I had a heckuva lot to explain.
My shoulders drooped, my head hung in shame, and it was all I could do to shuffle along behind him, my scraggly blond hair hanging limply before me like some flimsy, useless shield.
But it was no use.
Nothing could spare me from what was clearly inevitable.
So I used those last remaining moments to run a frantic search through my best, most plausible excuses—mentally rehearsing my story again and again like a panicky actor on opening night.
Even though I knew I’d done the right thing, even though I was one hundred percent sure that a failure
to act would’ve resulted in disaster of monumental scale, even though I’d totally succeeded in my job as a Soul Catcher by convincing a whole lot of ghosts, including one particularly evil one, to cross the bridge to where they belonged, even though I knew all of that, there was no doubt that I was also one hundred percent responsible for causing the problem in the first place.
I’d been told to look the other way.
I’d been warned to mind my own business.
To not get involved by sticking my semi-stubby nose in places where it most certainly didn’t belong.
But did I listen?
Uh, not exactly.
Instead I charged full speed ahead into a heap of trouble.
And yet, if I do say so myself, despite the danger I put us all in, the end result was impressive.
Exceedingly, undeniably impressive.
I just hoped the Council would agree.
I followed Bodhi toward the stage, his back so stiff and his hands so clenched I was glad I couldn’t see his face. Though, if I had to guess, I’d be willing to bet that his mouth, free of the long green straw he usually chomped on when the Council wasn’t around, was pinched into a thin, grim line, while his green eyes, heavily shadowed by his insanely thick fringe of lashes, were sparking and flaring as he tried to concoct the best way to get rid of me. And though I couldn’t hear his thoughts, couldn’t get the slightest inkling of just what he might be thinking, I decided to be glad for that too. It was clear his annoyance with me had pretty much scaled the summit.
I peered out from under my bangs, my gaze performing a quick sweep of the audience, seeing Aurora taking her place next to Claude, who sat next to Samson, who was right beside Celia, who was so tiny and petite she was able to share an armrest with Royce without either one of them having to compromise or fight for equal space. And seeing them all assembled like that, waiting for one good reason why our little Caribbean vacation had gone so tragically wrong (or, as I liked to see it, heroically right—it was all a matter of perspective), well, that’s when I remembered the most important evidence of all.
The one undeniable thing that required no verbal explanation as it was right there, smack-dab in the front and center, visible for all to see.
I had my glow on.
Actually, scratch that. It wasn’t just my usual glow. It was far more impressive than that.
As a reward for all I’d accomplished back in St. John, my glow had significantly deepened. Going from what started out as a barely there, pale green shimmer straight into a … well … a somewhat deeper green shimmer.
Okay, maybe the change wasn’t all that drastic, but the thing is, what it lacked in drama it made up for in … er … substance.
Let’s just say that it couldn’t be missed.
After all, I’d seen it.
Bodhi had seen it.
Even Buttercup had looked right at me and barked a few times as he wagged his tail and spun around.
All of which I took as a pretty good sign that the Council would see it too. From what I knew of them, they didn’t miss much of anything.
So I relaxed. Pushing my hair off my face as I thought, How bad can it be when my glow is so clearly minty green?
But then, just after that, I remembered what Bodhi had said right after he’d found me at the Viewing Room and made me come here.