“Well, it’s fancy,” I say, gesturing to the gun. “And it has a scope. You point the crosshairs at the target and you shoot – it should work!” He laughs at me again, I think genuinely pleased and entertained. “It’s going to take a long time to get good at it, kid,” he says, smiling at me and pattin
“You’re late!” Faiza says, sing-song, as I push open the door to her office and skitter inside. “I know, I’m sorry,” I say, panting a little as I shut the door behind me, leaning against it as I try to catch my breath. “I had to learn how to put my rifle away, lock it up.” “Rifle?” she asks, rai
I laugh a little, shaking my head at her, not getting it. “Please, Faiza. Explain.” “Look, close-up magic is nerdy as hell,” she says, leaning forward and talking to me seriously now. “But it teaches you a great deal about how to do things in plain sight. And if you can’t even sneak marbles into y
“You can sit there, Ariel’s boy,” Blaze says, waving a general hand towards the wall by the door as Luca follows me into the small gym and pulls the door shut behind him. “You are not to interrupt. Read your book, if you would, or watch. But no talking.” Luca raises his eyebrows at me, I think a l
“I am,” Luca says seriously, pushing up from the floor as he intuits that the lesson is done. “Well then,” Blaze says, looking at him for a long second and then shifting his eyes to me. “Perhaps you can put our Ariel through a different set of paces. See if her dodging skills adapt well to a diffe
“You win, you win,” Luca sighs, letting me slip in his arms a little until we’re face to face. “That was awesome – you improved so fast.” He nudges me happily with his nose. “We should have got you in the gym long ago, Shrimpy.” “Well,” I sigh, letting my weight fall back against his arm as I stre
Ben leans closer to Jesse, probably explaining quite patiently that Jesse’s completely misinterpreting the entire situation, as I tug on Luca’s sleeve, feeling his anger surge, trying to draw his eyes back down to me. “Luca, please,” I say quietly, a little desperate, glancing between him and Jack
“All right. I just…have very little time alone with you now, Ariel,” Luca says, straightening up and slipping his hands into his pockets as he, apparently, adjusts himself to the knowledge that his time-share deal with Jackson is apparently dead. “At least, time without him around. And that’s…diffic