Free Seers by Heather Frost Page B

the magic of the story.”
    “For a British guy, J. M. Barrie knew how to enchant an audience.”
    I chuckled again, and my fingers played with the condensa-tion on my soda. “You sound like you don’t like the British.”
    “Has anyone ever liked the British?” He teased.
    “Come on—They’re polite, they’ve got great accents, and they drink a lot of tea. What’s not to like?”
    “They’ve been at war with pretty much every country,” he pointed out. “They tried to rule the world.”
    “Wasn’t that the Germans?”
    “Them too,” he laughed.
    “I can’t believe we’re at a party, talking about this.”
    “And immortal flying boys,” he added, his lips twisting into a
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    breathtaking half grin.
    I laughed again, and that’s when Aaron stepped into our bubble. “Hey,” he said, glancing between us. “Sorry I’m late. Dad just doesn’t know when to stop, you know?” I swallowed hard, assuring myself that the disappointment I felt at Aaron’s intrusion was only because I was making progress with Patrick.
    “Don’t worry about it,” I told him, keeping the smile firmly on my face. I gestured to Patrick with a small wave of my hand.
    “We’ve just been talking about school. Can you believe he already finished The House of the Seven Gables?”
    “Really?”
    Patrick shrugged. “I didn’t have anything else to do.” He finished off his drink, and then excused himself to find the trash.
    I watched him disappear into the thick crowd, and then Aaron spotted Jaxon. Without asking me he took hold of my elbow to guide me through the thick tangle of people, and I fought to cover my sigh while I let him lead me.
    I stood with Aaron and his friends, and I kept my eye out for Patrick. But between all the people and their multi-colored auras, it was hard to see anyone specific. There was a moment I saw a flash of silver, and I supposed it was his strange aura. But when I tried to focus on it, it was gone. I soon gave up on trying to spot him, and instead I craned my neck to get a better view of the deck.
    I knew Lee would be around there somewhere, and she’d be the perfect excuse to get away from sports talk.
    There she was, still standing by the stereo. The Gothics she’d been entertaining were gone, and now she was only talking to one person. I felt my stomach drop.
    She was talking to a Hispanic man, with a silver aura. It was him! The invisible man! He was here, talking to her!
    “I’m going to find Lee,” I told Aaron quickly. I don’t know if he really heard me, but he didn’t stop me as I shrunk out of the circle and headed for the deck. I was soon swallowed up by the 60 K • • •
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    pounding music and the thick crowd.
    I wasn’t sure what I was going to do, but a plan of action didn’t seem really necessary at the moment. This was the man who’d been haunting me, and now suddenly he was talking to my best friend—someone who hadn’t been able to see him last time. I may have decided against demanding answers from Patrick O’Donnell, but from this invisible man I was going to get my answers.
    I pushed up the wooden stairs of the deck and then forced my way to the back corner. “Lee!” I called, knowing she probably wouldn’t be able to hear me, so close to the speakers. I wormed around a small group of giggling girls, and then bumped right into my best friend.
    “Whoa!” She laughed, reaching out to steady us both. “Hey there, things are going great, huh? This has to be one of my best ever!”
    My eyes darted around us, but he was gone. I couldn’t let him get away! “Lee, that guy you were talking to—where did he go?”
    “Toni?” She asked, smiling. “Oh goodness, I wish you could have met him. But he said he had to run.”
    “Did you see which way he went?” I asked.
    Her eyes narrowed as she recognized the worry in my voice.
    “Yeah, he went that way. What’s wrong? Are you