Once Dead, Twice Shy

CHAPTER 3

"I hate it when he does that," I muttered, jumping when my guardian flew in front of me.

"Does what?" it chimed out.

Maybe not so alone. Sighing, I reached for my bike. "Stops time and jumps the sun like that, but I really wasn't talking to you." If anyone saw me talking to the air, I'd definitely end up in the weirdo clique when school started back up. Not my senior year. I didn't have time to work myself out from that again. You come to school one day with bat wings for Halloween, and you never live it down. A faint smile curved my lips up. Wendy, my friend back in Florida, had worn them too. It had almost made the batgirl-twins jokes funny.

The ball of light made a burst of indignant sound. "You're really short, for a mortal."

"Look who's talking," I shot back, then swung my leg over my bike. I shoved on the pedal, and the wheels made a pained sound, resistance keeping me from moving. "Hey!" I exclaimed when I realized my front tire was flat. The guardian angel was laughing. It had to be; its color was wildly shifting through the spectrum. "What did you do to my bike?" I said, though it was obvious.

"I'm protecting you!" it sang merrily. "Don't you feel safer already?"

My thoughts went to the five-mile walk home. "Protecting me from what?" I snapped. "Me being thought of as anything other than a dweeb?" Ticked, I pushed my bike across the hot pavement toward the distant exit. Stupid guardian angel. What the devil was wrong with it?

I spun around at the sound of the metal school door crashing open, and saw a guy wearing running shorts come out. Two more people followed him. Track practice in August? "There once was a girl with blond hair, whose tresses were short like a mare," G.R.A.C.E.S. one-seventy-six sang, hovering by my ear. "She brushed and she preened, like she was a queen, till I laced her shampoo with some Nair."

"Charming. It sings," I muttered, and the angel giggled, seeming to send a wash of cool air over me. Behind me, voices rang out amid the thumping of car doors and starting engines. The first truck roared by me, and I turned to the right to avoid the exhaust, pulling my bike past the end of the wall and dragging it up the hill to the main road.

Someone blew their horn, and I ignored it. The hill was steep, and when a line of erosion bushes appeared in front of me, I angled into the water runoff ditch full of rocks the size of my head. But the moment I found the ditch, my front tire got stuck and the handlebar jammed into my gut. My breath came out in a pained huff, and I looked up to find a truck stopped at the top of the hill. Great. I had a freaking audience.

"There once was a girl with a bike, who thought she'd go off on a hike."

"Shut up!" I shouted, then looked up to the sound of a door slamming. My shoulders slumped and I felt weary. It was Josh. Prom-date Josh. The same guy who'd only gone out with me because my dad and his dad worked together and had set it up. I'd been a "favor." And when Josh accidentally let this slip at the prom, I'd left in a huff—with Seth/Kairos. Swell. I hadn't seen much of Josh since I'd died except for passing him in the hall. Now, leaning against my bike, I watched him recline against his truck door with his ankles crossed, smiling at me.

Oh, for cripe's sake. Looking back down, I laboriously unstuck the wheel and pushed forward, but the memory of the night I died filled my thoughts. Josh had followed me to make sure I got home okay even after I'd ditched him. He'd seen the car crash, had slid down the embankment to try to save me. I think he'd even held my hand as I died. Barnabas assured me he didn't remember a thing. Except perhaps that I'd been a bitch to him at prom and left with someone else.

"You need some help?"

I looked up to find Josh still leaning against his truck. He looked good, his wet blond hair dark from a shower, blue eyes squinting in the sun as he pushed a new pair of trendy glasses back up his narrow nose. I'd seen him talking with the drama club geeks at school and sticking up for the smart kids in the hall, but he usually hung with the jocks. Not quite the popular crowd, but close enough not to matter in a town this size. He was nice to everyone, which was not the norm for what I'd call a very dateable guy.

"I said, do you need some help!" he said louder as he waved at a girl driving by. It was Amy. I didn't like her. She was too full of herself to have room for a real thought in her head.

Blowing the hair out of my eyes, I wished I was still at the lake, dark reaper and all. "No," I called back. "But thanks." Head down, I shoved the bike over a rock and moved up a foot.

"Are you sure?"

Why is he being nice to me?

From above and a little behind me came a high voice saying, "Listen, I just thought up the end of it. There once was a girl with a bike, who thought she'd go off on a hike. She headed off west, 'cause she thought it was best, but ran into someone she liked."

My foot slipped. Habit pulled my breath in fast when my ankle gave a twinge and the bike fell down the six inches I had managed. "I'm going south, not west," I grumbled, then looked up at Josh as the angel laughed at me. It was too hot to feel guilty for past bitchiness. "I changed my mind," I said loudly. "I could use some help."

Josh pushed himself away from his truck and started down, sliding until he found the rocks and began to pick his way. I waited, then backed up when he gave me a smile and took the handlebars from me.

"How did you get a flat tire?" he asked as he snuck glances at my purple hair.

"There once was a girl from the shire, who constantly got a flat tire."

"Shut up!" I yelled, then cringed when Josh turned to me, shocked.

"Uh, not you," I amended, just about dying on the spot. Not that I could, but I felt like it. "I, um, wasn't talking to you."

Josh's eyebrows went up. "Who were you talking to? Dead people?"

He meant it as a joke, but I felt myself pale. From behind me came a chiming, "You have to be alive first, short stuff, to be dead."

The silence stretched, and Josh's expression went from amused to bothered. "It was a joke, Madison."

Miserable, I tried to find a spin on this that wouldn't make me look like Mad Madison. Stupid guardian angel. This was all its fault. "I'm sorry," I said, tucking my hair back. "It was nice of you to stop and help me. I really appreciate it. I'm just hot." My tension eased when his jaw unclenched. "It hasn't been a good day," I added.

Josh was silent, and I glanced at him. We were almost to the top, and I didn't want him to leave thinking I'd yelled at him for no reason. "You're, uh, on the track team, right?" I said.

"Yup. We're doing a charity relay tomorrow at the school carnival," he said, slowing to work the front tire between two rocks. "Dollars per time around the track, that kind of thing. Coach thinks it's a great way to keep us from going soft over the summer. What are you doing to help?"

"Me?" I stammered. "Uh…"

Josh looked askance at me. "That's why you were at the school, right?"

"Not really," I said. "I was meeting someone. They left. My tire went flat." The angel edged into my vision, and I slapped at it. "Wow, big mosquito," I said, and it hummed in indignation, the light shifting brighter.

"And you came here because you didn't want your dad to find out you were meeting someone?" Josh said. "Gotcha." Sighing, he looked to the top of the hill as if he was distancing himself from me already.

I was screwing this up royally. "It's not my dad; it's my neighbor," I said.

"Mrs. Walsh?" Josh asked, startling me.

"You've heard of her?" I said, finding myself grinning at his understanding smile.

He nodded. "My friend Parker lives on your street. That woman goes through his garbage to pull out the recyclables. Creepy old bat."

"That's awful." Feeling better, I dropped my eyes. "I didn't expect to get a flat tire. I mean, it's only five miles to my house…you know." Puffing beside Josh with the bike between us, I glanced at him, wishing I hadn't yelled at the guardian angel. Josh was silent as we reached the top, and as soon as we were both on level ground, I reached for the handlebars, nervously trying not to touch his fingers. "Thanks," I said as I looked at his truck parked on the side of the road. He was going north, and I was going south, into town. "I think I can get it from here."

Josh's hands slipped from the chrome. "Is everything okay? You're kind of jittery."

I jerked the bike from him. "I'm fine. Why?"

He shoved his glasses up. "Your hair is wet, and I know you weren't on the track. Did someone give you a swirly or something? You're acting like my sister when she's in trouble and the world is out to get her."

I felt cornered, and my pace quickened. "No more trouble than usual," I said with false cheerfulness. A car whizzed by. It was the last of the track team. Cripes, I missed my car.

Josh was silent, his steps slowing as we got farther from his truck. "Look, I know how dads can be. Mine keeps such a tight leash on me I can't take a leak without him checking to see that I washed my hands."

Halting, I looked up. "It's not my dad. He's cool."

"What is your problem?" Josh said. "I'm just trying to help."

My eyebrows rose when the ball of light made a kissing sound. "He's trying to he-e-e-elp," it crooned, and Josh shivered when it landed on his shoulder. Great, the thing belonged to the cupid union. This was not what I needed.

"I'm fine. Really. Thanks," I said shortly, shoving my bike through the loose gravel.

"Well, I'm not," he said darkly, and I kept going. "Listen, I'm not trying to hit on you, but I've been having these dreams about you for the last three weeks and it's freaking me out."

I stopped, unable to turn around. He's dreaming about me?

"There once was a poet from Plunket—"

I swung at the angel as if going for a fly, and with a little ping of sensation, I hit it. It arced across the road with a faint yelp, and I stared at Josh. He's dreaming about me?

"Never mind," he said, turning away. "I gotta go."

"Josh."

He waved his hand at me, but he didn't look back as he trudged over to his truck.

"Josh?" I called again, then stiffened at the shadow that raced over the ground between us. My eyes went up as fear sliced through me. A black wing. Here? What the devil?

"Josh!" I shouted. Son of a dead puppy. Somewhere in my town, a reaper walked. Hunting. Hunting me? But Ron had changed my resonance!

The sour tinkling of bells told me my angel had returned. "How long is a cubit?" I asked the angel breathlessly as Josh neared his truck.

"About a foot and a half," it said tightly. "You got grass stains on my dress. You're a nasty person, you know that?"

Dress? It's a girl, then.

"Why?" she asked, and then she tinkled in understanding. "Oh, nice. Black wings. Don't worry. They can't sense you if I'm nearby. I've got a field of immunity. It's like you're not even there."

"Yeah, I've got it too," I said. "But if they can't sense me, then why are they here?"

"Him, I think. Yes. Him. Someone's hunting him."

My eyes widened. Him? She means Josh? Why? And then I got it. My amulet resonance had been changed too late. Nakita had followed me back, at least as far as Three Rivers, but lost me when Ron shifted things. And since neither she nor Kairos would stand on a street corner and wait for me to walk by, they were trying to find me by hunting someone I might be with. Kairos had met Josh at the prom. Talked to him. Saw him and his aura. They were tracking me down through Josh—the only person both Kairos and I knew.

"Call Barnabas," I said to the angel, frightened.

"Can't do that," she said lightly. "I'm not experienced enough to touch thoughts with anyone. I'm a first-sphere guardian angel."

"Then go get Ron," I said to her, seeing the black wing start to circle.

"Can't do that, either." Whirling about my head, she sent flashes of light into my eyes. "I'm instructed to keep you safe and report reapers. You're safe."

"What about Josh?" I asked, and she hummed as if she didn't care.

Josh's truck's door creaked open, and I panicked.

"Josh!" Shoving my bike along, I awkwardly ran down the center of the empty road. "Josh, I'm sorry," I gushed as I reached the driver's door and grabbed the open window. "Wait." My heart pounded as I looked up, but the black wing had started to veer off already. My tension eased, then shifted to worry. The angel wouldn't protect him, but if I stayed with Josh, he'd be under my immunity. If the black wings couldn't sense him, then neither could Kairos or Nakita. Why hadn't I worked harder on thought-touching? It sure would be handy about now.

Josh sat with his hands on his wheel, staring at me as a car drove slowly around us. "Madison, you are one weird dudette."

"Yeah, I know," I rushed. "Give me a ride to the bike shop? I need a new tire."

Cocking his head, Josh looked at me. I'd do just about anything right now not to have to explain, but I'd also do anything to keep him safe. It was my fault he was in danger. I might be dead, but I still had to live with myself, and if I walked away, Josh would suffer. Maybe die.

"I'm at the bottom of a ravine, aren't I?" I blurted desperately, my eyes pleading for him to listen. "In a black convertible. In your dream."

Josh's mouth dropped open. "How do you know that?"

I licked my lips, feeling the heat come up off the road like the fires of hell. I knew better than to break the false memory Ron had given Josh. But he wasn't here, and I didn't know how to reach him. "Because it wasn't a dream," I said.