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“That’s it? Pssh. I could do that in my sleep.”

“We’d rather you do it awake. I’m thinking we go together tomorrow—just the two of us, so it isn’t too overwhelming—and I can talk to him and you can see what you get.”

“No,” Cal interjected suddenly, her flirtatious tone stripped. “I want to go too.”

I looked at her. “Are you sure that’s—”

“The lady has spoken!” Trey said, slamming the table. “And I would do anything to help our newest team member find her footing. Speaking of which, would you say you’re a size—”

“You have no idea how much we appreciate you,” she gushed. “How much I appreciate you.”

“I’m excited to find out,” Trey answered, raising his fresh cup to Cal and throwing it all down.





MICKEY





WHEN MICKEY GOT TO the dock, Sean was alone. She could see him from the lawn, stretched out in black basketball shorts and a black T-shirt like a seal sunning on a rock. When they were children, they would take turns lying on that dock’s diving board while the other bounced it, seeing who could hold on the longest. She remembered the way the rough surface of the board left angry marks on her stomach and thighs and the way they felt later, when she touched them gently in the dark. Her hand went to her arm then, her skin itching at the bandage’s corners.

She felt proud of the secret right there on her skin, a part of her body her mother hadn’t made. She could feel her heartbeat in it.

“Where’s Ruth?”

Sean sat up and shrugged.

Mickey laid out her towel, closer to her brother’s than she would’ve yesterday. Something about the night before made him seem more human, like they were on the same team.

“Have you seen Dad yet?” she asked as she sat.

“Nope.”

“I’ve never seen him so mad.”

“I know,” Sean answered. He glanced at Mickey and rapped her on the knee. “You okay?”

Mickey felt the urge to hold out her bandage, to lift it up and show him. Partially because she thought he might be impressed, but mostly because she couldn’t remember the last time her brother asked her if she was okay and she wanted to see what he would do if she wasn’t.

“Fine,” she said. “Just worried about the imminent grounding.”

“I’m sure it will be epic, especially once Mom is involved.”

Mickey lay back, the sun white-hot through her eyelids.

“Do you ever think about how even when you close your eyes, they’re still seeing? Like, they’re never really . . . off. They’re just covered up.”

Sean sighed and lay back next to her.

“No, psycho. I never think about that.”

“You’re the psycho; you’re wearing a T-shirt while sunbathing.”

Ruth’s voice, followed by her shadow, made Mickey jump. Sean pulled on the hem of his shirt but didn’t take it off.

“Where have you been?” Mickey asked, scooching over to make room.

“I went for a walk in the woods,” Ruth said as she joined Mickey on her towel, lowering her legs to the dock. “Eek! Hot!”

“Here,” Mickey said, moving over farther.

“No, it’s fine,” she said as she rested her head on Mickey’s bare skin, her neck curved with the slight swell of Mickey’s hips. “I kind of like it.” She let go of her hair and it spilled everywhere, across Mickey’s stomach and down her other side onto the towel beneath them. It was cool to the touch, and it gave Mickey goose bumps.

As Mickey lay there, her friend’s red hair all around her—fire that didn’t burn—it was clear Ruth had a little bit of magic in her. And as long as she had Ruth, Mickey thought as her fingers grazed the matching bandage on her friend’s arm, it wouldn’t matter if Mickey had her own magic or not.

Theirs was a friendship built on sharing.





PEYOTE





“I FEEL DIRTY,” CAL said when she opened the door to her apartment.

“We’re not doing anything that bad,” I said as I stepped inside and closed the door. “Just taking advantage of his obvious crush on you.”

“What? No, I don’t feel bad; I feel dirty. As in his eyes and skin and breath got on me and it was gross.”

The heat in her apartment was acting up again, stuck on high even though no one ever asked for a heater in Hell. I shrugged off my jacket and fell onto the couch.

“That checks out.”

She tossed me a bottle of cola.

“Don’t you dare complain about that,” she said when I opened my mouth. “I don’t have a beer factory in here.”

I shrugged and twisted off the cap.

“You’re sure he can read memories without Jason knowing?”

“I was there when KQ gave him the honors,” I said. “If Jason has any useful information, Trey will get it, with Jason being none the wiser.”

“That’s not all Trey will get,” she muttered.

“What are you thinking?” I asked. “And can I watch?”

Cal smirked at me. “You’re sick.”