pocket. Every day, before my charm left my skin, there was an instant that I was sure my aspect would be gone forever; truly I would rather lose any other sense than seeing souls, sensing the ever present emotional currents that buzzed off of every living thing. I had two aspects, but if I had to pick, there would be no question that I would choose seeing and being able to touch souls.
Slumping in the tan leather seat, I inhaled deeply. “Why does your car always smell like pine?” I asked, peeking in his glove compartment, “I have never seen an air freshener in here, but it always smells like an artificial Yule-tide tree.”
“Why just eighty percent?” Glacier said. Tendrils of his soul spread toward me, sparking with amusement. But under the amusement was a deep emotion that was pushing out into his surface emotions, he was concerned, really concerned, so much so that my skin started itching.
To cover how fidgety I was feeling, I started searching in the center divider sure that I would find a car air-freshener slipped between his registration and the ‘permit to have charm upgrades’ on the van.
He grabbed my hand, pulled it away from his important papers, and said, “The air fresheners are in the air conditioning vents. Now, tell me what good came of your day?”
“The vents, huh? Who would have guessed.” Stilling the smile that attempted to pull up the corners of my mouth, I said, “Keanu Hale asked me to go on a date with him.”
“Tell grandfather,” Glacier said, “How close are you to infiltrating the Hale compound?”
“I was invited to their house Saturday…” I said, barely concealing my groan.
“That’s not—”
“I know,” I said, not needing or wanting to hear it. “But he invited me out tonight too, so, we’ll see.”
Glacier pulled off in front of a small crowded beach park, and turned to me. He was nervous, on anyone else I would have expected fidgeting, it was absolutely terrifying. Glacier was never nervous.
“What is going on?” I demanded.
Glacier’s face never changed, not a twitch, but his anxious emotions intensified. For some reason, he had always been easy for me to read.
He ignored my question. “Where and when is he taking you tonight?”
“Big Beach look-out at six thirty.”
“A beach?” he asked.
I could sense the objection coming, so I quickly said, “A look-out.”
He looked at the van’s canvas roof. “That is on the south side, it’s across the island. Two hours total driving, stops, and two hours for socializing, estimated time of return would be at the earliest ten at night. You can’t go to his house that late, you would have little chance to slip away from his attention. Eighteen year old males can be single minded when they see an opportunity for…you know…”
Screwing up my face did not work in preventing my laugh from slipping out, and I interrupted what he was saying. He seemed grateful in response since coming from Glacier, that was like giving me the ‘boys only want one thing’ speech.
“You need to go, I will come up with a reason for you to request a second date and be in touch after father returns you home,” he said.
For some reason, though, I thought for the first time ever, I was better equipped than Glacier to plan this assignment.
I stepped out into the sweltering day, shut the minivan door and spun to climb directly into the back seat of the next parked car, a black luxury sedan. I once told my grandfather how cliché his mob-boss car was, especially with the tinted windows. He did not say a thing and grinned just a little.
“My darling girl,” my grandfather said as soon as I crawled in beside him. Like always, the power of his soul rang my head like a bell.
The density of my grandfather’s soul always struck my senses like the shock of stepping into the sunshine after spending an hour in a dark classroom. However, like the sun, the intensity of my grandfather’s presence was so familiar that I
Slumping in the tan leather seat, I inhaled deeply. “Why does your car always smell like pine?” I asked, peeking in his glove compartment, “I have never seen an air freshener in here, but it always smells like an artificial Yule-tide tree.”
“Why just eighty percent?” Glacier said. Tendrils of his soul spread toward me, sparking with amusement. But under the amusement was a deep emotion that was pushing out into his surface emotions, he was concerned, really concerned, so much so that my skin started itching.
To cover how fidgety I was feeling, I started searching in the center divider sure that I would find a car air-freshener slipped between his registration and the ‘permit to have charm upgrades’ on the van.
He grabbed my hand, pulled it away from his important papers, and said, “The air fresheners are in the air conditioning vents. Now, tell me what good came of your day?”
“The vents, huh? Who would have guessed.” Stilling the smile that attempted to pull up the corners of my mouth, I said, “Keanu Hale asked me to go on a date with him.”
“Tell grandfather,” Glacier said, “How close are you to infiltrating the Hale compound?”
“I was invited to their house Saturday…” I said, barely concealing my groan.
“That’s not—”
“I know,” I said, not needing or wanting to hear it. “But he invited me out tonight too, so, we’ll see.”
Glacier pulled off in front of a small crowded beach park, and turned to me. He was nervous, on anyone else I would have expected fidgeting, it was absolutely terrifying. Glacier was never nervous.
“What is going on?” I demanded.
Glacier’s face never changed, not a twitch, but his anxious emotions intensified. For some reason, he had always been easy for me to read.
He ignored my question. “Where and when is he taking you tonight?”
“Big Beach look-out at six thirty.”
“A beach?” he asked.
I could sense the objection coming, so I quickly said, “A look-out.”
He looked at the van’s canvas roof. “That is on the south side, it’s across the island. Two hours total driving, stops, and two hours for socializing, estimated time of return would be at the earliest ten at night. You can’t go to his house that late, you would have little chance to slip away from his attention. Eighteen year old males can be single minded when they see an opportunity for…you know…”
Screwing up my face did not work in preventing my laugh from slipping out, and I interrupted what he was saying. He seemed grateful in response since coming from Glacier, that was like giving me the ‘boys only want one thing’ speech.
“You need to go, I will come up with a reason for you to request a second date and be in touch after father returns you home,” he said.
For some reason, though, I thought for the first time ever, I was better equipped than Glacier to plan this assignment.
I stepped out into the sweltering day, shut the minivan door and spun to climb directly into the back seat of the next parked car, a black luxury sedan. I once told my grandfather how cliché his mob-boss car was, especially with the tinted windows. He did not say a thing and grinned just a little.
“My darling girl,” my grandfather said as soon as I crawled in beside him. Like always, the power of his soul rang my head like a bell.
The density of my grandfather’s soul always struck my senses like the shock of stepping into the sunshine after spending an hour in a dark classroom. However, like the sun, the intensity of my grandfather’s presence was so familiar that I
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