At rst, she could see only his feet. Brown European leather boots. Then a pair of dark-wash jeans came into view as he curved around the banister toward the second story of the lodge. A blue-and-white-striped button-down shirt. And nally, the distinctly recognizable mane of black- and-gold dreadlocks.
Roland Sparks had turned up at Shoreline.
Luce jumped out from her hidden perch. She might still be on nervous best behavior in front of Francesca and Steven, who were dauntingly gorgeous and powerful and mature ... and her teachers. But Roland didn't intimidate her--not much, anyway--not anymore. Besides, he was the closest to Daniel she had been in days.
She slunk down the interior steps as silently as she could, then burst through the lodge door to the deck. Roland was moseying toward the ocean like he didn't have a care in the world.
"Roland!" she shouted, thundering down the last ight of stairs to the ground and breaking into a jog. He stood where the path ended and the blu dropped down to steep and craggy rocks.
He was standing so still, looking out at the water. Luce was surprised to feel butter ies in her stomach when, very slowly, he began to turn around.
"Well, well." He smiled. "Lucinda Price discovers peroxide."
"Oh." She clutched at her hair. How stupid she must look to him.
"No, no," he said, stepping toward her, u ng her hair with his ngers. "It suits you. A hard edge for hard times."
"What are you doing here?"
"Enrolling." He shrugged. "I just picked up my class schedule, met the teachers. Seems like a pretty sweet place."
A woven knapsack was slung over one of his shoulders with something long and narrow and silver sticking out of it. Following her eyes, Roland switched the bag to his other shoulder and tightened the top ap with a knot.
"Roland." Her voice quaked. "You left Sword and Cross? Why? What are you doing here?"
"Just needed a change of pace," he o ered cryptically.
Luce was going to ask about the others--Arriane and Gabbe. Even Molly. Whether anyone had noticed or cared that she'd left. But when she opened her mouth, what came out was very di erent from what she had expected. "What were you talking about in there with Francesca and Steven?"
Roland's face changed suddenly, hardened into something older, less carefree. "That depends. How much did you hear?"
"Daniel. I heard you say that he ... You don't have to lie to me, Roland. How much longer until he comes back? Because I don't think I can--"
"Come take a walk with me, Luce."
As awkward as it would have felt for Roland Sparks to put his arm around her shoulders back at Sword & Cross, that was how comforting it was when he did it that day at Shoreline. They were never really friends, but he was a reminder of her past--a bond she couldn't help turning to now. when he did it that day at Shoreline. They were never really friends, but he was a reminder of her past--a bond she couldn't help turning to now.
They walked along the blu 's edge, around the breakfast terrace, and along the west side of the dorms, past a rose garden Luce had never seen before. It was dusk and the water to their right was alive with colors, re ecting the rose and orange and violet clouds gliding in front of the sun.
Roland led her to a bench facing the water, far away from all the campus buildings. Looking down, she could see a rugged set of stairs carved into the rock, starting just below where they were sitting, and leading all the way down to the beach.
"What do you know that you aren't saying?" Luce asked when the silence began to get to her.
"That water is fty-one degrees," Roland said.
"Not what I meant," she said, looking him right in the eyes. "Did he send you here to watch over me?"
Roland scratched his head. "Look. Daniel's o doing his thing." He made a itting motion at the sky. "In the meantime"--and she thought he cocked his head toward the forest behind the dorm--"you got your own thing to take care of."
"What? No, I don't have a thing. I'm just here because--"
"Bullshit." He laughed. "We all have our secrets, Luce. Mine brought me to Shoreline. Yours has been leading you out to those woods."
She started to protest, but Roland waved her o , that ever-cryptic look in his eyes.
"I'm not going to get you in trouble. In fact, I'm