“Um, no.”
She gripped my arm. “It’s wonderful, like walking into a house and smelling homemade cookies. He doesn’t do it a lot, but every so often he’ll be in one of his moods, and I’ll just snuggle up next to him the moment he starts up his motor. He also does my hair. I’m sure Claude wouldn’t mind if you asked him to cut or dye yours, although I think it’s pretty just the way it is. Maybe a few inches to clean up the split ends.”
“Thanks, Gem. I don’t mean about my hair, but for making me feel better.”
“I didn’t want you to come out here and sulk alone. It’s not easy being the new kid on the block. It’s lonely. Blue’s more reserved, and our personalities don’t blend. We get along okay, but we don’t hang out a whole lot. Her experience is a lot different than mine since she’s a Shifter. I feel more comfortable talking to you, so I’ve decided we’re going to be best friends.”
It almost made me want to look around to see if this was a practical joke. I’d never met anyone so forthright and vibrantly positive. She also seemed a touch nosy, so I decided to make it a point to sit on a different area of the roof at night so she wouldn’t be wondering what I was doing up there.
“You have really tall shoes,” I said, staring at her chunky boots.
Gem stood up and hopped to the ground, hands on her hips. “A girl my size needs all the boost she can get.”
“What’s your Mage gift?”
She kicked an acorn, and it tumbled across the concrete and disappeared into the grass. “I’m a Blocker.”
“Blocker…”
Her brows rose. “You really don’t know much, do you? I don’t mean that in a bad way, but most Creators teach their Learners the basics. It’s a rare gift, and it just means I can block other gifts, kind of like I have a big ol’ force field around me or something. A Mentalist can’t read my mind, a Charmer can’t seduce me—it’s a form of protection.”
I wondered if I could pull core light from her. Did she know all her limitations? In any case, that was a useful gift for a Mage to have.
She snapped her fingers a few times, light sparking between her fingertips as she looked around. “We better go inside. I feel a storm coming. I’ll race you!”
“Only if you run regular speed.”
Gem took off, her duster flapping in the wind behind her. I couldn’t help myself; I raced behind her, and although she might have used a little flashing to keep my pace, I still beat her by an inch.
* * *
“Idon’t seewhat’s wrong with the clothes I have,” I complained, holding up a black shirt.
Gem replaced it with a red one. “There’s nothing wrong with your clothes; you just don’t have enough of them. Viktor pays us good money, so treat yourself. Ooh, this one’s pretty.”
“I don’t do pretty.”
“Look at the sheen on it. You have to get a few nice things in case he sends us to a party or something.”
“It doesn’t sound like he’s going to be sending me anywhere in the near future, let alone a party.” I looked around at row after row in the consignment shop and realized if I didn’t start filling my basket, we were going to be here until the next ice age. “Fine. I’ll get the shirt, but I draw the line at sequins.”
Gem added the blouse to the basket and veered off toward the handbags. When she held up one that had a purple butterfly in rhinestones, I knew I probably wouldn’t see her for another thirty minutes.
“Enjoying yourself?” Niko asked.
“I guess. I’ve decided to let Gem pick out my clothes so when Viktor decides to give me the boot, I can just leave them with her. My bag won’t fit all this.”
A woman across from me flashed her eyes up at Niko for the second time, as if she were mentally chanting for him to make eye contact with her. I hooked my arm in his and led him away.
“Do you always wear black?” I asked him.
Even Christian had color in his wardrobe, and I only knew that because I’d peeked in his drawers before leaving his room that morning and spied a few beige shirts and other muted colors. I’d been curious what Vampires kept in their rooms, and it was his fault for having left me alone in there.
“It makes it easier to dress myself,” he said matter-of-factly, resting his hand against a nude mannequin. “I don’t have to worry about looking like a fool in public.”
“No, you don’t,” I said, pulling his grip away from the mannequin’s boob. “Let’s go outside. I’ll buy you an ice cream cone.”
“What about Gem?”
