Free Soul Catcher by G.P. Ching Page B

you know how hard it is to go to counseling once a week to ‘work through my abduction’ and not be able to talk about what really happened? I don’t want to waste my parents’ money, but I can’t possibly tell the truth. I’m probably crazy.”
    “You’re not crazy.” Malini clasped his the shoulders. “I know the spider.”
    “What?”
    “I think Fatima—er, Fate paid you a visit. She’ll never admit to it, of course. But I suspect the water she gave you to drink came from the river outside of Eden. The water is blessed. All Soulkeepers are descended from someone who saw and drank that water. Only those who truly have a heart to rid the world of evil can see or drink it. Abigail and Gideon are the only exceptions. God knew the choice they would make to sacrifice themselves for all of us, and when He made them human, He gave them the ability to enter here as a reward for their self sacrifice. But I think Fate helped you drink the water, Dane, and now you are here.”
    “I don’t understand.”
    Malini tilted her face toward the moon. She sighed. “I think the water changed you. I think you might have the Soulkeeper gene now.”
    Dane had to catch himself against the trunk of a tree. A lump formed in his throat. Did she just say what he thought she did?
    “Either you are the only exception the cherubim have ever made or...”
    “Or I have a latent Soulkeeper gene inside of me?”
    “Yes.”
    “So how do we find out?”
    “We don’t.” Malini squeezed his hand.
    “But I have to know.”
    “Believe me, you will know if the gene switches on.”
    Dane pulled his hand out of hers. “You don’t understand, Malini. This whole time—I thought you were going to say I didn’t belong here. And now, to learn I might be one of you! I have to know who I am.”
    “You do belong here, Dane. God let you through the gate for a reason, Soulkeeper or not. You are human now, and you might always be human but, no matter what, you belong here.”
    He shook his head and turned back toward the path to the school. He couldn’t put his feelings into words. In one way, this was more than he’d ever hoped for but, in another, to be this close and not know for sure was frustrating.
    “Dane,” Malini said softly.
    He turned around to face her. “Yeah?”
    “I want you to take this.” A leather strap dangled from her fingertips, a red stone at the end of it. He’d seen the stone before. Jacob used to wear it, and then Malini. The chain was different. “I had it reset for you. I want you to wear it until we figure this out.”
    “Why?”
    “This stone is connected to me. Not physically but metaphysically.”
    “Huh?”
    “If you need me, hold it up to the light and clear your mind. I’ll help you.”
    “Okay.” Tentatively, he reached out and hooked his fingers in the strap, pulling it over his head.
    “No matter what, it’s okay to be what you are,” Malini said. “It’s okay to be who you are. The people who love you will love you no matter what. All you’ve got to do is be true to yourself.”
    “Yeah,” Dane said absently.
    Just then, a violent rustling heralded Archibald’s arrival on the path. “Ms. Malini!” he called. “You have to come. Something’s happened. Ms. Abigail needs to talk with you, right away.”
    She took off toward the school at Soulkeeper speed, leaving Dane alone in the jungle with the garden gnome.
    “Uh, Archibald, I know it’s your night off and everything, but would you mind showing me the way back to the school?”
    “Oh yes,” the little guy said. “On the way you can tell me all about the exotic city of Paris, Illinois.”
    Dane grinned in the darkness but didn’t deny him. He followed the gnome through the garden, telling stories about his everyday life while trying his best to process what Malini had told him. A new truth. A truth that could change everything.

Chapter 9
    Calling Card
    M alini burst into the conference room where The Soulkeepers’ council had