“You laugh, but you haven’t seen me in a tux. Or maybe you don’t like broad-shouldered guys with muscular chests and washboard abs?”
I bit my lip to conquer another, harder laugh. “Quit intimidating me. You’re starting to make this sound like a role reversal of Beauty and the Beast. We all know you’re beautiful, Scott.”
Scott gave my knee an affectionate squeeze. “You’ll never hear me admit this again, so listen up. You look good, Grey. On a scale from one to ten, you’re definitely in the top half.”
“Gee, thanks.”
“You’re not the kind of girl I would have chased after when I was in Portland, but I’m not the same guy I was back then either. You’re a little too good for me, and let’s face it, a little too smart.”
“You’ve got street smarts,” I pointed out.
“Stop interrupting. You’re going to make me lose my place.”
“You’ve got this speech memorized?”
A smirk. “I’ve got a lot of time on my hands. As I was saying — hell. I forgot where I was.”
“You were telling me I can rest assured that I’m better-looking than half the girls at my school.”
“That was a figure of speech. If you want to get technical, you’re better-looking than ninety percent. Give or take.”
I laid a hand over my heart. “I’m speechless.”
Scott got down on his knee and clasped my hand dramatically. “Yes, Nora. Yes, I’ll go to the homecoming dance with you.”
I snorted down at him. “You are so full of yourself. I never asked.”
“See? Too smart. Anyway, what’s the big deal? You need a date, and while I might not be your number one choice, I’ll do.”
A clear image of Patch appeared in my thoughts, but I swept it aside. Logically, I knew there was no way Scott could read my mind, but that didn’t ease my guilt. I wasn’t ready to tell him just yet that I was no longer working exclusively with him to bring down Hank; I’d enrolled the help of my ex-boyfriend, who just so happened to be twice as resourceful, twice as dangerous, the embodiment of masculine perfection … and a fallen angel. Hurting Scott was the last thing I wanted. Quite unexpectedly, he’d grown on me.
And while I found it odd that Scott had suddenly decided complacency was the way to go with Hank, I didn’t have the heart to tell him he wasn’t allowed one night of fun. As he’d said, the home-coming dance would be the last thing on Hank’s radar.
“Okay, okay,” I said, giving him a playful jab to the shoulder. “It’s a date.” I put on a serious face. “But you’d better not be exaggerating about how fine you look in a tux.”
It wasn’t until later that night that I realized I’d failed to tell Scott about Hank’s decoy building and the real Nephilim safe house. Who would’ve thought homecoming would weigh on my thoughts more heavily than stumbling inside a barracks of armed Nephilim? It was times like this when having Scott’s cell phone number would have come in really useful. On second thought, I wasn’t sure Scott had a cell. Phones were traceable.
At six I sat down to dinner with Mom.
“How was your day?” she asked.
“I can tell you it was absolutely fantastic, if you want,” I said, chewing a bite of baked ziti.
“Oh dear. Did the Volkswagen break down again? I thought it was very generous of Hank to fix it, and I’m sure he’d offer to help out again, if you asked.”
At my mom’s blind admiration of Hank, I had to exhale slowly to regain my composure. “Worse. Marcie nominated me for homecoming royalty. Worse yet, I made the ballot.”
Mom lowered her fork. She looked stunned. “Are we talking about the same Marcie?”
“She said Hank told her about the hallucinations, and she’s made me her new charity case. I didn’t tell Hank about the hallucinations.”
“That would have been me,” she said, blinking in surprise. “I can’t believe he shared that information with Marcie. I distinctly remember telling him to keep it private.” She opened her mouth, then slowly closed it. “At least, I’m almost positive I did.” She set down her utensils with a clink. “I swear old age is getting the better of me. I can’t seem to remember anything anymore. Please don’t blame Hank. I take full responsibility.”
I couldn’t bear to see my mom lost and bewildered. Old age had nothing to do with her inability to remember. I had no doubt in my mind that Patch was right; she was under Hank’s influence. I wondered if he was mind-tricking her day by day, or if he’d instilled in her a general sense of obedience and loyalty.
“Don’t worry about it,” I murmured. I had a piece of ziti poised on my fork, but I’d lost my appetite. Patch had told me there wasn’t any use in trying to explain the truth to my mom — she wouldn’t believe me — but that didn’t keep me from wanting to scream out in frustration. I wasn’t sure how much longer I could keep up the charade: eating, sleeping, smiling, as if nothing were wrong.
Mom said, “This must be why Hank suggested you and Marcie go dress shopping together. I told him I’d be very surprised if you had any desire to go to homecoming, but he must have known what Marcie was planning. Of course, you’re under no obligation to go anywhere with Marcie,” she corrected in a rush. “I think it would be very big of you, but clearly Hank doesn’t know how you feel about Marcie. I think he dreams of seeing our families get along.” She gave a miserable little laugh.
Under the circumstances, I couldn’t bring myself to join her. I didn’t know how much of what she said was from the heart, and how much was dictated by Hank’s mind-tricks. But it was very clear that if she was thinking marriage, Patch and I needed to work faster.
“Marcie cornered me after school and told me — yes, told me — we’re going dress shopping tonight. Like I had absolutely no say in the matter whatsoever. But it’s all good. Vee and I have a plan. I texted Marcie and told her I couldn’t go shopping because I’m out of money. Then I told her how sorry I was, because I was really looking forward to her input. She texted back and said Hank gave her his credit card and she was paying.”
Mom groaned in disapproval, but her eyes crinkled with amusement. “Please tell me I raised you better than this.”
“I already picked out the dress I want,” I said cheerfully. “I’ll get Marcie to pay for it, and then Vee will just happen to bump into us as we’re leaving the store. I’ll take the dress, ditch Marcie, and go out for doughnuts with Vee.”
“What does the dress look like?”
“Vee and I found it at Silk Garden. It’s an above-the-knee party dress.”
“What color?”
“You’ll have to wait and see.” I smiled devilishly. “It’s one hundred and fifty dollars.”
Mom waved this off. “I’d be surprised if Hank even notices. You should see how he burns through cash.”
I settled higher in my chair, pleased with myself. “Then I don’t suppose he’ll mind buying my shoes, too.”
I was supposed to meet Marcie at Silk Garden at seven. Silk Garden was a boutique dress shop on the corner of Asher and Tenth. From the outside it resembled a château, with an oak-and-iron door and a cobblestone walk. The trees were wrapped in blue decorative lights. In the front windows, mannequins modeled dresses beautiful enough to eat. When I was little, my dreams of grandeur included becoming a princess and claiming Silk Garden as my castle.
At twenty past seven, I paced the parking lot, scouting for Marcie’s car. Marcie drove a red Toyota 4Runner, fully loaded. Somehow I got the feeling her shifter never popped out of its socket. I doubted she’d ever had to smack her dashboard for ten minutes straight before the engine caught. And I was willing to bet her ride never broke down halfway to school. I cast a gloomy look in the direction of the Volkswagen and sighed.