All These Things I've Done (Birthright #1)(18)

‘I promise,’ he said. He set the bowl on the floor, picked me up and spun me around the way our father used to.

‘Leo! Put me down!’ I was laughing so he spun me around a couple more times.

‘Let’s go out tonight! You and me and Natty,’ he said. ‘You don’t have school tomorrow, and I’ve got vouchers so we can get ice cream.’

I told him that I wished I could but that I was supposed to go out with Scarlet.

‘I love Scarlet,’ Leo said. ‘She can come, too.’

‘It’s not that kind of thing, Leo. We’re going to Little Egypt.’

‘I like Little Egypt,’ Leo insisted.

‘No, you don’t. The one time you went, you said how noisy it was. You got a migraine and had to leave after five minutes.’ This was the truth – the head trauma had left Leo quite sensitive to noise.

‘That was a long time ago,’ Leo insisted. ‘I’m better now.’

I shook my head. ‘Sorry, Leo. Not tonight. Just Scarlet and me.’

‘You never want me to go anywhere with you any more! I . . .’ Jesus, Leo was on the verge of tears again. He turned to look out the window. ‘You’re ashamed of me.’

‘No, Leo. It’s not that.’ I put my hand on his shoulder, but he shrugged it off. Maybe he was right. Maybe it was a little bit that. But only a very little bit. Mainly, I just didn’t think I could manage babysitting my brother in a crowded nightclub and hooking up Scarlet and Win at the same time. ‘Scarlet’s got this guy she likes, and you shouldn’t be mad at me because I barely even want to go to that stupid place myself,’ I explained.

Leo was silent.

‘You’re killing me here. Trust me, I’d much rather be spending the night with you and Natty.’ This much was true. ‘Can’t I please have a rain check?’

He turned his head and gazed at me with eyes as dull as his stuffed lion’s plastic ones. ‘Sure, Annie,’ he said. ‘Another time.’

I V. i go to little egypt

AS I STOOD IN FRONT of the mirror readying myself for the evening, my thoughts kept returning to Leo and how I might have handled things better. I picked up my tweezers and plucked a stray hair from my eyebrow.

The doorbell rang. Natty called, ‘I’ll get it!’

‘Thanks! It’s only Scarlet!’ Scarlet and I had agreed that she would arrive a half-hour before Win so that we could, I don’t know, strategize or something. ‘Tell her to come in the bathroom. I’m just plucking my brows.’

‘Don’t overpluck, Annie!’ Natty scolded. ‘You always overpluck.’

I heard her run down the hallway to the door. ‘Annie says to go in the bathroom,’ Natty said as she opened the front door. ‘Oh, you’re not Scarlet.’

A male voice laughed. ‘Should I go in the bathroom anyway?’ Win asked. ‘Seeing as she’s only plucking her eyebrows.’

I tightened my bathrobe around my waist and went out to our foyer, where Natty the flirt had already appropriated Win’s hat. ‘You’re early,’ I accused him.

‘Great building,’ he said casually, as if he hadn’t even noticed that I was annoyed. ‘The marble staircase in the lobby. The gargoyles out front. A bit spooky, but it’s got a ton of character.’

‘Right,’ I said. ‘So, you were supposed to be here at eight o’clock.’

‘I must have gotten the time wrong. A million apologies.’ He bowed a tiny amount.

I don’t like when plans change. ‘Well, I’m not ready yet, so what am I supposed to do with you now?’

‘I’ll take care of him,’ Natty volunteered. I looked over at my sister. Win’s hat was kind of cute on her. It was a darker, sturdier fabric than the one he wore at school. Other than that, he was still wearing what he’d worn earlier in the day – that is to say, his school uniform – though he’d rolled up the sleeves of his dress shirt.

‘Different hat,’ I observed.

‘Yes, Anya. That would be my evening hat.’ He said this in a sort of self-deprecating way, but he leaned a bit towards me when he said it. His scent was woodsy and clean.

‘All right, Natty,’ I said. ‘You may as well offer the early bird a drink.’ I turned to go back to my bedroom.

‘Your eyebrows look great, by the way,’ he called. ‘At their current level, I mean.’

The doorbell rang. Scarlet.

‘Seems everyone’s early tonight,’ Win commented.

‘No,’ Natty volunteered. ‘Scarlet was supposed to get here early.’

‘Really?’ Win asked. ‘Now, this is interesting.’

I ignored him and turned to answer the door.

Scarlet kissed me lightly on the cheek so as not to leave a lipstick trace. Her outfit was classic Scarlet: a black lace corset and men’s wool trousers and a ton of her signature red lipstick. She had also somehow managed to procure a single white lily for her blonde hair.

‘That flower smells amazing,’ I told her, and then I whispered, ‘He’s already here. He got the time wrong or something.’

‘Oh, that is so incredibly annoying,’ Scarlet said. She stowed her overnight bag in the foyer closet, then put on a smile and went into the living room. ‘Hi, Win! Love the hat, Natty.’