Page 75 of Dark Night Golden Dawn
Petra had her read receipts on and Harlow saw the moment she read the message. There was a long pause and then the cascading dots indicated that she was responding.
I’ll be there in thirty minutes. Don’t be late.
Harlow was shocked. She looked down at the leggings and cozy socks she was wearing with one of Finn’s plaid flannel shirts. This was going to have to do. She texted Riley to make sure they’d cover her with Finn, and she pulled on a pair of shearling boots that were tossed under the side table next to her chair. She was not cutting the most fashionable silhouette, but Petra couldn’t possibly hate her any more than she already did. There wasn’t any impressing her, after all.
She ran downstairs and pulled on her raincoat, poking her head into Finn’s office. Axel was sleeping on his lap, and he had his feet up on the desk and his phone to his ear. She whispered, “I’m meeting Riley downtown. They might have a lead on Mark. You getting anywhere?”
He muted the phone and shook his head. Though he frowned slightly at the mention of Riley, he didn’t comment on her choice to tell them what was happening. “You can take my car.”
“I can’t drive your car!” she hissed. “It’s too fast.”
He grinned. “The other one in the barn. Keys are on the dash.”
She didn’t know which car he was talking about. He usually parked his sports car in the garage attached to the house, next to his motorcycle. The “barn” was his workshop and she’d only peeked inside one day to see if he wanted lunch.
She walked outside. It was starting to warm up a little, finally, but the breeze was still cold. Inside the barn it was warmer, and when she turned the lights on in the garage portion of the barn, she smiled. Finn’s beat-up old blue SUV, with the wooden panels on the doors, sat inside. It was the car she’d learned to drive in. Neither of the maters drove, but Finn had made sure she knew how to drive a car when she was fifteen, and he went with her to get her driver’s license.
It was also the car they’d first made love in, and seeing it brought back a flood of memories. The Woody was in great shape still and it roared to life when she put the keys in the ignition. It had been detailed recently, and a book of CDs sat on the passenger seat with a folded piece of paper tucked into the elastic strap that held it closed. She opened it and read:
Thought you might need a soundtrack. The Woody won’t connect to your phone, but I made you some mix CDs. —F
He’d been planning to give her the Woody. She couldn’t believe it at first, but Finn had always known how much she loved the bulky beast of a car, how it made her feel safe on the road. She smiled gratefully, feeling slightly guilty to have lied about who she was meeting, but she could be honest later, once she knew why the secrecy was necessary. She would wait to listen to the CDs later. She put an audiobook of a new romance novel on her phone’s speaker to keep her company and zoned out as she drove downtown.
She had a hard time finding a parking spot, and Petra was walking out of the coffee shop as she rushed to the door. “I’m so sorry,” she apologized. “Parking in this neighborhood is awful.”
Petra pressed her lips together, as though she was trying to suppress the disgust she felt looking at Harlow’s outfit. “I hope you didn’t change your clothes to meet me. Because it would be a tragedy if you were late because you changed intothat.”
Harlow rolled her eyes. “No. I came as quickly as I could. And my outfit is fine.”
Petra, who was wearing what looked like couture, seemed as though she’d like to object, but she shrugged instead. “Do you want to go inside, or take a walk? It’s stopped raining for the moment.”
Harlow looked up at the grey sky. “Sure, we can walk.”
They walked toward the river in silence. Finally Petra spoke. “Did Riley Quinn tell you to get in touch with me?”
Harlow nodded as Petra sat on a bench outside the Riverfront Park. She hesitated for a moment, but then reluctantly sat next to Petra, who smelled fantastic. Like a high-end department store, and a hothouse all at once. She looked impeccable as well, of course; though her tailored trench coat covered her outfit completely, she was perfectly made up, and her long hair was swept into her signature ponytail.
“Riley saw me here with Olivia Sanvier a few months ago. I thought no one I knew would come down here, but there Riley was. I had no idea they’d become such an integral part of our circle at the time.”
Harlow furrowed her brow, confused. “Why were you worried about being seen having coffee with Olivia?”
“We weren’t drinking coffee when Riley saw us.”
It took Harlow a moment to understand.
“Oh…Oh. But why would that matter?”
Petra took a shuddering breath. “The lower Orders and the humans are so much freer about these things… But have you ever noticed how few of the Illuminated are like me?”
“Like… you?”
“I amonlyinterested in women, Harlow. There arenotsapphic Illuminated. Especially not in my family.”
“Obviously there are,” Harlow said softly.
Petra’s beautiful face screwed into a grimace. “But it’s forbidden. My parents would never allow me to pair with a woman.”
“They know and would keep you from being who you are?”
