, maybe not entirely alone, but I was going to do it.

CHAPTER 6

I’d only been to The Lowest Common Denominator, or the Low D as everyone called it, once before. My dad had taken me for pizza, and the casual eatery had been packed with college students either cramming for finals or relaxing after theirs were done. I knew he’d been trying to help me fit in, but pizza with my dad when everyone else was on their own hadn’t painted the picture I’d been hoping to make. Maybe if I’d been able to go invisible that night, I might have had more luck making friends.

Smiling at the thought, I picked at a French fry. Josh was hungry again – or still, maybe – which was how a quick pit stop here had made it a convenient place to practice, seeing as the large hangout was nearly empty. That had been almost an hour ago, and I was starting to get anxious. Maybe it wasn’t the amulet, as Barnabas had said. Maybe it really was me. I’d seen a black wing drift through the parking lot when Josh had gone to the little boys’ room, and the panicked face I’d made trying to reach Barnabas’s thoughts had put Grace into stitches.

We’d already been to the mall, and there was a new photo card in the trendy bag on the table, right beside my untouched soda and the fries. It was Josh’s second plate, and he ate with a steady pace as he dipped fries in spicy cheese and watched me for signs of "ghosting," as he called it.

Afternoon light streamed in through the big plate-glass windows that looked out on the mall. Low D had once been a burger joint, but bowing to convention, they now served lattes and had free wi-fi access. There was a center space with coffee tables and cushioned chairs, and booths around the edges. A few people were plugged in, hunched over their laptops, and eating overpriced sandwiches and gourmet kettle chips as they surfed.

Lonely arcade sounds filtered out from the dark cave set to one side as the machines talked to themselves. Coming from the attached skate arena was the rumble of wheels where skaters tried their nerve and their boards on artificial hills and railings in the "snake pit." The sound of skateboards on plywood rose up through me like a second pulse of blood. Grace was at the register, resting in the bell that supposedly rang when someone in the snake pit jumped high enough to trigger it. One of the walls was a thick, scuff-marked sheet of Plexiglas, and hazy images moved beyond it in time with the rumbling.

I turned from the transparent wall and my gaze went back to Josh. My fingers were tingling, but I thought it was because I was gripping my amulet too tightly, not because I was close to figuring this thing out. Perhaps I’d been too optimistic thinking I could learn how to do something useful in so short a time, but I was tired of relying on someone else for my safety, and Josh had been willing to help. "Can you see me now?" I asked hopefully.

Josh’s eyes met mine squarely, and I slumped. "I think you’re trying too hard," he said.

Slowly I let go of my amulet. "We’ve only got a few hours left. It’s not like this thing came with an instruction manual." Depressed, I ran my fingers over my wax-and-paper cup to wipe the condensation off. Barnabas had been less than helpful the time I’d asked him about it after a particularly frustrating night. He’d only said he "thought slippery thoughts" and that I’d better spend my time learning how to contact him if I needed help. Slippery thoughts. Yeah, and if I thought happy thoughts, I’d sprout wings and fly.

"You’ve only been at it for an hour. Don’t be so hard on yourself. We’ve got a little time yet," Josh said, but his eyes were squinting in worry.