Page 37 of The Dragon and the Dove

They were both wearing long black cloaks, wisps of Tobias’s fine silver hair spilling out from under his hood as he reached for a jar of mint chocolate chips.

Fabian, meanwhile, was pilfering a bottle of lemonade from the cooler.

‘Risky business,’ remarked Val.

Fabian jumped, dropping the bottle, which smashed all over the floor.

She clucked her tongue. ‘Last time I nicked a pear tart from in here, Mercure made me sit in her office and write out: I will not steal from House Armand five hundred times.’ She rolled her eyes. ‘Nearly stabbed myself with her fountain pen just to put an end to the misery.’

Fabian’s owlish eyes were wide. ‘How did you know we were in here?’

‘You were giggling like a pair of elves.’

The boy frowned. ‘You’re looking at me.’

‘Is that a crime?’

Clutching the mint chips to his chest, Tobias had gone stock still beside her. She turned on him. ‘Unless you’re going to melt those into hot chocolate, I wouldn’t bother. I nearly cracked a tooth on one last week.’

His mouth hung open. ‘Your eyes are gold.’

‘Oh yeah.’ She tossed her curls. ‘I’m a saint now.’

‘Is that how you can see us?’ asked Fabian.

‘What?’

On closer inspection she saw that the air around them was shimmering. Like looking through sunlit glass. Tobias ripped off his cloak and the distortion disappeared, revealing his mussed hair and woolly pyjamas. The black material pooled on the ground, gleaming like onyx.

Her magic prickled in recognition.

Shade.

Their cloaks were made of Shade.

Of course they were made of Shade. This was House Armand, after all, and those were enchanted garments, intended for sneaking around.

Which was probably why they both looked so aghast at having been caught out.

Fabian ripped off his cloak too, and for the first time since she’d rumbled them, the boys looked at each other.

‘We were invisible.’ Tobias frowned. ‘Weren’t we?’

Val picked up his cloak, passing it between her fingers. It was cold to touch, an antidote to the flame in her chest. ‘I guess not to me,’ she murmured. ‘I saw through it.’

You will see through everything, said the old voice.

Her cheeks drained.

The fog in her mind was starting to clear.

Tobias backed away from her.

‘What are you so afraid of?’ she said, affronted.

‘I don’t want to get in trouble.’

‘You’re not in trouble. I couldn’t give a rat’s ass what you two get up to when Mercure goes to sleep. But you should probably clean up your mess.’