But somehow I couldn’t.
Somehow I just remained right there in place.
“Just because something sounds crazy doesn’t make it any less true.” He ducked his head, gazed up at me through a thick row of lashes. “Sometimes you just have to take a leap of faith, tune out what you see before you, what other people tell you, and focus on what you know deep down inside your own heart.”
I gazed between the stranger and the beast, then started to turn away, stopped by the sound of his voice when he said, “You’re quite a vision, Riley. Truly.”
My breath hitched, as chills ran over my flesh.
“I can see why you’ve chosen to stay. The first moment I saw you like this, you took my breath away.” He shook his head, ran a nervous hand over his chin. “And now that I’ve said that, I can only hope that when I find a way to break you out of here, you will not remember it.”
I twisted the rings on my hands, unable to remove my gaze from his. Carefully committing his words to memory, sensing they were far more meaningful than they first seemed—sure that I’d once longed to hear them—though I had no idea who he was.
Or did I?
I could no longer be sure.
“You know it’s not real, right?” His voice was gentle, his eyes filled with kindness. “You know you have to accept that—you have to find your way out. You can have all this and more. In fact, you are well on your way. You just have to be patient, Riley. It will come. I promise you that. You can have everything you want in the Here & Now—you don’t have to be here.”
That tingly feeling his words had brought, vanished just as quickly. He was wrong. I did need to be here. Everything I was depended on it. He had no idea what he was talking about.
“Listen,” I said, my gaze leveled on his, my voice full of venom, “I don’t know who you think you are, but—”
“My name is Bodhi.” He nodded. Then pointing at the beast he said, “I am your guide, Buttercup is your dog, and you are not Aurelia, you are Riley. A twelve-year-old Soul Catcher who resides in the Here & Now. You are visiting Rome on assignment. You are meant to find a gladiator named Theocoles and convince him to cross over. You are not from this time. This is not your home. These people are not your friends. And, that is not how you look in real life. You are dead. And it’s time you find your way out of here and get on with your afterlife.”
Dead?
Dead!
I shut my eyes tightly, fought back the surge of crystalline tears that threatened to pour down my cheeks. Gathering my skirts and shaking my head, I looked at him once more and said, “No! No.” Though my voice sounded tired, broken, bearing not a single trace of conviction. “No way. You need to leave. You need to leave now—and you need to take your …” I swallowed, regretting the words before they were out. But I had no choice. I was desperate to hang onto Aurelia, and the longer they stayed, the more impossible that would be. “You need to take your smelly beast with you before I scream for help and have you both dragged away.”
The beast looked at me, its eyes slanting, tail sinking low between his legs, the moment he heard me call him smelly. And though the sight saddened me, I didn’t apologize. I needed to be rid of them, find my way back inside, my new life as Aurelia depended on it.
“Riley, please—”
Bodhi, the stranger who claimed to be my guide, reached for me, touched me, his fingers circling my wrist, inviting me to follow—and I almost caved—I almost did, until Messalina appeared out of nowhere, with Dacian standing beside her.
“Is there a problem?” Her gaze narrowed in anger.
I yanked free of Bodhi’s grip, wiped the warm place on my arm where his fingers had been as though I couldn’t wait to erase every last trace of him.
“Everything’s fine,” I said, stepping forward to take Dacian’s side. “He’s found his way to the wrong party, mistaken me for someone else, but now that he knows the truth, now that he knows I’m not the girl he’s searching for, he and his beast will move on. Won’t you?”
I narrowed my gaze on Bodhi’s, holding it for as long as I could. My heart plummeting, a sick feeling invading me, fighting the urge to run after them, when he turned and left, dragging the dog along with him.
Messalina, satisfied with their departure, left me in Dacian’s care the moment they were gone. The two of us gazing into the vast night sky, pointing to our favorite constellations—including the one he’d named just for me. And it wasn’t long after that, when he closed his eyes, leaned forward, and kissed me.
18
When Theocoles fell, the entire Colosseum went silent.
I glanced at Dacian, seeing his face go slack, his mouth hang wide, then I glanced at Messalina behind me, noting how she was the only one among us unable to watch.
When Theocoles rolled over and his eyes searched for Messalina’s, the crowd was quick to recover—quick to turn on him and chant, “Kill!”
And when Urbicus lifted his sword, waiting for the emperor’s consent—when Messalina had already fled, unable to watch her lover’s slaughter yet again—when a stranger moved before me and fought to meet my gaze—I dropped Dacian’s hand and leaped, jumped, and fought my way to the center of the arena—overcome by a drive and a strength I didn’t know I possessed.
“Theocoles!” I called, knowing I had to move fast as there was no time for subtlety, no time to waste. “Theocoles—stop!”