Illusions

little unusual, for Tamani. “Are you okay?”

Tamani leaned close. “Is anyone else here yet?”

Laurel shook her head.

“Good.” Tamani ducked into the foyer and pushed the door shut. “Yuki asked me not to pick her up.”

“Like, she canceled?” Laurel asked, her stomach clenching. Had she found something out?

“No, she said she was running behind and would meet me at the dance. But something isn’t right.”

“She knows I planned dessert. Maybe she doesn’t want to draw attention to the way she eats. I mean, she has no idea we all know what she is. Well, except Ryan. Honestly, it sounds like something I would do,” she added in a quiet voice.

“Maybe. But she sounded… weird. On the phone.”

Laurel looked up as the doorbell rang. “You have sentries watching her house?”

Tamani nodded. “But her house is practically a fortress tonight — all curtains drawn, a sheet thrown over the front window. It just doesn’t sit right.”

“There’s not much we can do until we find her at the dance,” Laurel whispered. She paused, then added, in an even quieter whisper, “You look incredible.”

Tamani looked startled for a second, then he smiled. “Thanks. You look amazing too. Just like you do every day.”

The doorbell — practically next to her ear — startled her and Laurel shooed Tamani into the kitchen. Then she opened the door to David, Ryan, and Chelsea.

“Look at you!” Chelsea said, rushing forward to hug Laurel. She was wearing the red dress Laurel had recommended. It set off her complexion perfectly and brought out the gray in her eyes. “You look fabulous. Is this the… the dress you were telling me about?” she asked, her eyes flitting to Ryan for just an instant.

“Yeah,” Laurel said, spreading the skirt a little. “I was really happy to find it.” Find it. Ha! In Avalon you literally did just find clothes in the marketplace and then take them home.

“Well, the dance starts in, like, fifteen minutes and I was promised dessert,” Chelsea said, smiling playfully. “Ryan wouldn’t let me get dessert with my dinner, so there better be some here.”

“Don’t listen to her,” Ryan said, pushing her gently toward the kitchen. “I told her she could have two desserts — she just didn’t take me up on it.”

Chelsea grinned at him and they both headed toward the kitchen. Laurel looked wistfully after them. It had been hard even looking at Ryan since talking with Chelsea, knowing what was coming. He still seemed completely head over heels for her. A niggling voice in the back of her head reminded her that he had lied to Chelsea about college applications, but did he deserve being totally blindsided by a breakup because of that?

Laurel turned to David, who had just stepped into the foyer. He was wearing a neatly cut tuxedo jacket over a black, mandarin-collared silk shirt with a shiny black button at the throat instead of a bow tie. He was different from the boy she’d met two years ago. Tonight, elegant and handsome in all black, he looked like he could take on anything.

“Hi,” Laurel said, feeling strangely shy. He was looking at her dress and she could practically see him connecting the dots in his head. But when his eyes met hers, she couldn’t tell what he was thinking.

“You look beautiful” was all he said.

Laurel was a nervous wreck as David pulled into the crowded high school parking lot. Despite her calm words to Tamani, it was weird for Yuki to be so late. Especially now that their only job was to keep her out of the way until they could figure out what to do about Klea. But there was nothing to do but take David’s arm and try to appear calm as he escorted her to the front door.

Tamani brushed past Laurel, closing the distance between himself and the gym doors in a few loping strides. Yuki was there, waiting, in a silvery formal that must have been custom made. The dress folded around her, resembling a traditional kimono, complete with a V-neck that Laurel found shockingly low-cut. But instead of heavy brocade, Yuki’s dress was a light satin with a chiffon overlay that blew around her ankles in the light evening breeze. Its top sat almost off her shoulders, with little cap sleeves that were lined with something sparkly, and a lace-covered obi wrapped around her waist and tied in an intricate knot that covered most of her back and came just high enough that her black hair, hanging in soft ringlets, brushed against it. Dramatic black lined her shining green eyes and her lips were painted a luscious red. She looked exquisite.

“Are you okay?” Tamani asked, one hand running down her shoulder in a way that made Laurel clutch David’s arm a little tighter. There was obviously nothing wrong with her. She probably just didn’t want to admit it took her four hours to get into that thing, Laurel thought, frustrated now that Yuki had made both her and Tamani worry so much when there was clearly no reason. She was radiant in the twilight, not to mention the glow of Tamani’s attention. Her whole face lit up when he looked at her, talked to her, and it made Laurel want to slap that smile right off her face.

Laurel forced herself to turn away from Yuki and Tamani and focus on David. He was her date tonight, after all. She took a few calming breaths as she walked into the gym on his arm. The student council had definitely outdone themselves. The ceiling was draped with black tulle that melted into cushiony piles on the floor, with icicle lights hanging every few inches so the effect was a dark sky blazing with starlight. Instead of regular folding chairs, every chair had been covered in fabric, the way Laurel occasionally saw at weddings or really nice restaurants, and there was a huge display of petits fours at the refreshment table that looked lovely, although Laurel couldn’t eat them. There were even two fans with curled ribbons tied to them to keep the air circulating as the gym filled up with people.

“Wow,” David said, “this is way better than last year.”

As a new song started up, David picked up Laurel’s hand from his arm and pulled her out toward the floor. “Come dance with me,” he said softly. He led her far onto the floor, to where the entrance was out of sight — something Laurel was quite sure was not an accident. Then his arms tightened around her and they began to sway in time with the music.

“You really look incredible tonight,” he whispered, close to her ear.

Laurel lowered her eyelids and smiled. “Thank you. You too. Black looks good on you.”

“If I admit my mom helped me pick it out, will you laugh?”

Laurel grinned. “No. Your mom has always had excellent taste. But you are the one who wears it. You get all the credit for that.”

“Hey, I’m just glad you noticed.”

Chapter Thirty-Five

TAMANI HAD TO ADMIT, FOR AN INDOOR PARTY THAT lacked any Summer illusions, the humans had done a good job. He couldn’t help but smile at Yuki’s seedling-like enthusiasm as she gasped and smiled at the splendor. It was easier to be around her now, knowing she wasn’t the danger — she was just the distraction, and she might not even be aware of that. “This is amazing,” she said, her eyes twinkling with the reflected sparkle of a hundred strings of lights.

Without saying a word, Tamani walked Yuki onto the dance floor, just at the edge, where the crowd was thinner. “You’re lovely tonight,” he said.

Yuki looked immediately shy. “Thank you,” she said softly. “I–I hoped you would like it.”

“Very much,” Tamani replied. That, at least, wasn’t a lie. Her dress was stunning. A different style than he’d ever seen before, but all the more beautiful for that. He forced himself not to think about what Laurel would look like in it. He shook his head a little, a physical reminder that he had other things to concentrate on. “I was sorry to not be able to pick you up,” Tamani said, his voice low enough that Yuki had to lean forward a little to hear him. He laid one hand low on her waist and ran his other all the way down her arm, then folded her hand into his and pulled her close — a traditional dance pose, rather than the strange, leaning bear-hug the humans seemed to prefer — and stepped softly to the music.

“I’m sorry too,” Yuki said. “It… it couldn’t be helped.” She glanced down, and Tamani thought she looked embarrassed. Then, very quietly, she added, “I was packing.”

Tamani felt his whole body tense. “Packing?” Of course she wouldn’t stay here alone during the winter break, Tamani chided himself. Calm down. Hopefully she had interpreted the tight squeeze of her hand as a sign of affection. He led Yuki into a spin under his arm, and then back close where she stepped evenly, expertly, matching him with a delicate grace that marked her as unmistakably