Did she come all the way out here because she was afraid of getting caught otherwise? Snap pics as some kind of insurance?
Or maybe, if she stepped up to dealing too, she was scoping out competition?
The dealer hasn’t spared me more than a fleeting glance. I don’t think he recognizes me.
So either she was really sneaky about any drug-related activities here, or his presence could simply be a coincidence and she was interested in something else about this spot that I can’t identify.
After watching a while longer, I turn and walk toward home. It’s quite a hike from here, but I’m too restless to call for a ride just yet. Maybe the exercise will jumpstart something in my brain.
As I pass the low-rise apartments and dingy office buildings, the names on the street signs start to tug at my memory.
In my reality, Asher and Cole’s house wasn’t far from here.
My steps slow with conflicted reluctance.
I’m supposed to be avoiding the men who’d have been Other Elodie’s matches. Being around them only rattles me when I need to stay focused.
But maybe in this one case, I’ll be able to concentrate better if I can see more of the life Asher is still living. The life my Asher never got, because I killed him.
A reminder of how much better off he’s been here, without this version of me.
Swallowing hard, I take one turn and then another, weaving through the streets.
There’s the sidewalk café where we sometimes grabbed a coffee and croissant when we were feeling extravagant.There’s the shabby Victorian converted into a temple for the Holy Radiance worshippers, with the saccharine scent of the radiators’ incense wafting from behind the gold-sheened curtains.
As I get closer to my destination, I reach out to the ephemera collected in the pavement beneath my feet, the rusting wrought-iron fences, the straggly trees shading the even stragglier lawns, and the flowers blooming in patchy gardens. My work with Uncle Nik gave me a lot of practice with certain kinds of illusionary spells that I never told Byron or my other matches about.
I shape the energy I’ve drawn toward me into a sort of veil around my body. The next time I pass someone, their gaze slides right through me.
It’s a mix of camouflage and misdirection, blending me into my surroundings and diverting attention simultaneously. I’ve slipped past armed guards and protective details with this particular technique.
As I cross the street to Asher’s block, a whiff of a more delicate fragrance reaches my nose. My pulse hiccups.
I look at an all-too-familiar Sakura tree, its boughs dangling pink buds that are just starting to unfurl into pale flowers. A spot of beauty amid a lot of dreariness.
I think that’s why Asher always stopped me here when we’d walk together.
He halts and runs his hand through his hair, turning the fawn-brown waves even more rumpled. His usual warm smile goes slightly crooked. “Well, I’d better get home.”
I smile back at him to show I’m not offended. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”
We’ve done this dance so often. I don’t know why it’s bothering Asher more than usual today.
His mouth twists tighter. Instead of the usual goodbye, he blurts out, “I will invite you over sometime. Soon. It’s not that I wouldn’t want you at my house.”
He’s been over at my and Mom’s apartment dozens of times. Just this weekend she told him how nice it was having him around. Maybe that’s what’s gotten to him.
“It’s okay,” I tell him, meaning it. “I know your brother isn’t all that keen on me, and it’s kind of weird when he’s my professor—it’s no big deal.”
“It is. He hardly knows you, Lo. He shouldn’tmakeit weird.”
The biggest problem isn’t the professor part, and we both know that.
I try to turn it into a joke. “He’s still holding out for you to make friends with the better quality of classmates you’ve got access to now.”
Asher grimaces at my light tone. “Don’t talk like that. You are absolutely the best quality friend there is.”
I can’t restrain a snort. “But, I mean, youcouldbe rubbing shoulders with the Ridleys or the Hearsts or?—”
