I ripped the paper off the coffee sleeve. It was now or never.
“Hey guys,” I started, trying to find the words. Heather looked at me expectantly.
Something hard stabbed into the skin of my calf. My knee popped and I fell over, far over. Nothing held back my swift descent down the escalator.
My crushed bones offered no strength or grip. My teeth chattered against each other with each hit. I landed on the floor, my elbow close to my face.
That didn’t seem right.
Dozens of pairs of shoes filled my view. The squished gum stains on the floor would normally have been a deal-breaker but I lacked the ability to raise myself off the floor. A pretty girl knelt beside me, her almost clear blue eyes looked straight into mine, and I knew I would be safe.
My vision fogged up as tears blurred my vision, but they never fell. I watched a gray mist billow up behind the girl as she leaned over me. I tried to tell her about the mist that lifted and swirled over her head. But my eyelids were so heavy. Maybe I’d just rest for a minute…
I drew in my first conscious breath of air and gulped a few times. I sat up, opened my eyes and immediately closed them.
“She’s awake,” Calliope’s voice said. “Get Cooper.”
I lay back down on the bed and draped an arm over my eyes against the harsh glare.
“Bright,” I croaked.
I tried to open my eyes again but they burned.
I heard the light switch click, and the brightness behind my eyelids subsided.
I opened them again, one at a time. A sliver of sunlight peeked through the thin window shade, offering a less invasive light. The outline of flowers packed the shelf by the window.
Inhaling, I took in the beautiful scent of them, the mix tickling my nose in the best possible way.
I lifted my arm again and stopped. “This isn’t—” I inspected the manicured fingernails attached to the hand and arm that definitely was not mine.
“Turn on the lights, please,” I said, attempting to maintain calm. I tried to sit up but something hard rubbed against my leg, keeping me in place.
“Maggie, I—”
“Now Calliope!” I shrieked.
She flipped the lights on, blinding me for a second but the arm still wasn’t mine.
“Maggie, listen; don’t freak out. Her Caeleste blood is helping her heal but to do that her body needs to rest a little while longer.” Calliope was speaking from the side of the bed I was in.
I glanced around the room, which looked exactly like every hospital room I’d ever been in, except this one only had one bed, and actual furniture, including a leather couch.
Throwing the covers off I stared at the body that was very much corporeal and not mine. I inspected the arm I’d covered my face with. Tiny blonde hairs stood up on end at the sudden change in temperature. I grabbed a chunk of the golden hair attached to my head and pulled.
“Ow!”
Heat crept up my—no, not my, Ally’s body. Splotches of red mixed with the blue and purple bruises that peppered her skin. A rapid thumping throbbed inside of me.
A heartbeat!
I squeezed my eyes shut. This had to be a dream, or some sort of not-so-hilarious prank. I channeled the power I used to transition everywhere to transition out of the body. Opened my eyes and saw Calliope still in the same spot.
I slapped a hand on the bed. “Argh!”
Cooper appeared at Calliope’s side. “Shit,” he said in disbelief.
I stared at him. “No kidding! What happened?”
“Can you get out?” Cooper asked.
“Oh wow Cooper, I didn’t even think of that. Thank you so much for the suggestion.” Ally’s husky voice sounded strange in my head.
“It’s a valid question, Maggie,” Calliope snapped at me.
I crossed Ally’s arms. “I tried to transition out but I can’t.”
Cooper started pacing the small room. “Did you see what happened?” he asked.
I sucked on Ally’s lip. “There were a lot of people there. It could have been anyone.”
Calliope leaned forward. “Do you remember anything else?”
I lifted Ally’s arms, that were riddled with small bumps, and shivered. “Something pulled me inside of her. It was weird, almost as if her body, like, sucked me inside of it.” I stopped talking and moved Ally’s arm closer to her face.
“We know,” Cooper said unhelpfully.
Ignoring Cooper I twisted Ally’s arm in front of my eyes and saw the outline of my soul moving inside it.
“I can see me—” I swallowed. “In her? Is this normal?”
Cooper snorted. “Nothing about this is normal, but, yes, we can see you too.” He waved his hands, encompassing me. “Inside of her. You know most souls match the body they belong to so usually there isn’t a difference but I can see your soul… and her body.”
I stuffed her arm under the covers, hiding the fact that my soul was inside a human body.
Creepy.
“If I’m in here,” I stuttered, “where is she?”
They looked at each other.
“What did Felix say?” Calliope asked Cooper, changing the subject.
“Felix knows about this?” I shrieked. “Did he tell you how I can get out?”
“He said that if you couldn’t get out on your own then it might be something else,” Cooper said, moving toward the window avoiding my eyes.
“Like what?” I asked, even though I wasn’t sure I wanted to know.
“A Possession,” Cooper said.
Chapter Six
“Excuse me?” I said affronted. “I did not possess her body. Her body possessed me!”
“I’ve heard of this,” Calliope said sagely. “It was a practice the Shadowed used centuries ago to possess influential bodies so they could walk among the humans, procuring souls for their side.”
“Like zombies?”
“In a way, yes,” she said.
“Who are the Shadowed?” I looked from Cooper to Calliope. “Were they there? Were those the ones you were fighting when Ally fell?”
At that moment Aaron poked his head into the room. “We have company.” He looked at me and squinted. “Can you guys—?”
“Yes,” the three of us snapped. Aaron stepped back into the hall.
“Just sit tight and don’t talk if you can help it,” Cooper said. “We don’t want to alert anyone that Ally isn’t Ally.”
“Why?”
Cooper’s shoulders sagged. “The longer she isn’t well, the longer she stays here; we need to get back to the house where the wards can protect her.”
“And me?” I said.
“Yes,” Cooper nodded. “That’s what