Absolutely motionless, Cassie stared up. Her heart leaped, and if her throat hadn’t choked with crazy hope, she’d have shouted the name out loud.
RANJIT?
Don’t be stupid, Cassie! Could she have imagined it? At this distance? No, she was Few. Not only was her eyesight better than a cat’s, she knew what a stare felt like. And this one was intense. Clenching her fists tightly, she blinked, peering desperately, trying to catch a clear sight of … of what? This was crazy. Wishful thinking: Isabella was seeing Jake in the shadows, and now she was seeing Ranjit. The only difference was, for her – as least as far as she knew – there was even the remotest possibility it really could be her missing boyfriend. There was no chance of it being Jake, of course.
‘Where are you, Ranjit?’ she whispered out loud, tears threatening her sight. She swallowed hard and shook her head against the sound of her own voice, eerie against the murmur of the ocean, and the movement seemed to bring her to her senses. When she looked again, the curtains were still. It could have been anyone, she reasoned. Couldn’t someone at the Darke Academy enjoy the view of the ocean without her gaping back at them like a love-struck fantasist? Bloody hell, Cassie. Get it together.
Cassie was quite sure now that she’d be late meeting Richard. He’d be mock-offended, but she knew she’d be forgiven. She hurried towards the building, knowing he’d be the one to help with forgetting her troubles. How could it have been Ranjit, anyway? The boy she loved was on the run, a murderer, hunted by the Few. He was hardly going to be hanging around the Darke Academy with a gin and tonic and a bowl of peanuts, just waiting for her to notice.
And besides … She knew what Ranjit’s eyes felt like. She knew their burning, piercing power, and the way they cut straight into her soul; she knew the simultaneous chill and heat they sent through her bloodstream.
She knew what it felt like to have his eyes on her. That wasn’t it.
CHAPTER FOUR
The elegant colonnaded dining room was open on two sides to the night air. Inside, chandeliers glittered, but where the room extended into the garden, it was flames from torches that sparkled off the silver and crystal on the tables. Cassie paused in the darkness beyond the torches, scanning the room in search of Richard; she spotted him quickly, leaning over a table of newly initiated Few girls and making them laugh flirtatiously. Clearly, with one of the weaker spirits amongst the Few, he was still playing his old game of making himself indispensable to everyone.
Cassie felt a surge of deep affection for her complex, unfathomable friend. She’d long since forgiven Richard for her unwilling initiation into the Few; and even if she couldn’t ever feel for him what she felt for Ranjit – that violent, fierce, undeniable longing in her soul – what she did feel for Richard was pretty close to love.
Spotting Cassie, he raised a hand. Grinning, she sidled between tables and dodged students till she was at his side, exchanging a lingering kiss on the cheek rather than the air-kisses he bestowed on most of his acquaintances.
‘Cassandra Bell, where have you been?’ He raised a rakish eyebrow. ‘I don’t care if you’re peckish. Hunting the wildlife for food is strictly forbidden.’
She laughed. ‘Well, rhinos are a lot like chicken, you know.’
‘I’m sure they would be, if there were any on the beach. I can see I’ll have to take your education in hand again. Let’s go on a game drive at the weekend. Tsavo. No, Shimba Hills. Let’s go over here, there’s a free table, minus any objectionable people.’ This was said in a loud enough voice to earn him glowers from the tables he’d passed and rejected. People were still gossiping about what had happened last term. ‘Sit down, Cassie. What do you want to eat, really?’ He leaned closer. ‘And let’s choose quickly – I’ve got to tell you what I heard today about Marcia Gilbert. I’ll give you three guesses, and you still haven’t got a hope in hell. And anyway, you need to tell me about what you’ve been up to, and how Isabella’s been. Come on, no clamming up, Ms Bell …’
‘Clamming up?’ she laughed. ‘I haven’t had a chance to get a word in edgeways.’
She was more than happy to be swept along by Richard’s enthusiasm, though. It saved her from having to acknowledge the hostile glances of Sara, Saski and the rest.
‘So what are we going to do about Isabella?’ Richard murmured eventually, in a quieter voice.
Cassie stroked the white linen tablecloth obsessively. ‘I don’t know. I’m not sure there’s anything we can do. She’s grieving.’
‘Well, of course she is, even for yobbish old Jake.’ He smiled sadly, taking the sting out of his words. ‘Heck, Cassie, even I miss him. But I’m still worried. It’s an important year and I … I just really don’t want her to leave.’ He sat back and spread his hands helplessly.
Cassie started. ‘You don’t seriously think she would?’
‘No, but … Oh, listen, we’ll make her better. You and me. That’s what friends are for, right?’
‘Right. But no flirting, Halton-Jones. She isn’t ready.’
‘Would I? You wound me,’ he said sulkily. He paused for a moment and his mouth twitched at the corners. ‘And you haven’t even asked me about Marcia Gilbert and her father’s intern.’
Cassie burst out laughing, drawing glares from Sara’s table once more. Nobody could stay too gloomy around Richard for long. There was definitely hope for Isabella with him on their side.