Illusions (26 page)

“To hide your eyes . . . ,” Laurel said, realization dawning.

“And you said there would be no way to hide a blossom under the fitted clothing she wears, but—”

“But if she
cut it off
, she would have nothing to hide.” Klea. A faerie. Laurel's mind was racing now. Faerie poison had been used to make her dad sick. Faerie blood had been used to lure Laurel's sentries away last year. And now there were trolls showing up who were immune to faerie magic. There was evidence of faerie intervention thrust deeply into everything that had happened to her over the last two years. The thought made Laurel's stomach churn. Everything had been so much simpler when she could tell friend from foe just by looking at them. But when your enemy's face could practically be the one you looked at in the mirror every day . . . ?

“If she's working with the trolls, why did she kill Barnes?” Tamani asked, talking as much to himself as to her.

“Barnes said he made a deal with a devil,” Laurel said, recalling the troll's strange words. “That's exactly how a troll would see working with a faerie. What if he tried to go back on his deal?”

Tamani nodded. “And if for some reason Klea wanted you alive—which she must, because she's had plenty of opportunity to kill you—”

“She'd have to protect me by finishing him off,” Laurel said, half in shock. “And if she saved my life, maybe I would be more likely to . . . what? Help her with something? Barnes was trying to get to Avalon. What kind of faerie would want to get a bunch of trolls into Avalon?”

“The kind with a grudge,” Tamani said darkly, pulling his iPhone out of his pocket. “I think we need to seriously consider the possibility that Yuki is nothing but a distraction, that there are no troll hunters, and that the trolls have been working for Klea all along.”

“But . . . a distraction from
what
? What is she after?”

“I don't know,” said Tamani, putting his phone to his ear. “But I think it's long past time for us to find out what she's keeping in that cabin.”

LAUREL KNELT ON THE FLOOR, SCRUBBING OUT THE
bottom of her locker with a wet paper towel—something every student had to do before leaving for winter break. Technically she was required to clean it with the can of heavy-duty cleaner, but that stuff wasn't exactly faerie-friendly. Besides, the teachers didn't watch very closely. If anything, they were more anxious for winter break than their students.

“Hey, slowpoke, let's go!” Chelsea said teasingly. “You have to come over and help me pick out a dress!”

Laurel smiled her apology. “I'm almost done,” she said, gesturing at her locker.

“You want some help?” Chelsea asked, reaching for a roll of paper towels that had been left in the hall for them by the janitorial staff.

“Sure, you can clean my locker and I'll pick your dress; how's that for a trade?”

“Hey, sounds fair to me,” Chelsea said. “Are you going to wear that one dress?”

“I think so,” Laurel said. Chelsea was referring to the dress Laurel had brought back from Avalon and worn to the Samhain festival. Ever since Laurel had told her about it, Chelsea had been pestering her to wear it to a dance. “I don't—”

Laurel just managed to bite off a scream as her head exploded with literally blinding pain. An eerie, whistling wind filled her head with sound and pressure and darkness.

And then it was gone.

“Laurel? Laurel, are you all right?”

Laurel opened her eyes to discover she had fallen backward and was now sprawled on the floor. Chelsea was kneeling next to her, concern written all over her face. Laurel sat up and glanced furtively around her, embarrassed. She hoped nobody else had seen her fall over like a moron.

Her eyes met Yuki's. She was in the middle of cleaning out her locker across the hallway, and looked away immediately, covering a smile with one delicate hand.

Momentarily, Laurel wondered if Yuki might be the
cause
of her headaches. She'd often been around when they struck . . . but then, she'd practically invaded every aspect of Laurel's life, so she was
always
around. Besides, “causing headaches” was not a faerie power, and even if it was, there were easier ways to distract Laurel from whatever it was Yuki was supposed to be distracting her from. Not that it mattered. If Yuki was doing something, it would all be over in a few days. Shar had arrived and was even now strategizing with Tamani.

“Let's get out of here,” Laurel muttered, embarrassed.

Chelsea put a protective arm around her and they walked out toward Laurel's car.

They drove in silence, which at first Laurel thought was weird, but she quickly realized it was restful. All week she had been jumping at every sound, waiting for something to happen. For Yuki to realize they'd found out about Klea—for trolls to come barreling through the school wall—she didn't even know what. But something! The world had changed and no one else seemed to sense it. Yuki still clung to Tamani; Ryan still hung around cluelessly; Laurel and David and Chelsea tried to talk and laugh normally. Not to mention pass their final exams.

At Chelsea's house, Laurel did her best to put all of this aside. She had always liked Chelsea's house. No matter what happened in her own life, at Chelsea's house it was only her brothers who were the monsters, her room that was the mess, and the most difficult decision Laurel would be asked to make was the black dress or the red one.

“The red, I think,” Laurel said, as Chelsea put it on for the third time.

“Why are we going to the dance with her, anyway?” Chelsea asked, examining herself in the full-length mirror that doubled as her closet door. “If we know Yuki's a distraction or whatever, then why does it matter if we keep her occupied? I so want to just ditch her. And what's she distracting us from, again?”

“The cabin,” Laurel said, though she wondered what could be in the cabin that was worth keeping from them. “For all we know, Yuki doesn't even know the role she's playing. Klea is some kind of puppet-master, I'm telling you. But just in case, until they actually raid the cabin, we're supposed to act like nothing has changed.”

“When are they going to raid?”

Laurel shrugged. Shar had been characteristically vague about that. The way he kept putting it off was driving Tamani crazy.

“Hmph. Well, Tamani's boss. Or is it Shar?” She looked at the mirror as Laurel shrugged again, twisting her curls up on top of her head. “You don't think it clashes with my hair?”

“Actually, I think it brings out the auburn,” Laurel said, grateful to be done talking about Yuki. “I think you look gorgeous in it. Ryan is going to swoon,” she said with a grin.

Chelsea's face fell.

“What?” Laurel said. “Is it the college thing? You won't even know for sure on that for a couple months yet.”

Chelsea shook her head.

“Then what?” Laurel asked.

Chelsea turned and sat silently on the bed beside Laurel.

“Tell me,” Laurel said, her voice soft.

Laurel saw tears gather at the corner of Chelsea's eyes.

“Chelsea, what?” she asked, a hand on her shoulder.

“I've been thinking for days how to tell you and make you understand. And not lose you in the process.”

“Oh, Chelsea,” Laurel said, her hand immediately on Chelsea's shoulder. “You could never lose me. You are my best friend in the whole world. There is nothing you could tell me that would change that.”

“I'm breaking up with Ryan after the dance.”

Laurel blanched. She wasn't sure what she had been expecting, but this wasn't it. “Why? Did something happen?”

Chelsea laughed. “Besides me constantly running off at inopportune times and keeping half my life a secret from him?”

But Laurel didn't laugh. “I mean, did he say something? Did
you
say something?”

Chelsea shook her head. “No, he's been fine.
We've
been fine. I mean, he didn't apply to Harvard, but so what? I might not even get in there. Just because he doesn't want to go to Harvard doesn't mean he doesn't care about me,” she said, bitterness coloring her tone. “It just means he cares about staying in California more.” She paused, taking a slow breath. “But really, I can't expect him to throw his dreams away for me. It's because of you, actually.”

“Me?” Laurel asked, shocked. “What did I do?”

“You broke up with David,” Chelsea said softly.

Laurel looked down in her lap. Now she knew what was coming.

“I thought I was over him. I really did. And I was happy with Ryan. Very happy. But then you broke up with David and he got so sad and I realized that when the two of you first got together, I was okay letting him go because he was
happy
. Now that he's not, I—” She paused, taking a moment to compose herself. “If he's not happy, I can't make myself be happy.”

Laurel was silent. She couldn't even muster up any jealousy. She just felt numb.

“I'm not going to chase him,” Chelsea said, as if reading Laurel thoughts. “It's not fair, and it's disloyal, and I
won't
do that to you. But,” she said, taking a deep breath, “if
he
decides to actually notice me after all these years and I miss it because I'm forcing myself to stay with Ryan, I . . .” She blinked back tears. “I would hate myself. So I'm just going to—to be there, if he needs me. And since you're my best friend, I thought it was only fair to tell you.”

Laurel nodded, but couldn't meet Chelsea's eyes. She was right; it was only fair. In fact, it would be easier. If things worked out between David and Chelsea, then everyone would have someone.

So why did it make her weep inside?

They sat in silence for several seconds before Laurel threw her arms around Chelsea, hugging her tightly. “Wear the red dress,” Laurel whispered in her ear. “You look best in that one.”

LAUREL STOOD IN FRONT OF THE MIRROR, STUDYING
her reflection. The irony of wearing the dress she'd worn to the Samhain festival with Tamani last year to a human dance with David this year was not lost on her. But it was her favorite dress, she hadn't had a chance to wear it since then, and she didn't really want to go out and buy something new. She'd pulled her hair up in a sparkling clip—also from Avalon—and then let it down again about six times. She didn't have much longer to make up her mind.

In ten, no, seven minutes, everyone would be downstairs, all dressed up and pretending to like one another before heading to the dance. In separate cars, this time. Tamani insisted. Just in case.

The cold, rainy fall had given way to a less rainy but even colder winter and Laurel hoped she wouldn't look too weird with just a light wrap. Without the sun to rejuvenate her, she couldn't handle wearing a jacket. It was too confining, too tiring.

She wondered what Tamani would wear. He'd never been to a human formal dance and she wondered if she should have stopped by his apartment to make sure he had something suitable. The black getup complete with cloak that he had worn when he escorted her to Avalon last year had been stunning, but not exactly appropriate for a high school dance.

Deciding that the sparkling clip would probably take at least some attention off her face—and therefore away from the concerned expression she couldn't seem to erase no matter how she tried to smooth it with a smile—Laurel stuck the clip back in her hair and forced herself away from the mirror and down the stairs.

“You look gorgeous!” her mom said from the kitchen.

“Thanks, Mom,” Laurel said, smiling over her stress. She put her arms around her mom's neck. “I really needed to hear that right now.”

“Is everything okay?” her mom asked, pulling back and looking at Laurel.

“The whole David and Tamani thing—remember he's Tam in front of Yuki—is just . . . stressful. On top of everything else, I mean.” She had warned her parents that Klea was probably a faerie and not to be trusted, but there wasn't much they could do but play along like everyone else.

Turning Laurel gently around, her mom lightly rubbed her back, just the way Laurel liked it. “How's your head?” she asked, kneading her neck now.

“Fine,” Laurel said. “It got pretty bad yesterday, but with finals out of the way I'm hoping for a nice, relaxing break.”

Her mom nodded. “I admit, I'm a little surprised it's David who's coming to pick you up tonight.”

“Why is everyone surprised!” Laurel said in exasperation.

“Well, you did break up with him.”

Laurel said nothing.

“After Thanksgiving, I thought for sure you were going to be with Tamani.”

“He has to watch Yuki.”

“And if he didn't?”

Laurel shrugged. “I don't know.”

“Listen,” her mom said, turning Laurel to face her now, “there's nothing wrong with taking time to just be yourself. I'm the last person to tell you that you need a guy to make you happy. But if you're not moving on because you're afraid you'll hurt David, maybe you need to remember that you're hurting Tamani by
not
moving on, and you might be hurting David by not letting
him
really move on. If—and I'm not saying you should choose him, but
if
—you really love Tamani, and you keep putting him off because of David, by the time you're finally ready to be with him, you may find that he's moved on. That's all I'm going to say,” her mom finished, smiling now and turning back to the desserts, which she was piping out of a pastry bag into little edible works of art.

“No one's going to eat those, Mom.”

Her mom looked down at the beautiful desserts with concern. “Why not?”

“They're too pretty.”

“Just like you,” she said, leaning in to kiss Laurel's forehead.

A knock sounded at the door and butterflies started up in Laurel's stomach again. She was chagrined to realize it didn't matter who was actually at the door. They all made her nervous.

She opened the door to find Tamani waiting on her porch. He was alone, wearing a black tux with full tails, a shimmering white vest and bow tie, and had topped it off with shiny black shoes and white dress gloves, as though headed to a white-tie affair. Despite being called a winter
formal
, Laurel knew that most of the guys in attendance would be, at most, wearing dress suits and ties. Tamani probably wouldn't be the only one in a tux—David seemed to enjoy wearing them—but he would still be the most formally dressed person at the dance. In wondering whether he'd wear the wrong clothes, Laurel had not considered that he might dress
too
well.

While taking in his appearance, Laurel realized that he looked almost as nervous as she felt—more than a little unusual, for Tamani. “Are you okay?”

Tamani leaned close. “Is anyone else here yet?”

Laurel shook her head.

“Good.” Tamani ducked into the foyer and pushed the door shut. “Yuki asked me not to pick her up.”

“Like, she canceled?” Laurel asked, her stomach clenching. Had she found something out?

“No, she said she was running behind and would meet me at the dance. But something isn't right.”

“She knows I planned dessert. Maybe she doesn't want to draw attention to the way she eats. I mean, she has no idea we all know what she is. Well, except Ryan. Honestly, it sounds like something I would do,” she added in a quiet voice.

“Maybe. But she sounded . . . weird. On the phone.”

Laurel looked up as the doorbell rang. “You have sentries watching her house?”

Tamani nodded. “But her house is practically a fortress tonight—all curtains drawn, a sheet thrown over the front window. It just doesn't sit right.”

“There's not much we can do until we find her at the dance,” Laurel whispered. She paused, then added, in an even quieter whisper, “You look incredible.”

Tamani looked startled for a second, then he smiled. “Thanks. You look amazing too. Just like you do every day.”

The doorbell—practically next to her ear—startled her and Laurel shooed Tamani into the kitchen. Then she opened the door to David, Ryan, and Chelsea.

“Look at you!” Chelsea said, rushing forward to hug Laurel. She was wearing the red dress Laurel had recommended. It set off her complexion perfectly and brought out the gray in her eyes. “You look fabulous. Is this the . . . the dress you were telling me about?” she asked, her eyes flitting to Ryan for just an instant.

“Yeah,” Laurel said, spreading the skirt a little. “I was really happy to find it.”
Find it. Ha!
In Avalon you literally did just find clothes in the marketplace and then take them home.

“Well, the dance starts in, like, fifteen minutes and I was promised dessert,” Chelsea said, smiling playfully. “Ryan wouldn't let me get dessert with my dinner, so there better be some here.”

“Don't listen to her,” Ryan said, pushing her gently toward the kitchen. “I told her she could have two desserts—she just didn't take me up on it.”

Chelsea grinned at him and they both headed toward the kitchen. Laurel looked wistfully after them. It had been hard even looking at Ryan since talking with Chelsea, knowing what was coming. He still seemed completely head over heels for her. A niggling voice in the back of her head reminded her that he had lied to Chelsea about college applications, but did he deserve being totally blindsided by a breakup because of that?

Laurel turned to David, who had just stepped into the foyer. He was wearing a neatly cut tuxedo jacket over a black, mandarin-collared silk shirt with a shiny black button at the throat instead of a bow tie. He was different from the boy she'd met two years ago. Tonight, elegant and handsome in all black, he looked like he could take on anything.

“Hi,” Laurel said, feeling strangely shy. He was looking at her dress and she could practically see him connecting the dots in his head. But when his eyes met hers, she couldn't tell what he was thinking.

“You look beautiful” was all he said.

Laurel was a nervous wreck as David pulled into the crowded high school parking lot. Despite her calm words to Tamani, it
was
weird for Yuki to be so late. Especially now that their only job was to keep her out of the way until they could figure out what to do about Klea. But there was nothing to do but take David's arm and try to appear calm as he escorted her to the front door.

Tamani brushed past Laurel, closing the distance between himself and the gym doors in a few loping strides. Yuki was there, waiting, in a silvery formal that must have been custom made. The dress folded around her, resembling a traditional kimono, complete with a V-neck that Laurel found shockingly low-cut. But instead of heavy brocade, Yuki's dress was a light satin with a chiffon overlay that blew around her ankles in the light evening breeze. Its top sat almost off her shoulders, with little cap sleeves that were lined with something sparkly, and a lace-covered obi wrapped around her waist and tied in an intricate knot that covered most of her back and came just high enough that her black hair, hanging in soft ringlets, brushed against it. Dramatic black lined her shining green eyes and her lips were painted a luscious red. She looked exquisite.

“Are you okay?” Tamani asked, one hand running down her shoulder in a way that made Laurel clutch David's arm a little tighter. There was obviously nothing wrong with her.
She probably just didn't want to admit it took her four hours to get into that thing
, Laurel thought, frustrated now that Yuki had made both her and Tamani worry so much when there was clearly no reason. She was radiant in the twilight, not to mention the glow of Tamani's attention. Her whole face lit up when he looked at her, talked to her, and it made Laurel want to slap that smile right off her face.

Laurel forced herself to turn away from Yuki and Tamani and focus on David. He
was
her date tonight, after all. She took a few calming breaths as she walked into the gym on his arm. The student council had definitely outdone themselves. The ceiling was draped with black tulle that melted into cushiony piles on the floor, with icicle lights hanging every few inches so the effect was a dark sky blazing with starlight. Instead of regular folding chairs, every chair had been covered in fabric, the way Laurel occasionally saw at weddings or really nice restaurants, and there was a huge display of petits fours at the refreshment table that looked lovely, although Laurel couldn't eat them. There were even two fans with curled ribbons tied to them to keep the air circulating as the gym filled up with people.

“Wow,” David said, “this is way better than last year.”

As a new song started up, David picked up Laurel's hand from his arm and pulled her out toward the floor. “Come dance with me,” he said softly. He led her far onto the floor, to where the entrance was out of sight—something Laurel was quite sure was not an accident. Then his arms tightened around her and they began to sway in time with the music.

“You really look incredible tonight,” he whispered, close to her ear.

Laurel lowered her eyelids and smiled. “Thank you. You too. Black looks good on you.”

“If I admit my mom helped me pick it out, will you laugh?”

Laurel grinned. “No. Your mom has always had excellent taste. But
you
are the one who wears it. You get all the credit for that.”

“Hey, I'm just glad you noticed.”