A few minutes later he leans his forehead on mine. ‘Are you sure you want to do this? The Moon Harvest… it’s not going to be nice to see. Plus, I’m worried about your safety.’
‘I know.’ I don’t, really. And my nerves are starting to get to me, my legs shaking. ‘Are – are we going straight there?’
He shakes his head. ‘It won’t start till midnight, after the fireworks.’
‘Midnight? It’s barely nine-thirty – where are we going first? To meet the rebels?’
He laughs. ‘I don’t know any rebels. But I do know where you can have an authentic human experience.’
‘But—’
‘Hush.’ He kisses me again. ‘This is what you want, isn’t it?’
He starts towards the guardhouse and I grab his arm. ‘What are you doing?’
‘Trust me.’
I swallow, summoning my courage. And follow him to the guardhouse.
He knocks on the door three times. It opens a crack and I glimpse someone’s eye. It opens further to reveal a guard in Raven livery. He shakes Kyle’s hand.
‘You made it, then?’ He bows to me. ‘My lady.’
I nod, but don’t say anything, fear cold in my stomach. What the hell is going on? The guard turns his attention back to Kyle. ‘Our deal holds?’
‘It does. I’ll keep your secret, if you keep mine.’
His secret?
As my eyes adjust I see a black shape further inside the room. It resolves into a young woman, with long black hair like mine. She’s wearing a short sparkly dress, a leather jacket slung over one shoulder. Traces of glitter shimmer along her décolletage and arms.
Kyle touches my arm. ‘Right. You two need to swap outfits.’
My mouth drops open. ‘Are you mad? This is your plan? My parents?—’
‘Aren’t here.’
‘But Bertrand?—’
‘Is busy elsewhere. You made sure of that, right?’ He addresses the other guard, who nods. Kyle puts his arm around me. ‘I’ll keep you safe, I promise.’
I bite my lip. This is madness. The girl is waiting, her dress glimmering like fireflies. The guard has his arms folded. Whatever happens next is up to me. I was the one who asked for this, after all. So, I can choose to trust Kyle, or I can go back to the velvet confines of the house. And then Kyle will probably never take me anywhere again, and all my plans will mean nothing. I gather up the last remnants of my courage. ‘Okay.’
‘Come with me.’ The girl’s voice is low and husky. She turns away, her long black hair swinging.
I follow her through the darkness into another room. There’s a candle-lamp on the small table, a welcome glow of light. The girl closes the door, then drops her leather jacket on the single wooden chair. She slides down the straps of her dress, revealing a black lace bra.
I just stand there. This feels weird and wrong.
She stops what she’s doing. ‘Can I have your shirt?’
I swallow. ‘Um, sure. Yeah.’ I slide my arms out of my jacket. I’m keeping that, I don’t care what Kyle says. It’s my favourite.
‘Is something wrong?’ She tilts her head. There’s more glitter on her, running down her bare stomach and, I see as she steps out of the dress, some on her inner thighs. A blood dancer. Not one of ours, though.
‘It’s fine.’ I unbutton my shirt and slip it off, not looking at her. There’s a rustle of fabric and the sparkly dress hits me on the arm. I fumble, managing to catch it before it drops.
‘I couldn’t believe it when Nick told me what we were doing tonight. Are you excited about going out?’
