Lucas stood there grinning down at me. Without thinking, without caring, I practically flew off the ground and leapt into his arms. His laughter sounded like heaven to me, as he held me close and kissed my face. His lips traveled along my cheek, across my nose, down my jaw line until finally they found my lips. The fireworks display had nothing on what happened next.
I didn’t know what he was doing there or how long he would stay, but I could feel the joy radiating off him and it made me want to sing and laugh and cry all at the same time. In that moment I didn’t care about school or Jason or angels and demons. All I cared about was Lucas. I didn’t care about what he was or what he did, just who he was. And he was the boy I cared about more than anything, the boy I wanted to spend every second of the rest of time with, the boy I loved. As soon as I thought it, I knew it was true and then I did laugh. Right out loud I laughed with joy and happiness, and Lucas laughed too.
By the time we had finally regained some iota of control over ourselves the fireworks ended and everyone packed up their stuff and left. Lucas settled down in the grass beside me, never breaking contact like one of us might be dragged away if we let go for even a second.
“What are you doing here?” I dared to ask once we were alone.
“I’m here for you.”
“I like the sound of that,” I said, grinning like a fool.
“In more ways than one,” he clarified and that got my attention.
“What do you mean? What happened at your trial?”
“There wasn’t really much of a trial,” he admitted.
“Then where have you been?”
“Researching . . . studying.”
“Researching what?”
“Well . . . you.”
Now that was kind of creepy.
“What?”
“Remember when I told you I had never seen a soul as beautiful as yours?”
I nodded, feeling a bit self-conscious at the compliment.
“Well, I meant it. I really haven’t, and there’s a reason for that. It’s the same reason Jason was breaking all the rules trying to get to you. The same reason he was right when he said they’re never going to stop trying. It’s because you’re a pure soul.”
What the heck was that supposed to mean?
“A pure soul? Like a . . . you know . . . like because I haven’t . . .” I lifted my eyebrows making the implication as clear as possible without actually saying the words.
Lucas laughed.
“No, not that.”
“Oh.”
My cheeks were flaming but at least Lucas had the good grace to pretend not to notice.
“A person’s soul reflects more than just their actions. It reflects their thoughts and feelings, their emotions and desires. It reflects all of who you are.”
“That can’t be right,” I blurted out.
I had plenty of problems. More than plenty. And if he only knew half the desires I had when he was around there was no way he’d be saying that.
“It’s the truth, Mel. You are a genuinely good person. I’ve seen it myself. That’s a rare thing these days. And unfortunately that makes your soul valuable, not just to us but to them as well. They want it, but if they can’t have it they are going to do their best to make sure we don’t get it either.”
“What does that mean?”
“It means you’re in danger. A stolen soul cannot be counted among their numbers, but it cannot be counted among ours either. They are going to keep coming after your soul.”
“So what do we do?” I asked, suddenly terrified.
“That’s what we’ve been trying to figure out and the elders have come to a conclusion.”
He stopped there, like for dramatic effect or something, but all it really did was make me want to punch him. Punching an angel, wonder what that would do for my soul?
“You have been assigned your own personal guardian angel to protect your soul.”
“Whoa.”
I didn’t mean to say it, it just sort of slipped out, but seriously I think that kind of information warrants a whoa response.
“Yeah, and guess who’s been promoted and assigned the task?”
Oh, please be him, please be him, please be him. I wasn’t sure I could handle any more angels or demons in my life at the moment.
“You?” I asked, practically pleading.
Lucas laughed and nodded. My heart soared and I jumped him for a second time. Lucas laughed harder and settled me on his lap.
“So what does that mean?”
“It means I will be sticking close. At. All. Times. I guess you had better get used to me because it looks like you’re stuck with me.”
“What about the no fraternizing in the work place rule?”
A sly grin crossed his face.
“Remember when I explained that I was rare enough to be valuable?”
“Yeah.”
“You’re a pure soul,” he explained again, emphasizing the word pure like it meant more than I could possibly understand. “Having you on our side is a huge advantage. They would practically move heaven and earth to make sure you stay there. That’s why they sent me back; to make sure you were kept happy with us.”
“I like the sound of that.”
“You should,” he agreed, bumping his nose off the tip of mine. “I take my work very seriously.”
One corner of his mouth tugged upward in a mischievous grin.
“It will be dangerous at times, I’m not going to lie to you,” he added, growing serious, “but I swear I will never let anybody hurt you.”
“I know,” I whispered into the darkness encroaching around us. “I love you.”
His arms tightened around my waist and his lips moved next to my ear.
“I love you, too.”
The End
About the Author of Temptation
Jamie Canosa graduated from SUNY Albany with degrees in Sociology, Anthropology, and Criminal Justice. When she’s not writing or spending time with her family, she can usually be found with her nose in a book. She currently resides in Ravena, NY with her wonderful husband and three crazy kids . . . plus the dog, the bird and the rabbit.
Find more about Jamie Canosa at:
https://twitter.com/#!/JL_Canosa
http://www.goodreads.com/user/show/5795718-jamie-canosa
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Haven
Sera didn’t really mind the Haven Base too much. Sometimes she missed her old life. But only sometimes. It seemed so short now. It had been short, by the usual standards, but the endless time presented to her now set her nineteen years on earth in sharp perspective.
She watched faces pass on her screen—faces of those about to arrive at the Haven Base. It was her job to review their Earthly files and assign a Transition Overseer. She let her fingers feather across the screen. The blemish-free face of a blond girl with bright blue eyes faded into the background. Another face, stark in comparison, took its place.
No one in the Transition Center would’ve seen the beauty in this face that Sera did. Hollowness filled his entire expression. She traced a finger lightly over the cheekbones of Dex Porter. She tried not to look at the text to the right of his so-changed face, but new additions to his medical bio jumped out at her. She frowned and sighed.
“Sera, you have at least three transitions arriving shortly.” A soft, kind voice broke Sera’s gaze fromon Dex’s face. Sera’s overseer placed a hand on Sera’s shoulder. “There’s nothing you can do about his choices, Sera. I’m sorry. I know you can’t forget about him, but try to leave his file alone.”
“I know, Emily. I know. Can’t . . . can’t someone help him?” Sera flicked at the screen, looking away when Dex’s face disappeared.
Emily gathered up some papers next to Sera and shook her head. “Dex isn’t living a life that allows for much help.” She handed the papers to Sera then pushed back a strand of deep brown hair. Sera always admired the way Emily’s straight hair laid
smoothly down her back.
Sera leaned her head in one hand and flicked her screen again, watching the parade of faces again. “It’s not really his fault.”
“Yes, it is, Sera. He’s making the decisions. They are his fault.”
Sera didn’t answer. She knew that.
“Can’t we bring him—”
“It’s forbidden. He hasn’t been infected.”
Sera swallowed. “If he does get infected, they’ll bring him, right?”
Emily frowned. “No. He’s destroying his body. The Guides won’t allow it.”
Sera nodded. She watched the face of a girl with drab blond hair and wilted looking blue eyes fade away. She touched the screen, bringing back the face.
I know her.
Sera’s glanced over the file at the right of the girl’s face. “Elspeth Ronan, arriving tomorrow,” she whispered. Sera closed her eyes, searching her memory for details.
“What is it, Sera?” Emily’s voice came from across the room.
“Nothing . . .” Sera said, hoping Emily didn’t hear the catch in her tone. Sera flicked the screen again, bringing up the three files that needed assigned an overseer before they arrived: the blond girl and two other faces that seemed to blend into a crowd.
Jenner met her outside the Transition Center. “Ready for dinner?” he asked.
Sera avoided looking up at him. Dark-haired Jenner reminded her of Dex. Today she didn’t want to be reminded. “Of course.” Instructions from her own transition protocol flicked through her brain. It is understood that those arriving from Earth will seek out meaningful relationships. The goals of Haven Base directly coincide with these inclinations. Companions for all those arriving at Haven Base are essential to the ultimate goal of extraction and repopulation. When she didn’t find a companion on her own, The Guides arranged a “group date” with others that weren’t attached yet. She chose Jenner because of his looks.
“Something happen today?” Jenner asked.
Sera shrugged. “Not really.” She turned, looking up at him apologetically.
“Just thinking about Dex again,” he guessed.
Sera nodded. “Yeah. I’m sorry.”
Jenner shrugged back. “It’s okay, Sera.”
“Some companion I make, right?”
He patted her on the shoulder. “Don’t worry about it.” He reached down and took her hand. “We have years to make this work.”
She nodded. Something seemed to stick in her throat. It was easy for Jenner to be sure. He left Earth at twelve, one of the first victims; he’d lived at Haven base for almost ten years now. There wasn’t a girl he waited for, knowing she’d never be able to come.
*****
She lives next door to Dex. The memory jumped at Sera the second she accessed Elspeth Ronan’s file the next morning. She glanced up. Emily leaned over and looked at Sera’s computer. She seemed relieved to see Elspeth’s face and not Dex’s.
“She’s arriving in the next hour. Have you assigned a transitions overseer?”
“Not yet,” Sera said. Her voice shook ever so slightly. A thought, a plan so against the rules rattled obscenely in Sera’s brain.
Emily leaned over, studying Sera with calm but intense brown eyes. “Is something wrong?”
Sera shook her head slowly. “Nothing.”
Emily’s eyes roved over the text. Sera knew she’d make the connection. Emily would know why Sera didn’t just assign a transitions overseer.
But Sera couldn’t stop the words that started running through her head. The improvements made to her brain at the Haven Base allowed too much room, too much storage. Lines from her transition protocol flashed across her vision.
In extreme and rare cases, supervising Transition Overseers may enter the body of a Scheduled Arrival to prevent irreparable damage . . .
She was only a clerk, nowhere near a supervising Transition Overseer, and definitely didn’t have the authority to do what she was considering. Nothing about Elspeth’s impending arrival warranted intervention by anyone. She’d contracted the virus, lay in a hospital bed right now in the final stages before Polio-Variant IV started destroying her organs and nervous system. Nothing about her situation would cause harm to her body, leave it blemished and unfixable by the Elysians at the Haven Base.
No. The only reason Sera considered doing something so forbidden was Dex.
In a flash of fingers she jabbed in the code to authorize changes to Elspeth’s file. She placed her hand on the screen.
“Sera!” Emily gasped and snatched at Sera’s wrist, which already tingled.
“I’m sorry, Emily!” Sera cried. She pushed Emily aside with her other hand. “I have to save him. Don’t you understand? I have to save him.”
“Sera!”
Emily’s voice already sounded far away. Like someone had dumped a glass of ice water over her hand, coldness spread down the tips of Sera’s fingers, over her wrist, up her arm. Once it reached her shoulder, the sensation moved quickly, drenching her entire body.
Sera seemed to hover over her body. She looked down, seeing it slumped in the chair. Emily grabbed at Sera’s hand, pushing it against the screen, typing frantically on the keyboard. Sera couldn’t hear what Emily said, though her lips moved rapidly.
I have to save him.
Then everything went black.
*****
Heat. It seemed to swarm over Sera’s body. It burned her throat when she took a breath. It stuck to her skin, making her uncomfortable. Memories swirled around her. So hot. So hot.
And what are you doing here? That wasn’t Sera’s thought. Who did it belong to?
She pushed her eyes open. Stark white met her gaze, then a mass of brown hair obstructed her vision, pale blue irises that looked like Elspeth’s stared down at her.
“Ellie? Elspeth?” The woman’s voice sounded almost relieved, which clashed with the desperation lining her expression.
Mom . . .
No, not my mom, Sera thought, confused. Her mind seemed so full, inundated with words, images, sentences that weren’t her own. She stared blankly at the woman. My mom! A voice in her brain sounded annoyed.
After several moments it dawned on Sera why the woman called her Elspeth. Sera remembered choosing to take over Elspeth’s body to get to Dex. It was Elspeth’s voice battling with Sera’s. I’m sorry, Elspeth. I need your body to save Dex.
Whatever.
“Ellie?” Elspeth’s mom sounded more frantic.
“Yeah?” Sera croaked.
The woman collapsed into a chair next to Sera and dropped her head into her hands; her shoulders shook with soundless sobs.
“What’s . . . what’s wrong?” The words seemed so hard to form. They burned her throat coming out, like she hadn’t used her voice for a long time.
The woman looked up, tears wetting every surface of her face. She wiped at them with her sleeve. The intermingled joy and relief surprised Sera, as though she—actually Elspeth—had come back from the dead.
“They said once you lost consciousness that was it. You were gone. I—I can’t believe you’re awake, Ellie.” The woman reached up and stroked Sera’s hair. “You’re still alive . . .”
Unfortunately, Elspeth’s voice snapped at Sera.
A stab of guilt shot through Sera. How cruel of her to get this woman’s hopes up. How cruel to draw out Elspeth’s pain. The Guides would certainly find a way to take Elspeth before the virus decimated her beyond repair.
Another snippet from the training program ran through Sera’s mind. The virus, which spreads quickly through the population of Earth, leaves The Guides no choice but to extract rather than chance the time it may take to study and produce a cure for Polio-Variant IV.
“You’re still alive,” the woman repeated, awed.
“For now,” Sera forced herself to say.
The woman swallowed and nodded. “For now.” She straightened up. “I should call the nurse. They may need to . . . do something.” She didn’t move
though. She stared longingly.
If only she knew, Sera thought. But would it be better? The woman was clearly over the age limit for extraction to the Haven Base. Past her child-bearing years; useless in repopulation efforts.
The woman leaned over and kissed Sera’s forehead before standing. As she turned toward the phone, the door opened. The woman turned to greet the doctor. Sera bit back a gasp at the recognizable figure of her overseer, clad in a white coat and even a stethoscope around her neck.
“I was just about to get a nurse. Elspeth’s awake.”
Sera didn’t need to see Elspeth’s mother’s face to know a smile dominated her expression.
Emily frowned at Sera instead of looking at the woman. Sera dropped her gaze to the thin blanket. “I see,” Emily said. “I need to examine her. Will you wait outside please?”
“Is that necessary . . . ?” But the woman moved before she even finished the sentence. Emily’s demeanor discouraged argument.
“Thank you,” Emily said as the woman passed. She moved to Sera’s bedside before the woman even left. The woman cast one last look at Elspeth. Sera smiled for her benefit. The woman left.
“What are you thinking? You’ll get banished for this, Sera, no argument. No returning to Haven Base. Sentenced to Earth where your body will die within days.” Emily didn’t pretend to examine Elspeth.
Maybe this isn’t such a bad idea, you taking me over. Will I get banished too? Elspeth asked.
Sera ignored Elspeth’s voice, now confused about her host’s attitude toward the Elysian’s attempts to save earth. Sera sat up. “The Guides can’t be that unfeeling. Dex thinks I’m dead. Please just let me help him. Give me that chance.”
Emily shook her head. “The Guides are not unfeeling, Sera. There is simply not time for useless undertakings such as this. There is nothing to be gained.”
She’s right—
Sera silenced Elspeth’s voice, surprised that her control over Elspeth and her body was strengthening. “There is everything to be gained!” Sera cried, throwing the blanket off her legs. “We’re talking about a human soul.”
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