Page 116 of You’re So Vein

“Very funny. I’ve been thinking about the election tomorrow. I’m going to pull out of the race.”

“No, you’re not. Because I’m pulling out.”

She frowns. “You can’t do that. Argleton needs you. Between Alaric and Winnie’s wedding and Sanctus Estate, this village walks a tightrope. Your people need you to be a voice on the village council. The mayor has to be able to work with both sides.”

“And that’s precisely why you should be mayor, not me.”

“Don’t worry, I’ll still be there at every meeting as tourism board chair, demanding you give me a decent budget to make the Historically Inaccurate Heritage Festival a success.”

I groan. “Not that absurd festival again.”

“Hannah will love it. Especially if she could run a stall selling bedazzled scarves.”

“What about your father?” I ask. “It means so much to him that you’re running.”

“One thing a certain vampire keeps telling me is that I shouldn’t make choices just because they make other people happy,” Komal says, although her lip wobbles a little.

“I don’t like this,” I say. “You worked so hard. The app is brilliant. The village needs someone like you, someone with whimsy. You can’t pull out. I’m pulling out first.”

“Fine. Why don’t we leave it up to fate?” Komal suggests.

“Works for me. That’s as good as saying that you’ve won. Fate’s been unkind to me.”

“I don’t know about that. Fate brought you to Argleton, didn’t it?” Komal grins. “Fate set you on a path to collide with me. I think that’s turned out perfectly. We’ve both run a good campaign. We both have great ideas. Let’s allow the democratic process to play out and no matter who wins, we’ll work together, have loud shouting matches at town meetings, and shag in the stationery cupboard afterwards. With the light on.”

“How barren and monotonous my life would be without you in it to vex me.”

“So we agree.” She leans over and kisses me, long and slow and sinfully. “Fate decides. And no matter what the world throws at us, no matter who or what comes after us, we stand together. You, me and Hannah.”

A lump of emotion rises in my throat. For all of Hannah’s life, I’ve wished for things I couldn’t possibly give her – a normal childhood, friends, and a mother. And then, there were the things I wished for myself, during those hard, lonely moments in the night when I lost hope.

The thought that this remarkable, brave, impossible woman has a place in her heart for us, that she sees more in me than I ever thought there was to see, fills me with the warmth of a long-forgotten sun.

“Be brave and wonderful and safe out there,” I whisper against her lips. “Your family needs you. You will be okay alone in the darkness?”

She glances up at the star-dappled sky, and fists her spell bag. “Tonight, I’m not afraid.”

I watch her walk away down the path, worrying about her in the darkness while licking my lips, savouring the taste of her that still lingers. I don’t like Komal walking alone at night, but I also prefer not to leave Hannah alone for long. I don’t like choosing between them, but Komal is at least a grown woman, and an ex-soldier. Nevermore Coven members are always more dangerous than they appear.

I watch until she disappears around the corner. I listen until her footsteps are but echoes. Then I turn back towards the house.

I take only three steps before a figure leaps out of the shadows in front of me.

“What are you—”

The words are driven from me as the shadow slams into me. I’m spun about, taken by surprise. I’ve never been attacked before. I don’t much care for it.

A pungent smell, like flowers soaked in urine, hits my nostrils.

CRACK.

My back slams into the trunk of an ancient oak. Splinters fly in all directions. I flail at the shadow, trying to grasp it. Something flashes across my eyeline. Not a creature. A strange machine with two sharp, wet needles.

I twist away, and the machine slams into the trunk of the tree behind me, getting stuck. I whirl around, lunging for my assailant, but they dodge out of my way, reaching for the machine.

“Augie, what’s going on?” Hannah calls out from the house. “I hear something.”

“Go back inside!” I yell.