She said the words almost defiantly. Zach thought of his own experience, when a woman’s voice had urged him to do the same thing.
“You say a voice in your head told you to run. You mean like your own voice?”
She looked at Mick, exasperated. “No, not my voice. Somebody else’s. I told you people think I’m weird. This stuff happens to me.”
“Was it a man’s voice?” he asked. “Or a woman’s?”
She looked surprised by the question. “Man’s.”
“You’re sure?” She nodded and he went on, “So, you listened and started to run.”
“Yeah. But it was like, wherever I ran, whatever direction, it stayed with me.”
“With you. You mean a steady distance behind you.”
“No. Above me.”
“Above you? Flying?”
“Yes. Huge and dark like a— It sounds so stupid, the whole thing was probably my imagination.”
Zach looked her dead in the eyes. “You don’t believe that, Angel. And neither do we.”
She tipped her chin up slightly. The expression in her eyes defiant. As if daring him to laugh. “Okay. Like one of those dinosaur birds.”
“A pterodactyl,” Micki offered.
She nodded. “Or a dragon. But I didn’t look up. I was too scared.”
“Then how did you know what it looked like?”
“I felt it. It made this horrible sound—” She shuddered and rubbed her arms, as if to ward of the gooseflesh. “Eli saved me.”
“Eli?”
“Elijah. He was there, in the parking lot.”
“Back up. What parking lot?”
“The one the voice lead me to. There was a light. But when I ran toward it, it went out.”
She moved her gaze between them, defiance gone, replaced by desperation. To be believed, Zach thought. As if this was the part of the story she wanted to believe in as well.
“Then there he was. He opened his car door.”
“And you hopped in.”
“Pretty much.”
“Tell us more about him,” Micki said.
“He was super hot. Even if he was sort of old.”
“Sort of old?”
“About your age. Too old for me.”
“How old did you turn on your birthday?”
“Eighteen.”
Zach exchanged a glance with Mick. Angel’s age didn’t fit either the other two girl’s, both had been celebrating their twenty-first birthday.
“What happened then?”
“Eli talked to me. Convinced me it was dangerous for me to go home. He called somebody and they decided I should go to Brite’s house.”
Micki cocked her head. “He was a complete stranger and you seem like a smart girl, how did he convince you to do that?”
Angel frowned. “I knew I could trust him.”
“How?”
“I just did.”
“No,” Zach said. “You’ve been around. You don’t trust easily.” He leaned forward, in challenge. “How did you know you could trust him?”
Her lips trembled. She suddenly looked scared. “Because he’s my brother.”
Chapter Forty
Wednesday, July 17
4:10 P.M.
For a moment, the only sound in the room was the last of Angel’s drink being sucked noisily up the straw.
Zach looked at Mick, then back at Angel. “Eli’s your brother?”
“Uh-huh. Just not my blood brother.”
“Now I’m really confused.”
“I was too, at first. He explained it. We’re both special, different from most folks.”
The gifted. Of course.
“So’s Brite. There are others, too.”
“I know, Angel.” He paused. “I am, too.”
“I wondered.”
“Did you?”
“Uh-huh.” She looked at Micki. “But you’re not.”
“Sadly, no.”
Angel looked back at Zach. “What can you do?”
He understood what she meant. “I know stuff about people. Things that have happened to them. I can touch someone and sometimes, see what they’ve seen. Just quick snapshots. Especially if there was a strong energy attached to that experience.”
“But only sometimes?”
“A lot. But not always.” He thought of Brite Knight. How he’d picked up nothing. Perhaps Angel would be the same?
“Cool. That’s why you want to hold my hand.”
“How did you know I wanted to do that?”
“I saw it.” She looked at Micki. “I was afraid he was a pervert.”
Micki laughed. “He sort of is.”
“Hey! That wasn’t nice.”
“I couldn’t help myself, partner.” She grinned at Angel. “He’s not a perve, just overreaching and annoying.”
Angel giggled. “I know.”
“So, can I hold your hand?”
“You want to see if you can get a look at that thing that tried to get me.”
“That’s right.”
“I would but—” She shook her head. “I don’t know if that’s such a good idea.”
“Why not?”
“I might hurt you.”
“Why do you say that?”
“Brite told me. She told me I had to keep my distance. Eli, too. All of them.”
All of them. The words took his breath.
“What do you mean? How many?”
“I don’t know; I had to stay in a back bedroom. But I listened as best I could. They said I was dangerous because of that thing that tried to get me.”
“You can’t hurt me. And I really need to do this.”