Daph shook her head. “No. After that stunt she pulled in her car the day of the Aspen trip, they haven’t been hanging out too much. He says he’d rather not rattle her cage right now.”

Jaya nodded, though she thought Alaric was quite possibly the biggest coward she’d ever met. “For what it’s worth, I don’t think it was a stunt, what Caterina did. Perhaps she just wanted to spend some time with Alaric; she was probably hoping he’d ride with her.”

Daphne Elizabeth looked abashed. “Oh.” She twisted the fringe on her scarf. “Right.”

“Daph,” Jaya said, leaning forward. A group of students came in from outside, and Jaya and Daph moved out of the way, to the side. “You could get another boyfriend, you know. Someone else who’ll love you and treasure you and respect you the way you deserve. Someone who won’t ask you to do the heavy lifting while he does… well, whatever Alaric’s up to right now.” She paused, half hearing Amma’s voice in her head: Do not meddle in other people’s relationships, Jaya. “And maybe you don’t need a boyfriend at all right now,” Jaya pushed on, because she wanted to say this to Daphne Elizabeth, because she actually cared about this girl. “Maybe you could take some time for yourself, to work out what’s important to you. It doesn’t all have to be on Alaric’s schedule.”

Daph smiled at her, her green eyes tinged with sadness. “Thanks, Jaya.” On impulse, she reached out and gave her a hug. “Now, you better go. I know Grey’s probably getting pretty desperate.” She laughed.

Jaya glared at her. “We’re just running an errand.”

“I know, I know, that’s the party line,” Daph said, still chuckling as she turned around and made her way to the stairs.

The car pulled up to the curb on a quiet shop-and-tree-lined street a few miles from campus in downtown St. Rosetta, near the sushi restaurant she, Isha, and Grey had eaten at so long ago. Now Grey tipped the driver quickly and slid out. Jaya followed, her boots crunching.

She looked over her shoulder as if she expected to see Caterina hiding behind a tree, fully aware she was getting a little paranoid. She hoped that seeing Daph’s text would ease Caterina’s anger a bit, but the fact that she hadn’t replied bothered Jaya. She glanced at Grey as they walked down the sidewalk. It would make the most sense for her to not even be here with him. And yet she couldn’t bring herself to actually take action that would make him leave. What was that about?