Page 30 of Soul of Shadow
“Oh my God,” Lou whispered. “He’s here. He’s joiningour class.” She turned her gaze to Charlie, eyes wide with wonder. “And he’s staring right at you, Charles.”
“No he’s not,” Charlie said as Elias continued to stare right at her.
“Come on in, Elias,” Ms. Feldman said, gesturing to an open lab table at the front of the room. “Or do you prefer Eli?”
“I don’t,” Elias said, finally tearing his gaze away from Charlie. “Elias is fine. Thanks for the intro, Teach.”
“Ms. Feldmanis also fine,” she said, eyeing Elias like she already knew he was going to be a problem.
“Right.” Elias slid into the chair next to Charlie’s and winked at Ms. Feldman. “Whatever you say, Teach.”
Charlie dug her fingernails into her palms.
Odin save her; this was going to be a long hour.
17
When the bell rang, Charlie invented an excuse about using the washroom and beelined out of the classroom ahead of her friends. She wove through the crowd, following a tall, dark head of hair in the distance.
When she caught up to Elias, she grabbed his arm. “You and I need to have a little chat.”
“Good morning to you, too, Charlotte.” Elias didn’t even look at her. “What did you think of the lecture? I found it a tad dry, if I’m being honest.”
“Don’t try to dodge this.” She tightened her grip on his arm, which burned through his shirt with heat. “You need to tell me what the hell is happening to me.”
“I haven’t the foggiest idea what you mean.”
“You haven’t thefoggiest idea?” She yanked until he finally came to a stop. He sighed, turning like a put-upon parent forced to listen to their child’s story for the third time. “Is that some kind of joke? You haven’t thefoggiest ideawhy I drove past a three-headed alligator on the way to school?”
He eyed her with concern. “Sounds like you need to get your vision checked.”
“I researched last night,” she said. “I learned all about Asgard and mares and—”
Elias put a hand on her shoulder and pushed her back until she bumped into the wall of lockers. He leaned in until he was only a breath away. “What,” he hissed, “was my one requirement for our deal?”
She exhaled, glancing up at him before looking back down. His touch was hot on her shoulder. She whispered, “That I keep your secret.”
“That you keep my secret,” he said, nodding. “And does shouting about what I am in the middle of the hallway sound like keeping my secret?”
“No.”
He released her and turned to walk away.
“But—” Charlie jogged after him. “You have to help me out here. Seriously. All you gave me was one cryptic sentence—This is Asgard—and then you vanished, and now I’m seeing things that shouldn’t exist. You owe me more information.”
“Listen, Charlotte.” Elias didn’t slow down, kept his gaze firmly forward. “I don’t owe you anything. I gave you what you asked for. I gave you proof that what I was telling you was true. That doesn’t make us friends.”
“I never said I wanted to be yourfriend.” She made a gagging sound. “Jesus. No. What I want is for you to explain how any of this is possible. What I want is to know how I can see colors I’ve never seen before. What I want is to know why there’s currently a gnome sleeping at the bottom of my backpack. What Iwantto know is—”
But she was cut off as Elias grabbed her arm, his burning-hot skin closing over hers, and dragged her sideways, towardthe front door of the school. He followed in the wake of several other kids that were streaming outside, probably to spend their free period lying on the grass under the late-summer sun. The light hit Charlie hard, forcing her to squint and throw up a hand against its rays. She fumbled around in her back pocket, grabbing her sunglasses and preparing to jam them onto her face. It was sobright, Jesus, and if she could just get these thingson…
“Don’t,” came Elias’s voice as he grabbed the hand holding her sunglasses. Her eyes were squeezed shut, so she couldn’t see his face. “I know it seems bright now, but give yourself a chance to adjust.”
Hesitantly, she let her eyes flutter open. The light was overwhelming, and colors and sounds clamored for her attention. But she forced her eyes not to shut, and slowly, steadily, they adjusted, bringing the scene into view…
Which is how she found herself standing face-to-face with one of the huge golden stags. It blinked innocently at her from beneath a tangle of gold-dipped antlers.
“This.” She whirled around, pointing at the enormous creature. “This is what I’m talking about.”
