Even with Aidan’s hands on mine, I reach my arms out just like I saw Lucio do. This must be why Lucio’s muscles are so big: pulling spirits from across the continent takes strength. I’m flexing muscles I didn’t even know existed. Tonight when I climb into bed, my entire body will ache from the effort of the day. My abdominals will be so sore that it hurts to take a deep breath, my legs so tired that it will feel like they weigh a million pounds.
Eddie Denfield wants nothing to do with me. At first loose papers in the hall begin to swirl about, and Eddie’s former classmates take notice. They begin looking around for the source of the mysterious wind, but they won’t find it. As I pull harder, Eddie gets angrier, holding on for dear life, literally. Lockers begin slamming shut one right after another all throughout the hallway. The girls are screaming and the boys are shouting. And then it happens. Meghan runs out of a classroom, trying to see what all the commotion is about, and Eddie spots her one last time. “You have to let her go,” I say, unsure whether he can hear me. I can feel his resistance as I pull him farther and farther from the girl he’s had a crush on since sixth grade. The sweat on my face turns cool as he comes close.
For a brief moment he’s there right before me, his eyes filled with anger and blood and regret, his head smashed in and bleeding from the accident. He’s been so focused on Meghan that he never noticed his leg was badly broken too, part of the bone sticking out of his flesh. As I quickly reach out to touch him he screams furiously at me in anger, feeling betrayed, even though I never knew this boy. Then he’s gone, moving on with only the slightest sense of peace at the very last moment, but mostly with just one thing. Anger.
When I open my eyes, I’m angry too.
“Why did you make me do that?” I shout, pulling my hands from Aidan’s grip. “He just wanted a chance to say good-bye!”
“Sunshine, do you hear yourself?” Aidan doesn’t raise his voice. “It’s your job to help spirits move on even when they don’t want to.”
“But he just needed a little more time—”
“I know,” Aidan says softly. “We all struggle with that sometimes. But you know what happens if too much time passes.”
He’s right. A demon nearly killed my mother. Why did I want to let Eddie stay? Why am I so angry when I should feel peace?
Lucio whistles. “She really does take on what they’re feeling, huh? Freaky.”
What he really means is freak. I’m a freak. A luiseach with a sensitivity problem no luiseach has had before.
“Maybe a protector could figure out why I’m so different?” I try. “That’s what they do, right? Find information that might help us?” I bite my lip, hoping Aidan is about to launch into a lengthy explanation of protectors’ duties.
Aidan shakes his head. “We’ll keep working on it.”
Something tells me we’re not making as much progress as he’d like. He pulls out his notepad and writes something down as he walks away. I begin to follow, but Lucio grabs my hand and holds me back.
“Hang on. I want to show you something,” Lucio says.
“What is it?” I ask.
“You’ll see,” he says as he leads me down another path.
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
Clementine
We walk down a path that’s clearly used less often than the one we use to get to the playground. Overgrown with vines and loose rocks, I struggle to keep my balance.
“Where are we going?” I ask.
“You’re not good with surprises, are you?” Lucio quips back, clearly amused by the situation. It’s true, I’m not, but I’m not going to give him the satisfaction of knowing that, so I keep my mouth closed.
“I’m disappointing him,” I say as I almost roll my ankle. The sun’s getting low, and it’s hard to see the ground through the thick shade of the jungle.
“Nah,” Lucio says, trudging down the path with little trouble. He plays with the tattoo on his right pointer finger. He’s the kind of person who’s always moving.
“It’ll get easier. Don’t forget, you’re descended from—”
“Two of the most powerful luiseach families in history, blah, blah blah.” I cut him off before he can finish. Lucio grins as he glances back, and I smile back. “I’m still waiting for my genetics to kick in. It’s a pretty good argument for nurture versus nature.”
“What do you mean?”
“You know, because I was raised by a regular human instead of those two powerful luiseach, maybe I didn’t inherit their powers after all.”
“I don’t think that’s how it works.” Lucio suddenly stops at the bottom of the trail. He motions with his hands to something green in front of him.
“An old tarp,” I say as I realize what it is.
“It’s not the tarp, it’s what’s underneath,” he says and then just stands there, admiring the idea of whatever is covered by the tarp.
“Soooo . . . are you going to show me what’s under the tarp?”
“Oh yeah!” He jumps forward and yanks it off.
“It’s an old motorcycle,” I respond, in a tone Lucio is clearly disappointed by.
“It’s a 1967 Triumph Bonneville TT Special! She’s my pride and joy.” His grin is so wide that I can tell this is important for him, but I can’t really wrap my brain around why he’s showing me . . . her?
“She?” I ask.
“Clementine.”