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I’m surprised he doesn’t want to take the elevator. Noah’s nervousness rubs off on me, and I wonder if all this has something to do with the conversation between Mr. Collins andMr. Cunningham that I overheard.
A cool breeze greets us as we leave the hospital. Yoru is instantly at my side. He must sense my tension, but maybe he also senses danger. He positions himself in front of me, very close, and seems reluctant to stray too far from me. To my astonishment, I also see Rain lurking at the corner of a building. The key spirits must be anxious if they’re sticking so close to us, which can’t mean anything good.
“Do the Tempes and the Noctu know about us? Is that the reason you’re acting so strange?” I ask.
Noah frowns and runs his hand through his hair. “What? No, that’s not it. At least not that I’m aware. No, I don’t think anyone’s found out about us – not yet anyway.” He meets my eye. He looks sad and extremely worried.
“What is it then?”
Noah gulps and says, “It’s about my last mission. I... I made a mistake, and if I’m not careful, you’ll be the one who pays for it. I... I should have just...”
“Damn it, Noah!” I interrupt. “I don’t know what you’re talking about. Just tell me what happened!”
“He’s talking about me, or trying to.”
When I hear the voice, I turn around in horror. Out of the corner of my eye I see the color drain from Noah’s face. As if that’s not already cause for concern, I also see Yoru baring his teeth and assuming an aggressive stance as he lets out a low growl.
A girl is standing not far away, her right hand on her hip and a challenging look in her eyes. Her long brown hair is whipped up by the wind, and it looks like an inferno is raging in her brown eyes, about to annihilate everyone and everything. Her lips are narrow, making the smirk on them look especially wide. She’s wearing a large gray sweater that slouches off her naked shoulder. Her slender legs are encased in leggings and she’swearing black Doc Martens.
“Frances,” Noah says in a horrified whisper, moving a few steps closer to her. “How many times do I have to tell you not to sneak around after me?! It’s...”
“So this is what you’ve been trying to hide from me the whole time?!” Her eyes wander in my direction, and she spits out the next words with a hiss of contempt. “A Tempes. She must be, judging by what I just heard. Or are you going to prove me wrong by transforming your key spirit? I’ll bet anything it’s not surrounded by black smoke like a Noctu’s.”
There’s no point in denying it. Noah and I are busted!
“I figured it must be something bad, but this?” She shakes her head in disbelief. “Noah, what’s going on?” She looks at me again, this time with utter revulsion.
Noah instinctively positions himself in front of me, shielding me with his body.
The girl’s eyes widen, and she gasps, interpreting the situation correctly. “You actually care about her, don’t you?”
“Frances, I keep telling you to stay out of my life. You have to stop following me and spying on me.”
“I only did that because I knew you were trying to hide something from me. I always felt like you were holding something back – especially when we talked about the Tempes. You never let me get close to you. And you kept staring at your phone the whole time. And don’t think I didn’t notice you running off in the middle of the night. I just wasn’t fast enough.”
I raise my eyebrows and look at Noah in amazement.
She saw him go out to meet me the night Max got really drunk? That means she must live with him. Who the hell is she?
I take a closer look at her and realize that she’s a little younger than me. 14 or 15 would be my guess. What does he want with this girl?
“Stop staring at me, Tempes girl,” she hisses. “Don’t think I’mnot capable of tearing you to pieces. But first, I want some answers.”
“That makes two of us,” I mutter.
Noah runs his hand nervously through his hair and says, “This is Frances Height. She... she was my last mission.”
I stare at him, speechless, and then at her.
A cold, arrogant sneer appears on her lips, and my blood runs cold.
So she’s the reason he was away for so long.
Chapter 17
Iwas sent away to test Frances,” Noah explains. “My mission was to find out whether she was a suitable candidate to be a Noctu warrior.”
That means she hasn’t been with them long. Maybe that’s an advantage, although I’m not sure how this situation could turn out well for me! I can see clearly from Frances’ expression that she wants me dead, and she’s probably only hesitating for one reason: she wants answers from me. She wants to know why Noah came to see me and what kind of relationship we have.
