When I burst back into my room, I was startled to find a girl sitting on Hunter’s bed. She had wavy, jet-black hair, luminous violet eyes, and midnight-colored skin.
“Hi, I’m Gia, your new roommate,” she said, leaping up to shake my hand. I was a bit taken aback by her voice; for some reason, I hadn’t expected a British accent. It was slightly more lyrical than Hunter’s, and sounded wonderful. I was also a little surprised by Gia’s appearance. She had the sweetest face, which made her spicy attire all the more shocking. She was wearing overstated black eye makeup and an even more over-the-top black party dress; the top was a corset made of crisscrossed ribbons, and the bottom was a poufy tutu. Paired with this were shiny black boots, huge, sparkly earrings, and a headband with an oversized leopard-print bow. She looked like a ballerina who’d escaped from juvenile detention.
“It’s nice to meet you,” I said, “but I’m actually leaving.”
“You are? That sucks.” She looked disappointed.
I walked to the dresser and started packing my own little bunch of belongings. I couldn’t believe I’d just watched Hunter do the same thing. I started to feel a little heartsick, and resolved that I would get out of the room as quickly as possible. I refused to get to know Gia. I couldn’t make friends with one more person I had to say good-bye to.
Gia, however, had other plans. She followed me and plopped herself on my bed, watching me pack. “So, what are you in for?”
“In for?” I asked.
“Yeah, how come you’re down here at Maggie?”
“Oh, I came for an angel assignment. Not mine. I was helping somebody else,” I said. “What about you?”
“I’m kind of grounded. I was out partying too much, I guess, and a whole freakin’ pack of demons came after me. My superiors thought it best if I disappeared for a while.”
I stopped packing and looked at her. I noticed she was wearing the Tudor rose necklace. I wondered if she was an orphan because of the terrible agency as well.
“I know what you’re thinking,” she said. “And it’s not a terrible place. I actually work at the Abbey.”
“I . . . I didn’t . . .”
“No, it’s okay. I can see why you’d think that. And I really do know what you’re thinking. It’s sort of my gift.”
Crap!
“See, you just thought crap right there.” She smirked.
“Um, can you turn that off? Like, can you stop listening to my thoughts?”
“I wish I could, believe me. Why do you think I go out to loud clubs as much as possible? I can’t stand hearing most of it!”
“Yeah, I guess that would suck,” I said.
“You have no idea! People think about the lamest things: what someone said about them, who has the best shoes, how much they hate their boss . . . and that’s just the girls. The boys . . . You should be seriously glad you can’t hear what boys are thinking!”
I thought about Anders in the cascade house. I had a feeling I knew what he was thinking, and it made me sick. I couldn’t wait to get home, deliver the antidote, and watch Gavin annihilate him.
“If you needed to get away, why didn’t you go home with a Guardian angel or something?” I asked.
“It’s not practical, since you have to be home by sunset. Sunset’s usually when my work begins. And I like angels and all, but they’re really not that much fun, always telling you what you’re not supposed to do. I know I’m undercover, but I don’t see the harm in having a good time while I’m working. What’s so bad about snogging a bit? I mean, a kiss is just a kiss, right?”
The memory of Gavin kissing me sent a shiver through my body. “So you, um, kiss a lot of guys for your job, then?” I said, clearing my throat and trying to clear my mind.
“I’ve kissed my fair share to get information,” she answered, then grinned at me wickedly. “But I’m not as bad as you! I’ve never made out with an angel!”
“I . . . I did not!” I lied, before I realized she could tell I was lying.
She chuckled, leaning back against my pillow. “Yeah, right. You’re playing a dangerous game. I love it!”
“Dangerous? Why is it dangerous?”
“It’s majorly against the rules, falling for an angel. If they find out, they’ll reassign him. Wow, that’s almost a Greek tragedy—girl likes angel boy, but if she acts on it, she’ll lose him forever. You’re really screwed!” She was enjoying this far too much. I was not amused.
“I’m glad you find this so funny,” I snapped. “I can tell you’ve never been in love before. I feel sorry for you, actually.”
She shot upright. “Wait a minute? You love him? You do! You love him! Oh my gosh! Does he love you?” She bit her lip, waiting for my answer.
“Yes,” I said, tentatively. “He does. Why?”
“Jiminy Christmas,” she exhaled. “I thought you were just messing around, but if you two are really in love . . . What are you going to do?”
“What do you mean?”
“I mean, if you really love him, you’re not going to be able to hide it, and if they find out, they’ll separate you—really separate you. It’s not like a guy who just moves to another city. He’ll vanish. You’ll never see him again. I’ve seen it happen. It’s horrible.”
“When did you see it happen?”
“One of my previous roommates fell in love with her Guardian. He got reassigned to another girl, and my friend just fell apart. She couldn’t take being without him.”
“What happened to her?” I felt my chest tightening a bit.
“She joined up with a demon gang, if you can believe it. Talk about opposites, huh? She was angry at the Angel Council, and I think she wanted to get back at them or something. Terrible decision, if you ask me. She was a great girl, but now . . .” Gia trailed off, leaving the girl’s fate to my imagination.
I smacked on my backpack, trying to flatten it, perhaps a bit too violently. “Well, that’s not going to happen to me.”
“It’s a hard choice,” Gia said. “Love or duty. I’m not sure what I would choose.”
“I don’t have to pick one,” I said. “I’m just going home, and things are just . . . just going to work out.” I could tell from Gia’s face that she didn’t think so, but thankfully, she kept her opinions to herself. Which actually made me more nervous than when she was telling me off.
“Where’s home?” she asked.
“Aviemore, Scotland,” I answered immediately.
Images of my new home swirled in my brain: the misty Highlands, my grandparents’ cozy house, snuggling under a blanket in my attic room in the rain. I missed it. I missed the people there too: my adorable grandfather, my buttoned-down grandmother, bubbly Jo . . . They all seemed so far away, like a dream. A dream! My dream about Jo! I started packing faster.
“You know, your dreams are a gift, Maren, even though they don’t seem like it,” Gia said. “They are meant to show you things so that when they happen, you’re better prepared. I’ve known a couple of girls with your particular talent.”
I looked up, rattled by Gia’s random comment, until I remembered that she could hear my thoughts. “Prepare me? All they do is convince me of my helplessness. And my guilt.”
“Guilt?” Now she frowned. “That’s rubbish. You bear no responsibility for what you see. Only what you do with it.”
“Or don’t do,” I sulked. Like with my mom.
“You really don’t think you had anything to do with your mother dying, do you?” Gia asked. Again, I was shocked. Being in the same room with a mind reader is a crazy head trip. Literally.
“I dreamed about it and I didn’t warn her,” I said, the heat of shame creeping up my cheeks.
“Maren, if you ran around trying to warn everyone who appeared in your nightmares, they’d lock you up and throw away the key.”
“Thanks.” I smiled weakly. “I feel so much better now.”
“Chin up,” she said. “Things will get better. You’ll see. And you have that handsome angel of yours to hook up with, in any case.”
“Shut up!” I threw a sock at her. She laughed.
“Here,” she said, taking off her necklace and handing it to me. “You’re going to need one of these.”
I wondered if the rose necklaces were regularly traded among Abbey girls. I’d just given mine to Hunter, and here I was getting a replacement from Gia. I slipped it over my head.
“For luck?” I said.
“No,” she stated. “For Anders. You use it against that manky rotter when you see him.”
How did she know about Anders? Oh yeah, I’d been thinking about him and the maze and Gavin murdering him . . . How exactly is a flower necklace supposed to help me against a demon?
“You’ll figure it out,” she said. “You always do.” I hoped she was right. Right about Anders, and wrong about Gavin.
Gavin. Being separated from him made me restless, like a wild animal locked in a cage. I had to see him. Immediately. I had to leave.
I grabbed my bag, thanked Gia, and left Magnificat the same way I’d come: running.