Their names appeared on the screen after she typed them into the scoreboard and grabbed her ball. She wasn’t great at rollerball, but she wasn’t terrible either. Her first round knocked down a few pins, and her father, ever the athlete, made a strike.
“I still think you cheat,” she accused when he walked back to the bench.
Patrick smiled at her and shook his head. “You always were a sore loser.”
Leaning forward, she lowered her voice to sound threatening. “You haven’t won yet, old man.”
They both waited as Sam picked up the biggest ball on the carousel and stared at it. “My fingers will not fit.”
Rory stood. “I know. I grabbed this one because it should be heavy enough for you, but you’ll have to palm it.” To demonstrate, she slapped her hand on the ball and gripped it. “Try it.”
Sam snatched her wrist and examined her palm, staring at the UmbraAeternummark. His lips parted with a calculated stare. “How is this possible?”
He didn’t look happy. She lowered her voice to a whisper and said, “In the soulscape. We didn’t know if it would work, but it did.”
He dropped her wrist, and a muscle feathered in his jaw.Definitely mad. “And now Gedeon knows you are here,” he said, emphasizing each word.
“We don’t know that he already didn’t,” she countered. “This way, at least I’m immortal.”
“An immortal the Lux King knows how to kill.” Sam wasn’t just mad; he was furious.
“Why are you so upset?” she asked, throwing her hands up. “This is a good thing. You wanted him to marry me, did you not?”
“You did this without warning me,” he replied, and she saw his anger for what it was.Hurt. “I need to know these things to better protect you.”
“I’m sorry we didn’t tell you,” she apologized. “But I’m telling you now. Besides, Gedeon might not realize what’s happened.” She’d thought about it all morning. “He might not realize what theawarenessis.”
“Why would he not know?” Sam asked. She could tell he didn’t believe her, but she had hope.
“I didn’t feel theawarenesswhen I turned, and the only reason Caius knew what it felt like was because he felt it at the exact moment Gedeon inherited the Lux power. Gedeon probably didn’t feel it when he took the throne. How would he know what it is now?”
Sam looked thoughtful. “There is a chance you are correct.”
It was as close to a ‘Good job’ as she would get. She slapped herpalm back on his ball. “Enough chit-chat. This is how you’ll have to hold it.”
She pulled back, and he mimicked her grip, walked to the lane, and threw it underhand. It arched high and landed with a loud thud, drawing the attention of those around them. The three of them watched the ball inch its way to the gutter and disappear through the back.
“You can’t lob it like that,” Rory said, managing not to laugh at theAngel’sirritation.
“Here,” Patrick offered as he got up and stood by Sam. “You’re going to let it roll off your fingers, not throw it.”
Sam looked determined, and Rory guessed he’d never been bad at anything in his life. She saw him observing other players as they rolled the ball down the lane, and when his ball returned, he picked it up, adjusted his grip, and released it with perfect form, knocking down all the pins.
She gaped at him. “Did you hustle us?”
Patrick laughed and clapped Sam on the back. “You’re a fast learner, son.”
Sam’s lips curled into a crooked smile, and Rory returned it tenfold. “I did not hurry you,” he told Rory. “I merely watched and replicated. It is simple.”
“No,” she said, shaking her head. “I didn’t mean literally. It’s a—you know what? Nevermind. You’re hopeless.” She grabbed her own ball with a dramatic sigh.
Rory: two.
Sam’s aversion to fun: zero.
Rory satwith her father and Sam at the kitchen table, rubbing her stomach. The empty pizza boxes on the table were mainly Sam’s doing, but she put a pretty good dent in them, too.
“Sam, you don’t say much,” Patrick remarked as theAngelsat stoically across from him.
