My aura,I realized, wanting to drop everything and try to touch Barnabas’s thoughts, but I brought my attention back. I felt myself shiver when I realized I could see my soul throwing lines of thought into the future—for thought must have to move faster than time. I could actually see the violet-colored lines extending from me into the future, pulling me on with the rest of the universe. What made it all work, what colored the lines from my death onward, was the amulet giving time something on which to fasten.
And if I could break some of those lines running from the amulet to the present, maybe I’d become invisible, like I’d been when I’d run from Barnabas in the morgue. Almost as if I wasn’t wearing the stone even though it remained about my neck.
Anticipation made me shiver, and I unfocused enough of my attention to make sure I was still sitting with Josh and nothing was going on. This had to work. We were running out of time. I wouldn’t destroy all the threads—just a few—and none of the lines that were pulling me into the future. Just the ones that tied me to this instant of right-this-second.
I took a slow breath that I didn’t need, and as I exhaled, I plucked a thread that held me to the present.
It separated like spider silk, making a soft hum of sound in my mind as it parted. Encouraged, I ran a theoretical hand between me and the present, taking out a larger swath. The rumbling from the snake pit seemed to echo through me. I could almost see the sound coming in waves in my imagination, passing through me to bounce against the far side of the booth.
“Madison?” Josh whispered, and my eyes flew open. I stared at the table, my fingers tingling. “It’s working,” he said, awe in his voice.
I inhaled as if coming up from deep water. My head snapped up and I stared at him. The sound of the skaters became real again, the imagined waves of sound gone but for in my thoughts. My heart pounded, and I felt dizzy, almost as if I was alive. Josh was staring at me, his blue eyes wide.
“It worked!” he said again, leaning forward over his fries. “You’re back now, but I could see the seat behind you!” He glanced around to see if anyone had noticed. “It was the weirdest thing I’ve ever seen.
Do it again,” he prompted.
Relief filled me, and I shifted on the stiff cushion. “Okay. Here goes.”
Nervous and excited, I settled myself with my palms flat on the table as I willed it to happen again. Eyes open, I stared at the sky visible through the front windows. My focus blurred, and I fell into my thoughts.
I felt the stone’s presence everywhere in my recent past, weaving a net to tie each moment of time to the next. It was easier now, and with a finger of thought, I touched the new violet web that had formed and made it shrivel and fall away. The sounds around me grew hollow and I felt the queasy sensation of going insubstantial. The thudding of my heart, even if it was only a memory, vanished.
“Holy smokes, Madison!” Josh exclaimed in a hushed rush of words. “You’re gone!” He hesitated. “Are you…there? I don’t believe this.”
I concentrated, breaking a good number of threads as they shifted from the future to the present, making sure to leave enough to pull me forward. “I’m here,” I said, feeling my lips move and hearing my words as if from far away. I brought my gaze to Josh, finding it easier with practice. His eyes were roving everywhere, focusing mostly on the seat behind me.
“Sweet,” he said as he drew back. “I can hardly hear you. You sound creepy. Like you’re whispering into a phone or something.”
A tight hum at my ear told me Grace had abandoned the bell by the register. I turned to the bright light darting frantically about the booth, and my mouth dropped open. “I can see you,” I whispered. “My God, you’re beautiful.” She was only a minute tall, even though her glow made her look softball-sized.
Her complexion was dark and her facial features were delicately sharp. Gold shimmered around her to make her outline unclear, especially when she moved. I couldn’t tell if it was fabric or mist. The blur of her wings made the hazy glow I’d been seeing.
Immediately the tiny angel came to a stop, focusing on my voice. She blinked in surprise, her eyes glowing like the sun. “I lost your song, Madison,” she said. “I couldn’t hear your soul anymore. Stop what you’re doing. I can’t see you.”
It worked!I thought ecstatically. If my guardian angel couldn’t see me, then neither would a reaper or timekeeper. “I’m invisible,” I said, gazing at her in wonder.
“I can see that,” she snapped, weaving in agitation. “Now stop it. It has to be a mistake. I can barely hear your soul singing. I can’t protect you if I can’t see you.”
I moved my arm, seeing that it had a shiny white edge to it now, kind of what a black wing looked like on the end. Curious, I tried to pick up my glass. I shivered as the cold of the pop went straight to my bones, and I couldn’t seem to tighten my fingers enough to get a grip. I wondered why I could sit on a chair without passing through, until I moved the balled-up straw wrapper. It must be that I was substantial enough to have some effect on the world, but not a whole lot. Taking a walk in a windstorm would probably be a bad idea. Maybe that’s how Barnabas could fly.