Free 02 Awaken-The Soulkeepers by Lori Adams Page A

don’t have to explain your freaky shit to me. Now,
him
on the other hand …” He pointed toward the trees where Dimitri Patronus stood, watching his sons work.

Chapter 6
The Inside of All Things Out
    I’m sitting in bio and have written two pages of notes but have no idea what they say. My hand is on autopilot and my mind is on Michael. I haven’t seen or heard from him since he left me—abandoned me—in the middle of creation last night. He said David would take me home, and he did. But still.
    I dart a look at Raph, whom I’ve caught watching me surreptitiously throughout class. He doesn’t smile like he usually does, so I know he’s curious. I worry that he’s growing suspicious of Michael and me. I try not to make eye contact for too long. Michael said his brothers have trouble reading my emotions if they can’t look me in the eye. I’m on guard. Especially today when I’m preoccupied with thoughts of Michael.
    I fiddle with my pen and try to cook up a reason to interrogate Raph about Michael’s whereabouts. Then Mr. Wagner says five words I’ve never heard before, “When we dissect the body …,” and I flinch and my pen flies out of my hand. Raph snags it out of the air, and our eyes lock. I gasp at his quick reaction, and the room falls quiet.
    “Is there a problem?” Mr. Wagner turns from the board, where I realize he has been divulging a plethora of information that I’ve been tuning out.
    Raph hands over my pen, and I lean forward and whisper, “Did he say, ‘When we dissect the body’?”
    “Yes, I did,” Mr. Wagner answers impatiently.
    I slide down in my seat and feel my armpits tingle with sweat.
    What body? A frog? Are we dissecting a frog? Why doesn’t he just say frog, then. Maybe it’s a pig. Maybe—
    “Miss St. James? Is there a problem?”
    Everybody is staring, and I look at Bailey. She understands that I’ve been caught unaware and is biting her lips together to stop from laughing. Her eyes bulge, begging me not to speak but I have to.
    “Well, I guess I don’t understand what we’re really dissecting.”
    Mr. Wagner twitches like he’s had ice dropped down his shirt. “You don’t
understand
? We’ve been talking about the evaluation of the human body
all
semester.We’ve discussed our future journey through tissue, veins, organs, and the general body cavity as a way to realistically encounter human life. Have you paid attention
at all
?”
    I grimace and shrug. “I thought you were speaking metaphorically.” Somebody snickers, and then the whole class groans at—what Mom would have called—my lack of intellectual fortitude. I’m the only one who didn’t realize we were dissecting a real body, that we were on standby for an impromptu field trip to the morgue.
    Apparently, Christmas came early for Mr. Wagner in the form of a dead body, and we’re off to the New Haven Hospital morgue.
    Oh, what fresh Yuletide hell is this?
    So after lunch, the entire bio class clomps across the snowy parking lot. “All aboard the poor man’s limo,” Bailey grumbles, leading the way up the bus stairs. I’ve given up on seeing Michael today or discreetly discovering his whereabouts from Raph. I’d hate for him to become more suspicious than he already is.
    Bailey sits beside me and starts griping about how irritating Duffy has been lately. “It’s like that time he pulled an Adderall nighter, all hopped up to cram for that astronomy test when we had to chart the constellations.”
    I’m scanning the parking lot for Michael’s truck and only half listening. The bus lurches forward, and I slump in my seat, disappointed. Then we stop short and the door opens and my second heartbeat springs to life. I catch my breath as Michael climbs aboard.
    He’s greeted by an array of teasing and grumbling for playing hooky most of the day. He laughs good-naturedly and seems to be in an agreeable mood. I try to catch his eye but he won’t look at me. He moves down the aisle, throws a