‘Well, I’m glad you are.’
Isabella glared at Jake. ‘I mean, I guess you’re probably right,’ he hastily qualified.
But he didn’t look at Cassie as he spoke. She knew that he had long suspected Ranjit of having killed his sister. Even Katerina’s confession that she and Keiko had committed the crime hadn’t been enough to convince Jake that Ranjit wasn’t in some way responsible. And Cassie had to admit there were still unanswered questions. Ranjit had been due to meet Jess the night she was killed, but Katerina had sent someone to delay him. Who had that been, and how much did they know about the plot? Cassie wasn’t sure she wanted to find out – and even if she did, she had a feeling Ranjit wouldn’t say.
Jessica Johnson. The dead girl felt like the elephant in the room in so many of her relationships, sometimes it was almost as though she was still alive and there at the Academy …
‘Jake—’ Cassie began.
He shook his head and nudged her good-naturedly. ‘Hey, ignore me. I’m sorry. I’ve not quite forgiven or forgotten yet, I guess. But I’m here, and that’s something. Anyway, we’re under instructions from this beautiful girl here to lighten up. Sorry, baby,’ he said, putting his arm around Isabella’s shoulders as they made their way down the hall.
‘No problem,’ Isabella said, glowing at his compliment.
Jake cleared his throat, and moved swiftly on to another topic Cassie wasn’t keen to discuss.
‘So anyway, when am I going to find out what happened in Darke’s office, huh? I want to know what he said. What did you do, Cassie? What did he do?’
‘Um …’
‘You look a hell of a lot better now, that’s for sure. Was it something to do with, uh, feeding?’ Jake’s voice was casual, but it couldn’t quite hide the urgency behind his question, and Cassie began to worry he’d jumped to the right conclusion. ‘Come on, what happened? Fess up.’ He attempted a smile.
Cassie glanced at Isabella and noticed the very slight shake of her head. Taking a deep breath, she once again couldn’t quite meet Jake’s eye. ‘Sir Alric gave me a shot of something. Kind of a drug. But not a drug.’
Jake stayed silent for an agonising moment. At last he said, ‘A drug?’
‘Yeah. Not dangerous or anything. It’s something the Few can take. To ward off the hunger.’ That wasn’t a lie, after all.
‘Oh.’ He looked dumbfounded. ‘So, the feeding thing?’
‘I just got the injection, and … now it’s all fine.’ Behind her back, Cassie crossed the fingers of both hands.
‘Really?’ Jake frowned, and then made a face. ‘Well, that’s great. Why the hell didn’t you tell me? It seems pretty straightforward. God, you had me worried there, you know, with what Keiko did and all.’
‘Yeah. No. I mean, I’m fine now.’ Cassie could barely raise a smile. Guilt twisted her gut.
He smiled ruefully back. ‘Well, I’m glad you’re OK, anyhow.’
‘Uh, cheers.’
‘Right,’ harrumphed Isabella, a nervous note in her voice. ‘Are you happy now, Jake?’
Her boyfriend grinned and gave her a faux-meek nod.
‘Then I need to talk to Cassie.’ She wagged a finger at Jake and linked arms with her roommate. ‘Alone!’
‘Hey, what can’t I hear?’ he asked plaintively.
Isabella let go of Cassie’s arm and wrapped herself around Jake’s neck. She planted an enthusiastic kiss on his lips then pulled away. ‘Girl talk.’
It seemed to convince him. He raised his hands in defeat. ‘OK. In that case, I’m definitely going. See you later, girls.’
Isabella grinned and waved him goodbye.
When he’d disappeared from sight, Cassie exhaled deeply. ‘I feel like a shit,’ she muttered.
Isabella clasped her hand. ‘Thank you, Cassie.’
‘For what? Lying to him?’
‘For being discreet. I don’t want him to know about the feeding. It will bring back too many painful memories of Jess.’
Cassie let Isabella precede her into the elevator. ‘He’s got to know eventually.’
‘Yes,’ conceded Isabella miserably. ‘But not yet, hmm?’
‘The longer we leave it …’
‘The longer he’ll be happy. Ignorance is blissful, isn’t it? So let’s not tell him just yet.’
‘OK,’ sighed Cassie as the elevator door slid silently open at their floor. ‘But I want a favour for keeping my mouth shut.’
Isabella slipped her arm through Cassie’s. ‘Name it! A polo pony?’
Cassie giggled. ‘As if. All I want is a shot on your laptop, to check my emails and stuff ?’
‘Ooh, you ask so much.’ Isabella tossed her hair dramatically, then laughed. Sweeping into their room and flinging her bag on to her bed, she patted her laptop. ‘There you go!’
Cassie logged on, found her webmail folder and scrolled down through the messages. A couple of emails from the kids back at Cranlake, including some really bad jokes which made her laugh out loud. Otherwise nothing but special offers from websites she’d visited. Boring.
There was one more. Although she was expecting it, the sender’s name on the last message in the folder hit her with a jolt. With a flush of guilt, she took a deep breath.
From: Patrick Malone