Dusk Read Free Page B

like
the sister I never had.”
    Lucy knew that. “It won’t be for a hell of a long time, Eva. I
plan on being here for decades.”
    “Well, I hope so,” Eva replied after a moment. “Anyway, this is
not why I called you.”
    Lucy wanted to smack herself in the head. She’d made her best
friend unhappy, and Eva had been nothing but supportive for years. “What did
you call me for?” she asked, knowing there was nothing more she could say to
make it better.
    “I wanted to ask you to come for dinner on Friday.”
    “Which you already have,” Lucy interjected.
    Eva chuckled. “Yeah, but that’s not all. I also wanted to give you
a heads up that Solomon will be there, too, if that’s okay? He’s finally agreed
to come down out of his tower and hang out for a bit.”
    Solomon? Lucy bit her lip, heart skipping a beat at the thought of seeing him again
after so long. “Uh, okay. But you don’t need my permission.”
    “I know you like him,” Eva stated. “And in the interests of
preserving your sanity, I thought I’d warn you ahead of time.”
    “Okay,” Lucy said, distracted. Her mind was busy going through all
of her outfits. She eyed her closet door. What could she wear that would make
her look like a grownup? She cursed her stupid curly hair and stupid round
face. Almost everything she wore made her look about twelve years old. And if
Solomon was going to be there, she wanted to at least look presentable. The
last time he saw her she had blood all over her and had been a screaming wreck.
“What time should I be ready?”
    “Five o’clock.”
    “Ah crap. I just remembered that my mom needs her car Friday
night. Dad’s taking her to Columbus for date night—” She made gagging noises at
the thought of her parents doing romantic things, “—and they said they can’t
take Dad’s pickup. And I can’t drive manual, so I can’t take his truck. Is
there any way you can pick me up?” She stretched out on her bed and stared at
the ceiling. She hated depending on others for transportation. Someday soon she
had to buy a car. Yeah, when I’m rich, ha
ha.
    Eva chuckled. “Sure! No problem. I’ll come get you around five.”
She paused. “Date night, huh? That’s so cute.”
    “Oh my God, don’t say that! The thought of my parents kissing in
public makes my stomach roll,” Lucy exclaimed. “And you know they’ll do it.
They’ll probably hug, too, where people can see. The horror.”
    “Shut up. You love that they’re still together,” Eva said,
amusement coloring her tone. “It’s cool that they still love each other so
much.”
    Lucy laughed. Her best friend had a point. “Maybe, but I admit to
nothing.”
    “Fine, fine. See you on Friday. And wear something pretty,” Eva
told her. “I think Solomon likes you.” With that ridiculous statement, Eva
disconnected the line.
    “I’m going to kill her,” Lucy vowed, blushing at the thought of
Solomon liking her. She sat up, catching sight of herself in the mirror over
her dresser. Her curly brown hair was a mess. Her lipstick was smudged because
her lips were too full to keep any kind of lip tint evenly spread. And her
light brown eyes sparkled with something she was afraid to call hope.
    There is no way a Sentry would ever like a girl like me, she told herself firmly, dropping back
down across her bed and letting out a huge sigh. She stared at her ceiling
again. What the hell am I going to wear?

 
    Chapter Three
     
    Solomon ran through the calculations in his head one more time, then placed his hands on the pillar in the middle of his
tower. Outside, fog swirled past the windows, cloaking the barren landscape
beyond the stone with tendrils of ice. The temperature had dropped this
morning, too. He’d hoped for some clearer weather sometime this week, but every
day had dawned thick with precipitation. Even so, he’d managed to get a great
deal of work done on the transporter.
    When there’s nothing to look at outside, the bleak view