Luminous Spirits (Shadow Eyes Series Book 2)

by Dusty Crabtree

  Patrick laughed dryly. “Yeah. I know.”

  “Oh, right. You’ve been there done that.”

  Patrick frowned and shook his head. “Too many parties, so much stupid. There’s not enough time in the world to tell you all the crap I’ve seen. Like this one time back in Indianapolis, there was this guy named Randy—”

  “Well,” Kyra cut him off, “while you two swap stories, I think Iris and I will go socialize.” She grabbed my arm and led me away.

  I flung my head back to them and raised my eyebrows. “Have fun you two.”

  We passed into another living area, and Kyra leaned over to whisper in my ear. “Don’t look now, but Nicole and Tyler are making out on that couch over there.”

  I sighed and then discreetly looked for myself. They were making out all right. Their sexual shadows swirled above their heads in a hypnotic dance, intertwined with both wavering fogs and bubbling, black lava. I pulled my eyes from the disturbing yet intriguing dance of shadows and kept walking. “There were three different types of shadows in that mess, weren’t there?” It was more a dismal statement than a question, but Kyra gave me a nod anyway.

  “I would say, ‘Good job,’ but I’m guessing you don’t care to hear that.”

  I pulled up the corner of my mouth as an answer. “Well, at least they’re downstairs with other people instead of in a room by themselves.” For now, I thought, but then shuddered. Before a mental image could develop, I quickly pushed the thought out of my mind.

  “So how does it feel to have your ex and your boyfriend being all chummy?” Kyra asked, changing the subject.

  I pitched my head to the side in contemplation. “Odd, but kind of awesome at the same time.”

  She laughed and then eyed me knowingly. “I’ll bet.”

  “What?” She simply stared back, so I added a tad defensively, “I don’t like Josh anymore.”

  “Uh-huh.”

  “Well, as a friend I do. But that’s all. I would never leave Patrick for him.”

  “Oh, I believe that. But I’ve seen the way you look at him.” Kyra peered at me until I met her gaze. “You still really care about him, don’t you?”

  I nodded.

  “Patrick told me how his shadow vanishes when you’re around. That’s pretty awesome, Iris.”

  I shrugged and watched the shade of the carpet change as I pushed the grain back and forth with my shoe.

  “Hey,” she continued. “We’re here for your friends too.”

  I thanked her with a smile, but my face instantly fell when something red and curly flashed through the doorway behind Kyra. My breath caught in my throat. “Like Lexi?”

  Kyra swung around just in time to see the back of Lexi’s head disappear. She didn’t seem too surprised though.

  “Did you know she was going to be here?” I asked.

  “I had a feeling.” Her eyes wandered to me timidly. “Sorry, I just figured we were going to be here anyway. There was no point in telling you and getting you worked up if she didn’t show.”

  I shook my head and groaned. “I should have known too. She was here at the last one I went to. Her shadow was even darker today and more...”

  We locked eyes at the same time, and Kyra said what we were both thinking. “More wavering?”

  “And more defined,” I finished. “Man, I’m an idiot.”

  Kyra whipped out her prism and led the way to the kitchen, slashing at random shadows along the way. Once in the kitchen we made a quick scan of the people clogging up the room. Lexi wasn’t there.

  “Did you see a redhead with curly hair walk by here a second ago?” Kyra asked a girl nearby who seemed more cognizant than most.

  “Uh, yeah. I think so. She went that way with some other girls. I think they were about to leave.”

  “Thanks,” Kyra muttered and pushed through the crowd out of the kitchen. She turned a corner towards the front door. I followed, my heart thumping, hoping we could catch Lexi before she left.

  The door creaked open just as I rounded the corner. Three of Lexi’s new friends were laughing and staggering out the door. Lexi picked up the rear. As she followed them, she lifted a red cup to her lips, downed its remains, and slammed the cup on a window ledge by the door. Then she was gone.

  “We have to stop her. If she’s thinking about getting in a car with those girls...” I didn’t finish. There was no need to.

  We barged out the door. Sure enough, they were headed to a car parked in front of the house. The jarring metallic clink of keys banging together resounded in my ears.

  “Lexi!” I shouted.

  Lexi turned around as the other girls opened car doors to shuffle inside. Once she saw me, her eyes narrowed to slits. She stared at us while an ink-black figure oozed into the car behind her. The drunken girls in the back already had wavering accessories, but this shadow was more defined and purposeful in its movements. The dark form swam through the girls to the front seat and spiraled itself around the driver.

  I didn’t have to listen to the shadow’s voice. A sharp feeling of premonition in the pit of my stomach gnawed at my insides. The shadow’s agenda was obvious. This car was destined to crash.

  Lexi lifted a finger to the driver as a sign to wait for her, and marched towards us with determination. Her leech had grown and darkened considerably since the morning and hung heavily on her. There was some slight wavering in it, but it was mostly emotional. She wasn’t trashed like most of the girls who were waiting for her in the car, including the driver.

  We rushed to meet her halfway, but the poison in her eyes rendered me speechless. She glared at me as though Kyra weren’t even there. “You lied to me.”

  I had a fleeting thought to ask her which lie she was referring to, but decided it would be safer to play dumb. “What are you talking about?”

  “I went to your house tonight.”

  My eyes grew wide. I was in big trouble.

  “Yeah, now you know what I’m talking about, don’t you? Your precious family time you were supposed to have tonight?” She scoffed and rolled her eyes to the sky. “I should’ve known. I shouldn’t have been so stupid!”

  My insides burned from the guilt. I’d lied to her. I’d been lying to her for a long time. And she’d finally figured it out. I took a deep breath and exhaled. Guilt wasn’t going to get me anywhere. I shoved my shame aside and forced myself to use those intense emotions as fuel for my aura instead. “Lexi, I’m so sorry.” I stepped towards her, hoping to touch her with my light, but she backed away.

  “What I don’t understand,” she continued, “is why you guys are here. Of all places to ditch me for. Mike’s party? Did you not think there might be a slight chance I would be here? After last time I figured you’d be smarter than that, Iris.”

  I closed my eyes and put my hand to my head. I needed an explanation, and fast.

  Luckily, Kyra had one. One that was partially true at least for her. “We actually did think you might be here. That’s why we came. Looking for you.”

  “You’re lying!” Lexi snapped in reply.

  “Not this time,” Kyra said. “Lexi, we care about you. Please don’t get into that car. She’s drunk. You know it’s not a good idea.” Kyra’s eyes pleaded with her to listen, but Lexi shook her head vigorously.

  “No. No, I’m not listening to anything either of you have to say. You’ve both been lying to me since day one. I don’t want anything to do with you.” She was near tears by the time she spun around and headed back to the car. There was no mistaking the resolve in her voice. She wasn’t going to listen to us.

  There was the driver, though, and we needed to prevent the wreck anyway. But what could I do to stop her? Grab the keys out of the ignition? I’d most likely get pummeled by three drunk girls. Since the driver was already behind the wheel, I didn’t have good access to her two shadows either.

  Maybe Kyra had a plan B. I would’ve asked, but her eyes were clouded over like she was already working out possible options.
Well, she wasn’t fast enough for me.

  Lexi had already opened her door and was about to get in. I couldn’t wait anymore. In a last ditch effort to stop her, I yelled to the driver, “Please don’t drive drunk. Don’t endanger these other girls.”

  The driver stuck her head out the window and scowled at me. “I’m fine. Why don’t you mind your own business?”

  “Lexi’s my friend. Therefore, she is my business,” I yelled back.

  Lexi slammed the door shut and marched back around the car. Embarrassment and indignation colored her face. The coldness in her eyes pierced through my chest like a shard of ice. “No. I’m not your business. Because I’m not your friend anymore.”

  The shadowy serpent that had replaced us as her companion slithered more tightly around her. What passed for a tail slid up the side of her neck, found her ear, and gingerly thread itself through her brain. There was no use denying the truth anymore. This leech was permanent.

  I knew what I had to do.

  I scanned the yard and its inebriated occupants. “I have an idea to get rid of everyone and get Lexi by herself.” I met Kyra’s eyes and twisted my lips into an impish grin.

  She raised an eyebrow. “Are you thinking what I think you’re thinking?”

  I dipped my head to the side. “Best way to scatter a party. We’ll go for the car right after we take care of Lexi.”

  She laughed as we both kicked on our auras to full blast. “All right then. I’ll grab Lexi.”

  I focused my gaze straight ahead with fiery resolve. “And I’ll grab the shadow.”

  I cupped my hands around my mouth, took a deep breath, and yelled as loudly as I could. “Cops!” The car with Lexi’s new friends dashed away without a moment’s hesitation. The rest of the party guests on the lawn took off sprinting towards cars, down the street, or to the back to hide.

  Neither Lexi nor her hazy attachment had time to react. By the time we reached them, the area was nearly free of witnesses, leaving a confused Lexi and a stunned shadow in the middle of the yard. Kyra pulled Lexi safely into her arms, and I latched onto Lexi’s shadow with a death grip.

  There was no doubt in my mind. I was going to annihilate this parasite. And I didn’t need my prism to do the job. I hadn’t successfully killed a shadow with my bare hands yet, but I didn’t care. I also probably looked insane to Lexi, fighting an invisible monster, but that didn’t matter either. This fight was personal. This leech had taken my friend, and it was my fault. I had to fix the mess I’d created. And I was going to fix it for good.

  The giant mass squirmed and writhed in my arms to get away. I tried to block all sound from coming through, but its screeching and hissing grew louder by the second. My hold on a shadow had never lasted this long. I had no idea what damage I was doing or how much torture this shadow could take.

  Eventually, the inky form must have reached its limit. At any rate, it realized escaping wasn’t an option because it changed tactics. The storm stopped raging and began swirling around my whole body instead. I imagined, to Kyra, I probably looked like I was in the center of an ominous cyclone.

  My first gut reaction was to crouch in fear. But that lasted all of two seconds before I remembered who I was. I cranked up my aura even higher. The light was an impenetrable shield, and I was hidden safely inside. What reason in the world did I have to be scared?

  I shoved back against my whirling, black cage as my light surged around me. Without any effort from me, the blaze grew stronger by the second. That’s when realization hit. I had the greatest weapon at my disposal and I was using it as a defense. It was time to see what this aura could really do.

  I drew myself into a tight ball and imagined funneling all my light into a dense orb of energy within my hands. I focused on the orb until nothing else existed. I’d left only a thin layer of light around me for protection. The shadow saw its opportunity and weighed down on me harder than before. But I barely noticed.

  The pure energy of the orb I held in my hands began to vibrate faster and faster, growing blindingly bright until I couldn’t contain the light any longer. Squeezing my eyes shut, I braced myself.

  Three. Two. One. The force of the explosion thrust me out of my crouched position, arms flailing. Lexi’s murky oppressor propelled off of me. I scrambled to keep my footing and opened my eyes to witness the destruction. The blast had shattered the light into pieces like deadly shards of glass that sliced and ripped through the shadow’s obscure flesh. Within seconds all that remained were shreds of mist that dissipated into oblivion.

  I drew in a deep breath. What was left of my aura refreshed my exhausted energy and then extinguished like a tired candle. I allowed myself a few seconds to regain composure and then faced my friends. They were both staring at me, slack-jawed, as though I were an alien. With one difference. Kyra’s expression was filled with awe as if she recognized the alien as a superior being. Lexi’s was filled with horror and disgust as if the alien had five heads.

  Lexi looked me up and down under a majorly twisted brow. She opened her mouth to speak, but Kyra beat her to the punch.

  “That. Was. Awesome!” Kyra ran to me and trapped my arms underneath an overzealous hug. She even picked me up off the ground, which was impressive considering her size.

  “Yeah,” Lexi eyed Kyra as though she’d just grown five heads as well. “It’s completely awesome that our friend now belongs in a mental institution. I think I know now why you scared everybody off. You didn’t want them to see the freak show.”

  I gasped into an open-mouthed grin. “You said, ‘friend’!”

  Lexi grimaced and then shrugged it off. “You’re missing the point. You clearly—”

  “Darn right, she’s missing the point,” Kyra interjected. “How on earth did you do that? I’ve never seen anything like it.”

  Lexi crossed her arms and laughed. “Yeah, I’m pretty sure no one has.”

  “I don’t even know what you did exactly,” Kyra said, returning to her ‘I’ve just discovered life on other planets’ look.

  I scratched my head and pulled my face to one side. “That makes two of us.”

  Lexi raised her hand. “Uh, make that three.” She stared at us pointedly as though waiting for an explanation.

  I didn’t have one yet, so I changed the subject. “So, back to you calling me a friend...”

  Lexi rolled her eyes and sighed, pretending indifference. “It must have been a slip of the tongue. Don’t read into it.”

  “Or maybe, just maybe…” I paused for dramatic effect. “It was a Freudian slip. And there’s a tiny chance you really still think of me that way.”

  “Whatever,” she snapped. “If so, it’s only because I’m worried for your sanity. And the title only stays if you start talking and give me some answers. Including an explanation for the freakiest pantomiming display I’ve ever seen.” She waved to where I’d been standing as if trying to shove away the memory.

  I stole a glance at Kyra. “I was going to ask Gregory tonight about telling her, but...”

  Kyra nodded. “I was too. It’s time.”

  “So...” I drawled. “Act first; ask for forgiveness later?”

  She grinned in reply.

  Lexi’s eyes darted between the two of us. “Tell me what? And who’s Gregory?”

  Kyra and I stood side by side in front of Lexi and peered at her with guarded eyes.

  “Okay, first of all,” I began, “Gregory is Mr. Delaney, and he’s kind of like our mentor.”

  “I knew it!” Lexi shouted as she pointed a finger in our faces. “I knew he was in part of this and you guys were all hiding something from me.” Her face contorted as she then realized the obvious question. “Wait, what kind of a mentor are you talking about?”

  I tucked my hair behind my ears, avoiding her eyes. “Um, that’s the part that’s kind of unbelievable.” I opened and closed my mouth several times, trying to figure out a delicate way to completely shatter her worldview. Eventually, I gave up and s
hook my head with a chuckle. “I don’t know how else to explain, so I’ll just come out and say it. Kyra, Patrick, and I are light warriors, which means we can see angels and demons when other people can’t. Gregory’s an angel, although he normally hangs out here in his human form. And he helps teach us how to use our light aura to kill demons, which look kind of like dark, shadow things.” I swear I heard a cricket in the background. “Okay, that sounded way less lame in my head.”

  Lexi’s countenance as she stared at me was unreadable. Either she was taking the news much better than I thought, or she was calculating the distance to the nearest mental hospital. She finally spoke with the same hardened expression, “Exactly what part of that am I supposed to believe?”

  I cleared my throat. “Uh, Kyra? A little help?”

  “It’ll have to wait.” She fished her phone out of her purse and began dialing as she herded us to Patrick’s car.

  Lexi halted in her tracks and yanked her arm from Kyra’s grasp. “Hold up a minute.” She held up her hands. “You haven’t told me anything except some bogus story that’s too crazy to believe. Why should I go with you guys anywhere?” She crossed her arms and glared, daring either of us to give her a convincing reply.

  I stepped towards her. “Because you know that car of girls we stopped you from getting into?”

  “Yeah,” she answered slowly.

  “Well, the car is headed for a crash. And we’re going to go prevent it.”

  Bewilderment swept over Lexi’s face. “I don’t get it. How do you know this? And what makes you think you can stop it?”

  The car beeped twice as Patrick ran to the driver’s side with keys in hand. I smirked and opened the back seat, motioning for Lexi to get in beside Kyra. “Like I said...we’re light warriors.”

  Chapter 25

  “So the secret’s out, huh?” Patrick grinned at Lexi as he twisted around to back up out of his parking spot.

  “If by ‘secret’ you mean the ridiculous story Iris tried to tell me about you guys hunting demons or whatever, then, yeah. The secret is out. Although if I were you, I would keep it a secret.” Her tone was icy. She seemed convinced this was all some absurd ploy to justify our lying.