“But it does.” He leaned in closer, almost climbing on top of the table, and took my hand into his. I was so surprised, I didn’t react right away. “Mila, I’ve been thinking about you. I can’t stop thinking about you.”
“I don’t…”
“I broke up with her because…”
“Stop.” I got a hold of myself and pulled my hand free. “I’m not stupid. I don’t know where this is coming from, or what sort of fresh prank it is, but I know one thing. You wanted to fuck me to get back at Pandora. Maybe you still do. Maybe you didn’t break up with her at all, and you’re just trying to play me. As if you could…” I huffed. “Look, Paz, I’m going to tell you something, and please convey it to Sariel and Francis, too, okay? I’m not scared of you. Whatever you have planned, it won’t work.”
“Mila, you don’t know what you’re talking about.” His eyes turned a shade darker, and I could almost see his anger bubbling toward the surface. “I’m trying to tell you something, and you don’t listen. Why won’t you just shut up and listen? You have no idea what you’re doing to me…”
“I’m not doing anything to you.” I sprung to my feet. His eyes were starting to turn from dark green to red. For some reason, I’d enraged him, and the last thing I wanted was to be so close to an enraged demon. “And I don’t have to listen to you. You stood there and watched as I was drowning. And don’t give me that bullshit how you didn’t know what Lorna was doing, how you didn’t even know she was there. You stood there and watched.”
“Mila…”
“Go! You shouldn’t be here, you shouldn’t be talking to me. We have nothing to say to each other. Just leave me alone!”
“Is he bothering you?” GC dropped the pack of cards on the table, between me and Paz, and crossed his arms over his chest. “Yeah, he is. Dude, she asked you to go. So, what are you waiting for? Do you want me to make you?”
Pazuzu’s eyes were completely red now. He stood up and stepped so close to GC that their chests almost touched.
“You can’t make me.”
“You wanna bet on that?”
I held my breath. The whole courtyard was looking at us. Luckily, the RDC and the VDC were too busy with their game, so at least they hadn’t noticed the two guys having a pissing contest over… me. Over me? How the fuck did that happen?
Paz narrowed his eyes at GC, then threw a quick glance my way. He must have seen something on my face, something even I wasn’t aware of, because he backed off and walked away, not before whispering something to GC.
“What did he say to you?” I asked GC when Paz had disappeared inside the building.
“It doesn’t matter. It was a lie, anyway.”
We sat down at the table, but I was too rattled to play anything. For the next hour, he showed me card tricks to calm me down. And it worked.
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
Anatomy of Souls had to be my favorite class! It was the first day we were actually going to practice what we’d learned just in theory: how to detach a soul from the body. Of course, we weren’t going to do it for real, so instead of practicing with our scythes, Mr. Lesage gave us sticks. Normal, plain sticks that hadn’t even been cleaned of the bark. He was now matching us into pairs, and once he was done with that, we’d have to face our partner, focus on his or her aura until we saw it flowing around the physical body, then identify the exact place where we had to strike to separate the aura from matter. As we’d learned in PE, too, the soul wasn’t inside a person’s body. It was all around it, its range couldn’t actually be measured, and some experts even said it was so expansive that it could as well cover dozens of square meters around the body it was connected to. We, Grim Reapers, could see only a small part of it – the aura.
The theory said that the part of the soul that was closer to the physical body was denser than the rest, and it glowed in various colors, depending on how the soul felt. If it was a soul in pain, the aura would be a muddy green or a rotten yellow. If the soul was joyful, the aura would be colored light green, light blue, or even pink. All light nuances of any color usually meant joy, love, peace. Red was lust. When would a Grim Reaper have to deal with a red aura? Well, I supposed when someone had a heart attack while having sex. What a way to go…
“Mila and Francis, you’re together.”
What?! I looked at GC across the room, and he mouthed “I’m sorry.” He was
supposed to make sure we’d be paired, but apparently, Mr. Lesage had ignored him. My fingers squeezed the stick. There was no way we could do any damage to someone’s aura with a stick, but I was sure as hell that if I tried hard enough, I could make Francis feel my strike. He came to stand in front of me. He didn’t say a word. Paz had, at least, spoken to me after what had happened on Mabon. It hadn’t gone great, but he hadn’t pretended like I didn’t exist, and I could appreciate that. Francis, though… Ugh! He’d been such an ass! Weeks had passed, and he hadn’t come to the Holy Chapel once. I didn’t go as often because I had a boyfriend now, but I did go twice a week. After the incident, I’d wanted to confront him. I’d thought that if we were alone, if no one was around to watch our every move, then maybe Francis would have something to say to me. Paz had told me they had both been unaware of Lorna. Well, I wanted to hear it from Francis. Because, maybe, there was a better chance I’d actually believe Francis.
“Hey,” I said. He simply nodded but didn’t greet me back. What a douche! And I’d been really looking forward to this class. It would’ve been so much better if I’d been paired with GC or Klaus. Oh well. I’d have to make the best of it. I wasn’t going to let stupid Francis distract me. I’d worked extra hard in PE with my scythe, had learned how to swing it gracefully, and now I kind of wanted to impress Professor Lesage. I was hoping for some worth points, but if I was to be honest, I was also hoping for a smile and a pat on the back. Alain Lesage was somewhat of a silver fox. Tall, well-built, with a smile to die for, he was an incubus, and, oh my God, you could tell! All female students were in love with him, and even if I’d never admit it out loud, he’d stolen my heart, too. I mean, it wasn’t like that. I didn’t dream about him, or anything. In fact, once I was out of his class, I usually forgot all about him and went on with my life. He had that effect on women… Every time I saw him, every time I was in the same room as him, I’d get all swoony and girly. The second he was out of sight, I’d get back to normal and remember I already had the best boyfriend a girl could wish for. Maybe it was just the effect incubi had on people.
“Alright, class, let’s begin. For the time being, forget about the stick, and focus on your breath. Center yourselves, take a couple of deep belly breaths, release them, and when you’re ready, look at your partner. You know how to do this, we’ve practiced many times. Don’t look at them directly, but allow your eyes to unfocus and see the glow around their body.”
I followed his instructions diligently. If Francis didn’t want to speak to me, then maybe it was for the best. I could ignore that he was who he was, see him as just some random classmate, and enjoy my first practice on an actual aura. Little by little, I relaxed. The tension left my shoulders and arms when I changed my perspective on Francis. I was now holding the stick lightly, and my desire to hurt him had flown out the window. He wasn’t worth it. All I wanted was to do well today and earn myself some worth points. In the past couple of weeks, I’d risen through the ranks, and I couldn’t lie that my relationship with GC had something to do with it. The others weren’t bullying me as much, which meant they didn’t get me in trouble.
I let my eyes unfocus, so they could perceive the glow around Francis’s body. Slowly, his aura came into view, phasing in and out for a few seconds, then materializing around him, solidifying even, until I could see its color. I gasped involuntarily and took a step back. Francis’s aura was a mix of brown, yellow, and muddy green. It looked like… like… I didn’t even know what to compare it to! A swamp! It had that mix of colors and shades specific to a smelly swamp crawling with all kinds of disgusting animals and critters. I bit the inside of my cheek. What did it mean? That shade of green meant pain. But what about the others? Was Francis in pain? Oh my God, did his aura look like this all the time? Was he in pain all the time? And that brown… Should I ask Mr. Lesage what brown means in an aura? No. He’ll know why I’m asking…
“Are you okay?” I asked Francis. It was the only sensible thing that had come to mind.
He smiled forcefully. “Yes, of course.”
“I’m sorry, I just…” I sighed. It was obvious he didn’t want to talk to me about it. “I suck at this.”