Torment

Page 17

 

  When Cam popped open the passenger-side door, Luces jaw dropped. She peered in through the open window and watched him jimmying the ignition. "You think Im just going to get in some hot-wired car with you right after I watched you murder someone?"

  "If I hadnt killed her"--he fumbled around beneath the steering wheel--"she would have killed you, okay? Who do you think sent you that note? You were lured out of school to be murdered. Does that make it go down any easier?"

  Luce leaned against the hood of the truck, not knowing what to do. She thought back to the conversation shed had with Daniel, Arriane, and Gabbe right before shed left Sword & Cross. Theyd said Miss Sophia and the others in her sect might come after her. "But she didnt look like--are the Outcasts part of the Elders?"

  By then Cam had the engine running. He quickly hopped out, walked around, and hustled Luce into the passenger seat. "Move along, chop-chop. This is like herding a cat. " Finally he had her sitting and pulled her seat belt around her. "Unfortunately, Luce, youve got more than one kind of enemy. Which is why Im taking you back to school where its safe. Right. Now. "

  She didnt think it would be smart to be alone in a car with Cam, but she wasnt sure staying here on her own was any smarter. "Wait a minute," she said as he turned back toward Shoreline. "If these Outcasts arent part of Heaven or Hell, whose side are they on?" she said as he turned back toward Shoreline. "If these Outcasts arent part of Heaven or Hell, whose side are they on?"

  "The Outcasts are a sickening shade of gray. In case you hadnt noticed, there are worse things out there than me. "

  Luce folded her hands on her lap, anxious to get back to her dorm room, where she could feel--or at least pretend to feel--safe. Why should she believe Cam? Shed fallen for his lies too many times before.

  "Theres nothing worse than you. What you want . . . what you tried to do at Sword and Cross was horrible and wrong. " She shook her head. "Youre just trying to trick me again. "

  "Im not. " His voice had less argument in it than she would have expected. He seemed thoughtful, even glum. By then, he had pulled into Shorelines long, arched driveway. "I never wanted to hurt you, Luce, never. "

  "Is that why you called all those shadows to battle when I was in the cemetery?"

  "Good and evil arent as clear-cut as you think. " He looked out the window toward the Shoreline buildings, which appeared dark and uninhabited. "Youre from the South, right? This time around, anyway. So you should understand the freedom that the victors have to rewrite history. Semantics, Luce. What you think of as evil--well, to my kind, its a simple problem of connotation. "

  "Daniel doesnt think so. " Luce wished she could have said she didnt think so, but she didnt know enough yet. She still felt like she was taking so much of Daniels explanations on faith.

  Cam parked the truck on a patch of grass behind her dorm, got out, and walked around to open the passenger door. "Daniel and I are two sides of the same coin. " He o ered his hand to help her down; she ignored him. "It must pain you to hear that. "

  She wanted to say it couldnt possibly be true, that there were no similarities between Cam and Daniel no matter how Cam tried to whitewash things. But in the week shed been at Shoreline, Luce had seen and heard things that con icted with what shed once believed. She thought of Francesca and Steven. They were born of the same place: Once upon a time, before the war and the Fall, there had only been one side. Cam wasnt the only one who claimed that the pide between angels and demons wasnt entirely black and white.

  The light was on in her window. Luce imagined Shelby on the orange area rug, her legs crossed in the lotus position, meditating. How could Luce go in and pretend she hadnt just seen an angel die? Or that everything that had happened this week hadnt left her riddled with doubts?

  "Lets keep this evenings happenings between us, shall we?" Cam said. "And going forward, do us all a favor and stay on campus, where you wont get into trouble. "

  She pushed past him, out of the beam of the stolen trucks headlights and into the shadows cloaking the walls of her dorm.

  Cam got back into the truck, revving the engine obnoxiously. But before he pulled away, he rolled down the window and called out to Luce, "Youre welcome. "

  She turned around. "For what?"

  He grinned and hit the gas. "For saving your life. "

  Chapter Six

  THIRTEEN DAYS

  "Its here," a loud voice sang outside Luces door early the next morning. Someone was knocking. "Its nally here!"

  The knocking grew more insistent. Luce didnt know what time it was, other than way too early for all the giggling she could hear on the other side of the door.

  "Your friends," Shelby called from the top bunk.

  Luce groaned and slid out of bed. She glanced up at Shelby, who was propped up on her stomach on the top bunk, already fully dressed in jeans and a pu y red vest, doing the Saturday crossword.

  "Do you ever sleep?" Luce muttered, reaching into her closet to yank on the purple tartan robe her mother had sewn for her thirteenth birthday. It still t her--sort of.

  She pressed her face against the peephole and saw the convex smiling faces of Dawn and Jasmine. They were geared up with bright scarves and fuzzy earmu s. Jasmine raised a cup holder with four co ees as Dawn, who had a large brown paper bag in her hand, knocked again.

  "Are you going to shoo them away or should I call campus security?" Shelby asked.

  Ignoring her, Luce swung open the door and the two girls ooded past her into the room, talking a mile a minute.

  "Finally. " Jasmine laughed, handing Luce a cup of co ee before plopping down on the unmade bottom bunk. "We have so much to discuss. "

  Neither Dawn nor Jasmine had ever come over before, but Luce was enjoying the way they acted right at home. It reminded her of Penn, whod "borrowed" the spare key to Luces room so she could barrel in whenever the need arose.

  Luce looked down at her co ee and swallowed hard. No way could she get emotional here, now, in front of these three.

  Dawn was in the bathroom, rooting through the cupboards next to the sink. "As an integral member of the planning committee, we think you should be a part of the welcome address today," she said, looking up at Luce in disbelief. "How are you not even dressed yet? The yacht leaves in, like, under an hour. "

  Luce scratched her forehead. "Remind me?"

  "Ugh. " Dawn groaned dramatically. "Amy Branshaw? My lab partner? The one whose father owns the monster yacht? Is any of this ringing a bell?"

  It was all coming back to her. Saturday. The yacht trip up the coast. Jasmine and Dawn had pitched the distantly educational idea to Shorelines events committee--aka Francesca--and had somehow gotten it approved. Luce had agreed to help, but she hadnt done a thing. All she could think about now was Daniels face when shed told him about it, instantly dismissing the idea of Luces having fun without him.

  Now Dawn was ri ing through Luces closet. She pulled out a long-sleeved eggplant-colored jersey dress, tossed it at Luce, and shooed her into the bathroom. "Dont forget leggings underneath. Its cold out on the water. "

  On her way, Luce grabbed her cell phone from its charger. Last night, after Cam had dropped her o , shed felt so terri ed and alone, shed broken Mr. Coles number one rule and texted Callie. If Mr. Cole knew how badly she needed to hear from a friend . . . hed probably still be furious with her. Too late now.

  She opened her text message folder and recalled how her ngers had been shaking when she wrote the lie- lled text:

  Finally scored a cell phone! Receptions spotty, but Ill call when I can. Everythings great here, but I miss you! Write soon!

  No response from Callie.

  Was she sick? Busy? Out of town?

  Ignoring Luce for ignoring her?

  Luce glanced in the mirror. She looked and felt like crap. But shed agreed to help Dawn and Jasmine, so she tugged on the jersey dress and twisted her blond hair back with a few bobby pins.

  By the time
Luce came out of the bathroom, Shelby was helping herself to the breakfast the girls had brought with them in the paper bag. It did look really good--cherry Danishes and apple fritters and mu ns and cinnamon rolls and three di erent kinds of juice. Jasmine handed her an oversized bran mu n and a tub of cream cheese.

  "Brain food. "

  "Whats all this?" Miles stuck his head in through the slightly ajar door. Luce couldnt see his eyes under his tugged-down baseball cap, but his brown hair was ipping up on the sides and his giant dimples showed when he smiled. Dawn went into an instant t of giggles, for no other reason than that Miles was cute and Dawn was Dawn.

  But Miles didnt seem to notice. He was almost more relaxed and casual around a group of very girly girls than Luce was herself. Maybe he had a whole bunch of sisters or something. He wasnt like some of the other kids at Shoreline, whose coolness seemed to be a front. Miles was genuine, the real thing.

  "Dont you have any friends your own gender?" Shelby asked, pretending to be more annoyed than she really was. Now that she knew her roommate a little better, Luce was starting to nd Shelbys abrasive humor almost charming.

  " Course. " Miles stepped into the room totally unfazed. "Its just, my guy friends dont usually show up with breakfast. " He slid a huge cinnamon roll out of the bag and took a giant bite. "You look pretty, Luce," he said with his mouth full.

  Luce blushed and Dawn stopped giggling and Shelby coughed into her sleeve: "Awkward!"

  At the rst sound of the loudspeaker in the hallway, Luce jumped. The other kids looked at her like she was nuts, but Luce was still used to Sword & Crosss punishing PA pronouncements. Instead, Francescas amber voice poured into the room: Sword & Crosss punishing PA pronouncements. Instead, Francescas amber voice poured into the room:

  "Good morning, Shoreline. If youre joining us on todays yachting trip, the bus to the marina leaves in ten minutes. Lets convene at the south entrance for a head count. And dont forget to dress warmly!"

  Miles grabbed another pastry for the road. Shelby pulled on a pair of polka-dot galoshes. Jasmine tightened the band of her pink earmu s and shrugged at Luce. "So much for planning! Well have to wing the welcome address. "

  "Sit by us on the bus," Dawn instructed. "Well totally map it out on the way to Noyo Point. "

  Noyo Point. Luce had to force herself to swallow a mouthful of bran mu n. The Outcast girls dead expression even when she was alive; the awful ride home with Cam--the memory brought goose bumps to Luces skin. It didnt help that Cam had rubbed it in about saving her life. Right after he told her not to leave campus again.

  Such a weird thing to say. Almost like he and Daniel were in cahoots.

  Stalling, Luce sat on the edge of her bed. "So were all going?"

  Shed never broken a promise to Daniel before. Even though shed never really promised not to go on the yacht. The restriction felt so harsh and out of line, her instinct was to blow it o . But if she agreed to play by Daniels rules, maybe she wouldnt have to face someone elses getting killed. Though that was probably just her paranoia rearing up again. That note had deliberately lured her o campus. A school yacht trip was something else entirely. It wasnt as though the Outcasts were piloting the boat.