Fallen - Lauren Kate [29]
“Ooh, wait until Roland hears,” Arriane said, throwing down her rake. “You’re like our dream come true.”
Luce opened her mouth to protest, but Arriane had already taken off. Perfect, Luce thought, listening to the sound of Arriane’s shoes squishing through the mud. Now it was only a matter of minutes before word traveled around the cemetery to Daniel.
Alone again, she looked up at the statue. Even though she’d already cleared a huge pile of moss and mulch, the angel looked dirtier than ever. The whole project felt so pointless. She doubted anyone ever came to visit this place anyway. She also doubted that any of the other detainees were still working.
Her eye just happened to fall on Daniel, who was working. He was very diligently using a wire brush to scrub some mold off the bronze inscription on a tomb. He’d even pushed up the sleeves of his sweater, and Luce could see his muscles straining as he went at it. She sighed, and—she couldn’t help it—leaned her elbow against the stone angel to watch him.
He’s always been such a hard worker.
Luce quickly shook her head. Where had that come from? She had no idea what it meant. And yet, she’d been the one who’d thought it. It was the kind of phrase that sometimes formed in her mind just before she drifted into sleep. Senseless babble she could never assign to anything outside her dreams. But here she was, wide-awake.
She needed to get a handle on this Daniel thing. She’d known him for one day, and already, she could feel herself slipping into a very strange and unfamiliar place.
“Probably best to stay away from him,” a cold voice behind her said.
Luce whipped around to find Molly, in the same pose she’d found her in yesterday: hands on her hips, pierced nostrils flaring. Penn had told her that Sword & Cross’s surprising ruling that allowed facial piercings came from the headmaster’s own reluctance to remove the diamond stud in his ear.
“Who?” she asked Molly, knowing she sounded stupid.
Molly rolled her eyes. “Just trust me when I tell you that falling for Daniel would be a very, very bad idea.”
Before Luce could answer, Molly was gone. But Daniel—it was almost as if he’d heard his name—was looking straight at her. Then walking straight at her.
She knew the sun had gone behind a cloud. If she could break his stare, she could look up and see it for herself. But she couldn’t look up, she couldn’t look away, and for some reason, she had to squint to see him. Almost like Daniel was creating his own light, like he was blinding her. A hollow ringing noise filled up her ears, and her knees began to tremble.
She wanted to pick up her rake and pretend she didn’t see him coming. But it was too late to play it cool.
“What’d she say to you?” he asked.
“Um,” she hedged, racking her brain for a sensible lie. Finding nothing. She cracked her knuckles.
Daniel cupped his hand over hers. “I hate it when you do that.”
Luce jerked away instinctively. His hand on hers had been so fleeting, yet she felt her face flush. He meant it was a pet peeve of his, that knuckle cracking from anyone would bother him, right? Because to say that he hated it when she did that implied that he’d seen her do it before. And he couldn’t have. He barely knew her.
Then why did this feel like a fight they’d had before?
“Molly told me to stay away from you,” she said finally.
Daniel tilted his head from side to side, seeming to consider this. “She’s probably right.”
Luce shivered. A shadow drifted over them, darkening the angel’s face just long enough for Luce to worry. She closed her eyes and tried to breathe, praying Daniel couldn’t tell anything was strange.
But the panic was rising inside her. She wanted to run. She couldn’t run. What if she got lost in the cemetery?
Daniel followed her gaze toward the sky. “What is it?”
“Nothing.”
“So are you going to do it?” he asked, crossing his arms over his chest, a dare.
“What?” she said. Run?
Daniel took a step toward her. He was now less than a foot away. She held her breath. She kept her body completely