“If it was heatstroke, they would’ve let me see him by now,” I said, and she made a soft noise of agreement. The silence grew, and thinking she was waiting for me to say something, I offered a hesitant,
“I’ll remember that next time. Call for help. Stay with the victim.” But there was no one on earth who could have helped me. Maybe I shouldn’t have given Grace any orders. It seemed to have wiped out whatever orders Ron had left with her, including going to get him if there was trouble she couldn’t handle.
Officer Levy got to her feet so she could look stern again. “I’m hoping there won’t be a next time,” she said as she handed me my license. “Don’t leave until I have a chance to talk to your dad.”
“Okay.” I took the laminated card, glad she didn’t want me to go fill out a report or anything. “Thank you.”
Officer Levy hesitated. “Are you sure you don’t want to tell me anything else?”
Hiding my alarm, I looked steadily up at her. “No. Why?”
Her gaze remained fixed on mine. “You have grass in your hair and dirt on your tights.”
My gaze wavered, and I refused to look at my legs.Damn it!
“Was there a fight?” she asked, her eyes narrowing. “Who else was involved?”
Looking away, I shrugged.
Officer Levy sighed. “I know it’s hard to fit in at a new school, but if there was a fight, I need to know.
You’re not a snitch.”
“Josh didn’t get into a fight,” I said. “He collapsed.” I could have lied and told her I fell down and got dirty while catching him, but why bother?
She just looked at me, and I stared back. Finally she pressed her lips together, and with another one of her small noises, she walked over to the receptionist. Officer Levy would probably stay until she could talk to Josh’s parents. I hoped I’d be out of here before they showed up. Josh was a good guy, and I knew they’d take one look at my purple hair and earrings and label me not good enough for their little boy, thinking someone like Amy was better.
I snorted, wondering when I had started thinking of Josh as boyfriend material. We’d spent two afternoons together. Admittedly they were fight-for-your-life afternoons—which would probably only convince him we werenot couple material.
My gaze lifted to peer through the windows to Josh’s truck. I’d stashed the amulet under the front seat when we’d gotten clear of the black wings. I didn’t think Nakita would be coming back, but Kairos might, and if he did, he’d know Nakita’s amulet’s resonance. The sound of her screaming had been awful, and I stifled a shiver at the thought of the black wings heavy on me, like a blanket of cold acid eating my memories—my life.
Brow pinched, I wondered what I’d lost. The fact that they’d cleaved to Nakita instead had been a shock. It was horrifying, and I hoped she was all right—even if she’d been trying to kill me.
A familiar form in jeans and a T-shirt moving past the windows caught my attention, and I sat up, jaw dropping as Barnabas waited impatiently for the automatic door to open. “Where have you been?” I demanded when he came in with a gust of air that made his gray duster billow.
“I leave for one day—” he started, his dark eyes cross.
“And it all goes to Hades,” I said as I stood, not wanting him to have the high ground. “Yeah. I was here dealing with it. I’ve been evading Kairos and Nakita since yesterday!” I said with hushed forcefulness.
“Nakita?” he asked, clearly not listening to everything I said.
“Yes, Nakita,” I shot back, worried. She’d left in a lot of pain. Angels shouldn’t be in pain, even dark reapers.
Barnabas sat on the edge of a seat across from me and ran a hand over his frizzy brown hair to tame it somewhat. For a reaper, he looked innocent. Especially in the rock-band shirt he had on. “Itwas you?”
he said, and I sat back down beside him. “The songs between heaven and earth say that she was hurt in battle. Naturally Ron thought of you and sent me to check. He, uh, wants to talk to you.”
I bet.Miserable, I sat perfectly straight in my chair. Songs between heaven and earth? I bet that beat CNN with a stick.
Barnabas looked askance at me. “What happened? I can’t believe you took her amulet. Madison, you have to stop doing that. Where’s your guardian angel? We never heard from her that there was trouble.”
“That might be my fault,” I said softly. “I told her to protect Josh, so she didn’t leave to get you. Don’t be mad at her. I told her to do it.”
“Josh?” Barnabas jerked upright. “The guardian angel is supposed to be with you!”
He looked shocked, and I shrugged. “I’m conscious. Josh isn’t. Easy choice.”
“She’s supposed to be with you!” he exclaimed again.
I made an exasperated noise. “I told her to watch him. She saved his life twice now. Kairos tried to kill him yesterday. What was I supposed to do? Let him? I was fine.”Until the black wings found me. And Grace said I’d cracked my amulet. Freaking fantastic.