I shrugged. “Nothing important. I just picked something up when I was out. A little trinket coin…thing. I think I misplaced it.”
“A trinket coin thing? And you misplaced it?”
“Um, yeah. Why?”
She studied me closely another moment, then smiled brightly and turned back to the oven. “I haven’t seen anything like it, sorry.”
“You just seemed kind of, I don’t know, weirded out.”
“I’m fine.”
I crossed my arms and scowled. Now even my mom was acting strange.
“Mom, you don’t get to say you’re fine. That’s an obnoxious teenager thing,” I said, but she only laughed. “Just let me know if you see it, okay?”
“What does it look like?”
I opened my mouth, then closed it hard. Good question. “Like…a coin,” I said lamely. “Don’t worry about it.”
Without waiting for her reply I made my escape. I scoured the foyer once more, opening and closing the front door and triggering the security beep enough times that Maggie hollered at me again. Searched up and down the stairs twice, even the cracks in the carpet where the steps met the wall. No luck. When I thought I heard a door upstairs squeaking open I stopped picking at the carpet fuzz and bolted up the stairs.
I ran full into Damian. He only staggered a step, but I felt the world reel and knew with sickening certainty I was going to fly head over heels down the stairs. Just before I plummeted to my doom Damian’s hand locked on my arm, hauling me upright. He stooped to look at me – he was that tall, and being on a higher step didn’t help.
“Whoa, Mer, what’s the rush?” he asked languidly.
“Where’d you come from? Weren’t you supposed to be at the ice rink?”
Damian grinned. “Rink was closed. Zam broke down, someone left their gear in the locker room, a tornado tore down the bleachers, you know. It happens.”
I forced a smile and tried to edge out of his grasp, but he mirrored my movement, still staring me intently in the eyes.
“Mer?”
“Just going to my room.”
“Awful edgy.”
My heart raced. Much as I wanted to stay and talk to him, all I really felt was terror. I had to find that coin. Now.
“I just need to be alone a minute, okay?”
He released me abruptly. I could feel his gaze following me as I darted to my bedroom.
“What, you got a chat date with some guy I need to know about?”
I stuck out my tongue. “You’d know it already if I did. They’re lining up, but they’ll have to wait.”
Damian knew how shy I was. It was pretty pathetic, and I knew it. I’d never had a real boyfriend – not one that would get past Damian’s approval anyway – but he still liked to tease me about it.
I slipped into my room and shut the door on Damian’s concerned gaze, snapping the lock. I hated doing it, but I needed the solitude. From the door I scanned the floor of my room for the coin, inch by inch. I’d nearly reconciled myself to failure when I finally caught sight of it, glinting coldly between the folds of the granny quilt heaped by my bed. My immediate relief lapsed into a grumble of annoyance. All that time spent hunting for the thing and it was right there beside my bed.
Damian knocked softly on my door. I still felt guilty for locking him out, so I seized the thing without looking at it and stuffed it into my back pocket. Now that I had it safely in my possession, I could delay my investigation a couple more minutes.
“Sorry, D,” I said, opening the door.
He wasn’t there. The hallway stretched out dark and empty.
“Damian?”
Behind me the branch scraped and whined against my window again. My skin prickled, and I crept toward Damian’s room. His door was ajar, but as I edged closer I couldn’t see him inside. My heart galloped. I pushed the door the rest of the way open and peered in.
Damian was there, sprawled in his chair with his feet propped on his drafting table, fiddling with some kind of mechanical thing he’d been obsessing over for the last month at least.
“You’re here!” I cried, clutching the edge of his door.
He cocked his head at me, frowning behind the wisps of his golden hair. Another creak emanated from the hallway and I leapt into his room, slamming the door behind me and diving into the pillow on his bed.