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  I see him in my mind’s eye, that grin-and-wink combo, and my heart flutters again. “Night, Sync.”

  A pause, and then: “Night, Luce.”

  ***

  The days go by in a blur as I fall into routine. Walk to school, spend all freaking day in school, go to Cosmo, walk home. Repeat. On the walks to and from, most days my cyberhound accompanies me, his massive body ambling along at my side. His shoulders nearly come up to my waist and he’s thick, ripcord muscle and brindled midnight fur. The cyborg leg gleams in the sunlight. His gait is smooth and it’s like he was born with it, even though that’s insane. Robots are created, not born.

  It’s strange how safe I feel with him. He’s like my own personal bodyguard. I’ve seen two Wraiths since, lurking in the shadows, watching me with those empty eyes, but they never come close enough to touch me. I wonder if they know he’s attacked their kind before. I wonder why he saved me in the first place.

  We reach the school and my hound butts his head up against my thigh, rubbing like a big cat might. His tail wags and then he steps back, watching me. His ears swivel forwards and back, picking up sounds.

  I gently touch his head. “See ya, Freak,” I say with a smile, taking the steps two at a time. I make it into the school and look back around, but the hound is already gone.

  I make a pit stop in the bathroom before the bell rings. As I’m washing my hands, I see the girl from a few days ago come out of a stall. Her hair is poofy, tamed back into a ponytail at the back of her head. It’s all natural: No extensions, no dyes. She has a spatter of freckles across her nose, making her look younger than her boobs say she is. I offer a tentative smile.

  “Hi.”

  “Lucy, right?” She sidles up beside me, washing her hands as I dry mine. I stuff them into my pockets. I remember her watching me as Sync pulled debris from my wounded hands, hands that have pretty much healed up. Even now, she doesn’t seem at all scared of me. I know she has to have heard the rumors. She just doesn’t seem to care and I’m not sure if that makes me excited or nervous.

  “Yeah.”

  She dries her hands under the airflow, then sticks one out. I stare at it for a moment. Her brow arches.

  “Oh.” I feel heat rush to my face and I shake it quickly.

  She laughs. “I’m Caddie. I’m in your Earth Science class. I sit two seats behind you.”

  I look at her, but the name doesn’t ring a bell. That class is a little more exciting than the rest of them, but still, pretty boring in my book. When I don’t say anything, she adds, “I’m the girl Mr. Hoopes always calls on.”

  “Sorry,” I say with a shake of my head. We kind of just stand there in an awkward silence as it stretches around us, enveloping me in a cocoon. “I’m not that social.”

  “I don’t blame you.”

  Outside, the bell rings shrill and we both jerk to attention. “We’d better get to class.” How can one simple girl make me feel so on edge? It would be easier if she was being a jerk. I’m not sure how to handle nice.

  “Agreed.” She turns to open the door, then pauses mid-swing. She looks at me. “Hey. Um. Sorry if I’m out of bounds or something, but would you wanna hang out sometime? I know you don’t really seem to do the whole ‘friends’ scene, but I figured…”

  Fear spreads like a virus through my blood, setting me on fire and freezing me solid at the same time. I think of Sophia, her red hair streaming into her face like ribbons of blood as she flopped lifelessly to the ground. I think of the agony in my heart as I sat by her bedside and when she woke up, she woke up screaming, her eyes wide with terror. I told myself never again.

  But I haven’t had a surge in three years. I’m more careful now, who I take from and when I take it. Experience has made me cautious. I love Sync like a sister, but let’s face it—she’s just a robot.

  I take a shaky breath, coming back to the present just in time to hear Caddie say, “—if you don’t want to. It’s okay, really, I just figured—”

  “I’d like to. Hang out. If the offer’s still open.”

  She beams, her entire face lighting up. “Awesome! Um, where at? What time?”

  “Well I have plans after school to go to Cosmo, but I’m open tomorrow? For lunch?” I felt a pang of something, like I should be inviting her to Cosmo along with me, but if the hottie was there…well maybe I didn’t want to have to compete with her.

  “You like Cosmo?”

  I blink at her. “Why?”

  “You just don’t seem like a very social person. What, with your rep and all.” I frown and she shakes her head, looking apologetic. “I don’t mean that in a bad way, Lucy. Really!”

  “I like the music,” I mumble. “The beat just…I don’t know. I like music.”

  “Oh my God, have you seen Elysium play? When MaXXX sings ‘Life and Love’ I just melt a little inside.” She lets out a giggle.

  We head down the hall. I leave her at her first period class. “Okay, I’ll see you tomorrow then? Matchlight Diner, noonish?”

  “It’s a date!” she agrees, then pauses. “But not like, a lesbian thing, right? I mean, it’s totally okay if you like girls, I just don’t swing that way and I don’t want to give you the wrong idea about tonight and—”

  “Caddie. Breathe.” I can’t help but catch her grin. It’s contagious. She beams again. “Just friends. I like boys.”

  “Oh good. Okay. See ya.” She ducks into the classroom and I watch the door swing shut, my heart feeling surprisingly light. I can do this. I’ll just have to be careful.

  I wonder if Jale’ll be sleeping through English again…

  Chapter 5:

  Iofiel

  These past few days have been both Heaven and Hell. To accompany Lucy home on the days I have no duty, it’s like a gift from God, if such a being exists. But it’s also torture, knowing she’s right there, and I can touch her, but not with my fingers. I can’t cup her face in my hands, look deep into those sapphire blue eyes, and kiss her tenderly on the lips. I want to. I just can’t.

  She’s been at Cosmo every night since that night. Maybe I’m just a coward, afraid Lylan is going to catch me with my hand in the cookie jar. But if we die tomorrow, I’ll die never having talked to her.

  Not anymore.

  Tonight, I’m going to Cosmo. If she’s there, and I hope she is, I’m going to say something. My heart is thundering in my chest like a summer storm, zipping along like lightning through the clouds. What if she turns me down? What if she’s not interested?

  I take a deep breath in through my nose, letting it out through my mouth. It will be fine. Back at Cosmo, when I gave her that latte, she definitely blushed whenever I’d meet her gaze. She’s into me, even if she doesn’t want to admit it. The problem with a girl like her is that she’s shy. Just with a tough outer shell. If anything else, it makes her even sexier.

  I wait at the edge of the alley for Lucy and sure enough, four o’clock on the dot, her boots are scuffling down the sidewalk. Feeling my heart swell, I bound from the alley and her face lights up, her smile lifting up one corner of her lips.

  I wag my tail and she pats her leg, urging me to follow. I trot along beside her, head held high, my internal scanner keeping track of where my Packmates are. Nowhere close, thankfully. Her hand falls down to fondle my ear and her fingers send prickles of pleasure through me. I pick up speed as we head down the familiar path to Harvar Street, to the original Cosmo.

  Just like always, I hesitate at the corner. She turns to look at me, tucking a curl behind her ear. “See ya, Freak,” she says in that husky voice of hers, hitching her bag up on her shoulder and stepping to the back of the line. I wait until she’s long gone, the flash of the Portal announcing she’s arrived at the coffee shop in the sky. Then I slip down the alley until darkness shrouds me in a veil.

  With a deep breath, I focus on me—the human me, with my scruffy dark hair and pale skin. The shift overtakes my body swiftly, shimmering across my skin, fur sinking down through
the surface, replaced by human flesh. The pinch of Faerie magic that it took to create me aids me in my change until I’m standing in the shadows in a pair of blue jeans, a white T-shirt, and my black leather jacket. An eye patch covers the entire left side of my face and I wear a Realskin glove on my right arm, keeping the cyborg parts from showing through.

  The jacket squeaks softly as I roll my shoulders, striding out of the alley. The line stretches back almost to the street. Typical Friday night, especially when it comes down to the more popular bands playing. Like that pretty-boy from Elysium. Girls just swoon over him.

  As I step through the Portal, I feel the flicker of magic spread across me. I’ve found if you keep your eyes shut, you don’t get so disoriented; the feeling of travel is almost pleasurable if you’re relaxed. In a matter of seconds, the scent of coffee laced with sugar granules invades my senses, and I’m deposited into the corner of Cosmo. My good eye scans the crowd and I pluck out Lucy standing in line for a coffee. Her little robot hovers at her side.

  I can’t help but grin as the robot glances my way, then nudges Lucy’s shoulder. She must say something because Lucy stiffens, then slowly turns. Our eyes meet and her mouth makes a little ‘o’ of surprise. I give a wave, my own lips twitching into a smile. I want to go up and talk to her, but maybe that’s too forward. Maybe I should let Lucy come to me.

  She orders and, with a coffee cup clasped in her hand, she and her robot make their way to an empty booth. I buy a small coffee with cream and sugar and get out of the way. I watch them for a moment, steeling myself, and then with a deep breath—you can do this—I make my way to their table. My heart flips acrobatically, but I smooth it over.

  “This seat taken?” I motion to the empty booth opposite them.

  Lucy’s looking into my eyes and hers are wild and wary. She glances to the coffee in my hand, then to the seat I’m pointing to. She shrugs an elegant shoulder. “Guess it is now.”

  “You sure you don’t mind?”

  “No. Go ahead,” she says and I swallow down a chuckle as she twists in her seat to look at the mostly-empty stage. She’s blushing, she just doesn’t want me to see it. So she does like me. Score one for Iofiel. I clear my throat and plop down in the seat, the leather hissing under my weight.

  The little robot buzzes close to my face. “I’m Sync. Pleased to meet you,” she says in a robotic British accent. Lucy glances at me, then back at the stage, nibbling on her lip. Sync tilts to the side, then turns back to me. “And this.” She butts against Lucy’s shoulder, making the girl swat at her. “Is Lucy Swift.”

  “Lucifer,” Lucy says under her breath, as prickly as a cactus.

  “Iofiel.” I quirk a grin at her, then sip at my coffee. Steam rises up, warming my face. “Nice name.”

  “Well, you’re named after an angel.”

  “Lucifer was once an angel.” Two can play that game.

  She huffs. “There’s a difference—I picked my name out. Your mom was just a hippie.”

  I think of my Nursemaid and her beaming smile. She was as close to a mom as I’d get. “I guess she was kind of a hippie. My brothers are named after angels as well.” In fact, the only cyberhound not named after an angel is Lylan, and he was named after one of the first Unseelie kings.

  I hook my legs under the booth. Lucy looks everywhere but at me, staring a hole into her coffee. I half expect it to bubble and froth up out of the cup. Silence stretches between us. Then Lucy glances up at me.

  “Why are you even here?”

  “I like good coffee and interesting music. You?” I flash a smile and she huffs again, elbows propped up on the table on either side of her coffee cup.

  “I meant here. At this table. With me.”

  “Oh. That.”

  “Luce.” Sync gives her a look and quickly glances between us. It’s almost like the robot has emotions. Strange, but I definitely feel an annoyed vibe coming off of her.

  “What?” Lucy asks, pulling her knees up to her chest so she’s pinned against the table and the booth seat. Then she looks back to me with laser-eyes. “I never got an answer.”

  “You want the truth?” My heart picks up speed, a freight train tipping dangerously off the rails. “The whole truth, nothing but the truth?”

  “Duh.”

  “I think we’re soul mates.”

  Her jaw drops open as she stares at me. Sync makes a bleeping sound. Score two for Iofiel. I can’t help but smile at her. “Okay, so maybe that was a little forward. Sorry, love. Really? I saw you the other day and I knew I had to meet you. Did you know that you’re really pretty?”

  Her walls rise up around her as she shields herself from me. They’re invisible, but I can feel them, and I imagine myself standing on the outside, pounding and screaming for her to let me in. “You sure you’re looking at me? I’m not pretty.”

  I lean back in my seat, gripping the side of the table. I push my arms out and lock them at the elbows. I stare at her. Her skin glows slightly in the dim corner of the room, so pale that you can almost see the tracing marks of her blue and violet veins crisscrossing like a map under her flesh. Her hair is untamed, jet black and blue, with extensions that look like tubes braided through her locks. And her eyes, her angel eyes…

  “You’re beautiful,” I say around a breath.

  Then I drop my gaze. “I’ll leave if you want. That was really blunt of me.” I manage a laugh but I don’t meet her eyes; I just sip my coffee, risking glances at her over the top of the cup.

  She’s watching me, looking torn between being furious and afraid. The band plays a riff on stage, starting into a slow song. She doesn’t say anything, so I slide out of the booth. Please, tell me to stop. Tell me to stay. Tell me you want me, my mind is screaming.

  I’m on my feet, turning away. “Nice to meet you, anyway,” I say, my own heart clenching as she says nothing, just watches me with those soulful eyes. Sync nudges her, but she seems to be stuck, but that look on her face makes me want to kiss her fears away. I shrug and head for the door.

  “Iofiel?” Her voice slams into me like a drumstick smashing a cymbal, loud and crashing even though her voice is barely audible above the band. Hope leaps up my throat and I turn to face her.

  “Yeah?”

  “If you wanted to buy me a coffee…” She trails off, but I can see the impish gleam in her eye. “I wouldn’t mind if you stuck around a little while. Enjoyed the band with me?” She tips her head slightly to one side, a mirror image of my hound self.

  I beam at her. “Your wish is my command, love. But if I can be blunt? This band sucks eggs.”

  She laughs. “Agreed.”

  We stay until nearly 9:00 pm anyway.

  Chapter 6:

  Lucy

  I stretch up on my tip-toes, pulling the clean dishes from the dishwasher and putting them in the cupboard. Plates from large to small, then bowls, then glasses. I’m meeting Caddie at the Matchlight Diner for lunch and I need to ask Mr. Rockwell for a couple of bucks, so I’m doing what I can to clean up. Maybe if I give him a good impression…

  “You’re chipper today,” he says as he shuffles into the room, wearing an oversized blue robe. His hair is slicked back with a wet sheen and he smells faintly of aftershave. It’s about time he got up.

  “I’m going out with a friend,” I start, turning towards him. I lean up against the counter, shutting the dishwasher door with my knee. He blinks at me, but if he’s surprised that I’m going out with someone for once in the year that I’ve lived here, he doesn’t show it.

  “So, um. I was wondering if I could borrow a couple bucks. We’re going to lunch at the Matchlight.”

  He pours himself a cup of coffee from the Automaker, saying nothing, just hmm’ing to himself. He pushes a kitchen chair out with his foot and sits down, the news tablet on the table in front of him. He sets down the coffee mug and sits, tapping the screen to flip through the paper.

  I wait five minutes. By the time I decide to say something, my li
p is raw on the inside from my gnawing. “So…?”

  “I suppose I can lend you a five.”

  Five won’t get me lunch and a drink, but I force a smile anyways. Tightwad. “Thanks, Mr. Rockwell,” I say as he fishes out a stained bill from his billfold and hands it to me. I stuff it in my pocket and take a step back. He seems to think about it for a moment, then digs in his wallet and hands me a fifty.

  I blink at it, surprised, until he says, “Be back by three. You need to go out and get groceries.”

  Why can’t you do it? But I say nothing. I just nod. “Okay. Bye.” My nails press little crescent moons into my palms I’m clenching them so hard. I shut the door softly despite needing to slam it. He thinks he can own me. I know my face is set in a scowling snarl, but I don’t care. I know what I need, though.

  Even though it’ll take me directly away from Matchlight, I head toward the school. I just need to run my hands through his fur, butt my head against his, and scratch behind his ears. I just… It’s stupid. He’s not some pet I can fondle, but I’ve come to rely on him. I know he’ll be able to calm me down, with his ever-wagging tail and doggy grin.

  I get to the edge of the alley. “Freak?” I really should give him a name, something that fits him, but I feel stupid. I’ll never own him—he’s an Unseelie creature, not of this realm. The Fae would probably have a hissy fit if they knew he was play-acting as a happy Labrador or something.

  I peer into the shadows, straining my ears for the click of his claws. I hear nothing except the whoosh of cars zipping by, blowing my hair away from my face. I stand there for a few moments, staring into the empty alley, before giving up. Maybe he’s patrolling the city, or whatever it is that cyberhounds do.

  Matchlight Diner has been around for years, a booming family business that started in a tiny little corner of the city. Now it’s huge, right on Main Street. The menu and daily specials flash on the large electronic billboard positioned perfectly where people in their cars can see it. Looks like they’re having turkey manhattans with a salad bar half off today. Guess what I’m getting?