Reaper's Novice (Soul Collector #1) Read Online Free PDF

sounds relaxed and happy, and it hits me again. It’s been a while since I heard him use that tone of voice.
    Mom spears him a dirty, but playful look. Yesterday, a look similar to that one—without the playfulness—would’ve wilted Dad. He smiles at me, his eyes crinkling at the corners.
    I see some semblance of me in him: full lips, brown skin, eyes slightly tilting at the corners. The similarities end there. Dad’s as tall as a giant sequoia, sturdy, and handsome. I, on the other hand, am a dwarf willow, curvy like Mom. I’m caught between big and small. Eyes that seem too large for my face, and hips a bit too big for my frame. But Rolf tells me he likes how I look in tight jeans.
    I grin back at Dad, but somehow my sight is blurred. I blink twice, and my vision clears.
    “Ana, why are you crying?” Mom’s fingers flit all over my face. She’s about to switch to freaking mode, and that will just blast the evening to pieces.
    I catch her hands in mine, stilling them, and smile up at her. At least I hope I’m smiling. “I’m okay, Mom. Really.”
    Her hands escape the prison of mine and return to my face, prying my eyes wider with her index finger and thumb. I’m glad Mom’s a florist and not a nurse. I’m guessing if she was a nurse, things would be much worse. Mom needs to touch. That’s the only way she reassures herself everything’s fine. Come to think about it, I’ve been using every chance I get to touch Mom, Dad, Lucy, and Anton, even fleetingly. I’m more like her than I thought. So I let her probe to her satisfaction. As if hearing my thoughts in the strange way Mom seems to possess, she halts and peers at me.
    “You’re not resisting me. You’re grinning and look delirious.” Mom sounds perplexed.
    I didn’t realise I was grinning. The delirious part, maybe. Today my emotions have been twisted and straightened, wrung and hung to dry enough times to last me two lifetimes.
    Untangling myself from her hands, I shift on my seat and look at Dad for rescue. No help there. He’s talking with Lucy. “I’m fine, Mom. Just a little hot from staying out in the sun, waiting for you guys.” The words slip out unchecked. Everything inside me freezes. The air in the room stills. Even the candles look frozen.
    “What? Why?” The perplexity on her face has taken a wary edge to it.
    Crap! This is what you get for getting too comfortable, Ana. A loose tongue and unchecked words. Guard up!
    Various inappropriate answers rush through my head. Mom’s staring; her curiosity meter is rolling up.
    I clear my throat, deciding to test my theory of what happened today. “It’s the heat, um… while I stood outside the school gate waiting for you to pick me up.”
    Fingers drop from my face. Her frown has gone beyond concern and is colliding with confusion. She shakes her head and looks at Dad, whose attention is solely focused on us now.
    I breathe out. Even though I was sure they had no idea what happened today, confirming it makes it more… real. Tangible.
    “You’re right, Mom.” I gulp the urge to call her Mommy. The day is doing all kinds of wonders to me. “I should go to bed. I’m feeling feverish.”
    “Good decision. Anton?” Anton’s head comes up, and he blinks at Mom. “Escort your sister to bed.”
    Wait… what? Did Mom just summon my fourteen-year-old brother to help me upstairs? What’s going on? I’m the caretaker. I should be taking my siblings to bed, not vice versa. “I can make it upstairs on my own.” I lift my plate from the table.
    “Leave it, honey. Get some rest. God knows you need energy with finals coming up.” She snatches the plate. “I’ll do it. Anton and Lucy will help.”
    A tide of grumbling voices rises at my sides. Mom whips her head around and glares. The grumbles die instantly. Twin dagger looks are hurled my way. Anton and Lucy’s combined look would wilt a weak heart, but not mine. Not today. My heart is blooming inside out.
    Life is back on track.