Chapter 17 #2
“I’d rather stand in front of the nearest speeding car.”
With a whoosh, a huge banner laid out in the middle of the gym billowed up, glitter and sequins flying. Several people shrieked, others running to close the gym door. The scoreboards started rapidly flashing numbers and times.
A hazy white shape flickered in and out of existence by the door to the boys’ locker room.
“Rosalie’s here.”
Grabbing an alert Emily as they crossed the gym, they slipped inside the open locker room door.
It was freezing, Miles’s breath coming out in white puffs and the mirrors glazed in a thin layer of frost. He stepped over gym bags and —gross, a pair of plaid boxers tossed on the floor—the smell of body spray, dirty socks, and disinfectant flooding his nose.
Rosalie appeared, barely visible under the bright lights. She took in their shivers and cloudy exhales, frowning. “Would you believe me if I said I can’t control the chill?”
“It’s okay,” Miles told her, zipping his jacket up to his chin. Gabriel crossed his arms, his black sweater vest not covering nearly enough to keep him warm. “This is Emily, by the way. She’s helping with all of this too.”
Emily gave a little wave.
“I had an idea I wanted to run by you…” he continued. “You feel Jocelyn’s energy. Soul. Whatever it is. Do you think there’s a way you could use that connection to reach out to her?”
Rosalie’s expression grew wistful. “I’ve tried so many times, but never with any success. I’m searching in the dark without direction. I believe the connection would have to go both ways for us to find each other again.”
Like how Miles had only been able to feel Gabriel after he’d opened the doorway between them.
“Damn it.”
“What about Miles?” Emily asked. Frost was starting to form on the wall behind her, jagged vines creeping across the grimy blue tile.
He blinked. “What about me?”
“Well, Jocelyn’s been giving you those visions, reaching out to you. There’s obviously a connection there. Could you follow it back to her?”
“How do these visions work?” Rosalie questioned him.
Teeth chattering, Emily went over to crank on the showers with a squeak, steam immediately billowing from the stalls. She groaned in relief, the damp heat making her chestnut hair curl. Good thing one of them was using their brain, or they would’ve frozen to death in here.
“I have no idea,” Miles told Rosalie. “Initially, she was just sending me premonitions of Gabriel’s death. Once, she managed to come and talk to me in a dream, and then later, she appeared during my math class. When I tried to reach out to her on my own, something blocked us from talking.”
Rosalie considered his words as the warmth from the showers started melting the ice frosted over the mirrors and faucets, dripping onto the floor. “Your connection to her might be enough. Together, perhaps we can push through the block.”
“Gabriel’s her blood. That might matter more than our… mental bond.”
Gabriel shook his head and untucked his hands from his armpits. “If that mattered, she would’ve reached out to me.”
But she’d chosen Miles as her noble knight, Gabriel’s protector.
He met Rosalie’s eyes. “I suppose there’s no reason not to try.”
“Wait.” Gabriel slid Miles a disapproving look that he had no idea what he’d done to earn. “It’s not that simple. We don’t know how Jocelyn’s getting these visions to Miles, but they hurt him.”
“It’s not a big deal. Nasty headaches, sometimes a nosebleed…”
“And the seizure?” Gabriel asked flatly.
Emily gasped. “You didn’t tell me you had a seizure.”
“Charlee said it looked like one.” Miles appreciated the concern, he really did, but it wasn’t up for debate. “I’m sure it’s fine, one more time can’t hurt.”
“Miles—”
“At the cemetery, I trusted you even when I didn’t like it,” Miles told Gabriel gently. “Let me try. I’ll be okay.”
He could feel Gabriel fuming, chewing over his words and wanting to spit them back. “I don’t like it,” he finally muttered, “but if you insist, at least lie down so you don’t fall and crack your skull open.”
“I’m pretty sure the bacteria on this floor are more dangerous than a busted head.”
Gabriel just pointed at the bench in front of the nearest row of lockers.
It was a small price to pay for his cooperation, so Miles lay down across the metal bench, trying to find the least awkward position possible. His feet ended up dangling over the edge, hands folded on his middle.
Emily appeared over him, a folded white towel in her hand. “Here.” She gestured for him to lift his head.
He studied it suspiciously. “Where did you get that?” No way was he using a footballer’s butt towel.
She grinned, flashing dimples. “Don’t worry, I grabbed it from the clean shelf.”
He let her tuck it under him, giving Gabriel a sheepish look that turned to one of disbelief as he sat down on the grimy floor beside Miles. Of his own free will.
“You’re making me nervous, watching me like that.”
Gabriel shifted closer, crossing his legs. The bottom of his pants shifted up, revealing argyle socks that matched his sweater vest. Why was that so cute? “Be careful. I’m going to be annoyed if I have to go into your head and pull you out of psychic limbo.”
“That’s not even a thing. But it’s sweet you’re worried about me,” Miles teased, then flushed when he remembered Emily standing there.
“Oh, here.” He lifted his head enough to slip his charm necklace off, handing it to Gabriel.
He didn’t want to make things harder. “Okay,” he told Rosalie, looking up at where she was floating over him. “Time to talk to Jocelyn again.”