Page 83 of Grave Beginnings

Was there something wrong about being close to him? We weren’t touching, though I knew neither of them had missed how possessive Angel had been a few seconds ago and in the elevator. I’d be lying if I said I didn’t like it.

“Why?” Angel asked.

“Your aura merges with his,” Bobby said.

“Really?” Wade asked.

“Huh?” I wanted to know.

“Aura?” Angel asked as we all gathered around to peer at his screen.

“When I recalibrated to see those handprints, I noticed anyone else who crossed the feed had a lingering haze of color around them. A little like our armbands,” Bobby said. He aimed the scanner at Wade, who showed up as a bright yellow-orange. “I may have over adjusted a bit,” Bobby admitted as he fiddled with the settings to turn the brightness down.

I looked from the scanner to Wade and back. “I don’t see the aura on him right now. You sure that’s how I saw the handprints?”

Bobby shrugged. “The handprints are filed in evidence, clear photos of them with these settings. How you see them, and not this, I don’t know.” He tugged his phone out of his pocket. “Go over there and stand beside Angel. I’ll take pictures of what happens when you merge.”

“Am I muting him somehow?” Angel asked as he tugged metoward a bare wall. Wade stayed beside Bobby, holding the phone and staring at the screen. He snapped a few pictures.

“Fascinating,” Wade said.

“Right?” Bobby glanced up at him.

“Both of you slowly step away from the other. I wonder how far this stretches,” Wade said.

Angel and I stared at each other for a half second, then each took one step away, paused, two, three, four?—

“There,” Bobby said. Wade snapped a few more photos. He flipped the phone around to show the most recent picture of us about eight feet apart, Angel with a very orange aura, and mine a deep red that turned black in spots. It looked sort of eerie.

Bobby flipped back a few photos, to us standing close, and the aura that surrounded both Angel and me was sort of a teal.

“Orange and red don’t make teal,” I grumbled, reverting to my kindergarten days.

“Look how it shifts,” Wade said as he slowly paged through the photos of us as we were moving away from each other. The overlap was a muddy brown once we stood four feet apart, and then clarified into our own colors the greater the distance.

“Why would it do that?” I wondered. “Does it happen for you guys too?” I asked.

Wade cleared his throat, his gaze on Angel for a few seconds, then shook his head. “I don’t think so, but let’s try it. Angel, can you take pictures while Jude holds the scanner?”

“Sure.” Angel took Bobby’s phone. I figured the nerdy science guy probably wanted all the details on his device for later investigation.

I grabbed the scanner, having to use two hands to support it as it was heavy and much bigger than the average game controller. Wade and Bobby made their way to the wall. Bobby’s glow was more of a green, blue, yellow mix. Was that a vampire thing? I didn’t ask. But the two started eight feet apart, their colors not blending at all, and as they moved closer, while theirauras overlapped, they didn’t mix. I studied it with a frown. Why were Angel and I different?

Angel snapped pictures and held out the phone for Bobby to take it back and review. “You two don’t blend at all.”

“What does that mean?” I asked.

Bobby studied the pictures. “I have theories,” he admitted, “but will need further review and testing.”

“Does it mean Angel and I aren’t supposed to work together?”

“No,” Angel snapped.

“No,” Bobby said, raising a brow at Angel. “I don’t think it means that at all. More that you’re meant to mesh, since your magics can blend.”

“Great. My new partner and I have matching friendship bracelets made of magic.”

“Not a bad analogy,” Bobby agreed. “Some magics meld well.”