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.”
“Thatsounds 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.
Me commanding angels. That couldn’t be good.
Seven
The sky was blue,the temperature was fabulous, and there was just a hint of a breeze. It was a perfect day. Or it would be, if I could get back inside before my dad woke up.
A few streets over, the morning traffic was a soft hush, and I quietly leaned my bike against the side of the garage and squinted at my watch in the post-dawn light. Six forty. Dad liked to sleep in on Saturday, but seeing as I had to be out the door in less than an hour, it was likely that he’d be up by now. I should have come home sooner, but it had been hard to trust Grace and leave Josh’s street—especially after spotting that black wing on the distant horizon.
Josh and I had agreed to text each other all night, and when his messages had stopped around two, I’d snuck out to make sure he was okay. He’d been sleeping, but now I was stiff, dew-wet, and in danger of being grounded anyway.