Sin forgave me way too quickly. This thought nibbled away at the back of my mind as I tried to make sense of the alien words on the menu. I guess he's still trying to get a bite of me. But vampires, and especially the Blackbloods were – to quote sis – notoriously narcissistic. So who knows what his real plans might be. I have to keep my guard up…
"Did you choose Ava?" Damian's question startled me back to reality. A waiter was already at the table, looking patiently at me. Crap.
"I'll have a… something with meat?" I flashed the sweetest smile at the waiter, hoping he'd get the memo.
"What do you mean, my lady?"
He didn't.
"Just get her a boeuf bourguignon, Cris." Sin said. Cris, satisfied with the answer, left to get our meals. I felt relieved for a moment but then I realized I still had no idea what Sin just ordered me. Will this be his petty revenge?
"You should let her decide." Damian said.
"I didn't want to sit here until she admits she doesn't speak French." Sin said casually. I felt a wave of heat creep up my cheeks. I hated not knowing things.
"Ava, stop blushing. I'm already hungry as is. Unless you're offering me an appetizer?" Sin turned to face me, and suddenly he was too close to me. I wanted to conjure my flames, but I was sitting on a wooden chair at a wooden table. So I quietly endured.
"Stop teasing her, Sin. She just moved from one of the most alienated places in the world to a multicultural metropolis. Of course she doesn't speak French." Liz rushed to my defense. I wasn't really a damsel-in-distress type, but I think I can turn this situation into something more valuable.
"She's right. I don't know much about all this." I knew this city like the back of my hand, but I swallowed my pride. I had to get some info somehow.
"Well, you came to the right person." J stood up, just to bow theatrically. "May I present to you January Blackblood, Seeker of Truths and Keeper of Secrets." He bowed multiple times as Liz clapped with glee. "Thank you, thank you!"
It was so unexpectedly strange my brain broke for a second.
"January?" That was all I managed to say.
He shrugged as he sat back down. "My parents are odd. And before you ask, no, I was born in August."
"He's basically our resident gossip." Damian explained.
"So what do you want to know, Avalynn?"
"Everything." J grinned.
"That'll be a pricy one." I was officially confused.
"What?" I asked.
"I trade in secrets. If I just gave away everything to everyone I would go bankrupt quite fast. A secret for a secret, as I like to call it."
"So I have to give up some of my info to get some of yours?" J nodded.
"And don't try to lie to him." Damian added "He can sense it."
My eyes opened wide. "You're a warlock?" Warlocks are nonhuman magic bearers, and they are damned rare. He nodded again.
"That… actually explains a lot of things."
He was being treated equal to the princes. And he had an awful lot of interest in my arrival. Had he told Liz to get on my good side? To spy on me? I suddenly felt anxious. Enemies on all sides. Damn it. I couldn't let myself fall apart. You're on enemy territory, facing leeches, Ava. Don't let your guard down!
"You seem to know more than you let on. Someone's secretly a smarty-pants?" J asked innocently, but I knew I was prancing on a minefield.
"I've read a lot of books about the Arcanae." I shrugged.
"I didn't have you pegged as a bookworm. Guess even I can be wrong." J smiled.
I wanted to correct him, to tell him that I only read those damned books out of necessity, but I stopped myself.
"I can't read you when we're not in an exchange, so calm down, Ava." J said, but I didn't trust him.
"Why should I believe you?"
"Because if I could tell when people are lying all the time, I would be in an asylum, not here. Most of the times it's better not knowing." J looked at me seriously. I still didn't believe him, but what he said was logical. Many Arcanae end up in hospitals with a clouded mind, the disease of the well-informed: methodical insanity.
I shook myself like a bird arranging its feathers. I'm sure I'll have to put up with J if I want to get any closer to solving the murders. I might as well use him.
"So the deal's still on?" I asked.
"What do you want to know?"
I had to figure out a good question. If I went too specific, they might figure out who I am. But if I'm too vague, I'll just give out my info for basically nothing.
"What…should I avoid when living here?" J furrowed his brows.
"I'm not sure what you mean by that."
"You know… 'If you see heaps of blue bile, there's a frogchomper's nest up ahead.', and stuff like that. Advice to stay alive, I guess?"
"I see. Well, I don't think there are too many threats in the school. Unless you fall asleep during a history lesson and collapse into an old sword. That's always a possibility."
"What about outside of school? In the city?"
"In the city, huh? Well, we have our share of muggers and homicidal idiots, but the BBPD does a really good job of hunting them down, so no worries. But, if everything else fails, just follow the good old words of 'Kill it with fire!'" J smiled at me, seemingly content with his answer. But I wasn't.
"I've read there was a killer on the loose. The papers called him the Reaper of Dreams." I pushed. J's face turned serious.
"Oh, so that's why you're asking. Well, I don't have anything on that piece of garbage. If I had, the police would've caught him already." J shook his head. "I value information, but I value the lives of innocents more."
Liz moved closer to J, who hugged her. He seemed pretty shaken. He probably had to go through a set of questioning already as standard procedure, since he's a warlock – a possible suspect. And not a nice, have-a-cup-o-tea-and-lets-talk type of interrogation. I forgot about all that. Fuck.
"I'm sorry for asking." I said, and I meant it.
"No worries." He said with a faint smile. "It's natural to be afraid."
I didn't know what to say to that, but I didn't have to ponder for long. Our lunch just arrived, smelling delicious and washing away all the bad feelings. The thing Sin ordered for me looked delicious. I quickly forgot about all other things. But J didn't.
"Ava, now you tell me. What are you afraid of?"
I was too eager to start my meal, so I blurted out, "Butterflies."
J looked at me weirdly for a second before he said, "And you're not lying."
I shrugged.
"They are big and colorful, but they fly like they're drunk, and no matter where you dodge they want to crash into you. Crazy kamikaze colorflaps." I explained.
We started our lunch with laughter.