Soul Seekers03 - Mystic by Alyson Noël

appear jaunty but doesn’t come close to succeeding. “If you girls aren’t interested in watching, then it’s best you move on. This is a house of salvation, not a tourist attraction. Though you might want to memorize the location. Won’t be long before you’ll be begging to seek sanctuary here. Never too late to repent.”
    “What’s that supposed to mean?” Lita calls after his retreating back.
    “The Last Days are upon us. The Shining Days of Glory will follow. I will bring about the New World by ending this one, and neither of you are ready. Clock’s ticking!”
    The door slams shut behind him, as Lita grips my sleeve and hauls me back to her car where she hits the accelerator so hard I lift off my seat and slam my head into the roof.
    “Sorry about that,” she says about five minutes later, after she’s laid down some serious tracks. “So is he as creepy as I said, or what?”
    “Creepier.” I hug myself tightly, wishing I could erase what just happened.
    “Wonder if that rat was really for his snake. Seemed like he might be planning to eat it himself.”
    We burst into fits of laughter, eager to relieve ourselves of the tension.
    “Still, I’m glad we went,” I say, surprised by my words.
    “Why? What did you get out of that other than he’s a delusional doomsday fanatic who believes this New Year’s Eve will be our last?”
    “I don’t know,” I say. “It’s just good to gather as many pieces as possible. You never know where they’ll fit. Anyway, can you drop me at Auden’s? I sent him a text that I’m on my way.”
    The rest of the ride is spent mostly in silence until Lita says, “Okay, so what’s the prize? I mean, now that I survived the creepy encounter with Suriel, it’s time to collect. So tell me, what did I win?”
    It takes me a moment to make sense of it. I guess I’d been so focused on trying to find a connection between Suriel’s Apocalypse and the situation between Daire, Dace, and Cade, I’d almost forgotten the promise I made. “Well, you know how you’re always worried about being a third wheel? I think I’ve found a way to fix it.”
    “You setting me up with Auden?” She laughs, which to me appears as a river of golden bubbles streaming from her lips.
    “Never!” I grin. “But how about the next best thing?”
    “Auden has a clone?”
    “Auden has a band. A band with bandmates who all just happen to be boys. One of whom also happens to be recently single, and, from what I hear, he’s really cute.”
    “So, let me get this straight—you’re making me visit the preacher who gave me nightmares as a kid, and my prize is one of Auden’s recently dumped band members?”
    “You really know how to put a positive spin on things.”
    “Yeah, well, in case you didn’t hear me before, my dating days are over. I’ve kissed practically every boy in our school, including, embarrassingly enough, a few of the scrawnier freshmen, and once again, for the record, every single one of them was found lacking.”
    “Still, you haven’t kissed Greyson. And didn’t you recently say that Enchantment was in need of some new recruits? While Greyson isn’t exactly new, or a resident for that matter, he is new to you.”
    Lita sighs. “So, just out of curiosity which one is he?”
    “The drummer.”
    She shifts in her seat. “Are you talking about the cute one whose bangs are always flopping into his eyes?”
    “So they tell me.”
    “For real?”
    “If you’re up for it, I know for a fact that he’s up for it.”
    She turns away, taps her fingers against the steering wheel. “Maybe. I need some time to think about it. But no promises.”
    “He’ll be at the Rabbit Hole tonight. You can talk, hang out, and see what you think.” I gather my stuff and climb out of her car just as Auden comes out to greet me.
    “Xotichl—” Lita calls after me. Hesitating before she goes on to say, “You know how when we were down in the Lowerworld and you said you could