Illusions

by Aprilynne Pike

  “Why is everyone surprised!” Laurel said in exasperation.

  “Well, you did break up with him.”

  Laurel said nothing.

  “After Thanksgiving, I thought for sure you were going to be with Tamani.”

  “He has to watch Yuki.”

  “And if he didn’t?”

  Laurel shrugged. “I don’t know.”

  “Listen,” her mom said, turning Laurel to face her now, “there’s nothing wrong with taking time to just be yourself. I’m the last person to tell you that you need a guy to make you happy. But if you’re not moving on because you’re afraid you’ll hurt David, maybe you need to remember that you’re hurting Tamani by not moving on, and you might be hurting David by not letting him really move on. If—and I’m not saying you should choose him, but if—you really love Tamani, and you keep putting him off because of David, by the time you’re finally ready to be with him, you may find that he’s moved on. That’s all I’m going to say,” her mom finished, smiling now and turning back to the desserts, which she was piping out of a pastry bag into little edible works of art.

  “No one’s going to eat those, Mom.”

  Her mom looked down at the beautiful desserts with concern. “Why not?”

  “They’re too pretty.”

  “Just like you,” she said, leaning in to kiss Laurel’s forehead.

  A knock sounded at the door and butterflies started up in Laurel’s stomach again. She was chagrined to realize it didn’t matter who was actually at the door. They all made her nervous.

  She opened the door to find Tamani waiting on her porch. He was alone, wearing a black tux with full tails, a shimmering white vest and bow tie, and had topped it off with shiny black shoes and white dress gloves, as though headed to a white-tie affair. Despite being called a winter formal, Laurel knew that most of the guys in attendance would be, at most, wearing dress suits and ties. Tamani probably wouldn’t be the only one in a tux—David seemed to enjoy wearing them—but he would still be the most formally dressed person at the dance. In wondering whether he’d wear the wrong clothes, Laurel had not considered that he might dress too well.

  While taking in his appearance, Laurel realized that he looked almost as nervous as she felt—more than a little unusual, for Tamani. “Are you okay?”

  Tamani leaned close. “Is anyone else here yet?”

  Laurel shook her head.

  “Good.” Tamani ducked into the foyer and pushed the door shut. “Yuki asked me not to pick her up.”

  “Like, she canceled?” Laurel asked, her stomach clenching. Had she found something out?

  “No, she said she was running behind and would meet me at the dance. But something isn’t right.”

  “She knows I planned dessert. Maybe she doesn’t want to draw attention to the way she eats. I mean, she has no idea we all know what she is. Well, except Ryan. Honestly, it sounds like something I would do,” she added in a quiet voice.

  “Maybe. But she sounded . . . weird. On the phone.”

  Laurel looked up as the doorbell rang. “You have sentries watching her house?”

  Tamani nodded. “But her house is practically a fortress tonight—all curtains drawn, a sheet thrown over the front window. It just doesn’t sit right.”

  “There’s not much we can do until we find her at the dance,” Laurel whispered. She paused, then added, in an even quieter whisper, “You look incredible.”

  Tamani looked startled for a second, then he smiled. “Thanks. You look amazing too. Just like you do every day.”

  The doorbell—practically next to her ear—startled her and Laurel shooed Tamani into the kitchen. Then she opened the door to David, Ryan, and Chelsea.

  “Look at you!” Chelsea said, rushing forward to hug Laurel. She was wearing the red dress Laurel had recommended. It set off her complexion perfectly and brought out the gray in her eyes. “You look fabulous. Is this the . . . the dress you were telling me about?” she asked, her eyes flitting to Ryan for just an instant.

  “Yeah,” Laurel said, spreading the skirt a little. “I was really happy to find it.” Find it. Ha! In Avalon you literally did just find clothes in the marketplace and then take them home.

  “Well, the dance starts in, like, fifteen minutes and I was promised dessert,” Chelsea said, smiling playfully. “Ryan wouldn’t let me get dessert with my dinner, so there better be some here.”

  “Don’t listen to her,” Ryan said, pushing her gently toward the kitchen. “I told her she could have two desserts—she just didn’t take me up on it.”

  Chelsea grinned at him and they both headed toward the kitchen. Laurel looked wistfully after them. It had been hard even looking at Ryan since talking with Chelsea, knowing what was coming. He still seemed completely head over heels for her. A niggling voice in the back of her head reminded her that he had lied to Chelsea about college applications, but did he deserve being totally blindsided by a breakup because of that?

  Laurel turned to David, who had just stepped into the foyer. He was wearing a neatly cut tuxedo jacket over a black, mandarin-collared silk shirt with a shiny black button at the throat instead of a bow tie. He was different from the boy she’d met two years ago. Tonight, elegant and handsome in all black, he looked like he could take on anything.

  “Hi,” Laurel said, feeling strangely shy. He was looking at her dress and she could practically see him connecting the dots in his head. But when his eyes met hers, she couldn’t tell what he was thinking.

  “You look beautiful” was all he said.

  Laurel was a nervous wreck as David pulled into the crowded high school parking lot. Despite her calm words to Tamani, it was weird for Yuki to be so late. Especially now that their only job was to keep her out of the way until they could figure out what to do about Klea. But there was nothing to do but take David’s arm and try to appear calm as he escorted her to the front door.

  Tamani brushed past Laurel, closing the distance between himself and the gym doors in a few loping strides. Yuki was there, waiting, in a silvery formal that must have been custom made. The dress folded around her, resembling a traditional kimono, complete with a V-neck that Laurel found shockingly low-cut. But instead of heavy brocade, Yuki’s dress was a light satin with a chiffon overlay that blew around her ankles in the light evening breeze. Its top sat almost off her shoulders, with little cap sleeves that were lined with something sparkly, and a lace-covered obi wrapped around her waist and tied in an intricate knot that covered most of her back and came just high enough that her black hair, hanging in soft ringlets, brushed against it. Dramatic black lined her shining green eyes and her lips were painted a luscious red. She looked exquisite.

  “Are you okay?” Tamani asked, one hand running down her shoulder in a way that made Laurel clutch David’s arm a little tighter. There was obviously nothing wrong with her. She probably just didn’t want to admit it took her four hours to get into that thing, Laurel thought, frustrated now that Yuki had made both her and Tamani worry so much when there was clearly no reason. She was radiant in the twilight, not to mention the glow of Tamani’s attention. Her whole face lit up when he looked at her, talked to her, and it made Laurel want to slap that smile right off her face.

  Laurel forced herself to turn away from Yuki and Tamani and focus on David. He was her date tonight, after all. She took a few calming breaths as she walked into the gym on his arm. The student council had definitely outdone themselves. The ceiling was draped with black tulle that melted into cushiony piles on the floor, with icicle lights hanging every few inches so the effect was a dark sky blazing with starlight. Instead of regular folding chairs, every chair had been covered in fabric, the way Laurel occasionally saw at weddings or really nice restaurants, and there was a huge display of petits fours at the refreshment table that looked lovely, although Laurel couldn’t eat them. There were even two fans with curled ribbons tied to them to keep the air circulating as the gym filled up with people.

  �
�Wow,” David said, “this is way better than last year.”

  As a new song started up, David picked up Laurel’s hand from his arm and pulled her out toward the floor. “Come dance with me,” he said softly. He led her far onto the floor, to where the entrance was out of sight—something Laurel was quite sure was not an accident. Then his arms tightened around her and they began to sway in time with the music.

  “You really look incredible tonight,” he whispered, close to her ear.

  Laurel lowered her eyelids and smiled. “Thank you. You too. Black looks good on you.”

  “If I admit my mom helped me pick it out, will you laugh?”

  Laurel grinned. “No. Your mom has always had excellent taste. But you are the one who wears it. You get all the credit for that.”

  “Hey, I’m just glad you noticed.”

  Chapter Thirty-Five

  TAMANI HAD TO ADMIT, FOR AN INDOOR PARTY THAT lacked any Summer illusions, the humans had done a good job. He couldn’t help but smile at Yuki’s seedling-like enthusiasm as she gasped and smiled at the splendor. It was easier to be around her now, knowing she wasn’t the danger—she was just the distraction, and she might not even be aware of that. “This is amazing,” she said, her eyes twinkling with the reflected sparkle of a hundred strings of lights.

  Without saying a word, Tamani walked Yuki onto the dance floor, just at the edge, where the crowd was thinner. “You’re lovely tonight,” he said.

  Yuki looked immediately shy. “Thank you,” she said softly. “I—I hoped you would like it.”

  “Very much,” Tamani replied. That, at least, wasn’t a lie. Her dress was stunning. A different style than he’d ever seen before, but all the more beautiful for that. He forced himself not to think about what Laurel would look like in it. He shook his head a little, a physical reminder that he had other things to concentrate on. “I was sorry to not be able to pick you up,” Tamani said, his voice low enough that Yuki had to lean forward a little to hear him. He laid one hand low on her waist and ran his other all the way down her arm, then folded her hand into his and pulled her close—a traditional dance pose, rather than the strange, leaning bear-hug the humans seemed to prefer—and stepped softly to the music.

  “I’m sorry too,” Yuki said. “It . . . it couldn’t be helped.” She glanced down, and Tamani thought she looked embarrassed. Then, very quietly, she added, “I was packing.”

  Tamani felt his whole body tense. “Packing?” Of course she wouldn’t stay here alone during the winter break, Tamani chided himself. Calm down. Hopefully she had interpreted the tight squeeze of her hand as a sign of affection. He led Yuki into a spin under his arm, and then back close where she stepped evenly, expertly, matching him with a delicate grace that marked her as unmistakably fae.

  “Klea is coming for me tomorrow,” she said evenly, her voice strained, but controlled.

  “When will you be back?” Tamani asked, his voice calm. It wasn’t that unusual.

  “I . . . I—” she said, but looked down, avoiding his eyes.

  She was supposed to lie, he could tell. But he wanted the truth. In another few hours it might not matter, but for once, he wanted the truth. He tilted his face close to hers and let his cheek touch her face, his lips just brushing her ear. “Tell me,” he whispered.

  “I’m not supposed to come back at all,” she said, her voice catching.

  He pulled back, not having to fake the horror written across his face. “Never?”

  She shook her head, her eyes darting around the room as if afraid someone would catch her dropping her secret. “I don’t want to leave. Klea—she wasn’t happy that I came tonight at all, but I was not going to miss this.”

  This was an act of rebellion then—and one of which Yuki was clearly proud.

  He was silent for a moment and Yuki looked up at him, waiting for him to say something, do something. He gave himself another moment to think by pulling her close and listening to her shallow breathing as he again brushed her earlobe with his lips. “Can’t you stay?” he asked, digging now. “Won’t she listen to you?”

  “Klea doesn’t listen to anyone,” Yuki grumbled.

  He stopped now, stopped dancing entirely, letting the other couples swaying around him make room for them. He reached out a gloved hand and ran his fingers down the side of her face, her heavy lashes fluttering closed at his touch. “How far will you go?”

  “I don’t know.”

  “Back to Japan?”

  “No, no, not that far. I’m pretty sure we’re staying in California.”

  He looked over his shoulder when someone bumped him; instead of pulling Yuki in close, he led her into a graceful stretch, then held out his hand, inviting her to come near this time. She jumped at the chance, pulling herself against his chest, lifting her face up close to his as they resumed swaying. “She won’t take your cell phone, will she?” Tamani asked, his mouth only a breath away from her lips.

  “I . . . I don’t think so.”

  “Then I can call you, right? And I have a car. I could come and see you.”

  “Would you?”

  Tamani leaned just a little closer, his forehead brushing hers. “Oh, absolutely.”

  “Then I’ll figure out a way,” Yuki promised.

  “Why now?” Tamani asked, leading Yuki backward in a slow, waltz-like circle around the human dancers. Even as he pushed her for secrets and signs, she followed him easily, and he found that he enjoyed dancing with her. “Can’t you stay till Christmas? It’s only a few more days.”

  Yuki shook her head. “I can’t. It’s . . . not a good idea.”

  “Why?” Tamani asked, injecting a hint of longing into his voice, hoping he wasn’t prodding too hard.

  “I—” Her gaze faltered and she looked down again. “Klea says it’s too dangerous.”

  The music changed and Tamani led her a little faster now, into a series of more complicated steps. Take her mind off her mouth, Tamani thought to himself. “I don’t want you to go,” he whispered.

  Yuki’s face lifted, her eyes soft. “Really?”

  Tamani forced himself not to grit his teeth. “There’s something different about you.”

  Her expression was momentarily guarded, but she smiled his words away. “I’m not different. I’m just a regular person.”

  She was pretty good. But Tamani had been lying since before her sprout opened its petals. “No,” he said sweetly, pulling her tight against his body, feeling her erratic breathing as he did. “You’re special. I can tell. There’s something amazing about you.” He laid his cheek right on hers now, and felt her hand tremble in his. “And I can’t wait to find out more.”

  Yuki smiled and opened her mouth to say something, but Tamani felt his phone buzzing in his pocket.

  “Just a sec,” Tamani muttered, pulling his phone out just enough that he could see the display. Sure enough, Aaron’s number was lit up on the screen. Tamani looked up at Yuki and apologized with his eyes. “It’s my uncle. I’ll be right back.” He squeezed her hand. “Why don’t you go get something to drink?” He smiled at her for another second before walking quickly from the dance floor.

  “I’m really glad I came with you,” Laurel said, looking up at David.

  “Really?”

  “Yeah. It was good to clear the air. I—” She paused. “You have to know that I hadn’t planned to break up with you. It just happened.”

  “I do know that. But I was so riled up. You were justified.”

  “I kinda was, wasn’t I?”

  David rolled his eyes. “I’ll do better,” he said. “If you’ll just give me a chance.”

  “David—”

  “I’m going to keep hoping,” David said, raising her hand up to his lips and kissing her knuckles.

  Laurel couldn’t help but smile. Over David’s shoulder, she noticed Tamani striding out of the gym, his phone held to his ear, his face unreadable. “Something’s happening,” Laurel said. “I’ll be right back.”
>
  Trying not to draw too much attention to herself, Laurel followed Tamani out into the lobby.

  “You raided without me?” Tamani whispered, his eyes darting left and right as he backed into a dark corner, locking eyes with Laurel for a brief instant as she approached. “Well, I’m glad you’re still alive. Goddess only knows what could have happened. What was in there?”

  “We raided because I knew you wouldn’t be able to join us.” Shar’s voice sounded in Tamani’s ear. Through Aaron’s phone. Apparently Shar had “forgotten” his iPhone back in the forest. His human trinket. “I told you—you’ve been spreading yourself too thin.”

  “You had no right—”

  “I had every right. I am in command here, though you seem happy to forget that when it’s convenient to you.”

  Tamani clenched his teeth; when it came to matters concerning Laurel, chain of command was not the only consideration, and Shar knew it. “What did you find?” he asked emotionlessly.

  “It was empty, Tamani.”

  David walked up and stood beside Laurel.

  “Empty?” Tamani asked in disbelief. “What do you mean, empty?”

  “Well, not completely empty. The trolls we chased down are still here.”

  “A month later?”

  “I didn’t say they were alive.”

  “Dead?”

  “One looks like it starved to death. But not before eating part of the other one. The stench was . . . well, let’s just say I’m not going to be able to smell properly for a long time.”

  “Why didn’t they just leave?”

  “They must have seen us, known they were surrounded. It was death if they left and I was more patient than they were.” He coughed. “Earth and sky, but they reek.”

  Tamani sighed. He had several choice words for Shar, but now was not the time. “Well, thanks for letting me know, I suppose. If you’ll excuse me, I have a job to get back to.” Without saying good-bye he pulled the phone away from his ear and jabbed at the End Call button on his screen, once, twice. Blighted glove! Suppressing a growl, he bit down on the middle finger of his glove and yanked it off, poking hard at the phone to hang it up. He looked up at Laurel and David.