“You plan to keep him forever?”
“No, part of our agreement will be that the Zhao family can’t bother us anymore.”
She tightens the string, then ties it off with a decisive jerk before looking up at me. “And if Shang says no to your deal?”
“Who wouldn’t protect their son?”
The wood clacks as Nai Nai raises the new charm, settling it around my wrist. She slips the beaded end through the tight loop, closing the circle. Power moves into me, awakening another sense I didn’t know I had. An anticipatory sense, as if the future whispers to me, but only from a few feet ahead.We’ll see,it murmurs in my inner ear, and I cock my head.
“We’ll see, won’t we?” Nai Nai says.
I lift the charm to my eyes. “Is this your magic?”
Step ahead.
She nods. “It should keep you one step ahead.”
I laugh. “Is this what it’s like being you all the time?”
I get a sense of her answer before she starts speaking but force myself to focus on her words instead.
“Yes, but I’m very experienced in putting the information away and blocking it from my mind. I spend an hour meditating every morning, reviewing these thoughts and strengthening the barrier between me and the magic.
“This much of it should give you very little view into the future, to help anticipate their moves. It will become more natural with time, which I wish we had more of, but if we practice filtering current truth from future truth over breakfast, I’m sure you’ll catch on.”
I grin as I sense Ace walking down the hall with Nai Nai’s magic. A moment later, he emerges from their room with a sleepy-eyed blink. He stops in his tracks, looking at me with sudden shock.
“What?” we both say at the same time, me smiling like a loon.
“What are you doing?” I say with him again.
His gaze snaps to Nai Nai.
“What did you do to her?” we say in tandem, his voice cracking with his increasing panic.
Nai Nai chuckles and smacks my wrist. “Stop, child, you’re abusing my power.”
I break into a fit of laughter and Ace groans.
“You should’ve seen your face,” I wheeze between breaths.
He marches right up and punches me in the shoulder.
“Aye, watch the runes,” I say, cradling the spot. “That did actually kinda smart.”
“You deserve it for being so dumb,” he says with a snort.
The last of the joviality leaves me in a final amused sigh.
“You’re getting strong,” I say, ruffling his hair.
He bats my hand away with another groan and fixes his hair. I move back in to poke him in the ribs, getting a good jab in. Grandma’s magic alerts me to his countermove and I dodge the smack, poking him in the belly. He hollers a, “Not fair!” at the same time I do as I move with anticipatory grace.
“Aiya, bié da nào le!” Nai Nai grumbles as she rises from her chair and we cut the horseplay as she’s demanded.
“You obviously have a firm grasp on how my magic works, so it’s time for breakfast. Magic needs fuel just like the body does.”
“Howdoesmagic get fuel?” Ace asks as we walk to the kitchen.
