Once & Future (Once & Future #1)(14)

Lam eyed her warily. “We can’t keep her in the dark, Kay. No matter what your moms made you promise.”

Ari sharpened. What had they made him promise?

“How about we don’t lie to her?” Ari asked forcefully. “How about we trust her to handle whatever’s going on?” Lamarack lifted an eyebrow. Wow, she was doing a terrible Kay. “Tell me what… Mercer did to you. You never told me the whole story,” Ari guessed. Kay could be spineless; he’d rather have a snack than the harsh details.

Lam squinted, but they kept talking. “After your moms were arrested and you came to Pluto… and my parents turned you away, they allowed Mercer to lock down the docking bay until associates could pick you two up.”

“Your parents called Mercer on us?” Ari asked, her voice tight. “Your parents?” She sat on the edge of the hammock, Kay’s too-wide body making her bump into Lam.

“I was so mad, Kay. I snuck into the tower and hit the fuses so you could fly out. Mercer was going to send me to some work camp as punishment. My parents paid them off, and I ended up with a reminder of my disobedience.” Lam rubbed their left wrist. “I was lucky.”

Only Lam would look at the loss of their hand as luck. Always optimistic. Always looking for beauty, for hope. After all, that’s why she’d set her young eyes on them. When everyone else was grumbling about water shortages at knight camp or static storms coming off the desert on Lionel, Lamarack would find an odd flower growing between the rock walls. They’d pull her over to see it. Proof of life, no matter what.

Lam squeezed Ari’s Kay-shoulder. “The bounty on your head was part money, part violent threat. The worst one my parents ever saw come through the militarized associates.”

“Oh.” Ari had always known that they were marked, but this? They were being specifically—and expensively—hunted. “It’s a miracle they haven’t caught us yet.”

“I bet they’ve been monitoring you.” Lam folded their arms over their chest. “Waiting to see if Ari has contacts outside Ketch. Or inside.”

Contacts? Ari would kill for a few Ketchan contacts. She kept that to herself.

“And now we have no choice but to run into the black,” Ari said quietly.

Lam shook their head. “You promised to let me off first, man. I need to get to Lionel. They’re going to track that call you made from Earth, and they know I helped you in the past. When they can’t find me, they’ll go after my brother, Kay. I have to warn him.”

“Val?”

“He’s a fancy type on Lionel now. An adviser to the queen. Can you believe that?”

“Yes.” Ari imagined the boy who had been her favorite brand of childhood mischief. “He could rig any system by its own rules. It was his specialty.”

“What if they take more than Val’s hand, Kay? Can you live with that?”

“No,” she said slowly, processing. No, she could not live with one of her very few friends being tracked down because Mercer had a renewed interest in her existence.

Lamarack put their hand on her shoulder. “You don’t look so good. Your skin is grayer than your hair.”

Ari blasted out of the room, terrified by how much her brother’s boots crashed on the grated walkway with each step. She must have been a solid hundred pounds heavier than usual, but that wasn’t important. She slammed her fist on the cockpit door. Over and over.

Her brother answered angrily—before he stared. And blinked. Then he started screaming. “I’ve lost it! I’ve lost my damn mind!”

“You haven’t. Shut up. I’m Ari.”

“Ari?” Lam asked. They’d followed from the bunk room and were now turning from Kay to Ari-Kay. “What the actual fuck…”

Merlin-Kay came running in, orange cheese flavoring stuck all over his face and hands. “Why are we screaming?”

Kay pointed to Merlin-Kay and started screaming all over again.

“Merlin!” Ari yelled over the sound. “Change us back.”

“It takes less magic if it wears off,” he said.

“Change us back, little wizard!” Ari cried.

“I prefer magician.” Merlin wiggled his fingers and muttered. Ari felt the full body itch again, and then she relaxed into her slender and suddenly gangly frame. She took one deep breath, enjoying her own body before she pushed her brother in the chest with both hands, shoving him into the cockpit and shutting the door behind them.

“What in the hell just happened?” Kay blustered.

“I told you Merlin has magic. And you know I don’t lie,” Ari snapped. Kay opened his mouth, but she talked over him. “Val is in trouble, Kay. Because of me. We’re going to Lionel. Now.”

“We can’t take on Mercer in a retired lifeboat. Our best bet is to escape. Val has people who will look out for him.”

“What did our moms make you promise before they were arrested?” she asked. Kay looked over at her, a painfully slow move. “I want the truth. I can handle it.”

“The truth is that you’re reckless, and everyone who loves you gets punished,” Kay blustered. Ari’s face stung as though he’d slapped it. He squeezed his eyes shut. “I didn’t tell you about Lamarack because I didn’t want you to feel like it was your fault. All because you…”