Libera Me by Christine Fonseca

trembles as her eyes widen with fright. “Tell them.” She digs her nails into my arms.
    I don’t wake from the dream.
    Pushing her away, I take a step back and bump into someone.  
    “Dude! Watch out, would you?”
    I don’t know who speaks. Don’t care.
    The girl turns impossibly pale, translucent. I almost expect her to fade away, proof that she’s nothing more than an apparition.
    Instead she fingers her necklace and mumbles a prayer. She looks so much like Lorelei. All at once my mind unleashes the guilt of Lori’s death.
    I taste her soul in my mouth, hear Nesy’s screams as Lori dies in my arms.
    “No,” I yell to the girl. I won’t be tricked by ghosts that don’t exist. “No! You’re dead. Dead!”
    I turn and run.
         
     

 
    Chapter 13 – Sanctus

     
    Zane
    I lean against the lockers, the cold metal biting into my skin. Students shove past me, through me. Loud claps of thunder rattle the doors and walls, causing startled screams from the throng of kids.
    Drawing a stiff breath, I stretch my shoulders and back, desperate to quell the apprehension that seems to define me now.
    I never should have looked into Nesy’s mind, never should have made that deal with the demonic smoke.
    Memories of last night flit through my mind, taunting me:
    Her eyes as they met mine.
    The empty spaces in her thoughts, forgotten pieces of her past, her present.
    The demonic smoke’s threatening visions.
    I release the breath, wishing for a calm that won’t come. I slam the locker, unnoticed by the crowd. Good. I have no desire to be found now.
    By anyone.
    What to do? What to do? I don’t know how to proceed. Cass doesn’t believe Nesy and the girl are the same. No one on the Council does.
    But if she isn’t Nesy, who is she? Definitely not human, that much is certain.
    The crowd thins as the bell rings, signaling the start of another class.
    Where are you?
    An indigo light coalesces in front of me as the hall empties. Cass steps from the brilliance, her indigo-tinted wings reflecting the brief flashes of lightning and sending shards of light bouncing off of the walls.
    “I’ve been looking for you,” she says.
    “I haven’t wanted to be found,” I say as I turn away from her. I’m not ready for another Cass-lecture.
    “How are you?” Cass touches my shoulder.
    I shake her off and face her. “How do you think?” I say, unable to hide the frustration from my voice. Not wanting to.
    “Zane, I get your anger. I do. But you need to let it go, now.” Cass’s arm drops to her side. “Let her go.”
    “Save it, Cass. I’m not going to, not until I find her and see for myself that she’s okay.”
    “So you’re finally admitting that the girl isn’t her?”
    Her words drill into my heart, exposing my doubts. I don’t know what to think about the girl. “I’m not saying that.”
    “No?”
    “I’ll admit that Vanessa isn’t acting like Nesy. And I’ll admit that you and the Council have a right to be concerned. But we both know that girl is more than she appears. And I think we need to find out what she is before we assume it’s not Nesy.”
    Cass glares at me. “And before we assume she is!”
    I release an exasperated sigh. Why doesn’t anyone care what happened to Nesy? Why doesn’t anyone seem as concerned as I am about the smoke and what it may or may not have actually done?
    “Look,” Cass says. “Let Caim investigate this. He’s the best one to determine the truth.”
    “That idiot? If he’s so good, why isn’t he here?”
    “Maybe he is.”
    “I would’ve seen him.” I shake my head in frustration and take a few steps away. “Why do you trust him so much, Cass?” I ask over my shoulder. “Especially after Lori?”
    “Because of her. He has something to prove. And he isn’t emotionally involved in this, not like you. And…” Cass hesitates. The air thickens.
    “What?” I say as I turn and face her.
    “And he’s skilled at sensing the Dark One.”
    My