He growls. “This is me trying, too! I’ll be in my study if you change your mind and want to talk.”
“Thank you.” Rising up on my tiptoes, I place a quick kiss on his cheek. It does little to fix his mood. He drops my arm and turns, walking away from me toward the house. I watch him go, unable to bring myself to stop him. I can’t confide in him. Not this. I can’t be responsible for the annihilation of New Amster.
I nearly wet myself when a voice near me says, “I think he’s mad at you.”
“Giffen,” I grumble, “where are you?”
“Behind you on the bench,” he replies.
I can’t see him. He’s invisible. “What do you want?” I bark.
“Don’t be so obvious!” he barks back. “They’re watching your every move!”
“I’m not the one yelling!” I whisper, walking to the bench. “Which side are you on?”
“You’re about to sit on my lap,” he replies, sounding amused.
I move down the bench and gingerly take a seat on it, looking out over the water. “When do I get an invisibility belt?” I ask him.
“A what?”
“An invisibility belt, like the one you’re using right now. When do I get one?”
“I’m not using an invisibility anything. It’s one of the abilities I inherited.”
“But I saw you touch the box on your belt—when we were on the island.”
“That’s a battery I use to draw energy to myself, so I can speed up my atoms in order to achieve this state. Do you know how difficult it is to stay transparent? It requires energy and focus.”
“So I’m not getting a belt?”
“What have you been doing since you arrived here?” he asks, ignoring my comment.
“Nothing,” I reply.
“He’s calling you his partner. You must be doing something right.”
“Oh, that. I think I may have won him over with my savagery. He was impressed by the way I simply could not tolerate a couple of priestess bullies.”
“Don’t tell me—was it like your first day in lockup?”
It startles me to hear him say that. I forgot for a moment that he’s been following me for a large part of my life. “Something like that. You know how it is: You have to stand up for yourself right away, even if you get pounded for it. It’s always better than if you don’t.”
“Did you get pounded for it?” he asks.
“No.”
“The fighter prevails.”
I don’t comment. I just stare out at the lovely boats that dance over the water.
“You didn’t tell him about New Amster. He gave you an opening to tell him and you didn’t take it. Why?”
“I hold my cards close, you must know that.”
“I do know that better than anyone,” he replies. “What did Kyon mean about what you saw last night? About almost dying?”
“I was monitoring the future. I let it get away from me. He had to revive me,” I reply. “It upset him.”
“Why would you stay away so long? You can control it. I thought we were past that when I sent you back the last time!”
He sounds upset. I can imagine his green eyes narrowing at me. “I was gathering information regarding my survival. It had nothing to do with any plan to kill Excelsior.”
“Is there a plan to kill Excelsior?” he asks.
“There will be one soon. I’ll let you know when I work one out. I’ll come to you in New Amster.”
“Make it soon. I wouldn’t want you getting too used to your new consort.”
“Why?”
“He’s an unfriendly. He’s a threat to us. You know that.”
“If you want me to do this, then his death is off the table.”
“You can’t be serious!”
“I’m so serious.”
“He’s a psychopath.”
“He’s my psychopath.”
“You’ve lost your mind!” he growls.
“You know what sugar skewers are?” I ask him.
“What?”
“Sugar skewers. Do you know what they are?”
“Of course,” he retorts. “They’re drops of sugar that puff out when you cook them.”
“Yeah. You want to know what I noticed about them?” He doesn’t say anything, so I continue, “I noticed that if you impale a piece of sugar and hold it to the fire without treating it just right, it pops, explodes, and spits all over you.”
“So you’re sugar now?” he asks.
“I’m an exploding mess right now, so back the hell up.” I rise and start walking away from him the way I came.
“Be in touch soon with that plan, Kricket,” he calls softly.
“Okay. You take care now,” I reply over my shoulder.
Crossing the massive archway bridge that leads inside, I’m met by Keenan, my personal bodyguard. We haven’t had much to say to