Page 125 of Veil of Death and Shadow

“Sorry, that definitely doesn’t sound like me,” Sora said, waving a quick apology to the bus driver who was sending us a death glare through the mirror above him. We were the ones who’d requested this stop and now we were holding up the route. “Must be somebody else. Sorry, this is my stop but enjoy the rest of your visit!”

He started to close the doors, so I grabbed her arm and tugged her between them before the bus took off with us still on it.

“Rude,” she said, her eyes dancing with amusement as she straightened her dress and got her bearings. “I don’t see your boyfriend.”

“He’s not my boyfriend,” I said, a little too defensively.

She shot me a snarky look and shrugged. “Whatever you say. Wouldn’t be the worst thing in the world, would it?”

“I don’t do?—”

“Relationships,” she sighed. “Yes, Mars, I know. I’m just saying, maybe this time you should reconsider. What are you going to do, be alone forever?”

“Course not,” I bumped my shoulder into her. “I have you.”

“Obviously. Till death do us part, but you know what I mean.” She narrowed her eyes, studying me. “Unless you’re not attracted to him, of course?”

“I’m not.” Though I knew we both heard the lie in my voice.

“Well,” she scuffed her sneaker against a gap in the sidewalk, “I’m just saying, it would be okay if you were. I just want you to be happy.”

“I am happy. I don’t need anyone to be happy.”

“Clearly.” Deciding to be magnanimous for once, Sora let it slide, then looked down the street. “Where is he anyway?”

“Right here,” a deep, gravelly voice echoed behind me.

I flinched, then spun around to find Levi a few feet away from us.

How long had he been there? And was it long enough that he’d caught the last few seconds of our conversation?

Fuck. Heat crawled up my neck.

“Assuming it was me you were looking for.” He glanced at me for a moment, concern on his face. “Everything okay? You seem tense.”

“Yeah,” I said, relaxing a little. If he’d heard us, he was doing a damn good job of pretending otherwise. “You should know better than to sneak up on someone like that though. I know how to throw a mean right hook now. If I had,” I pinched my pointer finger and thumb together, “even slightly slower reflexes, you’d be knocked out on the sidewalk right now.”

“Hello to you, too,” he said, his face splitting into a bemused, crooked grin that made my stomach dip.

Sora wrapped her arms around him in one of her vise-like hugs. “Good to see you again, Levi. You ready to go to the best place in all of Seattle?”

When she disentangled herself from him, he shifted towards me, arms open like he expected me to step into them.

“She doesn’t do hugs,” Sora said, swatting his arms down.

“I don’t do hugs,” I confirmed.

“Noted.” He nodded, his mouth dipping down at the corners briefly, before he studied the intersection. “So,” he scratched his head, “this is the most magical place in Seattle?”

“Don’t be ridiculous,” Sora beamed up at him, “this is just near where we catch our next bus. I had a class in Columbia City earlier.” Sora ran her fingers through my dark waves, a devious expression on her face. “Mars was my model today. Doesn’t her hair look great?”

My cheeks warmed under his appraisal, and I found myself trying to look anywhere but at the clear approval on his face.

I shoved Sora’s hands away from my head.

“It does,” he said.

“Not that she let me do anything particularly fun,” she sniffed, “only cut a few inches.”

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