Jared grinned at her and leaned his elbows on the table. “Hit me.”

“What are you doing here?” Ash’s voice rang out. He stood in the doorway, looking like Kami imagined the angel guarding at the gate of Eden must have looked at the moment he realized that the serpent had gotten past him.

Jared stood up. “I write for the school paper now.”

Kami and Angela made a mutual low sound of incredulous protest.

Jared glanced over at Kami and nodded, with sudden decision. “Yes,” he proceeded. “That’s it. I’m very interested in affairs.”

Ash’s lip curled. “What do you mean ‘affairs’?”

“Current ones,” said Jared.

“Someone tell me this is a joke,” said Ash, and cast an appealing look at Kami.

Jared swung out from behind the desk to stand in front of Kami. “And about that,” he continued. “Now that Kami and I have met, she likes me better than you. So you can leave.”

Kami made another involuntary sound of protest.

Jared wheeled around. “What?” he demanded, eyes resting on her again with that insistent, intent look. “You do, don’t you? Kami. You do.”

Angela strode out from her corner and gave Jared a solid push in the chest. “Look,” she said. “Even if Kami said you could write for the paper, which I highly doubt she did, we run it together. So we both decide who writes for the paper, and so far, I think you’re obviously unsuitable, due to the fact that you’re obviously unstable. Give me one reason to keep you around.”

Jared met Angela glare for glare. “For Kami,” he snapped. “I’m going to write for the paper because Kami’s here, and I’m not going to leave Kami’s side. Someone’s trying to kill her.”

Chapter Ten

Falling All Around You

Chaos descended on Kami’s headquarters. Ash gave Jared an appalled stare and shut the door with a slam. Holly jumped, her apple rolling off the computer and onto the floor.

“You maniac!” Angela got in Jared’s face. “That’s not funny. Where the hell do you get off saying something like that?”

“I’m not joking,” Jared said coldly. “Someone’s trying to kill her. Tell them, Kami!”

Everyone looked at Kami. Kami bit her lip. “Well. Yes. Someone’s trying to kill me. But you don’t have to make such a big deal out of it.”

Now everyone was looking at her in the same way they’d been looking at Jared.

“You maniac!” Angela whirled on her. “Someone’s trying to kill you, and you didn’t tell me about it?” Her dark eyes narrowed, furious instead of being shocked or scared. That was Angela’s way of dealing.

Kami grabbed her hand. “I was going to tell you. I couldn’t think of how to put it, and I knew you would freak out.”

“Of course I’m freaking out! Who wouldn’t freak out? Anyone would, apart from you, because you are a suicidal idiot!”

“Uh,” said Holly awkwardly. “Am I missing something? If someone is trying to kill Kami, shouldn’t we—um—go to the police?” She looked around at the group and gave an apologetic smile. “Just a thought.”

Kami had not been looking forward to explaining this. “We can’t do that; I already told the police I wasn’t pushed down the well.”

“Down the well,” Angela repeated, and had to go sit down and hold on to her letter opener. It was in the shape of a dagger. Angela said holding it soothed her; seeing Angela hold it did not soothe Kami.

Ash cleared his throat. “And why would you say that?”

“Because when I told them I was pushed down the well, they thought Jared had done it.”

Everybody’s eyes swung to Jared.

“Jared didn’t do it,” Kami added quickly.

“Kami,” said Angela, in a dangerous tone. “Sit. Explain.”

Kami made for her desk, then pulled out her spinning chair, sat, and explained. It took some time, because people kept breaking in with unnecessary questions.

“What do you mean, the police were suspicious because you weren’t wearing enough clothes?” Ash demanded, staring coldly at Jared. “Where were your clothes?”

Jared had his back to the wall, which Kami thought was a reflex when he was uncomfortable. She wanted to shield him. “He was doing some—Zen jogging,” she claimed.

Jared flicked her an incredulous glance. “Yes,” he said slowly. “Zen jogging. I wasn’t wearing that many clothes because—that’s part of the process. You’re meant to commune with the elements. Normally, I wouldn’t have worn my jeans, but I put them on because I know the English are a modest people.”

“If I beat my head against this desk, maybe things will make sense,” Angela murmured. “Or if I beat someone else’s head against this desk …” She eyed Jared speculatively.

“So, anyway!” said Kami. “To recap: Someone shoved me into a well. In order to clear the name of my unjustly accused and indeed heroic rescuer”—she paused to see the effect of this praise on Angela; it seemed to be cutting no ice at all—“I had to hide this from the police. Which means we’re going to have to find out who did it ourselves.”

Holly smiled, as if warming to the idea of playing detectives. Angela wasn’t smiling, but her anger had become more theatrical and less real. Nobody was taking Kami entirely seriously. She was used to that. She got a lot of practice with that, due to being the girl who spoke to someone in her head. It wasn’t like all of this sounded plausible, even without the question of Zen jogging.

“Why would anyone want to kill you?” Ash asked in a calm, patient voice.

Kami sighed. “I have no idea.”

“Doesn’t it have to be whoever killed that fox?” Holly asked.

“That’s what I was thinking, but why?” Kami wondered aloud. “It’s not like he can stop me before I reveal all. I told the police! I put it in the paper! All has never been so revealed.”

Angela put down her letter opener. “Maybe he wants revenge.”

“Sure, and maybe his bloodlust has only grown stronger until he must claim the ultimate prey—man,” Kami said in the ominous tones of a horror-movie voice-over.

Angela would take her seriously enough to do what she wanted, thinking maybe there was something in it, maybe something had frightened Kami. Holly looked like she would go along with this for the excitement. Kami wished she could read Ash’s face. It had been nice having a new guy around, someone who didn’t know she was strange and who seemed interested. This might be the end of that.

“But pushing you, that doesn’t seem like crazed bloodlust,” Ash said slowly. “Pushing someone just seems like—they want to get you out of the way.” He looked down at his own hands, fingers spread, and then put them in his pockets. “Is that an awful thing to say?”

“It’s good thinking,” Kami told him briskly. “Now, what are we going to need for this investigation?”

“I’d like a desk and a chair,” Jared said.

“I can try to wheedle information out of people,” Holly offered. “For which I’ll need a lower-cut top.”

“Good idea, Holly!” said Kami. “Let’s make use of every tool we have. First, though, I’m going to print out the town register.”

Angela frowned. “What for?”

“It’s our list of suspects,” Kami explained. “Because right now, it could be anyone in Sorry-in-the-Vale.”

“This is the most exciting lunch I have ever had,” Holly said fervently.

With a little effort, Kami mirrored her easy smile.

Kami was surprised when Ash came looking for her at the end of school. She’d expected him to start steering clear, but instead he was at the door of her history class. Kami saw several other girls noticing his tall golden good looks. There were a lot of his good looks to notice.

Ash strolled up to her, easy, casual, and laid his hand on her arm. She looked up into his electric blue eyes, startled anew by the sheer vividness of their color.

“Hi,” Ash said, his charming smile a touch off, and fell into step with her. “So, uh, I don’t know if this is any of my business, but—when did you and Jared meet?”

“Oh, er, Friday,” said Kami. “At the library.” Which was true.

Ash continued to give her that slightly unhappy smile. “And you two hit it off.”

“Er, yes,” said Kami. “We just really—clicked.” Little bit of a lie, but it was for the best.

“Okay,” Ash said. “I mean, it isn’t any of my business, but I am disappointed.”

It took Kami a few seconds to realize that while she’d been trying to cover up the whole imaginary-friend-turned-real business, Ash had simply been asking if they were dating. “We just clicked platonically!” Kami announced. “No, no. It’s platonic. I’ve made that clear. I told him we weren’t going out.”

“Oh,” said Ash. His smile warmed. “I wasn’t sure what to make of it. I know some girls really like the idea of reforming a guy.”

“Reforming him platonically!” The word “platonic” was starting to lose all meaning to Kami.

“So we’re still on for Claire’s?” Ash asked.

“What would you do,” Kami found herself asking, “if I said I wanted to take off my shirt right now?”

She had to give Ash credit: he barely checked his stride, though his eyebrows went up.

“Give me a minute and I’ll empty the hall?”

Kami forgave her mouth for saying terrible things without her permission, and smiled. “Good answer.”

Ash shifted his schoolbag along his shoulder. “Look,” he said. “I don’t know exactly how to say this.”

It appeared he did not know how to say whatever he wanted to at all. He was silent as they walked the length of the hallway.

They were going down the shadowed stairway when, as if given courage by the dark, Ash spoke again. “He’s not a good guy,” he said. “Kami, he’s my cousin, and I don’t want to say this. But I want you to be careful around him.”

They reached the bottom of the stairs. Kami had been holding on to the stair rail; when she let it go, her hand was cold. “What do you mean?” she asked, her voice expressionless.

“His dad wasn’t a good guy either,” Ash said. “And he’s dead. Someone pushed him. Just like someone pushed you.”

Kami realized there was something worse than Ash not believing her: Ash believing her. Ash taking her seriously and having a suspect.

“I don’t care,” Kami whispered.

She spoke so softly Ash didn’t hear. He bent toward her, blue eyes wide and innocent. Kami hated him for a moment.

“I don’t care what anyone says,” Kami said louder. “Jared didn’t kill him.”

Ash tensed as if he was being attacked. But when he spoke, his voice was gentle. “You weren’t there.”

“Neither were you!”

“You can’t know what happened,” Ash said.

Kami didn’t know what had happened, but she knew how Jared had felt. He’d hated his father. Kami had been glad his father was gone. Now Jared was real and his father had been real and was really dead.

“You don’t know what happened either,” she said. She could feel Jared’s rage running through her as it had in the lift. “He didn’t do anything wrong.”

Ash was all blue eyes and gold, a bewildered knight-errant whose rescue mission had gone off course. When he spoke, his voice was infuriatingly gentle, as if he felt sorry for her. “You can’t be sure.”