Arden lifts the coin from the table and raises her eyebrows. “Do you want to test me?”
Seven and I nod in unison.
“What do you want me to do?”
“Flip it,” Seven explains. “Concentrate. Picture tails in your mind.”
Arden places the coin on her thumb and flicks it into the air. When it lands, it’s heads up.
I frown. “Did you concentrate on tails?”
Arden laughs. “Not really. I mean, it’s not like I can change how it lands. That’s ridiculous.”
Seven plucks the quarter from her fingers and awakens his power. His luck rises to fill the room, a hot-blooded, long-bodied dragon of energy that slithers and coils around the table. Arden shifts, glancing over her shoulder.
“Do you feel that, Arden?” I ask her.
She nods. “What is it?”
“That’s Seven’s luck. What does it look like to you?”
Glancing around the room, she frowns. “It doesn’t look like anything. It’s invisible.”
“Is it? You have a picture in your mind, don’t you? Based on what you’re sensing.”
The beast brushes by her again, blowing the hair off her shoulder.
“It’s a… It’s like a… dragon!” Her eyes widen. “Long and red. Fire-breathing.”
I laugh. “Good job. Can you tell mine?”
I concentrate, and my luck rises in the room beside Seven’s and pounces across the table.
She giggles. “Tiger. Oh my god, Mom, yours is so much smaller than Seven’s.”
Teenagers!“Well, I’m a pixie, so…” I frown and pull my luck back inside myself.
To his credit, Seven doesn’t laugh at Arden’s jab. He holds up the quarter. “Observe.” He launches the silver disc straight up off the tip of his thumb, where it flips over and over again in the air. He locks eyes with Arden as it drops, landing perfectly on its edge. Seconds pass, but it does not fall over.
“Holy shit!” Arden gapes.
“Language!” I can’t really blame her. It’s fucking incredible.
Seven knocks the coin over and pushes it across the table toward her. “Try again, and this time concentrate.”
With Seven’s luck still circling Arden, she places the quarter on her thumb. My lips twitch into a smile as I realize what he’s doing. He’s using his luck to draw hers out, focusing his power on her. If there’s any luck in her, he’ll coax it out.
She tries again, her face tightening with concentration. There! Another presence pops into the room with a small, bouncy energy. Raccoon, I realize. Its ringed tail waves as it holds its tiny hands out to catch the coin. I want to squeal in delight, but I can’t break her concentration. The quarter lands.
“Tails!” I clap my hands together.
Arden chews her lip. “Holy crap. I think I did that!” She rubs her chest. “I… I felt it.”
I nod vigorously. “What did you picture in your mind when you felt your luck working?”
A blush colors her cheeks. “Well, it wasn’t a dragon.”
Seven chuckles. “I once knew an old woman with luck that manifested as a mouse, and she was ten times as strong as me.”
