In his mind, I do.
My gut still pinches with apprehension before my resolve overwhelms it. Jaw clenched, I turn my phone right off.
They say it’s better to beg forgiveness than ask permission, right? How unfortunate that my phone “ran out of battery” right before he called.
A twinge runs through the damaged nerves in my neck and shoulder.
Whatever. If he gets pissed off at me, I can take it. The job I’ve given myself is more important than any stupid power play he’s making.
I dig back into my bag of crackers. The rain gradually peters out until all I hear is the occasional plop of a drip against the magical barrier. I leave my conjured shelter in place, because it really sucks to get one of those drops right in the face when you’re not expecting it, and also because the magic is concealing me from view as well.
Probably whoever owns the yard this tree is in wouldn’t be so keen on me hanging out in the branches. People can be ridiculously uptight about that kind of thing.
The lamp glow reflects off the puddles scattering the road below. One of the lights blinks off in Elodie’s house, and then another.
I gulp the last couple of crackers and shove the crumpled bag in my other back pocket. Don’t leave evidence behind: Criminal Activity 101.
The movement sends another brief twinge through my neck. I roll my shoulders, debating how long I want to keep up my watch.
The house probably does have the best security system of any place in this city—even better after what happened to Elodie last week. I heard her dad laying into the headmaster about the academy’s fuck-up. He doesn’t want anything else happening to his little girl.
Once everyone’s asleep and there’s no chance of comings and goings, she should be safe until tomorrow morning. Annoying as it is, I do have to sleep occasionally myself.
Another light goes out, so there’s only one left on the third floor. A silhouette passes the window, but the puffy cloud of hair tells me it’s not Elodie. Must be the woman I’ve seen in the garden a couple of times—her aunt, I think.
I’m about ready to call it a night when another movement at the side of the house catches my eye.
A figure in a black shirt and leggings eases onto a second-floor window ledge—and then jumps to the ground.
I jerk upright with a jolt of alarm, but Elodie slips into view between the hedges a moment later. She hurries off down the street, staying close to the shadows of the yards, clutching one strap of a small black backpack. She’s tied her hair in a bun at the back of her neck, but the lamplight glints off the purple streaks amid the darker strands.
That girl is full of surprises.
If she’s going for stealth, I don’t know why she hasn’t cloaked herself in a concealment spell like I have. But I can’t complain, since if she had, I wouldn’t know she’d left.
Where the hell is she going at half past ten on a Monday night, dressed like a cat burglar?
Time to find out.
Pulling my own concealing shell of ephemera with me, I jump down from the tree and head after her.
I keep far enough behind her that it’s not likely she’d hear my footsteps even if my hold on the magic wobbles. Thankfully she stays on foot, so it’s easy to keep pace.
She walks briskly, barely making a sound, but once we’re several blocks away from her house, she doesn’t seem at all worried about being seen.
A grin crosses my face. I’m about to find out some secret most people don’t know about her.
It’s only fair after how well she’s seen me.
She takes a few abrupt turns, and my heart pounds faster until I come around the corner and spot her up ahead. I don’t dare get any closer, though. She’s a sharp one.
After weaving vaguely east through her swanky neighborhood for a while, she veers away from the houses. All along the far side of the next road, trees loom ominously in the darkness.
The big swath of parkland at the edge of primo lucent territory stretches along the river on a twisted path right down the center of the city. What would be going on there tonight that Elodie would be interested in?
Maybe it’s only a shortcut?
Curiosity and apprehension jangle through my nerves side by side as I stay on track behind her. She reaches one of the paved paths leading between the trees and turns down it.
