Lucky cleaned up after their impromptu tea and then turned to see how Scout was doing.
Still sleeping.
Lucky moved restlessly around his apartment, wondering if he should try to read an e-book or maybe watch TV.
“Stop pacing,” Scout murmured from the bed. “Sit next to me and read. I like you next to me.”
Lucky gave a lopsided smile. That, as they say, was that.
As he propped himself up on the pillows and started listening to an audiobook, he kept one hand on Scout’s hip and smiled.
KAYLEIGH CAMEover about the time Lucky was thinking of getting up to make them dinner. She had big bowls of spaghetti with her and a long-suffering expression on her face.
“There is yet another strange man on my couch,” she said disapprovingly. “But since everyone else is meeting at my place and Larissa is gonna sleep in Scout’s bed again, and this guy swears he’s going before nightfall so he can get back to the Spit, I may forgive you.”
“Don’t Larissa and Piers have, like, a suite at the resort?” Lucky asked, confused. He’d forgotten about the meeting at Scout’s apartment, but apparently Marcus and Helen didn’t need him and Scout to have a meeting. He set the bowls of spaghetti on the counter andhmmed in appreciation. “Thanks for this, by the way. Your brother, apparently, can drop two assholes in upstate New York super easy, but he needs his nap time when he’s done.”
She gave a surprised laugh. “I should say so! Not even our father can portal people without some aftereffects. No, this is sleep well earned, my friend, which is why the two of you get dinner delivered.”
“The two of us?” Lucky asked, curious.
“Well, yeah. You apparently protected him from the guy who’s trying to wake up on my couch. By the way? I think Piers is eyeballing him like candy. You have nothing to worry about now.”
Lucky gave a short laugh. “Well, not on that front. Your brother, though, he seems to be attracting luck mechanics like a flower attracts bees.”
Kayleigh nodded, unsurprised. “But hey, knowing that people are armed and crazy is a pretty useful mechanic, you have to admit.”
He held up his hands. “Not arguing. I’m just saying, I hadn’t evenheardthis idea three days ago, and now there’s me, Piers, this Miller Aldrun guy—”
“Larissa,” Kayleigh said. “But her mechanic is really small.”
Lucky made a “gimme more” gesture, and she laughed.
“Refillable drinks in the fridge.”
“Oh my God,” Scout said, remembering the convenient twelve-pack of sodas. “Let me guess, they’re spilling out of your refrigerator—”
“We had to stack a couple of twelve-packs by the back door,” Kayleigh told him, laughing a little. “I guess she’s so excited to have people she can talk to or tell, it’s kicking into overdrive. Maybe tomorrow we’ll see if she can focus on coffee milkshakes and give the recycling can a break.”
“But see?” Lucky told her. “That’s what I’m talking about. I mean, it’s like we’re gathering here—”
“To help my brother,” Kayleigh said, as though that was the most natural thing in the world.
“And you.” Lucky waved his hands again. “Scout keeps saying you’re a more talented wizard than he will ever be.”
She let out a sigh. “Well, I could be, I guess. I mean, don’t get me wrong. I could play the anything-you-can-do game like any other little sister. But Scout? What he lacked in power, or unadulterated rage, he made up for in wonder. In enjoyment. Helovesmagic. Make no mistake, he didn’t think of being a stage magician asironic, he thought of it asexciting. A chance to practice subtlety, finesse, and a little bit of hiding in plain sight all rolled into one. All these ‘luck mechanics,’ as you call them—this is one of the most exciting things he could possibly have dreamed of.”
“What about you?” Scout asked curiously.
Kayleigh looked wistful. “I’ll go on any adventure he wants,” she said. “And not only because he rescued me once, pulling me through a portal he wasn’t even supposed to be able to make. But because he rescued me every day. He snuck me out of the kitchen and into the woods and played with me, just because I enjoyed his company. Once, Alistair got so mad at me for defending Scout, he hit me with the power in his hand, which he claims he’d never done before. Knocked me through three layers of drywall.”
“Oh my God!” Lucky gasped. “And you walked away?”
She shook her head. “Scout used magic to cushion me. It’s the only reason I woke up in the sick room. I felt it wrapping around me like a blanket and keeping the worst of the force from caving my head in. He never once told me he’d done it, never once used it as leverage. Just was there when I opened my eyes. I told him I’d felt his protection, and he shrugged and said he wished it had been better. And that was it. So if all these luck mechanics are getting pulled to the island to help Scout on his quest, I’m one hundred percent behind that. He’s always had my back, right? I’m fine if the whole world has his.”
Lucky frowned. “He…. Was Alistair mean like that a lot?”
Kayleigh gave him a sympathetic glance. “You mean were we afraid for our lives? Well, I wasn’t. Not until that moment, no. But Scout…. Scout had been, I guess, his victim a lot. I don’t think he used physical force much, but if Scout messed up a potion, he had to drink it, even if it was lethal. That way, Alistair could be the one who saved him.”
