I chewed on my bottom lip for a minute, mulling it over. There was something else, but I didn’t know if I was ready to go down that path.
Paul’s fingers tightened around my shoulders. “What’s wrong?”
I shook my head.
“Come on, Dusty. You can tell me. I won’t judge.” He dipped his head toward mine and kissed me again. I closed my eyes, feeling the same rush of physical sensation, making my mind fuzzy. When he broke the kiss this time, I kept my eyes closed for a moment, light-headed.
I looked at him. “Think you can figure out what my mother is doing for the senate? I want to know why she was at the dance and why they’re giving her Mr. Ankil’s job.”
“No problem. But why do you sound so suspicious?”
I took a deep breath. “Because when I went into the tunnels that night I thought she was the person I was following. And since she’s a Nightmare beyond the control of The Will…”
“… you think she’s involved.”
I nodded.
Paul frowned and pulled me against his chest, his arms a comforting pressure around me. “What exactly do you want me to do?”
“Prove she’s not the killer.”
18
Secret Identities
“You invited your boyfriend to help us investigate?” Eli sat up from his slouched position on the chair in his dorm room.
“What’s the big deal?” I said, trying not to squirm. Then I remembered I had no reason to be intimidated by Eli Booker. We were friends now. Sort of. “Paul is Magistrate Kirkwood’s nephew. He can give us insider information on what the senate is doing.”
Eli drummed his fingers against the arms of the chair. “I don’t know, Dusty. I just don’t really like the guy much.”
I rolled my eyes. “Why? Did Lance say something bad about him?”
“Well, yeah, but that’s not why. Not entirely.”
“Oh, puh-leeze. You don’t even know Paul. All you know is what Lance told you. And Lance doesn’t like him for the plain and simple fact that Paul’s a halfkind. Or a mule, as I’m sure Lance put it.”
Eli shook his head. “I don’t care about that. There’s just something about him that rubs me the wrong way.”
I huffed. “Geez, Eli, I figured you’d be more sympathetic considering you two have the I-can’t-do-magic problem in common.” Oops, I’d done it again. Let my mouth run away with me.
He bristled. “I don’t give a crap about doing magic. That’s beside the point.”
I closed my eyes, took a deep breath. I opened my eyes. “I’m sorry. It’s just that I like Paul a lot, and I don’t appreciate you insulting him.”
“You mean like you insult Katarina?”
“That’s different.”
His infuriating eyebrow rose up. “Yeah? How so?”
Paul’s not an evil, manipulating, stuck-up twit. Fortunately I kept that one to myself. “Can we not fight about this? I’ve already told him what we’re doing so it’s too late anyway.”
Eli looked mutinous for a moment, then exhaled. “All right, no fighting. But don’t be surprised if I bring Kat to our next meeting.”
“You wouldn’t.”
Eli crossed his arms, muscles bulging, then grinned. “Okay, you’re right. I wouldn’t. But only because she’s too much of a distraction.”
Oh there is a good reason. An unpleasant knot tightened in my stomach.
“Although Katarina could actually be useful,” said Eli, scratching his cheek.
“How do you figure?”
“She’s pretty smart. She’s got a good idea of why Mr. Ankil was a Minotaur in the dream.”
I didn’t say anything, trying to ignore the inappropriate sense of betrayal I felt knowing he’d shared the details of our dream-sessions with his girlfriend. They were his dreams, after all. Besides, it wasn’t as if I didn’t tell Paul. We were even, really.
“Kat thinks it’s because he was a Taurus. You know, his sign, the head of a bull.”
I nodded, supposing it made sense. “How does she know Ankil was a Taurus?”
Eli ran a hand through his black hair, looking embarrassed. “She’s really into astrology.”
“Totally not surprised. But whatever.” I plopped down on the sofa, tired of standing with my butt leaning against the desk. “So did you find anything useful in Fritz’s office?”
Eli stood and walked over to me. “Unfortunately, no.”
“There was nothing?” I said, gazing up at him and trying not to squirm from sudden nervousness at his close proximity.
He hooked his thumbs through the belt loops on his jeans and nodded. “And I was pretty thorough about it, too. If he’s got the rings, he’s not keeping them there.”
I grimaced, looking away from him. I hadn’t really figured we would strike a home run the first at bat, but it was a little disheartening to know I’d assaulted a teacher, exposed the nature of my Nightmare abilities, and earned a heinous detention all for nothing.
“Thanks by the way,” Eli said. He reached out and stroked the top of my head. “You really saved my neck.”
Well, maybe not completely for nothing. I glanced up at him, warmth climbing my neck. Patting my head wasn’t exactly intimate, but it felt that way. “Don’t mention it.”
He smiled, dazzling me. I smiled weakly back at him, trying to hide my embarrassment at the tremble that went through my body. I’d hoped now that I had a boyfriend—one I certainly enjoyed kissing and hugging and looking at—that my attraction to Eli would somehow vanish. But apparently not. Stupid teenage hormones.