Mistress of Night and Dawn Read Online Free PDF Page A

flash?’ she whispered, her fingers moving to the waistband of her shorts.
    ‘I don’t think they deserve it,’ Aurelia said. ‘Let’s scare them instead.’ She looked around for a suitable prop that she could hold up and jump out in front of them with, but before she had time the cart raced by, the outline of the boys’ heads visible in the penumbra and once it turned the corner. The two young women followed the tracks and finally made for the exit, once they had given the car a few minutes’ lead so that the boys could disperse.
    A curtain of plastic skulls and bones rose and Aurelia, quite impervious to its effect, brushed it aside and they were assailed by the colourful lights and din of the surrounding fun fair.
    ‘That was dangerous,’ a voice said. He had been waiting for them at the ride’s exit. ‘And I was getting worried something might have happened to you inside there.’ The attendant with the ginger hair and the green rubber monster mask perched atop his untidy mop of hair lounged against the side of the tent, arms folded.
    ‘We didn’t do any harm,’ Siv insisted, standing her ground, almost provoking him. ‘Honest.’
    ‘It’s usually guys who cause problems,’ he said. ‘I didn’t expect it from you two.’ He looked Siv up and down, and his eyes flitted from her to Aurelia.
    Siv laughed, and slipped her fingers through her short hair, something she always instinctively did when she was flirting, Aurelia knew.
    ‘And do you have a problem with girls who cause trouble?’ she baited him, standing with her slim legs apart, in a defiant stance, holding herself straight at full height, her modest chest jutting towards him.
    Confused by Siv’s odd mix of flirtatious aggression, he glanced at Aurelia, but recognising the indifference in her eyes, quickly turned his attention back to Siv.
    ‘Come on, Siv, let’s go,’ Aurelia suggested. She was beginning to feel sorry for the ticket collector who seemed sweet enough beneath the shadow of his monster mask, unlike the boys from the dodgems who were all run-of-the-mill teenagers, fuelled with testosterone and otherwise entirely dull to everyone besides Siv, who seemed to be interested in them all.
    But her friend refused to back down.
    ‘I just meant to say you shouldn’t have walked into the tent on foot. Something could have happened and I always get the blame for everything,’ he sighed.
    ‘You’re not the boss?’ Siv asked.
    ‘Do I look like I own the place?’ Ginger said. ‘It’s just a job. Not a very fun one at that. And I only came out here to make sure you got out okay, not to fight with you.’
    He took a step back, waiting for them to leave.
    Siv continued to stand and stare at him, but quickly realised that her efforts to provoke him had failed, and switched to another tactic. Aurelia stood quietly beside her. She’d seen her friend in this mood enough times before to know that trying to talk her out of it was a pointless exercise.
    Eventually, Siv’s expression softened.
    ‘Listen,’ she suddenly said, ‘we’re sorry, okay? We were just having a bit of fun.’ She looked down at the ground and scratched her boot along the dirt. A bright bolt of red swept over her cheeks. Siv was unaccustomed to apologising. Aurelia could barely believe her ears.
    The boy looked up and grinned. His features transformed when he smiled, becoming infinitely more handsome, a fact that was not lost on Siv.
    ‘All right,’ he said. ‘No harm done.’
    ‘Can we make it up to you? Buy you a drink or something?’ she continued gruffly.
    ‘Yes. Thanks. That would be good.’
    He didn’t talk like any other boy Aurelia had known. She looked at him curiously, but his attention was now politely fixed on Siv, who had extended the invitation.
    ‘I have to get back to the till. But I get off in half an hour.’
    Siv looked up at Aurelia, a grin spreading across her face, silently seeking approval.
    ‘Fine by me,’ she said. She could use