My Soul to Steal by Rachel Vincent
The basics
Title: My Soul to Steal
Author: Rachel Vincent
Series: Soul Screamers #4
- My Soul to Take (August 2009) - My Soul to Save (December 2009) - My Soul to Keep (June 2010) - My Soul to Steal (January 2011) - If I Die (September 2011) - Before I Wake (June 2012) - With All My Soul (March 2013)
Add it: Goodreads
Goodreads Summary:
Trying to work things out with Nash—her maybe boyfriend—is hard enough for Kaylee Cavanaugh. She can't just pretend nothing happened. But "complicated" doesn't even begin to describe their relationship when his ex-girlfriend transfers to their school, determined to take Nash back. See, Sabine isn't just an ordinary girl. She's a mara, the living personification of a nightmare. She can read people's fears—and craft them into nightmares while her victims sleep. Feeding from human fear is how she survives. And Sabine isn't above scaring Kaylee and the entire school to death to get whatever—and whoever—she wants.
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In short
Lots of people are dying at the high school (seriously, why hasn’t this place been shut down already?), and general chaos has ensued. Kaylee investigates because she’s a bean sidhe mixed with a bit of Veronica Mars. Nash’s ex-girlfriend, Sabine, rolls up in town and there’s a lot of relationship drama there. This is also the book in which my Tod/Kaylee shipping went full force, just so you know.
What happened in My Soul to Steal?
- Sabine, Nash’s ex-girlfriend that he never technically broke up with, arrives at school. Angst ensues because Sabine still loves him.
- Sabine is a Nightmare who has been feeding on Kaylee and giving her bad dreams.
- One of Kaylee’s teachers is found dead at his desk. A second dies shortly after, and then the vice principal dies. This all kicks Kaylee’s detective butt into gear, and she begins to suspect Sabine since this all started when she arrived in town.
- When another guy dies (Death Toll: 4), Kaylee tells Nash about her suspicions, but he’s like HELL NAW, not my non-ex-girlfriend.
- Alec, who’s living with Kaylee and her dad, gets a new job at the cinema where Kaylee and Emma work.
- Tod takes Kaylee to Nash’s room using his reaper superpowers. They stay invisible in order to spy on Nash and Sabine. (In order to stay invisible, Kaylee has to hold Tod’s hand. SQUEE.) Sabine is in Nash’s room and they’re reminiscing about the good ol’ days. Nash says he would never want to forget a moment of their time together. That’s a shame, because he was totally willing to forget about his moments with Kaylee.
- Sabine reads Nash’s fears, and it turns out that his worst one is that he’s not good enough for Kaylee.
- Avari has been possessing Alec without anyone knowing. Alec thinks Avari used him to kill the people at school.
- Alec is revealed to be half human. Avari took his human mother as a proxy, and his dad – a hypnos – distracted Avari on occasion so that he and Alec’s mother could spend time together. Alec’s dad eventually got Alec’s mum out of the Netherworld, but Avari found them years later. Alec traded his life for his mother’s, although Avari failed to mention that she was already dead. And that’s how he got stuck with Avari.
- Nash finds out about Kayleee and Tod spying on him. Oh well.
- Avari takes over Alec’s body at the cinema, and it comes to light that hellions cannot outright lie.
- Tod gets a job as a pizza delivery guy and it’s adorable.
- Kaylee walks in on Nash and Sabine kissing, right after Nash had been kissing Kaylee.
- Kaylee tells her dad about Avari possessing Alec, and they come up with a plan and a sleeping schedule. They’ll tie Alec up while he sleeps so that if Avari possesses him, he won’t be able to do anything.
- Avari possesses Alec again, but not before possessing Kaylee’s dad and untying Alec. Avari attacks Kaylee, but she knocks him out with an alarm clock. Kaylee asks Nash to come over and stay with her until her dad wakes up.
- Tod comes over with a pizza. He and Kaylee talk about Sabine and Nash. Tod advises that Kaylee lets Nash go, since he believes that Nash and Sabine are right for each other.
- Some guy called Trace has a bit of a psychotic breakdown at school, which is another incident on a long list of crazy.
- Avari possesses Alec, knocks Kaylee’s dad out, and leaves a riddle for Kaylee which suggests he’s going for either Emma or Sophie. Kaylee gets Nash to check on Sophie – who turns out to be fine – while she checks on Emma.
- Kaylee arrives at Emma’s house. Alec is there, but Avari seemingly isn’t, since Alec knows the answer to the secret question. Alec woke up ten minutes previously when Emma brought him ice cream.
- Kaylee accuses Sabine of causing all the fights in school with her mara ways. Sabine says it’s not her, and also this stuff is not fear-based. Sabine and Kaylee also have a chat about Nash, and it’s really boring. Sabine explains that all Nash feels around Kayleee is guilt and pain, and Kaylee comes back with despite all that, Nash still wants her.
- Nash and Kaylee figure out that Avari has been possessing Sabine. Avari has also been pushing energy from the Netherworld to the human world to create chaos at the high school.
- In class, Kaylee is sent to the Netherworld by Sabine. There, she overhears Avari and a woman called Invidia talking. Invidia wants Sabine, and Avari wants Kaylee. Avari has been wearing out two hosts so they are tired enough for him and Invidia to possess.
- Kaylee gets back from the Netherworld and comes across Tod. She fills him in, and sends him to find Sophie, who she thinks might be one of the hosts. Kaylee then goes to talk to Nash. Tod comes back and says it’s not Sophie. Sabine is missing.
How did it end?
It turns out that Avari was possessing Alec the entire time, ever since he left that riddle for Kaylee. He left Alec in “limbo” while he talked with Invidia, but now he’s back in his body again. Tod knocks Alec/Avari out.
Emma is the second host, and Invidia is possessing her. Invidia also has Sabine. She tries to turn Sabine against everyone, and gets her to take herself (in Emma’s body) to the Netherworld. Kaylee and Nash follow. Kaylee tries to talk Sabine into giving Emma back, but she’s not having any of it.
Avari grabs Nash. “One more move, and I’ll kill him.” He tries to swap Nash for Emma (with Sabine). If it had worked, he would have then forced Kaylee to give up her soul for Emma. Luckily, it didn’t. Sabine runs towards Nash, pushing Emma away in the process. Invidia gets angry and attacks Avari. Sabine takes Nash back to the human world. Kaylee stabs Invidia in the eye with her own tooth while Tod takes Emma back to the human world.
Tod crosses over to the Netherworld and takes Kaylee back. “I’ve got you.” *flails*
Harmony gives everyone necklaces that will disguise their energy signatures so no one can find them or tell that they’re not human. She also gives them puppies that will act as guard dogs. If they sense a hellion, the puppies will warn everyone.
Anything else?
Bean sidhe (female) – They scream when someone is dying, and suspend the soul in the air so it can’t move on to the afterlife.
Bean sidhe (male) – They hear the females’ screaming as singing, and can put souls back into the body in exchange for another’s life. They can also Influence people’s emotions.
Reaper – take the soul once a person is dead.
Hellion – A kind of demon that resides in the Netherworld. Quite powerful. They feed on emotions and souls.
Netherworld – Where all kinds of hellions, faeries and things live.
Avari – Hellion of greed.
Crimson creeper – A poisonous plant.
Fiend – Creepy little buggers in the Netherworld.
Proxy – Non-humans that the hellions keep alive for many years so they can snack on them.
Lampade – Exist in both worlds at once. “Liminal light” runs through their bodies like blood. Can use the light to create doorways between worlds.
Nightmare or Mara – Feeds on human energy/dear while their “victim” is asleep.
Hypnos – Feed through human energy through the barrier between the worlds. Cannot cross over from the Netherworld.
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