Echoes by Michelle Rowen Page A

psychic?”
    “Let’s just say I sometimes have moments of helpful insight.” He paused, his forehead furrowing into deep lines. “There’s something there inside you. I can feel it. Very faintly.”
    “What?”
    “Ethan’s right. You are special. You’re different from most other people.”
    Ethan watched him. “What do you mean?”
    “I feel some power here. Something I haven’t felt in a very long...” His eyes widened a fraction. “Olivia, have you ever died before?”
    I stared at him, surprised by the question. “Have I ever died before?”
    “That’s what I asked.”
    “I nearly got killed on Monday night. Then again yesterday after school.”
    “Nah, before that.”
    “Well, I...when I was six I got hit by a truck. My parents thought I was dead, but I was revived by the paramedics. I don’t remember any of it, but that’s what I’m told.”
    Frank swore under his breath. “Well, that’s pretty special.”
    “What are you talking about?”
    He studied me so long and intensely that it made me incredibly uncomfortable. It was hot in here with only that ceiling fan to help cool things down and a trickle of sweat slid down my spine.
    His grip on my hand increased until it became painful. But then, he grinned and loosened his grip. “I
am
totally psychic. Who knew? I guessed that you’d had a brush with death and I was right. I get a gold star. And...and you’re also an...
Aries
. Am I right?”
    I finally yanked my hand away from his. “Aquarius.”
    “Close enough.”
    “I don’t know how you can joke about this. Haven’t you been listening to anything I’ve said?”
    His ten minutes were up. Frank was officially wasting our time. He didn’t know how it felt to be face to face with one of these monsters, knowing it wanted to kill you. Knowing that one of them wanted to use your dead body to play dress up.
    I’d hoped against hope that this guy might be able to help us out. Too bad I’d been dead wrong.
    “I’m done here. Go buy yourself another drink, Frank. You deserve it.”
    I left the bar and didn’t look back.

 

Chapter 8
    Maybe if I were more patient, I could have fished something out of him if we’d kept talking. But patience wasn’t one of my virtues. Never had been. Frustration on the other hand—that tripped me up every time.
    “Sorry about that,” Ethan said when he caught up to me on the sidewalk outside. “Really.”
    “He must have heard about my accident. Maybe he found the newspaper article on the Internet. I don’t know. There are ways he could find out lots about me if he really wanted to, right?”
    “I swear he’s usually—”
    “What? Not a complete waste of space?”
    “Yeah, that. Look, I know that didn’t go well, but don’t completely write him off. I think he can still help us.”
    I tried to breathe normally, in through the nose, out through the mouth. “How are you friends with somebody like that? Where did you meet him?”
    He shrugged, his eyes on the sidewalk as we walked. We passed a stationery shop where my mother used to take me to get back-to-school supplies every year. “I’ve known him a while. He’s been there for me when I’ve needed him the most. Trust me.”
    “I guess I’ll have to.” I sighed. “Just goes to show that I really don’t know anything about you, Ethan.”
    A parking meter to my right had timed out, but the car next to it was still parked there. I stared at it for a moment and a mother and toddler walked past us and entered a kid’s clothing shop two stores down.
    I had to keep remembering that Ethan and I were in this together. I was disappointed in Frank, but I couldn’t really blame that on Ethan.
    Maybe Frank would be more receptive to being helpful later and we could try again. He obviously knew what he was talking about, but wasn’t in the mood to be totally cooperative this afternoon.
    I wasn’t giving up, that much was for certain. But now it looked like we had some time to kill.
    “Are