Rory pressed her lips together and tried not to laugh. “You’re an ass.”
She put the shirt back in the bag and locked eyes with Keith. His wide smile conveyed his actual gift, and gratitude overtook her. He knew she was worried her crimes would make them see her differently.
They might have, but not enough to shy away from her, and his ability to make light of it proved that.
“Do you remember when the old lady at Whiplash mauled Keith?” Dume asked her and Kordie. “TheSylphwho kept ruffling his hair?”
The girls burst out laughing at the memory. Once when Rory was working, the other three came in after work, as usual, and a woman in her early one-hundreds took the seat next to Keith. She wouldn’t leave him alone the entire night.
Keith narrowed his eyes at Dume. “No thanks to you three.”
Tears ran down Kordie’s cheeks, and she fanned her face. “And you kept scooting closer to me, but every time you did, she pushed your chair back next to hers with her air ability.”
Rory slapped the table as she laughed, Dume drew the attention of the entire restaurant with his own booming laugh, and Keith threw back the rest of his drink. “You are terrible friends.”
Sera and Sam were quiet, and when Rory turned to them, Sera was watching Dume dreamily while Sam watched Rory with an emotion she couldn’t describe. It wasn’t pride, but it was akin to how a parent or older sibling would look at someone they loved when they were happy for them.
Rory already assumed she and theAngelwere close in Vincula. If only she could remember it.
That nightafter dinner when they got home, Rory’s father told her to stay put while he grabbed something he had picked up for her. If it was another butcher shirt, she was hanging them all from hooks.
He returned, holding a large book with a worn leather cover. “I couldn’t find a book onAeternums,” he said apologetically. “But this one is about the history of Erdikoa. I thought it could be useful.”
She set the book on the coffee table and pecked him on the cheek. “Thank you.” It was doubtful there would be anything aboutAeternumsin the book, but her father’s thoughtfulness made her chest warm.
“Anything for you, sport.” He patted her on the head and reached for the remote to the ES before settling in on the couch.
“Are you not going to work tonight?” she asked, sitting next to him.
He glanced at Sam when theAngeldescended the stairs. “No, I have the night off.”
Her father never had Fridays off. Remembering Sam’s words to Lauren, she forced herself to look unaffected. He’d said her father would take off work on the nights theychanged shifts.
This might be her only chance to grab potions from Fiona for another week. “I’m going to take a shower,” she told them and hurried to her room without waiting for a reply. After turning on the water to ensure they couldn’t hear her, she called Sera. Hopefully she was free.
Her friend answered and asked, “It’s go time, isn’t it?”
Rory snorted. “Yes, but we have to wait until Sam leaves and my father is asleep,” she whispered.
“Excellent. Remember to wear a hat and a hood to cover your face.” She stopped talking, and Rory heard rustling. “I’ll bring you a pair of glasses, too.”
“Sunglasses?” Rory wouldn’t be able to see with a hat, hood, and sunglasses at night.
“No.” Sera giggled. “They’re a pair of reading glasses with fake lenses. It’ll make you less recognizable.”
Rory didn’t think it would, but she went along with it. “Okay, thanks. And Sera?”
“Yeah?”
“You don’t have to go. This might be dangerous.” Silence stretched between them, and she worried she had hurt Sera’s feelings. The thought of anything happening to one of her friends made her ill.
“I’m coming.” Sera sounded pissed. “If you try to stop me, I’ll go to the underground market alone.”
Rory grinned into the phone. “Okay. I’ll call you.”
“You better,” Sera snapped before hanging up.
Rory stared at the phone. “Damn.”
