Touch (Denazen #1)(73)

Sheltie jumped off the bed, ignored him, and backed toward the window. “Dez, listen to me, I’m serious. It’s really me.”

“Do you think I’m an idiot? I saw them taking Brandt’s body away that morning. Uncle Mark saw him. Dead.”

“It’s not that simple. I told you back at my funeral. I’m a Six. Something called a soul jumper. We’re rare, there’s only like four of us out there. When my heart stopped beating, my soul jumped into the body of the closest person. Sheltie.”

“I don’t believe you.”

“When we were little we went on that camping trip. You and I got lost in the woods.”

Kale stiffened. “Couldn’t anyone get that information?”

He was right. Anyone, especially people with connections like Denazen, could find a ton of tiny, intimate details about my life. Hell, the newspaper had done a big story on it. Sold a ton of copies. They’d touted Aunt Cairn as a neglectful parent, leaving young children to play in a dangerous area unsupervised. Later they retracted the statement, but the damage had been done.

I needed solid proof. “The tree house in your backyard. There was a metal lockbox. What did we keep in it?”

He smiled. “A blue Hot Wheels car and your Hello Kitty notebook. Our most prized possessions.”

I felt sick. Only two people knew that. One of them was supposed to be dead. “So where did Sheltie go?”

Smile gone, he bent his head and pulled the damn skateboard wheel from his pocket. Tossing it into the air, he caught it and said, “Dunno. He was just gone—not that I’m sorry. Bastard offed me. He showed up at the house saying he had info on Denazen. I let him in and boom. No more Brandt. As soon as my heart stopped, I jumped into his body. I’ve been trying to decide if I should tell you or not.”

“This is not happening…”

“The other catch is, apparently each time I jump into a new Six’s body, I keep their gift. Sheltie had the ability to visit people’s dreams. I tried to warn you in a dream, but it didn’t come out right. I was disoriented, still fresh from the jump.”

“That was you?”

He nodded again and my stomach churned. This was the biggest mind-screw ever.

“Yep. I’m still me, though. The same guy you’ve known your entire life. It’s weird, I have all my old memories, but I have all this guy’s memories, too.”

“This is really messed up.”

“Want to talk about messed up? I remember Sheltie killing me. It was like killing myself. Try that on for size.”

I couldn’t imagine having to live with that kind of memory. “That’s horrible.”

“No, horrible is, you’re my best friend—my cousin—and all I can think about is how hot you look right now.”

“Oh my God…”

Next to me Kale snarled.

I grabbed his hand and gulped. “I think I might puke.”

“Right back atcha.”

“So what about Sheltie?”

“He was working for your father. After I left the Graveyard, I started digging. It’s amazing what you can find if you look hard enough. I guess when I found too much, though, they sent Sheltie. He said I’d officially crossed the line and my time was up. Dude pulled out a knife and that’s the last thing I remember until I woke up in his body. I didn’t know what to do, so I tracked down Misha and explained what happened. She’s been helping me gather information about Soul Jumpers.”

He turned to Kale. “This is your fault. If you hadn’t gone home with her that night, things would still be normal.”

I smacked him upside the head. “Normal? What they’re doing at Denazen isn’t normal!”

Kale nodded in agreement. “Denazen needs to be stopped.”

He glared at Kale then turned to me. “You know what I mean.”

“So now what? What are you going to do?”

“I’m leaving. I want to help you find your mom, but I just can’t. Ya gotta understand… Your father had me killed… If they found out what I was—what I could do… I don’t fully understand it yet, but seems to me that he could do a lot of damage with someone like me.”

I shook my head. “It’s okay, you don’t need to explain.” It’d be better this way. Brandt was right. Killing him off, tossing him from body to body amassing other Sixes’ gifts, he could easily become a weapon far more powerful than Kale. I couldn’t allow that to happen. I’d sleep easier knowing he was far away, and that my best friend was alive and safe. I threw my arms around him. “Will I ever see you again?”

“Like you could ever ditch me?” He gave me a quick squeeze and pulled away, reaching for a green bag on the floor next to the bed. “You have the list I gave you, right?”

“List?”

He gave the bag a shake and sighed. “The one I gave you at my funeral.”

I’d totally forgotten about it. “It’s at my house. I never even opened it.”

“Don’t lose it, Dez. It’s a list of every known Six in the country. They’re all on Denazen’s bag and tag list. Being monitored. You’re on there too, Dez.”

“Me? How could I be on it? You gave me the list before I told Dad what I could do.”