“I know I would,” Tamani said. “My uncle’s always been pretty strict with me.” To say the least, he added to himself. “But the older I get, the more freedom he gives me.”

Yuki turned up the path to a small house without thought. “Is this it?” Tamani asked.

Not that Tamani actually had to ask. He knew the cottage on sight. It was covered in ivy and had one small bedroom in the back, with a common area behind the front door. He knew her bedspread was purple and that she had pictures of pop stars ripped from magazines hanging on her walls. He also knew she didn’t enjoy being alone as much as she claimed and spent a lot of time lying faceup on her bed just staring at the ceiling.

What she didn’t know was that as long as she was in Crescent City, she would never be home alone again.

“Um, yeah,” she said quickly, startled, as if she hadn’t realized how far they’d walked.

“I’ll leave you here, then,” Tamani said, not wanting to overstay his welcome on their first encounter. He gestured back the way they had come with his thumb. “I kinda left my car a little way up the road.”

She smiled again, showing one shallow dimple in her left cheek that caught Tamani off guard. Not that they were exceptionally rare among the fae, but with their inherent symmetry, having one on only one side was quite uncommon. Still Tamani couldn’t help smiling back. She did seem like a sweet kid. He hoped it wasn’t an act.

“So,” he said, already walking slowly backward, “if I say hi to you tomorrow, you going to say hi back?”

His step faltered just a little when she didn’t answer.

“Why are you doing this, Tam?” she asked after a long pause.

“Doing what?” Tamani asked, stopping now.

“This,” she said, gesturing between the two of them.

He did his best to look both playful and sheepish. “I lied,” he said carefully. “I did notice you that first day.” He shrugged and looked down at his feet. “I noticed you right away. It just took me a while to get up the guts to approach you, I guess.”

He peered up at her, watched the nervous tightening of her neck, and knew, before she responded, that he’d won. “Okay,” she said quietly. “I’ll say hi.”

Chapter Eleven

LAUREL STARED AT HERSELF IN THE MIRROR, TRYING to decide if the bump on her back was actually as big as it seemed to her, or if she was blowing it out of proportion. In the end, she had to just drop her hair down across her back and hope for the best. David had gone into school early for a National Honor Society meeting, and Laurel decided she would walk so she could ride home with him after school. She took a glance at the clock, then hurried downstairs so she’d have time. On her way out the door Laurel grabbed an apple from the ever-present fruit basket on the counter, shouted a quick good-bye to her parents, and hurried out into the early morning sunshine.

“Care for a lift?” a voice called as Tamani’s convertible pulled up beside her. Laurel hesitated. She was his friend; technically there was nothing wrong with getting a ride from him. On the other hand, he had made his intentions clear, and she didn’t want to encourage him, or worse, string him along the way she had inadvertently done last year. Still, riding in a convertible was just as revitalizing as walking, and in some ways, better—she loved the feel of the wind in her face. “Thanks,” she said with a smile, pulling open the door and sliding in.

“How’s the Mixing coming along?” Tamani asked as the school parking lot came into view.

“I’m almost done curing the second batch of phosphorescent,” said Laurel. “It’s slow going, but I’m pretty sure I did it right this time.”

“Good timing, then. I brought you a present,” Tamani said, handing her a small, cloth-wrapped package.

Laurel could tell from the size and shape that it was the light orb she’d asked for. “Thanks! Hopefully I’ll bloom tomorrow and we can start figuring things out.”

“Anything you need,” he said. “I wonder though, should you try out the experiment on living faeries first? I mean, right now, if I understand right, you’re going to try to keep the plants cells alive and try the phosphorescent on them. Wouldn’t it be better to try one thing at a time? Not that I’m trying to tell you how to be a Mixer,” Tamani added hastily.

“No, you’re right,” Laurel said reluctantly, remembering how David had begged her to drink the phosphorescent. “It’s just that I can’t exactly come to school glowing, you know what I mean?”

“Well, maybe you don’t have to. I mean, it’s almost the weekend. Didn’t Katya say that stuff wears off overnight? And if you did us both, we could see if there’s a difference between Spring and Fall.”

“Maybe,” Laurel said distractedly. “I’m still not sure it’s a good idea to drink that stuff, but maybe it could be applied directly . . . ?” Her voice trailed off as she pondered ways to test her theories.

“Laurel?”

She snapped back to attention. “What?”

He laughed. “I called your name about three times.”

They were in the parking lot. A handful of students were making their way through parked cars on their way to the school, weaving around Tamani’s car and feeling very close with no roof between her and them.

“Listen,” Tamani said, pulling her attention away. “I actually wanted to talk to you about Yuki, too.”