At home I fall into bed, completely exhausted. My sleep is disturbed by strange dreams and I keep seeing Rupert’s face and his silvery eyes. Natalie’s laughter echoes through the silence. Suddenly I find myself in the middle of a jungle, the green foliage closing in on me, and I’m frozen with terror. Something glows among the trees and I catch sight of two ice-blue cat’s eyes. “Kio,” I whisper and take a step forward. But the next moment Cassius appears out of nowhere, scowling at me. An intensive blue light in his eyes blinds me and I close my eyes, wishing I could escape. My breath accelerates when I feel him coming closer and closer. I cry out and mercifully wake up, shivering uncontrollably.
Chapter 12
“So what do you think of Livia?” Natalie asks as soon as the four friends are gathered in her flat.
“That’s why we had to come here at this time?” Cassius complains, yawning widely. “Couldn't this have waited till tomorrow?” Natalie shakes her head impatiently.
“No, it’s too important. I want to know your verdict!” Will grins at her.
“She’s a very nice girl, your Livia, and very shy.”
“I would be too in your company if I didn’t know you so well,” Natalie grumbles. Will chuckles.
“You and shy! That would be a first!” Natalie purses her lips sullenly.
“I like her,” Rupert reassures his sister. “I think she’s only cautious around people she doesn’t know well.”
“So we should handle her with care until we win her trust, don’t you think, Cassius?” Natalie turns to the guy. Cassius raises his eyebrows questioningly.
“What are you trying to say?” Natalie shrugs.
“You were sort of odd, always staring at her. Don’t think I didn't notice! And then the thing with the seaweed. Why on earth did you want to feed it to her?” Will giggles but Cassius waves Natalie’s reproaches away.
“Nonsense, I didn’t stare. And I wanted to be nice showing her the seaweed as she evidently doesn’t have a clue about Japanese food. Is there any Bourbon left?”
Natalie ignores his question and huffs, “Nice, my arse! All you did was unsettle her. Didn't you see how pale she turned when you stuck your chopsticks in her face?” Rupert clears his throat.
“Of course, but why did she react so weirdly? It isn’t that shocking to pass somebody some strange food,” he wonders.
“Even when it is a complete stranger,” Will giggles again and pops a chocolate from the box on the table in his mouth.
“With Greg you had a go at me because I kept my distance, and when I try to be friendly to a candidate you don’t like it either,” Cassius complains, swinging his long legs from the sofa and getting up. “And if you don’t have any Bourbon I’ll leave.” The three friends gawp when he slams the door behind him.
“What’s eating him?” Will wonders, his mouth full of chocolate.
“Stop scoffing my Godiva truffles!” Natalie snatches the box out of his hands. “And I’m still convinced that he was staring.”
“Maybe he likes her,” Will shrugs but Rupert shakes his head.
“I don’t think so, he keeps rejecting Ruth who’s much more beautiful,” he observes.
“You don’t think Livia is pretty enough for him?” Natalie asks enraged. “Not every girl has to be a cool blonde like Ruth and not every boy has to fall for her.” Rupert pulls a face.
“Well, normally they do, don’t they? Calm down, Natalie! Livia is certainly pretty but not, um, exceptional. Cassius with his looks and money could have the most beautiful girls there are if he wants, but as far as I know he’s never been interested in anyone for more than a few days. That’s why I think it improbable that he would fall for Livia.”
“That’s right, I know for sure that Cassius has a wild streak,” Will grins mischievously and grabs the chocolate box back from Natalie who rolls her eyes at him. Rupert smirks.
“With ‘interested’ I mean he’s never really fallen in love,” he clarifies.
“Lucky him,” Natalie sighs. “Probably saves him a lot of pain.” She looks at Will from under her lashes. She’d give him all the chocolates in the world if he would love her.
“Anyway, don’t read too much into Cassius’ behaviour. You’re very protective of Livia because you found her and she’s certainly more fragile than Greg was,” Rupert tries to placate his sister.
“She looks eerily like Rebecca, don’t you think?” Will interjects at this point. “Maybe that’s why Cassius was staring at her.”
“Ha, now you admit it, too!” Natalie gloats.
“Rubbish,” Rupert shakes his head. “Rebecca and he didn’t have a lot in common, apart from their love of plants. If somebody would have an issue with the resemblance, it’s Augustus.” Natalie frowns, thinking about the meeting with Randolph when she told him that Livia was Rebecca’s daughter. He was lost for words, absolutely stunned, something she’d never witnessed before. First she thought he was angry because he turned white as a sheet but his next words left her even more incredulous.
“It’s a miracle of fate.” Randolph was a scientist and the last person to believe in miracles. “Make sure that she joins us.” Natalie couldn’t believe her ears. Randolph never intervened during the first steps of the shadow hunt, or so everybody told her. Afterwards he sent her home and she couldn’t shake the feeling that he wanted to get rid of her as fast as possible. Maybe Rebecca’s death had affected him more than he let on. Should she tell Rupert and Will? The seconds tick by and Rupert yawns widely.
“I’m going to bed, all these speculations are senseless. Now we just have to get to know Livia better and then decide if we should introduce her to Augustus.”
“And don’t pull a Ruth and tell her who we really are,” Will admonishes her. “We should do that together. Even if Ruth didn’t play by the rules, it doesn't justify you doing the same. Right, I’m off now, too.” He drops the empty chocolate box on the table. Natalie nods, although she’s certainly contemplated doing it. But anyway, it’s much too soon.
“Don’t worry, I know we have all the time in the world now.”
Chapter 13
My life is no longer boring. I’m looking forward to every single day and all thanks to Natalie. We meet up nearly every day or at least talk on the phone or text. Being daunted by sheer unending weekends is a thing of the past, and even my maths and chemistry courses are not so bad anymore, it’s just not that important. Well, to be honest, I’m not always attending because Natalie and I often go out till the small hours and I can’t be bothered to get up in the morning. Even my obsession with my mum’s ring has faded somehow, I’m too happy to deal with dark secrets. My thoughts are full of interesting, new things, films I haven’t seen before, food I didn’t know existed, shops I never entered in my old life. I drink champagne and have learnt to tell a fine wine from an average one. Every day is new and exciting.
Sometimes Rupert joins us, those are my favourite days. He’s so cute and attentive but somehow I’d have expected a bit more. There are times when he looks at me in a certain way that raise my hopes but nothing ever happens. He never tries to meet me alone but I’ve no idea how I could heat things up a bit. I’m quite relieved that I haven’t seen Cassius since the evening at the Nobu because he frightens me, to be honest. Every time I think of him a vague uneasiness takes hold of me. Maybe it’s his eyes that made me feel as if he saw right into my soul. Or perhaps it’s just the fact that he tried to feed me some seaweed. Much to my regret I haven’t seen Will either because he’s been on a study trip to Rome for some time now. I didn’t know librarians travelled that much, I always thought it a rather dull job. Obviously he’s back now because he texted me today and invited me to dinner at his flat. First I was a bit concerned because I didn’t know what to make of it. Dinner at his flat? Just the two of us? I like him enormously but not in that way. So I was quite relieved when Natalie told me that she and Rupert are invited too. And Cassius. And Ruth. That’s a delicate subject because I still haven’t met Ruth although she hasn’t been away. I know she and Natalie meet up sometimes and one evening I decided to take the first step and suggested that we go to the cinema together. But it never happened. I don’t know if Natalie didn’t ask Ruth or if Ruth declined, and I didn’t try a second time.