Almost

Chapter 40: Defensive

Katherine only managed two hours of sleep in the end. She stood on her balcony, watching the city begin to wake up. Well, it hadn't really gone to sleep—but the people walking down the streets looked far more awake now.

She'd been getting less and less sleep since Ezra had been attacked, and she hadn't been getting much to begin with. She was the kind of tired she felt in her bones, the kind that made her ache when she stood from her bed, but it wasn't just the racing magic that was keeping her awake. The tempering couldn't quiet her mind, though—and every sound in the house or the street made her lurch, put her on edge. And without her magic to cast a silencing charm, she was left with no hope. Instead, she sat on the balcony with the tempering on to at least hold on to some modicum of her peaceful pause.

But it meant she couldn't conjure Nestor, who was normally her companion on the balcony. Smithwick was fast asleep. She missed Corliss, whose sleep schedule was far closer to Katherine's.

Katherine couldn't even bring herself to open her books. She knew there was nothing there, nothing she hadn't seen. Crawley might find something from Professor Jashem's books, or Lee might garner something from the book with the missing chapter, but she wasn't going to see him until Monday... So now, all she could do was wish she was asleep.

She got up and walked into the bathroom, noting the bags that had settled under her eyes. She got to work with her concealer, her foundation, layers of powder and eyeshadow and mascara and blush that would make her look more awake. More alive.

The curls from the day before had loosened, but they still held well enough that she didn't bother with them. Instead, she pulled the top half of her hair back out of her face and up into a ponytail. She looked in the mirror, looking for any cracks that would betray her. Maybe she'd ask Chris to bring her eyedrops to soothe the redness...

Just after eight, when she heard a knock at the door, she took off the tempering and raced downstairs. Sure enough, it was Chris—the paper and two almond croissants in tow.

"Thank you," Katherine said. "How was the coffee date?"

"Not enough whipped cream in the world. But she was nice about it. We ended up talking for hours, actually."

"And?"

"I think I just might have found my date for your wedding," he said, a smirk on his face. He was so young, but he looked like a little boy with a lollipop.

She beamed at him. It hadn't taken much to convince Crawley the boy should be on their guest list—he had been kidnapped for her.

"Good. Do you want to come in? I'd split my croissant with you."

"I'm okay, thanks. Have to get back."

"Okay," she said, trying to keep her face from falling. It would be nice to have someone to talk to in this house that wasn't always concerned with impending doom.

He waved and jauntily walked back to the car, spinning the keys on his fingers and singing some song she thought Lee had sung at the party.

Crawley must have set an alarm for the time of the paper's expected arrival—he arrived down the stairs with a wide-eyed focus, still in his pajamas, within minutes.

"Well?" he said, running his hands through his mop of sleep-tangled curls.

The coffee maker beeped from the back counter, done brewing the pot. Ezra poured two mugs and put one in front of Katherine, looking over his shoulder at the story.

Front page, above the fold, was the picture of the two of them leaned up against the wall. Katherine was looking up at Crawley, a small smile tugging at her lips and flaring her nose. Ezra gazed down at her with that look that threatened to ignore the world and just stay wrapped up in their cocoon.