‘My graduation party. Why?’
‘How did he seem to you?’
Katie huffed. ‘Honestly, I was surprised he even showed up. Something major’s been going on with him, and he’s been totally distant, in a really weird way. I don’t know, I guess it’s the trauma from the accident with his van or something, but whatever it is, Sebastian’s just not the same. I mean, we text sometimes, but he won’t talk to me on the phone, and my party was the first time I’d seen him in weeks. But he was acting all freaked out. And totally paranoid. He wouldn’t even come inside the fence.’
I paused to take a long breath. ‘You’re right Katie, something has been going on with Sebastian the last few months. But it’s not what you think.’
‘If you’re about to tell me he’s on drugs—’
‘No, it’s nothing like that.’
‘Good, ’cause I wouldn’t have believed it anyway. I mean, it’s Sebastian we’re talking about here. In case you haven’t noticed, he’s not really the rebellious type, which is why I always found it so hilarious that he wanted to be a tattoo artist.’ Her eyes widened. ‘Not that they’re rebels, I mean. His brother’s totally cool. They all are. It just never seemed like Sebastian’s thing.’
‘What did you picture him doing after high school?’ I asked. I was stalling, but I couldn’t help it. Talking about him made it feel like he was still here, waiting for me back at the Circe with that soft, apologetic smile of his.
‘Gosh, I don’t know,’ she said. ‘His brother wanted him to go to college.’
‘That would’ve been nice. He deserved that.’
‘Josie.’ Katie crossed to me and gripped my shoulder. ‘You’re talking about him like he’s dead, and it’s starting to freak me out. Is Sebastian okay?’
Her question shook me to attention. Without Katie’s help, I’d never be able to get away from the Circe. I’d be stuck here – trapped, with no way to help the person who mattered most. I still didn’t know how to define my feelings, if there were even words, but one thing I knew for sure: without him, nothing else made sense anymore.
‘He’s in trouble,’ I said quickly. Katie opened her mouth, but I kept going before she could interject. ‘He didn’t do anything wrong, and it’s not his fault, but he’s been sent to Savannah by my people.’
‘Savannah,’ Katie repeated, letting go of my arm. ‘What are you talking about? Is he okay, or isn’t he? You’re not making any sense.’
I felt stupid for thinking I could get away with only telling Katie what she absolutely needed to know. But this wasn’t my secret … it was Sebastian’s. I turned the dandelion pendant between my fingers, pressing the cold glass against my skin. He’d kept this from Katie on purpose. Once I crossed this line, there would be no going back.
‘Katie, there’s something about Sebastian, something that’s happened to him, but I don’t know how to say it without sounding like I’m insane.’
‘Too late for that,’ she replied. ‘So just spit it out.’
I saw the rising irritation in Katie’s eyes, but behind that, the fear. Suddenly, I hated secrets, more than I ever had in my life.
‘There are these creatures,’ I said quickly, before I could change my mind. ‘My people brought them to life a long time ago. He’s one of them. Hugo’s parents brought him here, and he looked normal, but he didn’t know the truth, and when my family came to Sixes, stuff began happening to him, and he’s different now.’
‘Creatures?’ Katie’s mouth quirked. ‘Seriously Jo, you’re making it sound like Sebastian’s not human.’
‘He’s not.’
‘Josephine,’ said Katie, drawing my name out slowly. Her expression turned hard and skeptical, and the tension between us instantly rose. ‘What’s really going on?’
My throat was so dry I couldn’t swallow. It was too late to stop now. This went deeper than just acquiring her help. This was about truth and trust. Katie was Sebastian’s friend.
But she was also mine.
‘Sebastian’s a gargoyle.’
For a moment, I didn’t think Katie had heard me. She just stared, blank-faced. I chewed on my fingernail. I couldn’t remember the last time Katie had been at a loss for words. I saw her jaw clench, and then she stood slowly from the bed.
‘I want every single detail. And you’d better not leave anything out.’
*
I told Katie everything.
Everything that had happened since the day my family had arrived in Sixes last autumn. How Sebastian was my guardian and how we were sealed the moment my pendant, my sclav, and his dandelion tattoo touched – and how we were now connected through that bond.
I’d never said so much about my life to anyone outside the Circe, but now I’d spilled my guts, and there was nothing to do but wait for Katie’s verdict. She paced back and forth across the plush rug in the middle of her room. At last, she stopped and faced me with a heavy, drawn-out sigh.
‘Seriously, Josie, I don’t know what you expect me to believe.’ She shook her head fiercely. ‘I mean, yeah, I remember how weird Sebastian got during the school play, and him getting sick, and then, there was that thing with his hair.’ Katie pulled a face before continuing. ‘And you’re telling me it’s all because he’s some creature from your people’s fairy tales. You get how that sounds, right?’
‘Yes.’
‘Do you, really?’
‘I’m not making this up, Katie.’
‘Okay.’ She walked to her desk and studied the same photo that had held my attention. ‘If he’s really this … shadow creature you say he is, then show me a picture of him.’
‘It’s not something I’d put on my camera roll, Katie. No Gypsy would ever risk exposing the existence of the shadow world, the good or the bad. It’s for gadje protection as well as our own. Besides, Sebastian would never have let me take a picture of him.’ I winced. ‘He hated … hates … the way he looks.’
Katie flopped on the rug. ‘That night at my party, I was talking to Sebastian about his back brace, you know, the one he was wearing because of his car accident.’ She saw my look and frowned. ‘That’s what he told me. Anyway, I tried to look at it, and he jerked away from me, like he was totally scared of me getting close to him. But I swear, I saw something.’
‘What?’
‘I’m not sure.’ She rolled her eyes. ‘Maybe it wasn’t anything.’
‘Katie—’
‘Listen, I’m way ticked off right now,’ she snapped. ‘Okay, so maybe I can forgive you for not telling me because it’s like your people’s rules and everything not to talk about stuff, but why would that idiot not say anything to me?’ Katie’s eyes turned an icy shade. ‘I thought Sebastian and I were friends.’
‘You are,’ I said. ‘But he couldn’t—’
‘Couldn’t tell me he thinks he’s a gargoyle? Yeah, I can see why not.’
‘He doesn’t think he is,’ I said.
She grimaced through a bitter laugh. ‘Yeah, okay.’
‘Katie, I don’t blame you for not believing me.’ I sat beside her. ‘I wouldn’t believe me, either. But I still need your help. Hugo and the Corsis are leaving for Savannah tonight. I have to get there, too. But I don’t have a car. My father