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I located number 214, then paused, taking a breath as peeling paint and worn wallpaper stared back at me. I’d be in and out. I just wanted them to see me so they knew Gambit had people in his corner.
I lifted my hand and knocked loudly.
My heart raced and I realised this might be a really stupid plan.
But what else did I have left?
Ebony had told me to find something to do, so I had. I was done hurting Vex. If I could makethisright, well… that was something.
It was a start.
The door opened, and I tensed, senses on high alert. But instead of thugs like I was expecting, I was looking down at a small beta woman holding a wooden spoon in a faded apron. In her hair were specks of grey, but the auburn beneath matched Gambit’s perfectly. Instantly, I caught the smell of something delicious and savoury in the air.
The woman frowned as she saw me, then took a small step back.
I released the death grip I had on the satchel, realising how threatening I might look, tense as I was.
“How can I help you?” she asked, worry lines creasing her forehead. She had green eyes that were as kind as they were tired.
“I…” I wasn’t sure what to say. A motherly looking woman in a dusty apron wasn’t what I had expected at all.
A child who looked to be no more than ten poked her head around the woman. She, too, had bright green eyes, auburn hair and a scattering of freckles just like Gambit.
Was this… hisfamily?
The woman caught the kid with her arm just as she tried to step toward me, a curious look in her eyes.
“Go help Kit serve up,” she said sternly, though she didn’t take her gaze from me as the child darted away.
“Kit…” I said, and the woman’s eyebrows rose. “I’m here for a Kit Miller?”
The woman folded her arms. “And what do you want with her?”
Her?
“I… I have something from… from Gambit.”
Her eyes went wide. “You… you know my Gambit?” The spoon almost slipped from her grip.
“I… yes,” I said, not sure what to make of that.
“Do you know where he is?” she asked. “Here, here come in!” Before I knew it, she had me by the arm and was hauling me into the little apartment. I was met by a small coat area, which was scattered with jackets, coats, and shoes of all sizes.
“You don’t know where he is?” I asked. Gambit’s placemustbe within walking distance of here.
She glanced at me, something wounded in her eyes, but she didn’t reply as she ushered me past the messy coat room and into the main house.
“Here, don’t worry about the shoes. Come in, come in. Gambit’s friends are always—”
“Gambit?” someone asked.
I was assaulted by chaos as I stepped into the tiny home. It was a boxy room with kitchen, living room, and dining room in one, and it was bustling with life. There was a steaming pot on the stove, which looked to be the source of the homey smell of chilli. Bags, clothing, stacks of paper—a lot ofthingswere crammed everywhere. The old wooden dining table could barely fit the seats around it, and there were quite a few more people than should fit in a space as small as this.
“We’re just about to serve up,” the woman told me. “You’ll join us,” she added. I opened my mouth to argue, but she was already pointing her spoon at each of the room’s occupants—all of whom looked like replicas of Gambit at different ages—and all female. “This is Kit, Petal, Justine, May, and…” She frowned, eyes narrowing as she glanced around the room. Then she shouted, voice sharp enough to make me jump. “Layla!It’s supper,howmany times have I asked? Oh—” She turned to me with a smile. “And I’m Terra.”
Kit, I noted, was the oldest aside Terra, and looked to be in her early twenties. She was clutching a stack of bowls, but was frozen as she stared at me.
“Did you say Gambit?” she asked again.
