Finally, she turned to me and asked, “You want to talk about it?”
“About what?” I asked.
“Whatever’s fouled your mood. We were all having a great time, and then it was like some part of you shut down. Actually, you didn’t just shut down – you started draining energy from the rest of us.”
“I know,” I said with a soft chuckle. “That’s why I let you guys go off on your own. There’s no way you’d enjoy the party with me hanging around in my current state of mind.”
“So what – are you like bipolar or something?”
“Really?” I muttered incredulously. “Bipolar? That’s the first place you go?”
She shrugged. “Well, it’s not like you’re sharing.” When I didn’t immediately respond, she added, “Come on. You know you can tell me anything.”
I simply looked at her for a moment, weighing what she’d said. Maybe the way to deal with this issue was to tackle it head-on. I certainly wasn’t getting anywhere wrestling with it on my own.
“All right,” I said after a few seconds. “Your cousin Cat – what’s her power?”
A slightly shocked expression came over Vestibule’s face, although she quickly recovered.
“I, uh, I don’t know what you mean,” she answered. She did a good job of keeping her tone even, but emotionally I could sense that she was alarmed in some way.
“Sure you do,” I retorted. “Your cousin has some kind of talent or ability. What is it?”
Vestibule shook her head emphatically. “No, you’re wrong. Cat’s normal.”
Reading her emotions, I got the sense that she was being disingenuous. With nothing to lose, I decided to press forward.
“We both know that’s not true,” I countered. “So I’m asking you again, what’s her power?”
Vestibule initially looked as though she wanted to continue denying it. Suddenly, however, she just threw in the towel.
Taking a deep breath and looking down, she simply declared, “I can’t. She’s my cousin. It’s not my place to say.”
“Okay, I can understand that,” I declared. “So should I just ask Cat directly?”
Vestibule’s eyes went wide in concern. “Please don’t. She doesn’t want anyone to know.” Then she frowned, giving me an odd look. “So how did you find out? Did something happen?”
“You could say that.”
“And it’s bothering you,” she surmised.
“Honestly, I’m bothered by the fact that what happened was new to me,” I admitted. “Knowing what Cat’s power is might help me figure things out.”
“It won’t. It’ll just complicate things.”
“How?”
Rather than respond, she simply shook her head. “Can’t you just let this go?”
“That depends,” I replied. “Should I be worried?”
Vestibule gave me a confused look. “Worried?”
“Yeah,” I said with a nod. “I mean, is she likely to go nuclear or something?”
“What?!” Vestibule screeched. “No! It’s nothing like that.”
“Then what is it? The more cryptic you are about it, the more it seems like it’s something I need to know.”
Sighing, Vestibule raised a hand to her forehead and massaged her temples for a moment, then gave me a frank stare. “Okay, let me talk to her and see what she says. I’ll try to convince her to tell you, but I can’t make any promises in that department.”
I gave her a curt nod. “Fair enough.”
Chapter 15
I held my post at the railing for maybe another hour. The party was in full swing for most of that time, and I had to admit that it did look like fun. However, I just didn’t feel like participating. The thing with Cat had me fully preoccupied for some reason, and had kind of sapped my desire to do anything else.
Like a good friend, Smokey checked up on me, showing up shortly after Vestibule left to go speak to her cousin.
“Hey, man,” he droned as he approached. “You okay?”
“Yeah,” I assured him. “Why do you ask?”
“Because we’re at a freakin’ yacht party being hosted by a celeb, with a fair number of famous people present – as well as a few starlets – and you’re moping around like somebody stole your bike.”
“Sorry,” I intoned with a momentary grin. “Guess I’ve just got some stuff on my mind.”
“Apparently you’re not the only one.”
“Huh?” I blurted out, giving him a confused look.
“The girls,” he stated in explanation. “They huddled up a little while ago and have been in deep conversation ever since – like they’re plotting to take over the world. I tried to engage with them, but it was pretty clear that they intended it to be a one-on-one chat.”
“Guess it seems like everyone’s deserted you,” I surmised.
Smokey shrugged. “Don’t worry about it. I know you’re probably fretting over this dinner you have coming up.”
“Yes – a meal with my ex and her father,” I said, shaking my head in dismay. “Sounds like the title of a bad rom-com.”
Smiling, Smokey nodded in agreement. “Speaking of exes, I talked to Sarah.”
My eyes widened in surprise. “Really?”
“Yeah – a few days ago.”
I stayed silent for a moment, absorbing this. I had always liked Sarah, who was Smokey’s ex-girlfriend. More importantly, they had always seemed like a rock-solid couple, but there had been aspects of their relationship that even I, his best friend, hadn’t known. The facts were complicated, but ultimately they had broken up around the time I returned from Caeles, with Smokey refusing to even speak to Sarah. (In fact, it was her continually dropping by his house in an effort to talk to him that had made Smokey take up permanent residence at Alpha League HQ.)
“It was a good talk,” he continued, bringing me back to myself. “We cleared the air about a lot of things.”
“So does that mean…?”
“No,” he answered, shaking his head as I trailed off. “We’re not getting back together. I mean, I’m with Atalanta now, and I really care about her.”
I simply nodded, not saying anything.
“Anyway,” Smokey droned, changing the subject, “even with all my compadres deserting me, I’ve actually been having a blast on this yacht, just talking and getting to know people.”
“Does that include our hostess?” I asked,
