Prologue #3
Eager for him to understand and appreciate the gift, she pushed the tiny button on the side of the convertible, and a tinny-sounding plea for Swiss cheese salvation began playing.
After several moments, he said, “Yes. The cheeses are controlling the automobile via the steering wheel.”
Apparently SERC-affiliated demons didn’t keep up with popular music.
The figurine’s sound promptly slowed to an excruciating low drone before dying entirely. She deposited the malfunctioning tchotchke into her tote with a shrug. And luckily, her zipper cooperated this time when she closed up the bag.
He’d angled himself on the sofa to better watch her. “You have a brother?”
“Two.” She settled down next to him again, placing the bag at her feet. “And one sister.”
The lingering creases across his forehead smoothed, and his lips curved in a smile of startling sweetness. “I have a sister too. My twin, Eloise.”
“You two are close?”
If so, she was glad for them both. Because her parents couldn’t afford unnecessary travel costs, Gwen hadn’t seen her own siblings in over two years, not even for summer or winter breaks.
As he nodded, they both shifted minutely on the couch—and suddenly, his knee was nudging hers again. Neither of them looked down, but neither of them edged away either.
Antsy with nervous anticipation, she tugged at the hem of her slightly-too-small dress and tried unsuccessfully to suppress the flush prickling her cheeks and ears. Only to jerk in startlement when his hand caught at hers.
Gently, he clasped her wrist and turned her palm upward. “That looks painful.”
Together, they studied the scabbed slice wound there and the reddened skin around its edges. The unmistakable physical evidence of her many blood offerings to the prophetic Powers.
At the reminder of what would be happening soon in the echoing auditorium just beyond this cozy waiting room, some of her effervescent excitement went flat. “My family really needs my test to go well today, so I’ve been practicing a lot at night on my own.”
Not because she didn’t understand how to prompt her visions. Because she’d desperately needed a big revelation that she could sneakily substitute for one of her normal, piddling prophecies during the verification test. The main result: Her hand hurt even more than normal.
She had diddly-squat. Her test tonight would be disastrous, both for her and everyone she loved, unless something unexpected happened.
Hugh’s thumb lingered over her pulse, and something about that careful, hot touch helped calm her resurgent anxiety. “I’m sorry.”
“Me too.” Impulsively, she twisted her wrist within his loose grasp and took his hand in hers. “But at least meeting you has helped distract me from what’s about to happen. Thank you.”
He inclined his head, lips pressed tightly together. Then paused for a long time, brows pinched with some unknown worry, before speaking again.
“Are you…” Carefully, so carefully, his fingers laced through hers. “Are you, um, particularly close to anyone here at the academy?”
Who knew if she’d ever see Hugh again? What did she have to lose, anyway?
“No.” Drumming up every ounce of her courage, she asked her own question in return. “Were you trying to ask whether I’m dating anyone? Because I’m not. Are you?”
He shook his head, amber eyes aglow with cautious hope.
“Would you—” She gulped over a chalk-dry throat and forced out the words. “Would you like to go on a date with me?”
He hesitated for a worrisomely long time before answering.
“I…” His throat bobbed as he swallowed hard too. “Gwen, you should know that—”
Without warning, the door to the auditorium burst open, and a slim brunette demon came barreling inside the waiting room. “There you are!”
A casual flick of the interloper’s booted foot slammed the door behind her. And even though her jaunty demeanor and easy grin provided a stark contrast to Hugh’s solemnity, the unmissable physical resemblance between the two demons immediately told Gwen who’d just entered the room.
The same angular features that made Hugh so strikingly attractive had rendered his sister undeniably pretty.
Eloise’s brown hair, the same shade as her brother’s, flowed over her shoulders in a glossy umber river.
The same brown eyes evaluated Gwen with the same sharp intensity, even if Hugh’s twin was nearly chortling with inexplicable glee as she made her study.
“The previous test is done. After we take a quick break, it’s your turn,” she said. “You’re Gwendolen Wexloff, right?”
“Yes?” Gwen hadn’t meant to make that a question. “You’re on the verification panel?”
Oh, gods and goddesses, her time was almost up…and her privacy with Hugh was gone.
“Yep, sure am. Lovely to meet you. I’m Eloise Blacke, Hugh’s favorite—and only—sister.” Eloise sauntered over to Hugh, who’d let go of Gwen’s hand and stood to greet his twin. “I couldn’t resist coming to see what was happening right next door.”
Gwen cringed. The panel had overheard her chatting with Hugh? How embarrassing.
“El, don’t,” he warned his sister, even as his arm lifted to allow her to cuddle close.
She looped her own arms around his waist and gave him a good squeeze. “I’m so happy for you, Hugh.”
If fraternal looks could kill, Eloise would have burned to ash right then and there.
She probably didn’t even notice, though, because her attention had returned to the lone human in the room. “Have you met many demons before, Gwen?”
“Not…not up close?” Dammit, she really needed to start making definitive, firm statements. “Sometimes they’ve been guest speakers at the school.”
“In that case, you may not know one of the most interesting tidbits about us.” Her smile as warm as the summer sun, she regarded Gwen with seeming delight.
“Legend says that we recognize our other half—or our other two-thirds or three-quarters, depending on whether there’s polyamory involved—immediately. Isn’t that fascinating?”
Streaks of ruddy color darkened Hugh’s high cheekbones, but he didn’t deny the claim. Silently, he stared down at his polished black shoes, the stiffness of his shoulders evident even through his suit jacket.
Was Eloise…wait. Why would she share that bit of lore, except to indicate that Gwen might be his “other half”? But how could Eloise possibly know that when she hadn’t even been in the room with her brother?
She was just teasing Hugh. Giving him a hard time in front of his possible crush, as mandated by ancient sibling tradition.
For a moment, though, Gwen let herself dream. Let herself picture a future that included a demon with solemn brown eyes, satiny skin that radiated bone-melting heat, and the sort of careful kindness and attentiveness that could cocoon her from the world’s hurts for a lifetime.
Eloise’s elbow nudged her brother’s side, and he nodded to himself and raised his head. Met Gwen’s searching, wondering gaze with his own.
“Your invitation earlier, before my sister arrived…” He cleared his throat. “Gwen, it would be my honor and privilege to—”
The speaker high on the wall crackled to life. “Gwendolen Wexloff, please report to the testing room. Our guests are waiting.”
That sharp-toned announcement from the headmaster wasn’t a reminder. It was a reprimand. Apparently the panelists had grown tired of waiting for Eloise to escort Gwen to the auditorium, which…wasn’t good.