Busted Flush Page 0,16

"But the only way you can really keep me safe is to not send me out here at all. And that would just piss me off."

"I know, and you can get killed crossing the street at home. Doesn't mean I'm going to stop worrying."

She smiled. "I love you, too, John. I miss you."

"I miss you, too. Get some sleep, okay?"

"Yes, sir."

NEW YORK CITY

Kate and Ana shared an apartment on the Lower East Side. They went home from the airport, and Ana crawled into bed for another round of sleep. Kate checked in on her, then went to see John.

While she and Ana had gone for austere college chic in a close-quarters studio, John lived in his mother's penthouse overlooking Central Park. Peregrine was in Los Angeles for the second season of American Hero and had given her son the run of the place.

Kate felt the disconnect every time she went there. She'd grown up with Peregrine on TV and all over the covers of magazines. She was an icon, probably the most visible and famous wild carder ever, with her stunning presence and spectacular wings. And here was Kate, dating her son.

The penthouse was beyond posh. It wasn't opulent or over the top - that was just it. Everything was tasteful and perfect, from the clean lines of the gray leather sofa set and glass coffee table, to the giant arrangement of hyacinths on the twelve-seater dining-room table. Real flowers, not silk, changed every week by the housekeeper. Last week had been orchids.

John grew up with this. He walked in here, and it was home. Kate still felt like she'd landed in a photo spread in Vogue. She was getting used to it - it was definitely easy to get used to. But sometimes she wondered if she'd fallen down a rabbit hole.

She set her bag by the wall of the living room and took a deep breath, happy to be anywhere that didn't smell like a third world country.

"Hello?" she called. Her voice echoed.

"Hey!" John appeared from the kitchen, a bottle of wine in one hand and a corkscrew in the other. She was on him in a heartbeat, arms over his shoulders, pulling herself into a kiss. Awkwardly, hands full, he hugged her back. Their kiss was warm and long.

"Hi," she said when they managed to separate.

"Hey," he said, his smile bright. "Let me put this down so we can do this right."

John set the bottle on the coffee table, where two glasses were waiting. Kate pulled him down to the sofa next to her.

The light from the other room glinted off the lump in his forehead. Sekhmet. A scarab-like joker living in John's head. She gave him his power - he wasn't an ace on his own, not anymore. But Kate didn't like to think about it, that she and John were never really alone. Right now, moments like these, John was all hers.

"Are you sure you're okay?" John said. "You still look beat."

"I'm just starting to wake up."

She pulled her leg across his lap, half straddling him, and kissed him again. She rested her hand on his cheek, ran it across his curly hair. His lips moved with hers while his hands crept under her shirt, pressing against her back. She drew on his warmth, and the tension faded. They sighed together.

"Welcome home," he said.

"Thanks. It's really, really good to be here." She could curl up in his arms and never leave.

"Yeah. I worry less when you're with me." He ducked his gaze, hiding a smile. "If it weren't for you, I don't think I'd have lasted this long."

So serious. Of course he was, this wasn't a game. The pundits sometimes joked: what, you kids think you can save the world? But they could. They did. Little parts of it at a time.

Not wanting the anxiety to creep back, she joked, "And if it weren't for you, I'd have a million dollars and be the designated ace guardian of San Jose."

He laughed, and she laughed with him, their heads bowed together. He said, "You really want to be the designated ace guardian of San Jose? Showing up for your guest appearance on Dancing with the Stars?"

"Oh, my God, no. Poor Stuntman. No wonder he went to work for the government."

John's eyes held uncertainty again. Still worrying.

"John, I wouldn't change anything. I don't want to be anywhere but right here."

Their next kiss was slow, studious almost, like neither one of them wanted to miss a single sensation.