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It was horrible, hearing Rusty’s voice shift into caginess. Rusty was always so simple, as if he couldn’t be bothered to be complicated. The idea that even Rusty was keeping secrets from her was a terrible one. She thought about the Montgomerys moving to Sorry-in-the-Vale, a place where they knew nobody and clearly were not very happy. She thought about Henry Thornton, a sorcerer who had come down to Sorry-in-the-Vale from the city.
“What do you know, Rusty?” Kami asked, dropping the pretense that this was an ordinary conversation. Her voice sounded tinny and desperate in her own ears.
“What do you know?” Rusty shot back, his voice harsher than she’d ever heard it, a man’s voice, not a lazy, charming boy’s. “I don’t know what’s safe to tell you. I don’t want to tell any of Angela’s secrets.”
So, Angela had secrets.
Kami wasn’t even curious; she just felt sick. “Rusty,” she pleaded, “she’s my best friend.”
“I know,” Rusty told her. “But she’s my sister.”
Kami stared at the murky underwater green of the bathroom tiles.
“Maybe you should come over,” Rusty suggested. His voice sounded normal again, which was even more disorienting.
There was a knot in Kami’s throat, tightening with her fear, like a snared animal who only drew the snare tighter by struggling. “Why would I come over if Angela’s not there?”
“Come on, Cambridge. You’re my friend too.” It was the nickname that made her hang up so abruptly she found herself startled by the sudden emptiness in her ear. She couldn’t stand to hear that pet name turned against her.
The phone rang while it was still pressed against her ear. The sound made Kami jump. She turned the phone off with shaking hands and slid it into the pocket of her jeans. She didn’t want to stay in the bathroom, so she turned on her heel and left.
The first thing she saw was Ash, walking down the corridor toward her, his head bowed. The lights in the classrooms were out, only the fluorescent lights overhead illuminating their school at all. In the shadows and stark light, Ash looked more like Jared than ever.
It wasn’t just the light, Kami thought as she drew closer to Ash. It was seeing Ash through new eyes. The first time she’d met him, she’d noticed how perfectly put together he was, always saying the right thing, looking the right way, every word and movement controlled. She had admired that. She hadn’t thought it meant he was hiding something.
But now she knew everyone was hiding something.
Ash’s calm blue eyes were shadowed, dark as the lakes where Jared had almost drowned. He was walking too fast, as though he wanted to get away from something.
Kami kept walking toward him. “Ash?” she said. “What’s wrong?”
Ash blinked and checked his own step. Kami reached him and stood staring up at him. He stood with the lockers in a metallic line at his back, and the look on his face sent a ripple of unease through her.
“Ash,” Kami said urgently, “tell me. I’ll help you.”
Ash stayed frozen, gazing down at her. Then he leaned down and kissed her. His mouth was sudden and hot against hers, catching the gasp of surprise she made. He grabbed her wrists, pulling her toward him and against his body fast. It wasn’t at all like their last kiss. This wasn’t sweet or romantic.
Kami had heard of having your breath taken away, but she’d never lost hers before. It was partly that it was so fast and she was so surprised, and it was partly something else. The kiss went deeper and he let go of her wrists, and she found herself sliding her fingers into his hair, stroking and trying to soothe. He drew away and looked into her face, eyes beseeching, as if he had a question and needed the right answer.
Kami, a little dazed, had a question of her own. “Why did you do that?”
That was clearly not the answer Ash had been searching for. He stepped away from her. Kami’s hand fell from his hair.
“Isn’t it obvious?” he asked, then he pushed past her and walked away.
No, Kami wanted to shout after him. No, it wasn’t. She wanted to run after him and demand answers herself. She let him go, the front doors of the school swinging open to let him pass, everything in Sorry-in-the-Vale made to obey the sorcerer. The doors fell closed behind him, one last slant of sunlight falling across the floor.
Kami was still trembling, cold all over except for her mouth. It had been obvious Ash was in search of some sort of comfort. She didn’t know how much of her response to him had been about who he looked like, not who he was, and that was a terrible thing to find yourself doubting. It was a terrible thing to do to anyone.
Kami had a wall up automatically between Jared and these thoughts, but there hadn’t been a wall during the kiss. So everything was even more complicated than it was already. Everything was always more complicated because of this terrible link.
Kami could feel Jared’s emotions, so tangled that even he wasn’t sure which one was prevalent, jealousy or anger or confusion, as he recognized that she’d responded to the kiss. Kami did not know what to say to him.
The door of the school creaked open again. Kami looked up from the floor. She saw fingers of shadow creep in, like the shadow of a giant’s hand. As she watched, everything the shadow touched was consumed by its darkness.
Jared! Kami screamed silently. She backed away and the darkness came inexorably closer, taking pieces of the corridor in sharp hungry gulps. It was as though Kami’s world was made of paper and someone was hacking at it with a vast pair of scissors.
Kami backed up another step, breath sobbing in her throat. She knew Jared was coming for her, running, but he was sure to come too late. Her back met the cold wall, and she felt Jared reach for her in his mind. It was all he could do.
