Burn Bright - By Marianne de Pierres Page 0,58

When the Circle didn’t lift a finger to help I knew that I couldn’t tell them about the Ripers being in Grave. They may not all be spies, but they’re weak. They mean nothing and do nothing.’ Even through the noise of the music he sounded disappointed. ‘There’s something else but you mustn’t tell anyone else. Not even, Suki. She’ll just laugh.’

‘What?’

‘I’ve joined with Dark Eve.’

‘No!’ Naif stood still, making him bump into her and stand on her foot. Her ankle gave and she would have fallen if he hadn’t grabbed her waist.

She righted herself, wincing. Then she thumped her fist into his chest and glared at him. In the amber candlelight his skin looked sallow and his eyes glittered with brittle excitement.

‘Fou! Why did you do that?’

He disguised his hurt with a belligerent look. ‘Because they want to change things here like I wanted to do at home. Only I was too scared of the Council. I told Eve about the Riper I saw in Grave, and about the Ripers’ plan to catch Ruzalia. She told me that my information was really important, and that she wanted me to join them. She’s amazing, you know.’

Amazing. That’s what Joel had called her. ‘Join her to do what? Carry her weapons?’

He opened his mouth to answer and then snapped it shut. He shook his head at her as if he would say no more.

Naif’s anger swelled easily and unchecked. ‘You’ve already told me you’ve joined them. It’s a bit late to start keeping secrets now.’

‘Well, maybe I shouldn’t have told you anything.’ He hunched his shoulders. ‘I was just … relieved you were all right. Fross knows why, now? You’re so weird. Here you are putting me down for wanting to change things here, and yet look at the things you’ve done. Smashing a Riper with a stool and then trying to stop the Circle inducting Markes. At least the Leaguers are welcoming and they tell you what they’re going to do next. You’re so random.’

‘You think because they’re welcoming it makes the things they do right? That’s just stupid.’ The angry words continued to tumble from Naif’s tongue.

This time hurt showed plainly on Rollo’s face. ‘Why are you always putting me down?’

Her wave of anger turned quickly to guilt. Was he right? Was she treating him the same way that Cal had treated her? Yet he frustrated her.

‘And anyway,’ he said, ‘I think it’s stupid pretending you can talk to a Riper. They tell you what to do and you listen. That’s all.’

In truth, though, Naif didn’t know what she really thought about the Ripers. She was – would always be – loyal to her brother, but Lenoir had saved her life. And he seemed so genuine about wanting to protect them all against Brand.

Rollo let her go and she stepped away from him. The gap between them quickly filled with dancers, and a moment later she could no longer see him or Suki.

Or Modai.

Confused and disconsolate, Naif let the music draw her to the front of the nave where she could watch Markes.

His gaze lingered on her for a moment as he shifted from something fast into a ballad with a mesmerising melody. Couples stopped dancing and reached for each other.

Naif stood perfectly still, so as not to ruin her harmony with the music. This song was for her – she knew it – and she let it sweep her from her unhappiness to a place of pleasure. It was like being with Lenoir again, having his warm tongue against her thigh, his breath on her skin. The memory of her Enlightenment seemed as fresh as if it had just, this moment, happened.

When the music finally stopped she felt raw with emotion. She hovered at the jube that separated the dancers from the nave, waiting for Markes to climb down from the altar. But others had the same idea and she had to cling to the screen to keep a position at the front.

‘He wrote that song for me,’ the girl next to her told another. ‘We met at Illi.’

Naif flushed with embarrassment, realising her foolishness. All the girls thought he’d written that song for them. She read it in their faraway looks, on their parted lips. His music did that – made everyone feel special.

The girl suddenly stumbled into her. ‘Fross, sorry!’ she said. ‘Someone pushed me.’

A figure with moon-white hair, wearing a halter dress, elbowed her way past them both to climb over the jube and saunter