‘Isabella, I don’t know—’
‘Cassie, you need to feed. That’s obvious. It’s why Sir Alric is so worried about you, yes?’ Isabella grasped Cassie’s hands.
‘He – yes. He said he’d teach me, show us how to do it safely.’
‘Well, Sir Alric is a good man. He knows what is necessary and what is or isn’t dangerous. Don’t worry, Cassie.’ Isabella’s smile was cautious but sincere. ‘If he shows us how to do it right, then it will be fine. I’ll be your … what do you say?’
Cassie swallowed. ‘My life-source. But wait, Isabella. What about Jake? He’ll never allow you to do it.’
‘Jake is not my boss, he’s my boyfriend,’ sniffed Isabella. ‘You’re right, he won’t like it, but this is my decision. I am not Jessica and you are not Keiko. And anyway, maybe what he doesn’t know won’t hurt him.’
‘You can’t keep it secret from him, Isabella.’
‘Why not? A girl is entitled to some secrets,’ Isabella replied, her dark eyes flashing. ‘When the time is right, I will tell him. He will understand.’
Cassie stared at her roommate. Wasn’t this the perfect outcome? She’d been honest with Isabella, and Isabella had agreed freely.
So why did she still feel like a piece of dirt?
‘All right.’ Cassie breathed out and smiled. ‘Thank you. Thank you, Isabella.’
‘You’re welcome. Just make sure you don’t overindulge.’ Isabella grinned. ‘I am sure that my life-energy must be very strong stuff!’
‘There’s no way in hell I’m getting anywhere near you until Sir Alric’s taught me everything there is to know about this feeding thing.’ Embarrassed, Cassie bit her lip self-consciously. How had they come to this?
Isabella looked at her roommate and giggled.
‘Your face is a picture, Cassie Bell. It will be fine. Besides, being one of the Few is not all bad news, huh? What about Ranjit? I heard how he swept you off your feet in the atrium yesterday. Surely he is some comfort?’ She grinned wickedly, and Cassie couldn’t help but smile too.
‘Look,’ Isabella continued, her eyes sparkling with mischief, ‘I wish this whole Few thing had not happened. But it has happened, and you’re in. And seeing as it’s Fate Accomplished, you might as well have some fun being Few, no?’
Cassie was about to correct her when she thought: no, Fate Accomplished is quite appropriate.
‘Isabella, I’m not going to start throwing my weight around.’
Isabella sniffed. ‘Hmph! Since Christmas there isn’t enough of you to throw.’
Cassie smiled wryly.
‘And of course you won’t play the Queen Bee, that wouldn’t be you.’ She grabbed Cassie’s arms and shook them. ‘Don’t forget, you are still you.’
‘I hope you’re right.’
Isabella ignored her. ‘Hey, you can invite me to the oh-so-sacred common room. And extra time off for being Few means more time on Madison Avenue.’
‘How did I know you’d work shopping into this somehow?’ Cassie said, a genuine smile finally crossing her lips. She purposefully stood up and stretched. ‘Come on, let’s get dressed and find some breakfast. It’ll take me at least an hour to look as good as you look right now. And let me tell you, you don’t look great.’
Isabella threw a pillow at her. ‘Swine. Anyway, it isn’t true. You look very beautiful since you had your famous “solution”. But wait till you start feeding on me!’ She preened, licking a fingertip and smoothing an eyebrow.
Cassie managed to laugh. Taking hold of Isabella’s ankle, she started to drag her out of bed. ‘Let’s get going, girl. You can’t avoid Herr Stolz for ever, you know.’
‘True.’ Isabella threw off her bedclothes and jumped to her feet, pouting. ‘But with my powerful new roommate, I was hoping I could.’
Cassie giggled. ‘We all have our problems. I get to be possessed by a demon, you get to face the deadly algebraic equations of the maths master.’
‘You know, Cassie?’ Isabella sighed. ‘I’m not sure which is worse …’
CHAPTER FIVE
Cassie remembered all too clearly the way she’d felt at the beginning of last term, the fish-out-of-water awfulness of it. She must have looked a bit like a fish, too, if the handful of new students were anything to go by – all wide eyes and gaping mouths. She smothered a smile, feeling sorry for them, but a little superior too. She wasn’t the hopeless newbie any more: it was almost as if she belonged here. And that felt nice, it really did.
She’d lost Isabella in the throng of students in the atrium, excitedly squealing greetings and indulging in excitable one-upmanship about holidays in exotic locales. As she made her way towards Herr Stolz’s classroom, Cassie noticed at least one familiar face of her own. Jake was standing near a bank of sleek lockers with electronic keypads. He looked slightly nervous as Cassie approached.
‘Hey, Jake! How’s it going?’
‘Uh, hey, Cassie. I’m OK, how are you? Feeling better today?’ He reached over and gave her an awkward hug, and Cassie felt her heart sink. It had taken months for her and Jake to overcome their mutual wariness. Then, just as they had become real friends, events had taken over. Now, as well as being a walking reminder of his lost sister, Cassie was also one of the Few – part of the group responsible for Jessica’s death. No wonder there was tension between them; his feelings towards her must be almost as mixed up as her own. She only hoped she’d be able to show Jake that he could still trust her – and prove it to herself …