Shine by Smith-Ready Jeri

Author:Smith-Ready, Jeri [Smith-Ready, Jeri]
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Publisher: Simon & Schuster, Inc.
Published: 2012-05-01T05:00:00+00:00

Zachary had to sign off soon after to help his dad. I considered seeing if Megan wanted to go to a club, but it was raining, and we had Saturday night plans, so I decided to tackle my homework.

I started with AP Chemistry first, but the structure of the equations kept bringing me back to what Zachary had said about Eowyn’s research. Newgrange was built to “serve the dead” but also to keep the living and dead apart. Eowyn thought there was a way to do both at once.

I turned the page of my notebook and drew a set of mingling stick figures—purple for ghosts, black for people. Ghosts were always badgering post-Shifters for help, which we often gave them, even if only by listening to their stories. So clearly we were “serving the dead.”

Next I drew a heavy red line separating the ghosts and the living. It made me think of BlackBox. But how could this separation serve the dead? As far as I could tell, BlackBox helped only the living.

I stared at the red line until my eyes crossed, making it blur and waver. Then I blinked, and it hit me.

Zachary was a walking BlackBox, the ultimate red. I was the ultimate violet, able to save shades (at least Logan, and maybe others). I helped ghosts, Zachary repelled them.

We were the two faces of Newgrange. The power of the Shine split between his father and my mother.

But when we kissed, we changed. Was that the synthesis? Did we make something new in those moments when we were together, soul and body?

It was almost nine thirty—two thirty a.m. in Scotland. Zachary should’ve been asleep, but I had a feeling he wasn’t.

I switched on my computer, opened the video chat program, and saw that Zachary’s status was still set to “online.” I called him.

Less than ten seconds later, his face appeared on my screen.

“I think I’ve got it,” I told him. He listened carefully, taking notes while I rattled off my theory as coherently as I could, given my excitement.

When I was finished, he dropped his pen on his notepad. “You’re brilliant. And I’m no’ just saying that because I love you. You’re—” He smoothed his page of notes, gazing at it like it was a rare document. “Just brilliant,” he finished in a whisper.

My whole body heated. “Thanks.”

“But what is it that we make? This thing that isn’t you or me. In those moments when we . . .” He drew in a deep breath. “Ah, I really want to kiss you right now.”

I grinned. “For science, right?”

“Aye, purely in the name of research.” He put his chin on his hand, his head obviously heavy. “Did I just change the subject?”

“I think you did.”

“Sorry, I’m—” He waved his other hand beside his head, then dropped it back to the table with a thud.

“Not sleeping?”

“Aye.”

“Why not?”

He tensed. “I don’t want to.”

We were inching closer to what he couldn’t tell me before. “Bad dreams?”

He pulled back from the screen, elbows sliding near the edge of the desk.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.