“No way. I'd remember him.” Poor guy. Emily had him in her crosshairs, target locked and loaded. He didn't stand a chance, whoever he was. I turned around to get a look at the guy Earl and Emory would be kicking the crap out of when they realized their girlfriends were drooling over him.
He was standing in the doorway in a faded black T-shirt, jeans, and scuffed black army boots. I couldn't see the scuffs from where I was sitting, but I knew they were there. Because he was wearing exactly the same thing the last time I saw him, when he ripped out of Macon's funeral.
It was the stranger, the Incubus who wasn't an Incubus. The sunlight Incubus. I remembered the silver sparrow in Lena's hand when she was sleeping in my bed.
What was he doing here?
A black tattoo wound around his arm, sort of tribal-looking, like something I'd seen before. I felt a knife in my gut, and touched my scar. It was throbbing.
Savannah and Emily walked up to the counter, trying to act like they were going to order something, as if they touched anything here other than Diet Coke.
“Who is that?” Link wasn't one for competition, not that he was in the running these days.
“I don't know, but he showed up at Macon's funeral.”
Link was staring at him. “Is he one of Lena's weird relatives?”
“I don't know what he is, but he isn't related to Lena.” Then again, he did come to the funeral to pay his respects to Macon. Still, there was something wrong about him. I'd sensed it since the first time I saw him.
I heard the bell chime again as the door closed.
“Hey, Angel Face, wait up.”
I froze. I would have known that voice anywhere. Link was staring at the door, too. He looked like he'd seen a ghost, or worse….
Ridley.
Lena's Dark Caster of a cousin was as dangerous and hot and barely dressed as always, except now it was summer, so she had on even less than usual. She was wearing a skin-tight, lacy black tank and a black skirt so small it was probably made for a ten-year-old. Ridley's legs looked longer than ever, balancing on some kind of high, spiky sandals that could stake a vampire. Now the girls weren't the only ones with their mouths hanging open. Most of the school had been at the winter formal, when Ridley brought down the house and still managed to look hotter than any girl there except one.
Ridley leaned back and stretched her arms over her head, as if we'd woken her from a long nap. She laced her fingers together, stretching even higher, revealing even more skin and the black tattoo encircling her navel. Her tattoo looked a lot like the one on her friend's arm. Ridley whispered something in his ear.
“Holy crap, she's here.” Link was slowly absorbing it. He hadn't seen Ridley since the night of Lena's birthday, when he had talked Ridley out of killing my dad. But he didn't need to see her to think about her. It was pretty clear he'd been thinking about her a lot, based on every song he'd written since she left. “She's with that guy? Do you think he's, you know, like her?” A Dark Caster. He couldn't say it.
“Doubt it. His eyes aren't yellow.” But he was something. I just didn't know what.
“They're comin’ over here.” Link looked down at his freeze, and Ridley was on us.
“Well, if it isn't two of my favorite people. Fancy meeting you here. John and I were dying for a drink.” Ridley tossed her blond and pink strands over her shoulder. She slid into the booth across from us and motioned for the guy to sit down. He didn't.
“John Breed.” He said it like it was one name, looking right at me. His eyes were as green as Lena's used to be. What would a Light Caster be doing with Ridley?
Ridley smiled at him. “This is Lena's, you know, the one I was telling you about.” She dismissed me with a wave of her purple-polished fingers.
“I'm Lena's boyfriend, Ethan.”
John looked confused, but only for a second. He was the kind of guy who looked relaxed, as if he knew everything would go his way eventually. “Lena never told me she had a boyfriend.”
Every muscle in my body tightened. He knew Lena, but I didn't know him. He had seen her since the funeral, at least talked to her. When had that happened, and why hadn't she told me?
“How exactly do you know my girlfriend?” My voice was too loud, and I could feel the eyes on us.
“Relax, Short Straw. We were in the neighborhood.” Ridley looked across at Link. “How ya been, Hot Rod?”
Link cleared his throat awkwardly. “Good.” His voice came out kind of squeaky. “I've been real good. Thought you left town.” Ridley didn't answer.
I was still looking at John, and he was staring right back, sizing me up. Probably figuring out a thousand ways to get rid of me. Because he was after something — or someone — and I was in his way. Ridley wouldn't just show up here with this guy now, not after four months.
I kept my eyes on him. “Ridley, you shouldn't be here.”