Once Dead, Twice Shy (Madison Avery Trilogy #1)(24)
Author: Kim Harrison

"What about other things, Madison?" she asked, worried. "There are other things. If I can’t see you, maybe something else can."

That was a nasty thought, and I sat back against the hard seat, pondering it.

"What did she say?" Josh asked, trying to see her by following my eyes.

I sighed dramatically to downplay her concern. "She doesn’t want me to go invisible because she can’t see me. Thinks it’s dangerous."

An indignant harrumph filled my ear. "It’s not that I can’t see you. It’s that something else might be able to."

Josh’s eyebrows went higher. "I didn’t know it wasn’t safe."

"It’s safe enough," I protested. "Besides, if we don’t face Kairos now, what happens tonight? It’s not like you can spend the night at my house. My dad’s cool, but telling him we need to stay together so my guardian angel can keep you safe isn’t going to work. Personally, I’d rather face Kairos now than my dad after I break curfew."

Josh made a face. "I don’t especially want to get in trouble, either."

Frustrated, I took a sip of pop. I’d be grounded for a month if I didn’t show up for dinner – if I was lucky. But Josh wouldn’t make it through the night if we didn’t do something. "Breaking curfew one too many times was how I got shipped up here," I said softly, almost to myself. "Besides, what will that get us? Come morning, when they track us down, you’ll be yanked to the other side of town and I’ll be locked in my room. Fat lot of good that will do us. No, we face Kairos now, while we have some choice of how and when."

"Madison, no," Grace protested, her wings going so fast I think Josh could almost see her glow. "Wait until Ron or Barnabas gets back. Do it then."

An exasperated noise slipped from me. "If either one of them were here, I wouldn’t have to do it at all. That’s the whole point!"

"But I don’t think you’re doing it right," she said, backing up slightly. "I should be able to hear your soul singing even when you go invisible, and I can’t! Please don’t do this."

"Either we do this thing now," I said, hoping Josh was getting the gist of this, "or we break curfew, buying us only the time between now and when our parents catch us. I’m not willing to risk Josh’s life in the hope that Ron will be back by then. So unless you want to stay with Josh tonight, we have no reason to wait for Barnabas."

I froze and Josh looked up at me, wonder in his eyes.

"Hey, that’s not a bad idea," I said, pulling forward in the seat as Grace hovered backward. "My guardian angel could go with you tonight. You’d be safe and neither of us will get in trouble."

"Huh?" It was a tiny utterance, sounding odd coming from a ball of light. "No. I’ve been charged to watch you. Ron himself set me the task to keep you out of trouble. Safe."

"Yeah, well, if you don’t go with Josh, then I’m going to find Kairos and get into major trouble."

Josh leaned in conspiratorially. "What is she saying?"

Smiling, I tapped my fingernails on the table. The answer had been staring me in the face all afternoon, singing limericks. "If my guardian angel stays with you, you’ll be okay. She can hide your aura, same as me."

"What about you?" Josh asked as Grace swung back and forth in agitation.

"I’ll be fine!" I said confidently. "He doesn’t know my new amulet resonance. Doesn’t know where I live. They can’t find me unless they find you first. And if they do, I’ll just go invisible." I turned to the ball of light. "So you see, it’s in my best interest that you go with Josh."

"No," she said forcefully. "It doesn’t work that way. I was told to stay with you."

"And I’m telling you to stay with him!" I exclaimed, then lowered my voice as three skinny guys came out of the snake pit with their boards tucked under their arms.

The glowing ball of light came so close to my face I jerked back. "Look, missy," Grace said sharply, "you can’t tell me to go anywhere. I have my order from Ron, and, baby, you’re not Ron."

Frustrated, I leaned forward until she backed up. "Go with him, Grace," I intoned. "Now. Until I say different. Otherwise, I’m going ghost and doing this tonight."

"Grace?" the guardian angel whispered as her glow dimmed. "You gave me a name?"

Josh was starting to look uncomfortable, which I could understand, since he couldn’t see her and it looked like I was yelling at him. Lips pressed, I glared at the glow over the table. I refrained from pointing a finger at the stubborn angel, but just. "Grace – "

"I’ll go with him," she said, her glow briefly becoming brighter. It was meek and mild, and she shocked my next words right out of me. "Madison," she continued, "if you get me into trouble, I’m going to be so mad at you! I’ve never been a guardian before. You’re my first charge, and if I mess this up, I have to go back to sensitivity training for the living."

I stared as Grace shifted a bare three inches to move closer to Josh.

"I’ll stay with him," she said, her voice flowing like liquid.

Josh was watching my stunned surprise with an inquiring look. "What just happened?"

Puzzled, I straightened. "Uh, she’s going to stay with you," I said, and he exhaled in relief.

Eyebrows high, he leaned back. "So…we’re going to wait?"

I nodded, much to Grace’s relief. "But not any longer than tomorrow," I added, and she bristled, if the orange sparks she was shooting out meant anything. "If Barnabas or Ron doesn’t show by morning, then I’m going to call Kairos out. Take his amulet."

"Shoot ’em down. Do your stuff," Josh added, laughing. "Good. That will give us some time to come up with a plan better than ‘get him. Tell you what. I’ll come over tomorrow morning to pick you up to go to the carnival, and we’ll go out to Rosewood Park instead to take care of Kairos. That way, you can get your angel back right away."

"That sounds like a plan," I said, glancing at Grace as she made an odd noise: part disapproval, part evil planning, part frustration. I didn’t like the deception, but what would I tell my dad? Hi, Dad. Evil Father Time is going to kill Josh. Not to worry, since I’m going to steal his source of power again. I’ll be back before lunch. Kiss-kiss!

"I’ll get you home then," Josh said, standing up and gathering his stuff. "Do you have my cell number?"

"No," I said, distracted as I thought over what just happened. Dang, I had given an angel an order, and she had taken it. Went from outright defiance to agreement. And as I drank the last of my pop so we could get out of there, I shivered.