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“Yes, but it’s pink. ” I was already taking it off.
“Pink’s got such a bad rep. Okay, forget that one. ” Liz went rummaging through her closet again. Back when we’d been recruiting people, she’d always managed to snag lots of expensive clothes from abandoned stores. I hadn’t seen the point since we didn’t have anyplace to wear them, but I guess that was just me.
“Here, try this. ” Liz tossed something black and flashing at me: a sleeveless top made of shiny black sequins. I pulled it on; it slithered down my torso like chain mail.
She whistled. “Oh, sexy. That one, definitely. Alex won’t be able to keep his hands off you. ”
I gazed at the plunging draped neckline. The black sequins moved when I did, glittering and alive. “No, it’s not right. ”
“Willow! Honestly, if you don’t wear that one I’m going to – wait, what are you doing?”
I was taking off the short black skirt I was wearing, struggling to keep my balance on the bed as I stepped out of it. “It’s too much with the skirt – it looks like I should be thirty years old and drinking cocktails. ” I pulled on my jeans again. The contrast with the faded denim made the black top even sexier.
There was a pause as Liz studied me. She nodded.
“You’re right,” she said. “That is perfect. Now, jewellery. ”
“I’ve got this,” I said in surprise, touching my crystal teardrop pendant. Alex had given it to me almost exactly a year ago, on my seventeenth birthday. I’d barely taken it off ever since.
“What about earrings, though? Look. ” She brandished a sparkly pair.
“I don’t have pierced ears. ”
“You don’t have pierced ears yet,” she corrected.
I opened my mouth to say, Whoa, hold it right there – and stopped with a gasp. A cold fog of fear had swamped me from out of nowhere, settling icily over my heart. I shivered at its intensity…and then it was gone, along with the words from my throat.
“Hey, don’t look so freaked out! Fine, we won’t pierce your ears if you’re going to be that much of a wuss,” Liz said, laughing.
I shook my head; in the mirror, my eyes looked wide and uncertain. “It wasn’t that. I thought I felt—” I broke off. Remembering how Raziel had psychically spied on me, I quickly searched my mind. I knew how to do it now; if he’d realized I was still alive and was somehow back again, I’d feel him. But there was nothing.
Liz was staring. “Are you all right?”
“I’m fine,” I said finally. And it seemed true. The fear was gone as completely as if it had never been there at all.
“Sure?”
“Yeah, I’m okay. ” My voice sounded more confident this time – I’d probably just had some kind of weird fast-forward to the attack. I’ll ask Seb if he felt anything too, just to make sure, I decided. He’d be out on the firing range now; I’d collar him as soon as he finished. Then I sighed, thinking of the guarded quality that would come over his energy the second he saw me.
There was a knock on the door, and Meghan poked her vivid head in. “Liz, do you have a— Oh, wow!” Her blue eyes widened; she came into the room, grinning and looking me up and down. “Willow, you look great!”
I’d almost forgotten what I was wearing. “Thanks,” I said, touching the sequinned top. Meghan wasn’t really a friend of mine, but I liked her. She was one of those rare people who just always managed to be happy. Before the quakes, she’d been training to be a dancer and had apparently had a promising career ahead of her, before the world became so devastated – yet you never got even a hint of her feeling sorry for herself.
“She won’t let me pierce her ears,” grumbled Liz as I jumped off the bed.
Meghan stared at her. “Seriously? You want to stick a needle through her earlobes?”
“See?” I said to Liz.
“You’ve got pierced ears,” Liz pointed out to Meghan.
Meghan fingered one of her dangly gold hoops. “Well, yeah, but I got them done at a shop. But, hey, what about shoes?” she added brightly. “Do you want to borrow a pair? I’ve got the perfect ones!” She darted out of the room, her rich hair glinting like autumn.
Liz laughed. “No one does ‘enthusiasm’ better than Meghan. ”
“How come I’m the only one down here who doesn’t have a dressy wardrobe?” I said, gazing after her.
“The rest of us got our priorities right, that’s all. ”
Meghan reappeared with a pair of shiny high-heeled shoes and crouched down gracefully on her long legs. “Oh, good – looks like we’re the same size. ” As she began angling one of the shoes onto my bare foot, I started to protest, then just let her do it – it would have been like trying to halt a force of nature. Besides, I was too busy drinking in the shoes. They were a deep wine colour and almost old-fashioned: a chunky heel and rounded toe; a big button perched on the strap. But somehow they looked just…
“Amazing,” said Liz. “Meghan, you’re a genius. ”
I turned my ankle this way and that. The shoes gleamed like fresh paint. “These are just…absolutely gorgeous. Thank you so much. ”
Meghan sank back on her heels, regarding my feet with a small, wistful smile. “I love these shoes,” she said. “I always think they bring me luck. ” She glanced up with a sudden grin. “And you’re going to be the birthday girl, so you get extra luck. That’s the rule. Anyway, I got distracted,” she went on, jumping to her feet. “What I came in here for was to ask if you’ve got iPods. I’m going to make a playlist for the party. ”
Officially, the upcoming party next week was to celebrate Alex’s and my birthdays – I’d be turning eighteen, and he’d be nineteen. But really, it was just to give people a chance to let off steam and relax. After months of intense training, everyone was more than ready to.
I shook my head. “Sorry, I was still playing CDs back in Pawntucket. ”
“I’ve got one,” said Liz. “Wait, I think I left it in the kitchen. Back in a sec. ”
After Liz had gone, a silence stretched out between Meghan and me. I glanced at Liz’s clock. I needed to go talk to Seb soon, but it seemed rude to just leave Meghan there. Turning to her, I started to make some comment about the party – and caught her giving me a sideways glance, lips pursed.
“What?” I said in surprise.
Her milky skin flushed. “Sorry. It’s just that – I mean…you’re half-angel, aren’t you?”
She blurted the words out, and I blinked. Meghan knew I was half-angel. Everyone in the base knew, because Seb and I used our angels to help train people.
Before I could respond, Meghan shook her head. “God, don’t even answer that. I just wanted to know…well…what’s it like?” Her voice was soft, hesitant.
Strangely enough, in all our time here, no one had ever asked me that. I sank down onto Liz’s bed as I tried to gather my thoughts.
“I don’t know,” I said finally. “I only found out a year ago, so it’s still pretty new to me. A lot of times, even now, I’m not really conscious of my angel; I just feel human. And then other times, I’m so completely aware of this other self inside me. ”