“I’d drive,” Maximus told us, “but my car is noticeable.” He pointed across the street at a teal convertible with fire decals and a license plate that saidTHE WIZ.
“Seriously?” I asked him.
“I like musicals.”
“You just ruined my image of you,” I told him. “Besides, I thought the whole wizard thing was a secret.”
“Hiding in plain sight, my dear.”
“That’s not hiding at all! That’s literally proclaiming what you are.”
“Ahh”—he laid his finger against his nose, as if that made him look deep and mysterious (spoiler alert: it didn’t)—“but everyone knows wizards are fiction.” Getting into the car, he sang “So You Wanted to Meet the Wizard.” He may have shimmied in the back seat. I refused to look. As he worked his way through the soundtrack, I spent the drive going over in my head what I wanted to say, to make the four of us into a team.
I hoped Ryan wouldn’t freak out.
He didn’t like surprises. But there hadn’t been a way to tell him earlier that I was bringing two more to our party. His father was back from Paris, and from here on in, we had to be extra careful.
He’ll have to deal with it,I thought. And I latched on to a little bit of my old anger at him.He owes me.Another part of my brain chimed in:But he was protecting you!And I answered,So he says.
Then I shoved those thoughts away. We had work to do.
At my direction, Gabriela parked behind the old abandoned lodge, and Maximus jumped out of the car first. We followed him inside—the back door dangled by one hinge.
“I like what you’ve done to the place,” he declared as we joined him. “It’s very dystopian chic.” He waved his hand at the partially collapsed lodge. Everything had been ruined by fire or rain and then abandoned. Couches were coated in caked-on old ash that had congealed into hardened sludge. Birds had nested in the rafters, and weeds had sprung up between the floorboards. All the windows were broken, and graffiti covered the walls and the bank of broken ski lockers. The ceiling was missing large chunks, and daylight streamed in, catching the dust that floated in the air. But for us, for what I wanted, it was fine. Perfect, in fact. We’d discuss plans here, and we’d practice in the warehouse.
Ryan had been sitting with his laptop on one of the ruined leather couches. He jumped to his feet as we came in. “What…Sky, what’s going on? Why are they here?”
Maximus clucked his tongue. “Such a welcome.”
I braced myself. This was the most precarious time, before anyone felt committed, when it was all just a shiny new idea. If I could make it through today, we’d be okay. But this was the pivotal moment when imagined became real. Or failed to.
Coming in past the blackened fireplace, I said, “Ryan, good news. I’ve completed our crew. Maximus and Gabriela have joined us.” I kept my tone reasonable, as if this weren’t a shock. I wished I’d been able to talk to him before now, to prep him for this.
Gabriela waved. “Hi, Ryan.”
“Um, hi. Um, Sky?” He looked panicked, which was cute but not a good sign. He was risking a lot by helping me, and now I was asking him to trust two people he barely knew. “Sky…But…I don’t think…Why would…” He plunged forward. “Maximus already has his own hoard. How do you know we can trust him?”
Maximus flashed a brilliant smile. “Sky and I have already had the motives conversation. She approved me, so that should be enough for you.”
Ryan continued as if Maximus hadn’t spoken. “And Gabriela—no offense meant, Gabriela; my mom’s human, so it’s not that I have anything against your species—but Gabriela is not one of us, by either marriage or birth. If the council found out—”
I raised my voice. “Ryan!”
He stopped. Blushed.
I fixed my eyes on him. “I have to do this.”And you oweme.
“I know, but—”
“You said you’d help. Did you mean that?” It felt, for an instant, as if we were the only ones here. Him and me, staring at each other.
“Well, yes, but Sky—”
“My heist. My call,” I said. “My crew.”Radiate self-confidence,I told myself. Like Mom. I’d never seen her nervous in my life. She oozed self-confidence from every pore. When she walked into a room, she owned the room and all its oxygen.
But Ryan surprised me. He nodded. “You’re crew leader. I trust you.”
Those words meant more than if he’d said “love.” He trusted me. This was my heist. And if they didn’t leave after I told them what we were up against…then this was my crew.
