“To make what possible?” I shook my head in frustration. “Friday you came to class just to check up on me, didn’t you?” I asked, the realization dawning on me all at once. “You knew I’d had a vision, and—”
“I heard you yelling. My name, over and over again. Do you want to tell me what you saw this time? And while you’re at it, would you mind dropping your weapon?”
I glanced down, surprised to see that I still held the foil in one hand, pointed directly at his chest. “Sorry.” I shook my head as it clattered to the ground by my feet. “But I can’t talk about it, not right now.”
“Can’t, or won’t?”
I let out my breath in a rush. “I don’t know. Both.”
“Were you — was someone hurt? You’ve got to tell me, Violet.”
“Why?” I whimpered, my bravado fading.
“Because I need to know. It seems like they’re escalating, and they always seem to involve me. I want to understand why, to know what I’m going to do to—” He abruptly cut himself off, glancing down at the mat. I saw him swallow hard, a muscle in his jaw flexing. Finally his eyes met mine once more and the anguish I saw there nearly stole my breath away. “How else can we stop it?” he said, his voice soft now.
I didn’t want to remember what I’d seen. I didn’t want to give voice to it. But I had to. I had no choice. He was right— otherwise, how could I stop it from happening?
“I think it was. your death,” I said, my voice a hoarse whisper.
“Is that all?” He actually laughed. “Don’t worry, then. It won’t happen.”
I couldn’t believe how sure he sounded. “My visions have never been wrong. Never,” I added, hoping he understood the seriousness of the situation.
His gaze met mine, steady and penetrating. “Then tell me exactly what you saw.”
So I did, trying to remember every tiny detail. The leaves, the grass, the voice, the blood — that was all I had. Not a lot to go on.
“Interesting,” he said, once I’d finished telling him.
“That’s it? I foresee your death, and that’s all you have to say?” I asked, my voice rising in panic.
I heard him sigh. “It’s. I can’t explain it, but I don’t think you should worry, okay? At least, not about me.”
“That’s easy for you to say, Aidan. You didn’t have to see—” I fought back tears, choking on the words. “There was blood everywhere.” I took a deep breath then, fought to control my emotions, my pain. I allowed anger — a far more comfortable emotion — to take its place. “Why is it that I always have to tell you everything, but you get to keep your secrets?”
“Soon enough I’ll tell you what you want to know — if you don’t see it first, that is. And then I’ll lose you, just like that.” I saw pain flit across his face, and I felt it too — his pain.
“You won’t lose me,” I said, taking a tentative step toward him. Despite my anger, despite everything, I felt an overwhelming urge to comfort him.
“No matter what your secrets are, no matter how terrible you think they are, you won’t lose me.”
He reached for my shoulders and drew me against his chest. “I’ll make sure to remind you that you said that, okay? When you’re running away from me as fast as you can.”
“Not going to happen,” I said, my voice muffled against his shirt.
He sighed loudly. “What makes you think you can forgive the unforgivable, Violet? Pardon the unpardonable?”
I breathed in his scent, unable to imagine what he meant by that.
“You didn’t answer me,” he prodded, his hand stroking my back, drawing gooseflesh on my skin. “Why? Why won’t you run from me?”
I didn’t know what to say; didn’t know what he wanted to hear. All I knew was that I cared about him, way more than I should care about someone I barely knew. But I wouldn’t say it — couldn’t say it.
Several seconds passed in silence, and then his lips brushed my ear. “Well, until you do run, I’ll just have to take what I can. Next weekend is the Halloween Fair. Will you go with me to the dance?”
My heart did a little flip-flop — he was asking me to a dance! An official school function, which meant going public.
“Do I have to wear a costume?” I asked, as if I would turn him down either way.
He released me then, taking a step back as his mouth curved into a smile. “Of course you have to wear a costume. That’s half the fun of it.”
“Well, then, how can I say no?” That meant I had to come up with a costume, and fast.
On most days I felt like the Violet I showed the world was a costume, a mask. No one knew the real me. But, as I looked up into Aidan’s eyes and watched him smile that slow smile of his, I realized with a start that he did. He knew the real Violet McKenna, the essence beneath the mask.
And somehow that excited me and terrified me, all at once.
A vampire, Aidan? That’s the best you could do?” I shook my head with a smile as he stepped into the East Hall lounge with a flourish of his cape.
“Totally cliché, you know. Besides, vampires are supposed to have black hair.”
He looked more like an angel, my Aidan. Despite the black cape and plastic fangs.
I had managed something far more esoteric, if less easily identifiable — a fallen star. If nothing else, I figured it’d be a good conversation starter.
Only problem was, I kept tripping on my dress — a long, crushed-velvet thing in silver with a big, sweeping train. I’d bought it online and paid a fortune to have it shipped overnight. Yellow glow-sticks around my ankles and wrists completed the look.
“C’mon, it’s time to twinkle, little star.” Aidan took my hand and led me out into the night, toward the gym. I could hear the music, feel the thump of the bass, from across the quad as I stumbled along next to him.
“Be honest,” I said, careful with the hem of my dress. “Would you know what I was supposed to be if I hadn’t told you?”
“Absolutely,” he said, but his smile made me wonder. “I read Gaiman.”
I reached down to adjust my shoes, a hot pair of strappy heels that I’d bought on a whim in Manhattan before I’d come to school. Patsy had insisted they were a ridiculous purchase, that they were way too much for boarding school. I was glad that I’d ignored her and listened to my instincts instead, because they looked perfect with the dress.
When I straightened, Aidan took a step back, his gaze traveling from the top of my head down to my toes, and back up again. I felt myself shiver in response; guys had never looked at me the way Aidan was looking at me now. It made my heart race, my knees wobble.
“You sure you can’t read my mind?” I asked him.
He shook his head. “Nope. You’ve locked it good and tight.”
“Good,” I murmured, suddenly feeling naughty. “Because I’d hate for you to know what I’m thinking right now.”
In a flash, he’d pulled me up against his chest, his fake teeth ripped from his mouth, his lips on mine. He’d moved so fast that he’d taken me entirely by surprise. His lips were soft, his kiss gentle, but I could hear the low growl in the back of his throat.
Guess he didn’t need to read my mind after all.