Now You See Me

Sixteen: Diner Demon

"She said yes."

I looked up from the book Feila had lent me and stared at Courtney in surprise.

"She did?"

Courtney grinned and nodded, coming into the room and taking the seat beside me, which was drawn away from the table because Lorien had just left it. "Well, I say she did, but it was actually Feila that turned it in your favour," she added. "She thought your nightmare could've been from being cooped up for too long and persuaded Leia to rethink."

"Remind me to thank her later."

Courtney giggled, and tugged down the skirt on her turtleneck dress. She'd made a real effort with her appearance.

"You look nice today," I told her after a slightly awkward pause. "What's the occasion?"

"You think so?" Courtney blushed. "Thanks, Damien. There isn't really an occasion; I just haven't worn this in a while."

"Oh, okay. As long as you aren't dragging me to some posh restaurant while I'm dressed like this." I picked at my baggy plaid shirt and sent a pointed look at the tear on the knee of my jeans. "I was thinking more a sandwich bar in a dark corner."

Courtney rolled her eyes. "I'm not dragging you anywhere; you were the one who was moaning about cabin fever."

"That's not what I meant and you know it."

We grinned at each other. I put a marker in the book and placed it on the table before draining the last of my tea.

"Do you need a bath before we go?"

I looked at the red patches between my fingers and frowned. "I probably ought to."

"Off you go, then."

I was almost at the landing when Marilyn's feet appeared in my field of vision. I hadn't seen her since yesterday; Leia had briefly mentioned something about her sulking in her room following her Maker Lucien's telling-off. After my terrible night I'd slept through the whole thing, but had woken up in time to hear Marilyn's door slam along the corridor.

I didn't have high hopes for a friendly exchange.

She bumped my shoulder on the way past, lightly. When I turned to glare at her, she sent a perfect poker face back, half-concealed by her hair. She watched me as she walked to the dining room, only looking away when she went through the doorway.

I shuddered, wishing that of all people, she hadn't picked me. I had enough on my plate without a sociopathic teenage vampire trying her utmost to scare me.

And she was succeeding, damn it.

I tried to be quick with my bath – a dunk in cold water and then out again – and dressed into something less careworn, just in case Courtney did have her sights set on something fancier than a pasty hatch at Paddington station. I was torn between apprehension and excitement at seeing the outside world again – on the one hand, the inordinate amount of time spent inside had been driving me up the creek, and on the other I still harboured a surface-level fear of repeating the last excursion's events.

But I had to trust that Courtney knew what she was doing, or I'd start to develop agoraphobia and that was one of the last things I needed.

"I told you we weren't going anywhere fancy," she said, rolling her eyes as I came down the stairs and started pulling my shoes on.

"I didn't want to risk it," I told her, flashing a grin as I unhooked my jacket. I could've sworn she blushed again.

"Keep an eye on him, Courtney," I heard Leia say, and inclined my head to find her leaning against the banister at the bottom of the staircase. "If anything happens that's at all suspicious, I want you both back here as fast as you can make it."