She glowered at me, then we both dissolved into a fit of giggles. It was hard to take anything seriously when my thoughts were tumbling around the inside of my head like a litter of kittens on catnip.
“I missed you,” she admitted. “A lot.”
Her cheeks were bright pink, though I couldn’t tell if it was the alcohol or if she was blushing. If she was embarrassed, she didn’t act like it. Her eyes sparkled, and she stared intently at me.
“I missed you, too,” I said.
We gave each other goofy grins, our shared happiness both surprising and overwhelming. Something was changing in our relationship, and I felt a pang of guilt and regret mingled with excitement and mystery. Clem and I would always be friends, I was sure of that. What I had with Rachel, though, was very different.
“What happened to your hand?” Rachel asked. “I just noticed the blood.”
I glanced down at my right hand and was surprised to see fresh scabs across my knuckles. I must’ve gotten them when I punched Albert’s protector.
“Oh,” I said. “It’s nothing. I was doing some stuff with the clan. Moving boxes and junk while everyone was gone. Scraped the back of my hand against a doorframe.”
“I see,” Rachel said. “You work for the Shadow Phoenixes?”
“Yeah,” I said. “Just boring stuff. I’m sure it’s not nearly as exciting as what Rafael does for the Disciples.”
“That’s why you have those nice robes?” Rachel reached across to finger the black cloth of my clothes. I’d never really appreciated just how nice they actually were. She had a way of showing me everything through different eyes. “These must’ve cost a fortune.”
“No, those are from being the champion,” I said. “At least I think they are. They were in my closet when I got to my room.”
She took a long swig of wine. The little that was left after she finished swirled around in the bottom of the bottle as she handed it back to me. Her lips were stained a deep red, dark and mysterious.
“I wish I could’ve met you before you were the School champion,” Rachel said.
“Why?” I asked, honestly confused. I took another sip of the wine and handed the last of it back to her. “I doubt you would’ve thought very much of me last year.”
“I bet you’re wrong.” Rachel gave me an honest, warm smile. “Rafael told me about you. How hard you struggled. How you had to fight for everything.”
“All that is true,” I said. “I was also a thief, and I nearly got my friends killed in the final challenge. Plus, I was a filthy camper. It wasn’t much to see.”
“Don’t say that,” Rachel said softly. She reached across the basket and brushed my cheek with the tips of her fingers. “We’re all born with cores. We can all master jinsei and serve the Flame’s Grand Design. The only difference between campers and Empyreals is money.”
“That’s a very big difference,” I said. “Money changes everything.”
“And that’s why I wish I’d met you last year,” Ray said. She leaned forward until her hands were on either side of the picnic basket and her face was less than a foot from mine. “Which one do you think is the real Jace? The scrappy initiate or the confident School champion?”
I leaned forward, too, drawn to Rachel as if by magnetism. Our noses bumped against each other, and she giggled.
“I’m not that different now,” I insisted.
“You just said money changes everything,” she teased. “Maybe it changed you in ways you can’t recognize. Maybe you’re a different person than the one who came to school here last year.”
“I don’t think so,” I said, mesmerized by Rachel’s vivid eyes. “I’m still a kid from the undercity at heart.”
“Let’s see if you still know how to kiss like a camper,” she whispered.
And then we did.
The Blur
ERIC AND ABI CAUGHT up to me at breakfast on the first day of classes after the break. Clem wasn’t with them, and they both looked like they had terrible news to tell me.
“Oh, man,” Eric said. “You’ve done it now.”
“What are you talking about?” I asked. “I haven’t done anything.”
“Well,” Abi said, “before break you fought Rafael for Rachel’s honor.”
“That is not what happened,” I said. “He challenged me to a duel because he thought—”
“And now Rachel is talking to Clem,” Eric finished. He tilted his head toward the far side of the dining room where the two girls sat across from one another at a small table. I couldn’t see Rachel’s face, but Clem looked very serious.
“Oh,” I said quietly. “This isn’t how I thought this would go.”
“You really don’t know anything about girls,” Abi said with a grin. “How are you feeling otherwise?”
“Fine, I guess,” I said. “Why? Do I not look okay?”
“You look fine,” Eric said. “Apparently, extra fine, given the fact that you landed Rachel.”
My two friends chuckled at that, then Abi’s eyes grew more serious.
“I’ve been thinking a lot about you,” he said. “About what happened at the duel. And with the Locust Court’s emissary last year.”
My blood ran cold. Had Abi figured out my secret?
“I talked to my father when I went home for break,” he continued. “He is a very wise man, a spiritual leader for our community. He remembered seeing you in the challenge.”
“Over the summer?”
“No,” Abi said. “The first challenge. When you fought Hank at the Five Dragons Challenge.”
That was surprising. I didn’t even know that fight had been televised. Even after I became famous as the School’s champion, no one had ever brought it up. That Abi’s father had seen it, and remembered what had mostly been a pretty boring fight, surprised me.
“Anyway,” Abi said as he topped off his plate with an over easy fried egg, “he thinks there is something very special about you. About the way you handle jinsei. And aspects.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?” I asked as I followed my friends toward our usual table. Clem and Rachel were still in deep
