Set the Stars Alight

by Amanda Dykes

She sighed, playing into his game. “You said I was an M4.” “Ah, she divulges her secrets at last,” he said, eyes twinkling with candlelight. “The M4, eh? My bet says you’ve already dug up just what I meant.” “You don’t know that,” Lucy said, her offense only half real. He narrowed his eyes, nodding. “You’re right. I don’t. But I do know you conveniently disappeared at the Bodleian. I do know you went in the general direction of the science library. And . . .” He let the word trail out dramatically. “I once knew a girl who would never let a question hang over her for more than two seconds before pounding an answer out of the universe. And I have a hunch that girl is alive and well somewhere. . . .” He craned his neck, looking around the room. “Dash,” Lucy whispered, beginning to blush. “Hold on. She’s here, I know it.” “Dash.” Her whisper intensified, and he stopped dancing and turned, scanning the crowd of people, bumping into the couple behind them. “So sorry,” he said to them. “Just looking for an old friend.” The couple spun off, perplexed, and Dash turned to face her. “Ah,” he said, face softening into a familiarity so warm it felt like coming home. “There is something of her here, I think.”