“I thought you looked good, for a senior,” Alison said. Drawing another look of confusion from Emma. Alison rested the point of her sword on the floor and leaned on the hilt. Something Jonah had never seen her do before. Something nobody who knew anything about weaponry would do.
“So where’d you come from, Emma?” Alison asked.
Emma looked at Jonah, and Alison noticed. “I see. Keeping secrets, are we?”
“No secrets,” Jonah said. “Natalie brought Emma in from the shelter. She’s new in town.”
“Speaking of secrets, how much do you know about our Jonah?” Alison asked, directing the question to Emma. “Not much, I’ll bet. Better watch yourself. Jonah may be hot, but he’s dangerous. Deadly, even. Look but don’t touch is my advice.”
Emma looked from Alison to Jonah. “Dangerous?”
“She’s kind of slow on the uptake,” Alison said, smirking at Jonah. “Don’t you think?”
“Come on, Emma,” Jonah said, propelling her toward the door. Thinking, This is turning out to be a disaster. I never should have brought her here.
“Jonah!” Alison called after them. “Don’t forget we have practice tomorrow morning.”
Practice? Jonah thought. Are we on the sparring schedule tomorrow and I just didn’t—oh. Natalie had scheduled Fault Tolerant’s first practice for the next morning. The first practice without Mose.
On the street, Emma eyed him quizzically. “What was that all about?”
“What was what all ab—oh, the practice? She’s talking about the band. Fault Tolerant. Remember . . . the one you saw at Club Catastrophe?”
“I meant the part about you being dangerous.”
Jonah shrugged. “I have no idea. We’re all dangerous in our own way, I guess.”
Fortunately, Oxbow was deserted at this time of day. Room 800 was an efficiency on the eighth floor, several floors beneath Jonah’s apartment. Small, but replete with the high-tech gadgets Gabriel loved. Jonah showed her how the key card and the iris scanner worked, and demonstrated how to activate the security system.
Emma put her food in the refrigerator and set her purchases down on the bed. She took a quick walk around while Jonah hung out by the door. He loved the way she moved, loose-limbed and relaxed, at peace with her body. At one point, she dragged a chair over and stood on top of it to examine the sound system. She stretched up to examine the ceiling-mounted speakers, exposing a strip of flesh between sweatshirt and the waistband of her pants. His pants.
You’re like one of those randy nineteenth-century dudes, Jonah thought. Aroused by a glimpse of ankle.
Finally, she rejoined him. “Can I ask some questions?”
“Sure,” Jonah said. Eager to end the one-on-one, he added, “Can we walk while we talk?”
“Sure,” Emma said. “You got a hot date or what?”
Jonah’s cheeks burned as the blood rushed to his face. “Ah . . . no. I just—you know . . . homework.”
As they left the apartment, she reactivated the security system. She seemed absolutely comfortable with devices of all kinds.
“Where’s your room?” she asked as they got on the elevator.
Jonah pointed at the ceiling. “Four floors up.”
“I could tell you were surprised that Mr. Mandrake put me here,” Emma said, in that direct way she had. “Why?”
Jonah shrugged. “Oxbow is reserved for staff and . . . and . . . staff. So prepare to be put to work. Teaching, maybe, or repairing musical instruments, or helping with the music program.”
“But he’s never even seen my work,” Emma said as they turned down the sidewalk. “How does he know I’m any good?”
“I don’t second-guess what Gabriel does,” Jonah said, which was a total lie. These days, anyway.
Emma digested this for a few moments. “So you work for Mr. Mandrake, too?”
“Gabriel.”
“For Gabriel?”
Jonah nodded. Anticipating the next question, he volunteered, “I’m training with him in community relations, fund-raising, management of the club, and like that.”
“And you’re just seventeen?”
“Gabriel is never afraid to give responsibility to a person just because he’s young,” Jonah said. “We grow up fast.”
“I’ve been meaning to ask you, Jonah. What is your gift?”
He should’ve been ready for that question, but it still caught him by surprise somehow.
“I’m an empath. Do you know what that is?”
Emma shook her head.
“I can read people’s emotions,” Jonah said. “Gabriel finds that helpful sometimes.”
Emma stopped dead in her tracks, embarrassment rolling off her in waves. “You read
He shook his head. “Feelings. I can’t tell what a person is thinking, plotting, or planning, but I can sometimes tell when they’re lying, or when they’re afraid, angry, and so on.”
She didn’t look reassured. “Great,” she muttered, peering at him out of the corner of her eye.
“Don’t worry about it,” Jonah said. “I’ve learned to filter most of it out. It’s just background noise. Otherwise, I’d go crazy.”
“Who’s Kenzie?” she asked then.
“My brother.”
“Younger or older?”
“Younger.” Jonah guessed he should give more than one-word answers. “His real name is McKenzie. So Kenzie for short. He lives at Safe Harbor.”
“Safe Harbor? What’s that?”
“It’s a skilled facility for savants with severe disabilities,” Jonah said. He pointed up St. Clair. “It’s a few blocks that way.”
“Oh.” A blush stained Emma’s cheeks to a coppery red. “He’s disabled because of the . . . because of what happened at Thorn Hill?”
“Because of the poison,” Jonah said bluntly. “It hit some of us harder than others. Kenzie has intractable magical seizures.”
“Magical seizures? What’s that like?”
“Unforgettable. Life-changing, even.” He turned up the walk to the arts-and-crafts building. “The woodshop is in this building.”
“Will I get to meet him?” Emma persisted.
“Do you want to?”
“Why wouldn’t I?”
“He’d like that.” They stood on the porch of A&C. “It’s in here, first floor, to the rear. Your key card should open the door. If I leave you here, now, can you find your way back to Oxbow?”
“No problem,” Emma said.
Chapter Thirty-eight
I’m with the Band
Emma awakened with a jolt, momentarily disoriented, her arms crossed over her face to ward off danger. Propping up on her elbows, she looked around. Afternoon sunlight streamed through the window, flaming dust motes in the air.
Right. She was in the Oxbow Building, eighth-floor studio, view of downtown.
She pulled her shirt away from her clammy skin. Jonah’s shirt. She’d bought pajamas at the store in the
