Torment - Lauren Kate [96]
Arriane’s words reminded Luce of being locked all the way up in that tiny chapel with Miss Sophia, how she kept saying the fate of the universe had something to do with Luce and Daniel. It had sounded crazy at the time, and Miss Sophia was evil bananas. And even though Luce wasn’t certain exactly what everyone was talking about, she knew it had to do with Daniel coming back around.
“It’s Daniel,” she said softly. “The angel who can tip the scales is Daniel.”
It explained the agony he carried all the time, like a two-ton suitcase. It explained why he’d been away from her so long. The only thing it didn’t explain was why there seemed to be some question in Arriane’s mind about which side the scales would tip onto. Which side would win the war.
Arriane opened her mouth, but instead of answering, she attacked Luce’s plate again. “Can I get some freaking hot sauce over here?” she yelled.
A shadow fell over their table. “I’ll give you something fiery.”
Luce looked behind her and recoiled at the sight: A very tall boy in a long brown trench coat, unbuttoned so that Luce could see a flash of something silver tucked inside his belt. He had a shaved head, a slim, straight nose, a mouthful of perfect teeth.
And white eyes. Eyes utterly empty of color. No irises, no pupils, none at all.
His strange, vacant expression reminded Luce of the Outcast girl. Though Luce hadn’t seen that girl closely enough to figure out what was wrong with her eyes, she now had a pretty good guess.
Shelby looked at the boy, swallowed hard, and tucked into her breakfast. “Nothing to do with me,” she mumbled.
“Save it,” Arriane said to the boy. “You can put it on the fist sandwich I’m about to serve you.” Luce watched wide-eyed as tiny Arriane stood up and wiped her hands on her jeans. “BRB, guys. Oh, and Luce, remind me to berate you for this when I get back.” Before Luce could ask what this guy had to do with her, Arriane had grabbed him by the earlobe, twisted hard, and slammed his head down on the glass display counter near the bar.
The noise shattered the lazy, late-night quiet of the restaurant. The guy yelped like a child as Arriane twisted his ear the other way and climbed on top of him. Bellowing in pain, he started bucking his lean body until he’d flung Arriane off and onto the glass case.
She rolled along its length and came to a stop at the end, knocking over a towering lemon meringue pie, then leaped to her feet on the bar. She somersaulted back toward him and caught him in a headlock with her legs, then set to work pounding his face with her small fists.
“Arriane!” the waitress shrieked. “Not my pies! I try to be tolerant! But I have my livelihood to look after!”
“Aw, fine!” Arriane shouted. “We’ll take it to the kitchen.” She released the guy, slid to the floor, and booted him with her platform heel. He blindly stumbled toward the door that led to the diner’s kitchen. “Come on, you three,” she called to their table. “Might as well learn something.”
Miles and Shelby threw down their napkins, reminding Luce of the way kids at Dover used to drop everything and run screaming through the halls yelling “Fight! Fight!” anytime there was the slightest rumor of a scuffle.
Luce followed behind, a little more hesitantly. If Arriane was suggesting that this guy had showed up because of her, it raised a lot of other hairy questions. What about the people who’d taken Dawn? And that arrow-shooting Outcast girl Cam had killed at Noyo Point?
A loud slam sounded from inside the kitchen and three terrified men in dirty aprons rushed out. By the time Luce made it past them through the swinging door, Arriane was holding down the boy with her foot on his head while Miles and Shelby tied him up with the kind of twine used to secure a tenderloin. His empty eyes stared up at Luce, but also through her.
They’d gagged him with a kitchen rag, so when Arriane taunted, “You want to chill out for a little bit? In the meat cooler?” the boy could only groan. He’d stopped