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“That is so. . . amazing,” I said when we finally sat back on the picnic bench. I stroked my hand through the air, watching it shimmer, aware that this light-hearted feeling was exactly what I’d been struggling to find. “How did you figure that out?”
“Just messing around, when I was boy. ” Seb sat beside me as I played with the silver glow; he looked delighted at my delight. “We weren’t allowed to talk in the orphanage at night – I’d lie in bed doing that instead. ” He lowered his voice confidingly. “The other boys thought I was very strange. ”
A flash of my elementary school playground: a group of girls standing in a cluster, whispering and giving me hard looks. I nodded ruefully. “Join the club. I freaked people out a lot when I was little. I thought everyone was psychic; I didn’t understand why people got upset when I told them things. ” I glanced at Seb with a smile, wishing more than ever that we’d known each other as children. I wouldn’t have cared about the playground at all back then, if I’d had him as a friend. We could have just sat under the jungle gym and been weird together.
Seb’s expression had turned warm as he looked at me. He started to say something else, then we both looked up as the back door opened and Alex poked his head out. My heart leaped – I’d hardly seen him all day; he must be finished with the security stuff for the night.
A flicker of resignation showed on Alex’s face to find Seb and me out here together; then he smiled. “Hey,” he said, walking over to us with his hands in his back pockets.
“How’s it going with Kara?” I asked as he sat up on the tabletop beside me. I had a feeling he wanted to put his arm around me but was restraining himself; it would seem too much like This is my girlfriend, back off. Meanwhile, I could practically feel Seb closing off, becoming aloof and watchful.
“Not great,” admitted Alex, touching his forehead. “She keeps getting video footage that shows a number or two, but not the whole thing. We can’t even tell how many digits there are yet; people’s hands and fingers are always in the way. ”
I knew; I’d seen a lot of the footage. “Are you sure I can’t help?” I said, touching his leg. “I could try looking through the videos again. ”
“Maybe,” said Alex. He knew as well as I did that I didn’t get anything psychically from film – it felt totally cold and flat to me. It was similar for Seb; though he could see auras on film, he didn’t get much else. “But I think we’re just going to have to keep trying to piece it all together,” Alex went on. “Brendan’s making a spreadsheet that might help. Oh, and Kara said the church map is a lot more accurate now,” he added to Seb. “So thanks for that. ”
Seb nodded. “Anytime. ”
A silence fell. I racked my brains for something else to say, but it felt like a lost cause. Conversation did not exactly flow when these two were together. Finally, Seb rose in an easy motion. “Maybe I’ll go read for a while,” he said. He glanced at me. “Remember what I said. Don’t practise any more tonight, okay?”
I made a face; I’d been planning on trying again that night in the dorm, once the others were asleep. “Seb, I feel like maybe I could really do it now—”
“No, just relax,” he broke in firmly. “Tomorrow’s soon enough. ”
It was frustrating, but I knew he was probably right – I needed to savour just being friendly with my aura for a change, before plunging back into trying again. “Yes, okay,” I said with a sigh.
“See you in the morning,” he said, his eyes gentle. I sensed him almost add “querida” and stop himself just in time; felt his flash of humour that almost had me smiling too, though it shouldn’t have. “Goodnight,” he added to Alex.
“Night,” said Alex.
Once Seb had gone inside, Alex put his arm around me, kissing my head. “Hey, you,” he murmured into my hair. I could feel that he was glad Seb had left. Though I was happy to be alone too, I wanted to say, You know, you and Seb could get along if you just gave each other a chance. Except I wasn’t really sure it was true. They were both such strong personalities – Seb in his quiet way, and Alex in his direct one – and neither liked being pushed around.
I caught myself; time alone with Alex was too rare to spend it thinking about Seb. I wrapped my arms around him, slipping a hand under his T-shirt and caressing the smoothness of his skin – relishing how my fingers glided over the warmth of him. “Remember the cabin?” I said after a while. “What the sunrise was like there?”
There’d been a few times at our refuge in the mountains when we’d stayed up all night talking, then sat outside with the sleeping bags draped around our shoulders, watching the sun come up – pink and golden fingers that edged up the peaks like fire from within. The memory made me wistful. I’d known then how lucky we were to have that time together, but I’d had no idea how soon it would be before we hardly even got a chance to talk.
“Of course I remember. ” Alex kissed my neck. “We’ll go back someday, Willow. I mean it. If we defeat the Council. . . ”
He stopped. I felt the worry grip him again; the grim tension that was never far away. I hugged him hard, wishing desperately I could say something that would help. We had less than two weeks now – and whether we managed to get further security details or not, we were going to have to enter the Torre Mayor and make some kind of attempt against the Twelve.
We. Because mentally, I was including myself in the attack. I’d learn to change my aura in time if it killed me.
“What are you thinking?” Alex had pulled away slightly, watching me with a considering smile. “You look like you’ve got a million thoughts whirring around in there. ” He tapped my brow.
I smiled. “Maybe not quite a million. ” I wasn’t about to tell Alex. He was already worried sick about all this; there was no point adding to it until I knew how to disguise my aura at will. I was just glad he wasn’t psychic – he’d have picked up on what I was planning in about two seconds, the same as Seb had. I thought of the steady look that had been in Seb’s eyes, that moment in the basement. We hadn’t discussed the issue out loud yet – it didn’t really feel necessary; we both knew exactly how the other felt.
Without trying, I got a sudden image of him. He was sprawled on his bed reading a book – I could picture him so vividly that I could see the Spanish title on its front cover; the brown hair falling over his forehead in those loose curls that I knew drove him crazy. The image made me smile; he looked so engrossed. I closed it away as quickly as it had come. I don’t know when I’d first realized that I could sense Seb’s whereabouts when he wasn’t around – somehow it just felt natural to know where he was.
Why was I thinking about Seb again? I pushed him away, irritated, and studied Alex’s face in the faint glow of the street lights – its strong, beautiful lines. I kissed his nose. “You have a very nice nose, are you aware of this fact?”
He laughed for the first time in days, warming me like a hot drink on a winter’s evening. “No, I can’t say that I am. I don’t think my nose has ever gotten a compliment before. ”
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