Z stepped forward quickly. “I should probably be the one to do the honors. Sly’s a bit rusty when it comes to the ladies.” Z looked quite eager to take overthejob.
“He does know he isn’t really hitting on her, right?” Annaasked.
Sly chuckled. “Maybe, but that doesn’t mean he won’tenjoyit.”
Fifteen minutes later, Z was walking back toward them with the woman’s arm wrapped in his. Anna smiled at the girl and held out her hand. “Hi,I’mAnna.”
The girl smiled back hesitantly and took Anna’s hand. “I’m Amy,” thegirlsaid.
Jewel held out her hand next. “I’m Jewel, and thisisSly.”
Amy shook their hands and then stood there shifting from foot to foot, chewing on herbottomlip.
“Are you waiting on someone?” Annaasked.
She shook her head. “I just needed a night out. It’s been a roughmonth.”
“Breakup?” Sly askedgently.
“Is it that obvious?” Amyasked.
“You just look like you could use a friend,” Jewel saidquickly.
“You’re welcome to hang out with us,” Anna added, wondering if she sounded like the witch with the apple fromSnow White. She sure as heck feltlikeher.
Amy seemed to think about that for several minutes. Anna nearly let out a relieved sigh when Amy nodded and said, “Okay, thatsoundsgood.”
“We’re going to check out some other scenes,” Z said and started walking toward the exit, Amy in tow. Anna, Jewel, and Sly followed. Anna wondered if they felt as nervous asshedid.
They hailed another taxi, a minivan. As they climbed in, Jewel looked down at her phone and began searching for something. When Anna glanced over, she could see Jewel was looking for industrial buildings for sale in LosAngeles.
“Could you take us to 4500 Track Street?” Jewelasked.
The cabbie looked at her in the rearview mirror as if she’d lost her mind, but thennodded.
Sly kept Amy distracted by whispering something in her ear, but Anna couldn’t guess what. Whatever it was, the girl liked it, as evidenced by her giggling, blushing, and playfully smacking his leg. Anna never understood girls who would fall all over a guy simply because he said the right things. Didn’t they want someone who had more substance than prettywords?
The taxi came to a stop, and Jewel opened the door. Each of them climbed out, and Z paid the cabbie. He drove off as though the hounds of hell werechasinghim.
Amy, no longer lost to Sly’s charms, looked around, her eyes growing wider and wider. “Why arewehere?”
Here appeared to be a huge plot of land crowded with industrial buildings nearly stacked on top of eachother.
“We needed privacy,” Jewel saidcoolly.
Anna glanced at her friend, taken aback at how unemotional her voicehadbeen.
When Amy started to back up, Jewel snatched her arm. Her hand began to glow as she spoke. “You will come with us. You will be calm. We don’t want toharmyou.”
Amy nodded, her eyes looking a bitunfocused.
“What did you do?” Annaasked.
“Just influenced her with my magic,”Jewelsaid.
“We candothat?”
Jewel shrugged. “I kind of figured we might be able to do something like that, considering we basically coerce the body to heal itself when we work our magic in agoodway.
