She was dealing with a real Snow 2.0 here. Jo’s mind continued to try to work out alternatives, but it stayed sluggish. Despite herself, a yawn escaped through herlips.
“Tired?” Nicoasked.
“Yeah, abit.”
“I’ll walk you back to your room,” Wayne offered. “Should be the last time you need to sleep. After this your body will have fully acclimated to its new status as member of the Society. Naturally, you can sleep if you want, but it’ll no longer be anecessity.”
Jo’s mind buzzed with the new information, trying to make sure that tidbit got sorted with Nico’s earlier comments about food. But it couldn’t seem to gain traction about anything. “Sure, okay,” shemumbled.
Wayne led her out of the room to a chorus of brief goodbyes and see-you-laters. He kept pace with her dragging feet. “Why did you let me walk you this time?” he asked,finally.
Jo didn’t bother concealing a self-satisfied smile. So, he was the sort to speak first. “I have a question foryou.”
“Oh?” He had the coin from his pocket, flipping it absentmindedly. Jo regarded it cautiously, remembering the magic he’d used on her earlier. She wouldn’t let herself fall into the sametrap.
“You seemed so helpful earlier, I thought you may be willing to assist again.” And he also seemed like the type who got off on saving a damsel. The self-satisfied grin confirmed her suspicions. “How do you pick where you want to go through the door?” Her tongue moved freely this time. Whatever coin magic he had, wasn’t ineffect.
“Intent,” he answered. She should’ve guessed it was something like that. But her intent certainly hadn’t been to go to the Rangers. She’d just been trying to find the code, thinking there was onlyone.
“The last wish the Society granted—” Jo swallowed, hard, the words suddenly sticky. "Mine. Did the Society need to go into the Ranger headquarters to help grantit?”
His flipping stopped, the coin pocketed. Wayne regarded her thoughtfully. “Yes. How did you knowthat?”
“Good guess.” So the numbers that had appeared in front of her eyes when she’d looked at the keypad weren’t random. Somehow, she’d broken apart clues to find a pattern where one wouldn’t have otherwise been. They stopped in front of her door. “Well then,goodnight.”
“Goodnight—”
The closing of her door cut him off. Jo looked back at her room that was not quite hers. Then, down at her watch. She had a path home at least, shehoped.
But finding it would have to wait for tomorrow. Her eyes were already shutting of their own accord. Tomorrow, yes, she’d go home tomorrow and see if Snow was being more upfront about the effects of her wish than he had been about the price she’d paid to getit.
For now, though, sleep was the only thing on Jo’s wearymind.
Chapter 7
Wish
JO STAREDAT the blank spot in the wall where the Iron Man poster had been, not moving, barelyblinking.
She was not in her tiny apartment, no matter how much it looked like she was. She was not even really alive anymore. She was a member of the Society of Wishes, and this was their mansion headquarters that existed outsidetime.
Perhaps, if she said it enough times in her head, she’d start to believeit.
Jo pulled herself to her feet, rummaging through the hamper and picking out two random articles of clothing that looked suspiciously like what she wore yesterday. However, they didn’t smell, and the jeans-plus-tank-top combination worked just as well with her hoodie in this world as all the jeans and tank tops she’d worn in her pastlife.
Before the nostalgia monster could sink its claws into her, Jo exited her room. It was suddenly a lot easier to believe that she was pulled from time and had magic when the unfamiliar stretch of Society members’ doors greeted her. Down the hall, down the stairs, down the second hall, and Jo was back in the living area-slash kitchen-slash dining-slash games-slash patio-slash poolarea.
The space, which Jo mentally dubbed “the common room” for ease, was completely empty, a fact that made her thankful for tworeasons.
Firstly, she didn’t have to interact with anyone. Everything was still settling on her like a weird dream that contrasted with the reality she’d known for nineteen years of life. She felt more than a little off-balance and awkwardly on edge, to say the least. And secondly, there would be no witnesses to her fumbling about in thekitchen.
“There must be coffee somewhere. . .” shemuttered.
“Second cabinet to the left of the refrigerator.” Jo hadn’t expected a response, least of all from the voice that gave it. She stilled, turning slowly. Snow stood in thedoorway.
For a moment that could stretch into infinity, they merely stared at each other. He almost looked out of place, even among the opulence. There was something to that perfection that even the arched ceilings and stained glass couldn’t compareto.
She swallowed hard. “Morning.”
