Isla's Inheritance Page 10

Dominic and I left Mount Ainslie shortly after Jack vanished into the night. I searched the shadows for the strange boy’s presence. Was he still watching? The idea made the hairs on the back of my neck stand on end and, as soon as we’d finished our coffees, we headed back to Dominic’s place. I felt bad for dragging him all the way up there only to leave straight away, but he said he didn’t mind.

  “My parents are away so it won’t be a hassle if you want to crash there,” he told me. “You can stay in the spare room.” I was relieved when he added the last part; I wasn’t ready for anything serious between us, even though Dominic was sweet. I certainly didn’t think I was in the right headspace to be making relationship decisions.

  If Dominic was disappointed when I agreed to the offer of the spare room, he didn’t show it.

  Before we left the mountain, I typed a text to Sarah. Crashing at D’s, I sent, being cryptic in case my father or aunt took the phone from her. Can you bring a change of clothes tomorrow?

  And your books? she replied. I’d forgotten about the exam! If I needed any more proof of what a crazy night I’d had, there it was.

  Yes please.

  Okay. Will let Mum know you won’t be home. Have fun! ;), she replied. Typical Sarah. I knew I was going to get the third degree from her tomorrow. I didn’t mind sharing about Dominic, but I wasn’t sure what to tell her about why I’d run out of the house.

  I followed him to his place, turning the evening’s events over in my mind as I drove. I was a half-blood fae? I still wasn’t sure I believed it, but I’d seen at least two things tonight I couldn’t explain: my father burning me with plain, unheated iron and Jack healing the burn. Even if I could come up with some kind of rationalisation for Jack’s strange appearance, neither of those could be explained by normal means.

  By the time I pulled into Dominic’s driveway, I’d decided it was time to take Jack at his word. Dad had taught me to be sceptical about anything that couldn’t be explained with logic and science, but he must have known something about Jack’s world if my mother was part of it. That meant his advice was hypocritical, even if he was trying to protect me.

  It struck me that, as well as being hypocritical, his efforts were also misguided. Wasn’t I better protected by the truth? Ignorance wasn’t bliss if you got blindsided by something you had no idea was coming.

  Dominic’s parents lived in one of the nicer suburbs in the south of Canberra, a ten-minute drive from Aunt Elizabeth’s place. The house was two storeys; the ground floor was a beautiful reddish-brown brick, the upper level cream-painted timber. A eucalypt towered on the front lawn, taller than the house.

  We were greeted in the hallway by a furry, white shape that turned out, when the light was switched on, to be a cat. “This is Casper,” Dominic told me, scratching the cat behind the ears. “Casper, meet Isla.”

  “Pleased to meet you, Casper,” I said. The cat stared back at me with pale blue eyes and then licked a paw with feline indifference.

  “Did you want something to eat?” Dominic asked as I followed him up the hallway into a spacious kitchen with a grey granite bench. Casper trailed along behind us.

  “I’m okay.” I smiled, hiding a yawn behind my hand. “Would you be offended if I said I just wanted to go to sleep? It’s been a stressful day.”

  “No problem,” he said. “Did you want a clean shirt to wear to bed or anything?”

  “Um, yes, that’d be great.”

  He showed me to the guest room, the first bedroom off the hallway at the top of the stairs. Dominic’s room was on the same floor, on the other side of a shared bathroom. From the décor, which ran to hot pink and dark purple, I guessed the spare room was once his older sister’s bedroom. I could hear him rustling around in his wardrobe as I fidgeted in the middle of her room, feeling like an interloper.

  “Here, will this do?” Dominic handed me a neatly folded T-shirt. It was grey and had Animal from the Muppets on the front.

  I held it up in front of me; it fell halfway down my thighs. “It’s perfect.”

  I caught my reflection in an oval mirror on the low chest of drawers. My skin, a paler-than-normal shade of alabaster, almost glowed in the dim light. My eyes shone with a feverish tint. I flinched, clutching the T-shirt to my chest, and wondered miserably what Dominic must be thinking. I looked a mess. “Ah, do you mind if I freshen up first?”

  “Not at all.” Dominic led me to the bathroom and rustled around under the sink, pulling out a multi-pack of toothbrushes. “Help yourself.” Then he withdrew, closing the door behind him.

  I dug the pink toothbrush out and put the packet back under the sink; the toothpaste was in a cup on the basin. There was also a hairbrush and a stick of men’s pine-scented deodorant. I took advantage of all three items—I didn’t think Dominic would mind—and splashed some water on my face, feeling a little better when I emerged from the bathroom.

  Although the mirror told me the startled look hadn’t diminished. Maybe I was putting too much faith in the power of clean teeth and tangle-free hair.

  Dominic’s bedroom door was open, and he was sitting on his bed when I poked my head in to say goodnight. His bedroom was painted in neutral colours; the walls were grey and the ceiling was the same stark white as in the rest of the house. A couple of rock posters hung on the closet doors, a fat, old TV sat on top of a chest of drawers that matched the one in the guest room, and a guitar sat on a stand under the window.

  “I didn’t know you played.”

  “I don’t, not really.” He grimaced. “I mean, I took lessons at school, but I don’t have any talent.”

  “Sarah’s a guitarist,” I said. “She’s pretty good.”

  “I remember.”

  There was an awkward silence. I took a breath, crossed the room, and gave Dominic a hug. He stayed sitting, so I could rest my chin on his head. It was nice. “Thanks for looking after me tonight. And for not asking lots of questions.”

  He shrugged. “You said you didn’t want to talk about it. I figure you’ll tell me when you’re ready. And if you don’t… Well, that’s okay too.” He smiled.

  I leaned down and kissed him.

  His lips were soft, and his tongue, when it flicked over mine, tasted like sweetened coffee. For a moment I lost myself as his arms wrapped around me, pulling me close. One hand massaged the small of my back; the other drifted lower, brushing the top of my backside. I curled my fingers in his hair, loving its softness.

  It reminded me of Jack, of him guiding my hand across his face and through his hair.

  Drawing a shuddering breath, I released Dominic and stepped back. He let go of me reluctantly.

  “I’m sorry, that wasn’t fair.” My face felt hot.

  “Don’t be,” he said, his lips quirking in a smile that made me want to kiss him again. He shifted uncomfortably on the bed.

  “It’s just that I—”

  “It’s been a crazy night for you.”

  “Yes.”

  “It’s okay, we don’t have to rush into anything.”

  “Yes. Okay. Good.” I could feel the blood heating my cheeks. And elsewhere.

  “I understand. Although, if you change your mind, you know where I am.” He laughed breathlessly.

  I laughed too, and the tension was broken. “Goodnight, Dominic.”

  “Goodnight, Isla.”

  Still laughing to myself, I went into the guest room and closed the door. Casper had set himself up in the middle of the bed with the air of someone who always slept there. “Do you mind, cat?” I turned my back on him to get undressed, slipping the oversized T-shirt on. It smelled of apple-scented fabric softener.

  I turned the bedside lamp on and the overhead light off, and climbed into bed; Casper claimed a spot in the curve at the back of my knees, purring. “Hamish would be upset that I’m cheating on him with a cat,” I told Casper. He purred a little louder. I guess the notion of annoying a dog amused him. “Okay, well, I won’t tell him if you don’t.”

  S
witching off the bedside lamp, I lay there for a long time, thinking about Dominic’s lips and Jack’s soft, fine hair, before I fell asleep.