Vlad stepped out and dumped the load of clothes on the living-room floor. He produced an iPod from his pocket and popped in the earbuds, then disappeared back into Nina’s room, shutting the door with a slam behind him.
I swallowed while Alex fished around in the Bambino’s bag, extracting a handful of red-pepper packets. “We’re going to get to it, but first we have to eat. Not all of us are—you know, dead.”
I poked at the remains of my lasagna and Caesar salad while Alex and Nina bickered.
“We’re close,” Alex was saying. “I know we’re close to finding the Vessel.”
“Yeah, but Ophelia actually has that going-out-and-looking-for-it thing going on. What have we done? Nothing. Nothing!”
“We’re researching,” Alex said, the muscle flicking in his jaw—the way it does when he is desperately trying to remain calm.
There was the faintest giggle—gentle, like the sound of tinkling bells—trilling in my head. They can’t help you, Ophelia’s voice intoned. They don’t even know where to begin. Your little friends have no idea how to deal with people like us. Us, Sophie ... you and I are one and the same.
“I am not dead!” I stood up, my fork clattering to my plate, my chair flopping onto the ground behind me. Nina and Alex’s faces swung toward me.
“Um, Sophie?” Nina asked, her dark eyes wide with alarm.
I squeezed my eyes shut and rubbed my temples. “It’s Ophelia,” I said, “I can hear her.”
Alex stood up. “Where? Is she here?”
“Here?” Nina scrambled up on the kitchen table, eek-a-mouse style. “As in here?” She crouched down fighter style and clenched her fists. “I’ll kill her.”
“No,” I wailed, pushing my palms against my head. “She’s in my head. I can—I can hear her in there, talking to me. Taunting me. She’s driving me crazy.”
That’s good. Tell them you’re hearing voices. That’s just another nail in the nutty-mortal-girl coffin. They’re not going to save you, Sophie. Not when they think you’re already going crazy.
Nina pointed at me and angrily stared at Alex. “See what I mean?”
“I’m not crazy!” I yelled, feeling the red flush of blood as it rushed to my cheeks. “You’re the crazy one, Ophelia !”
Alex swallowed hard, his eyes intent and holding mine. “She’s in your mind?”
I felt the tears welling in my eyes. “I’m not crazy,” I said, my voice small. “I can hear her.”
“I know,” Alex said, taking my hand in his. “I know.”
I stepped back, shaking my hand from Alex’s. “You have to tell me everything,” I snapped, “everything that fallen angels can do. I need to know what I’m up against with Ophelia.”
Alex sighed. “I already told you.”
“You told me mind reading. Now she’s in my mind.” I crossed my arms. “What else?”
“Well ... we can manipulate your thoughts.”
I stepped back, looked Alex up and down, then leaned close, examining the curve of his chest, the muscular swell of his shoulder.
“What are you doing?” he asked.
I used my index finger to poke his firm stomach. “How do I know you’re not manipulating my reality right now? For all I know you could be some eighty-year-old bald guy with gold teeth and liver spots.”
Alex grabbed my outstretched index finger and pulled me against him, my breasts pressing against his chiseled chest. We were hip bone to hip bone and I could hear—and feel—the rhythmic beat of his heart. Alex’s lips brushed the tip of my ear and I gave a slight, involuntary shiver, relishing the delicious feeling of his closeness, of his breath on my neck. All the pain and fear of Ophelia’s visit was melting away.
“Are you willing to give me the benefit of the doubt?”
I shoved away from him. “Don’t be sexy when I’m seriously trying to be mad at you.”
“Or when your roommate might seriously be in jeopardy of losing her lunch,” Nina moaned.
I steeled myself, gazing at Alex. “Anything else I should know?”
Alex sucked in a breath. “Yes. I guess so.”
I gave him the universal “Spit it out!” look.
“But it’s not about Ophelia. It’s about your father.”
Nina looked up. “Is he dead? You said you didn’t know if he was dead.”
“Is he?” I asked.
“I don’t know. It’s not about that.”
“Okay ...” I said.
Alex avoided my gaze, looked at his hands. “Have you ever considered why you are the way that you are?”
I used the heels of my hands to wipe the last of my tears. “Neurotic? I can think of a few reasons.”
Alex raised his eyes. “No, your ‘power.’”
“Power?”
“Okay, your lack of power. Both your mother and your grandmother had real powers.”
“And I can’t do anything.”
“Not true,” Nina said, finger raised. “I’ve seen you make a pizza disappear. Ba-dump cha!” She held up her palms, played to an imaginary crowd. “Thank you, thank you, I’ll be here all week ... starting in an hour.” Then she disappeared into her room.
“Not that you can’t do anything—it’s that nothing can be done to you. Magical immunity.”
I shrugged. “So? What of it?”