Dark Angel; The Chosen; Soulmate by L.J. Smith Read Free Book Online

although Gillian was already looking. “What do you see?”
    â€œSomebody with a bad haircut?”
    â€œWrong. You see somebody who’s brave. Strong. Out there. Unique. Individualist. And, incidentally, gorgeous.”
    â€œOh, please.” But she
did
look different. Under the ragged St. Joan bob, her cheekbones seemed to stand out more; she looked older, more sophisticated. And there was color in her cheeks.
    â€œBut it’s still all uneven.”
    â€œWe can get it smoothed out tomorrow. The important thing is that you took the first step yourself. By the way, you’d better learn to stop blushing. A girl as beautiful as you has to get used to compliments.”
    â€œYou’re a funny kind of angel.”
    â€œI told you, it’s part of the job. Now let’s see what you’ve got in your closet.”
    An hour later, Gillian was in bed again. This time, under the covers. She was tired, dazed, and very happy.
    â€œSleep fast,” the angel said. “You’ve got a big day tomorrow.”
    â€œYes. But wait.” Gillian tried to keep her eyes open. “There were some things I forgot to ask you.”
    â€œAsk.”
    â€œThat crying I heard in the woods—the reason I went in. Was it a kid? And are they okay?”
    There was a brief pause before he answered. “That information is classified. But don’t worry,” he added. “Nobody’s hurt—now.”
    Gillian opened one eye at him, but it was clear he wasn’t going to say any more. “Okay,” she said reluctantly. “And the other thing was—I
still
don’t know what to call you.”
    â€œI told you. Angel.”
    Gillian smiled, and was immediately struck by a jaw-cracking yawn. “Okay. Angel.” She opened her eyes again. “Wait. One more thing…”
    But she couldn’t think of it. There had been some other mystery she’d wanted to ask about, something that had to do with Tanya, with Tanya and blood. But she couldn’t summon it up.
    Oh, well. She’d remember later. “I just wanted to say—thank you.”
    He snorted. “You can say it anytime. Get this through your head, kid: I’m not going anywhere. I’ll be here tomorrow morning.” He began to hum a Blind Melon song. “‘I’ll always be there when you wake….’ Yeah, yeah, yeah.”
    Gillian felt warm, protected… loved. She fell asleep smiling.
    â€¢ • •
    The next morning she woke early and spent a long time in the bathroom. She came down the stairs feeling self-conscious and light-headed—literally. With her hair gone, her neck felt as if it were floating. She braced herself as she walked into the kitchen.
    Neither of her parents was there, even though her father was usually having breakfast by now. Instead, a girl with dark hair was sitting at the kitchen table, bent closely over a calculus textbook.
    â€œAmy!”
    Amy glanced up and blinked. She squinted, blinked again, then jumped up, standing an inch taller than Gillian. She moved forward, her eyes huge.
    Then she screamed.

CHAPTER 6
    â€œYour hair!” Amy screamed. “Gillian, your
hair
! What did you
do
to it?”
    Amy’s own hair was short, cropped close in back and full in front. She had large, limpid blue eyes that always looked as if she were about to cry, because she was nearsighted but couldn’t wear contacts and wouldn’t wear glasses. Her face was sweet and usually anxious; just now it looked more anxious than normal.
    Gillian put a self-conscious hand to her head. “Don’t you like it?”
    â€œI don’t know! It’s gone!”
    â€œThis is true.”
    â€œBut
why
?”
    â€œCalm down, Amy.” (If this is the way everybody’s going to react, I think I’m in trouble.) Gillian had discovered that she could talk to Angel without moving her lips and that he could answer in her head.