The Enlightened (Mind Dimensions #3)(26)

“Not exactly. Well, Caleb was pretty pissed off about Jacob, but my grandparents had a different agenda. Do you mind if I tell everyone what happened at the same time, so I don’t have to repeat myself?”

“Oh, right, the others,” she says and takes out her phone. In a whirl, her delicate fingers type out a couple of texts. Almost as soon as she clicks send on the last text, her phone rings.

“Follow me,” she says, ignoring the call. “We’re getting pizza.”

I think about objecting for a moment and trying to rush to the airport, but I need to explain what happened, and it might as well be at a pizza shop, since I’m starved. We walk to Winnie’s New York Pizza, a place that’s half a block away from the hotel. We’ve never been there for dinner, but we’ve frequently gotten lunch there. Though, for the record, it’s nothing like the pizza in New York and has more in common with big chains (crappy, in other words).

Mira’s phone doesn’t stop ringing, so once we’re seated, she angrily taps the receive button. “Yes, he’s okay, Zhenya... That’s what I said in the text... Just get here and bring the others.” After a few angry words in Russian, she says, “That’s what I also said in my text—”

Lowering the phone, she glares at it. My guess is that Eugene hung up on her after having had enough of her abuse. Better him than me, I think.

She shuts off her phone after it rings a few more times and sullenly studies the menu. I’m both flattered and frightened by how much she was worried about me. If that’s what her reaction is about. But I do know one thing for sure: given that she’s gotten the brick-oven thin crust pie with basil every time we’ve come here, she doesn’t need to study the menu.

Thinking about Mira’s favorite choice of pizza reminds me how hungry I am.

“Can I start you off with drinks?” our waiter asks.

“We’re waiting for the rest—”

“We’ll have the Sicilian-style pie with the works as an appetizer,” I say, interrupting Mira as gently as I can. “And I understand that it’s a large appetizer, but I still want it.” When the guy leaves, I say to Mira, “That’s actually for me. Though I guess I can share a little—”

“Darren, what the hell happened?” Hillary asks as she and Eugene approach the table.

“What the shit?” Eugene adds, his accent as thick as I’ve ever heard it.

“Hello to you too,” I say to them.

“Can you now tell me what Caleb wanted?” Mira asks. “And where you’ve been?”

“Chill, people. Don’t all talk at the same time.” They look confused for a moment, so I tell them, “Please, sit. I’ll tell you what happened.”

“Shouldn’t we wait for Bert?” Hillary asks. “He was just as worried as the rest of us.”

“Actually, no,” I say. “Quite the opposite. This involves Reader and Guide stuff.”

“Well,” Hillary says, looking at her phone, “you only have a few minutes before he gets here.”

“I’ll make it quick,” I say and swiftly tell them everything, only stopping when my pizza arrives. Eugene’s eyes look like they’re about to pop out of their sockets when I get to the ‘making a baby with Julia’ part. Mira’s expression is harder to interpret, but she does rudely cut off her brother’s attempt to ask me how Julia is doing, as though Julia and I had the chance to bond on that level.

“So your grandparents on your father’s side are just as f*cked up as my mom and dad,” Hillary concludes when I finish.

“I guess,” I say between frantic bites of pizza.

“So you believe this Mimir being?” Eugene asks. “You think your mother is in trouble?”

“Yes. I found him very convincing. So I have to get back to New York, and I’ll need Bert’s help to get there. I’m getting this really bad feeling about my mom.”

“Need my help with what?” Bert asks, startling me. I didn’t notice he’d arrived. “What’s wrong with your mom?”

I phase out and the bustling Miami street stops in its tracks. I pull Hillary and the others into my Quiet session.

“What do I tell him?” I ask, pointing to frozen Bert. “How do I spin it?”

“Just say you were on the phone this whole time, because your mom is sick and you need to go to New York,” Hillary suggests.

“That makes no sense,” I say. “He’ll never believe that horseshit.”

“I can make it so he does,” Hillary says. “Since time is of the essence.”

“Maybe, but he’s my best friend. It feels wrong doing that to him. Does Pushing leave any permanent damage?”

“I don’t think it does. But that’s more his area of expertise.” She nods toward Eugene.

“I doubt it causes brain damage,” Eugene says in his most pedantic tone. “But I think we should tell him about us.”

“What, why?” Mira gives her brother one of her most derisive looks.

“For starters, his girlfriend is a Push–I mean, Guide. I, his new friend, am a Reader. And more importantly, his oldest and best friend is both,” he says. “On a more selfish note, I need someone with his skills to help with my research. And I could use someone without our abilities to act as a control group of sorts. There is only so much I can do with the neighbors without their cooperation.”