“It’s a good thing you’re not dramatic or anything,” Marcus said unhappily. “I think you’ve found your calling on the stage.”
Scout shot him a killing look and then stared at Lucky, looking worried. “But… but the thing about your mobsters,” he said, chewing his lip. “It’s all okay for me to get theoretically brave about Alistair finding us, but you did say it. Your guys are dangerous. I don’t ever want you to get hurt because of me.”
Lucky shrugged, remembering Scout’s confidence—hishope—that if they could confront it, they could survive it. He realized that Scout may have seemed to have all the faith in the world, but he was the first to admit he’d never been hurt. He was afraid, just like everybody else on the planet, that the world might take the things he valued the most.
That included Lucky. “Here,” he said, reaching into his pocket. “Let’s ask at the source.”
Scout, Marcus, and Helen blinked at him in surprise.
Well, yeah, sometimes he forgot he had a magic coin too. He pulled it out, the weight of it smooth and shiny in his hand, and flipped before he could think.
“Heads, helping the spirit trap puts us in more danger, tails it doesn’t.”
Everybody held their breath as he caught the coin in midair and slapped it down on the back of his arm.
The tails insignia blinked shinily at him, and he grinned.
“Yeah, I’m good for something. Whatever’s gonna happen, it’ll happen with or without whatever we’re doin’ here.” He sobered. “But that doesn’t mean it’s not dangerous for Scout.”
He got ready to flip again, but Scout put his hand up to stop him.
“Lucky, we can’t rely on that too much. You know that, right?”
Lucky sucked air in through his teeth. “Yeah, I know. Sometimes knowing the future makes you change the future. I feel it in my stomach too.”
“Then let’s leave it as it is,” Scout said, drawing nearer to fold Lucky’s hand over his coin to stop the flip. His mouth flickered in a smile. “Just be by my side, okay?”
Lucky swallowed and nodded. “Yeah, fine, whatever.” He tucked the coin in his pocket and sighed. “Sausage biscuits?” he said hopefully, and Helen and Marcus both nodded. They gathered around the island counter again, Scout and Lucky’s shoulders touching as they leaned forward and started to eat.
“So,” Scout said as they munched, “Kayleigh told me whatyoufound. Want to hear what we found?”
And the next half hour was spent almost pleasantly as Scout and Lucky repeated their end of the story and discussed some of the implications.
Soon enough, Scout and Marcus went out the door so Scout could go to his apartment to get some clothes, and Lucky and Helen went up the stairs that led to the back stock room of the coffee-shop area so they could open the doors now that everything was prepped.
“You look worried,” Helen said softly as she went to open the french doors to the gathering crowd.
“Well, you know,” Lucky said with a shrug. “Getting attached here.”
Helen laughed softly and dragged the doors open. “Aren’t we all,” she said, and before Lucky had time to ask her who she was getting attachedto, because it seemed like she and Marcus were already a matched set, the crowd came in and things got busy.
It wasn’t until Lucky was on his third customer that he realized Scout had simply gathered his clothes while Lucky had been doing dishes and then waved and left.
They hadn’t had a goodbye kiss, and dammit, now Lucky knew that would be bothering him for the rest of the day!
About five minutes before Scout was due up on the little makeshift stage in front of the store, the coin in Lucky’s pocket grew warm, hot enough to scorch the skin of his thigh, and Lucky had the sudden urge to run.
Rubber Bullets
KAYLEIGH HADto work almost all afternoon, so apparently she’d asked Larissa and Piers to be his audience plants the night before. Scout didn’t actually mind; Larissa was bright and enthusiastic, and Piers was canny and game. Together they seemed to be decent actors, and Scout figured he could call on them for help without too much damage to his act, right?
If nothing else, he could always call on Lucky.
The idea that Lucky would be watching him today like he’d watched every day since Scout had started taking over for Marcus warmed Scout to the soles of his feet—or the ends of his feet or the soles of his toes.
Whatever.
It made him super, super happy.
