Read Online Evade (The Ever Trilogy) by Jessa Russo - Free Book Online Page B

list.”
    “So, like, bank robbers and stuff?”
    “Yeah, them. And then worse than them. Imagine if a normal person who hasn’t done much more than underage drinking, or the occasional gambling mishap has, say, two hundred assignments on his list. Then, there are worse offenders on the scale, like the bank robbers or the spousal abusers; they have longer lists. Right?”
    I nodded. I followed along fine, but my skin began to crawl with the direction of this conversation. I could only guess what was coming next.
    “Then you have your really bad people. Serial killers. Child molesters. Rapists. They’re at the top. Their list is the longest. They have the longest time to wait before they can finally pass on. Some of them don’t mind. Some of them want to be stuck here, collecting souls and bringing pain to the lost soul and the humans attached to their deceased-but-still-lingering loved ones. But others…”
    “They want me .”
    “Yes.”
    “To speed up the process. Because my soul has more value.”
    “Yes.”
    “Because I’m branded ?”
    He nodded. “They want your soul because it’s worth more to them. So, when Ariadne put a time limit on your life, she did more than screw things up for you, for us. She branded you. So now, I’m guessing, there are a whole slew of collectors who want you. That want to turn you in themselves and claim the benefits of your Soul Brand.”
    “Like… on my birthday like Ariadne promised, or…any time?” I looked at him expectantly, even though I already knew the answer. If I was being hunted right now, then they could collect on my soul any time they wanted to.
    “Any time. Now. Tomorrow. Two weeks from now. Just as long as Ariadne doesn’t get to you first, they still have a chance.”
    “And by Ariadne getting to me first?”
    “Taking your soul.”
    “So that’s why she’s in Mexico? To…to kill me?”
    “I think so, yes.”
    “Oh my God.”
    “I won’t let that happen, Ever, I promise. I won’t let anyone hurt you. But if Greg found you by following Ariadne down here, then that means anyone else could have done the same. Which means the people who grabbed you did the right thing, and even more so when they called me. Now I can get you home and figure out what to do next. Where to go next.”
    “Go? What do you mean, like, leave my mom? My home?” I paused. The pained look in his eyes was all the answer I needed. “You’re making me leave Frankie?”
    Toby pulled his gaze back to the road and didn’t make eye contact with me for a long time after that. We rode in suffocating silence, the burden of this news weighing heavily on my mind. My soul not only had a countdown on it, but it had road flares and flashing lights directing every evil person from here to Baghdad straight to me. And for what? All so they could get bonus points on their soul collecting list? This was seriously messed up.
    We drove another hour or so until we began seeing signs indicating the California border was fast approaching. Toby kept glancing at his phone and looking around for something unknown to me.
    When we were a dozen or so miles away from Mexicali, he cursed quietly and pulled into a beat up old gas station. At least, I think it was a gas station. At some point in its life. Now it was just a hideous old half-a-building and some things sticking out of the ground that slightly resembled gas pumps.
    “How are you getting me across?”
    When he looked at me with that half-smile, I knew.
    “Shit, Toby! You have no idea, do you?”
    “No, I mean…I…no. I expected to hear from Greg by now. Or even Ted. I don’t know how to get you across yet.”
    “Oh my God. And I’m supposed to trust you? Nice.”
    Toby grabbed my face, his hands resting on my cheeks, and turned my head toward him. His dark blue gaze found mine, and he spoke his next words firmly and without an ounce of doubt. “Trust me to protect you, yes. I will never let anyone hurt you, Ever. I swear it.”
    As