“Maeve!”
“Snowpiercer?”
Kelly swatted my shoulder. “I’ll know it when I see it, but there was definitely a train, and some hot guys were on it. I’ll just ask to get a ticket on the hot guy train, not the murder express.”
I grinned. Kelly hadn’t changed a single bit. “Come on, let’s get you back to our apartment.”
“We have to find my backpack first.”
“I cannot picture you with a backpack.” Kelly was not an outdoorsy kind of girl. At her summer camp last year she faked sunstroke and sat in the first aid tent all week while guys fell over themselves to bring her glasses of water. The idea of her lugging her possessions across Europe in a backpack was as funny as NASA misspelling the name of the space shuttleEndeavouron their launch site banner.
We picked our way through the crowd to reach the luggage carousel. One single bag sat on the conveyor belt, going around and around on its lonesome – a bright pink backpack with glittering golden straps that was about the size of a small car.
Behind me, Arthur burst out laughing. “It looks like Barbie’s brought the whole bloody dream house on vacation.”
I struggled to keep down my own laughter. “Are you seriously going to lugthatacross Europe? It’s not aerodynamically sound.”
“You’re such a worrywart. Look, it’s fine.” Kelly grabbed the straps and hauled the bag off the carousel. The weight of it sent her flying backwards. She slammed into a businessman dragging a tiny wheeled case. He glowered at her and yanked his case away.
“Sorry!” Kelly yelled. Kneeling on the ground, she bent over backwards and slid her arms into the straps, but when she tried to get to her feet, the backpack wouldn’t follow her. Her arms and legs flailed in the air like a beached turtle.
I couldn’t help it – a loud snort burst from my mouth. Arthur’s face had already gone pink from trying to hold in his laughter. Our eyes met and that sent us both over the edge.
“Oh…Kelly…” I held on to Arthur and clutched my stomach as tears rolled down my face.
“Fine, don’t help me then,” Kelly huffed, as she managed to roll onto her side.
“I’m sorry,” I wheezed. My stomach hurt from laughing so hard.
How can you laugh when twenty-two people just died?
The laughter died in my throat. I couldn’t forget the real reason we were in London. In thirteen days the fae would raise the Slaugh. We needed answers, and allies, and we were here to find both. Kelly wasn’t a guest of honor, she was a distraction, one who had to be kept in the dark as much as possible.
“I’ll take that for you.” Arthur bent down and scooped up the straps, hauling first one, then the other, over his shoulders. Even he winced at the weight.
“Thank you so much, Arthur. I don’t know what I’d do without you.” Kelly batted her eyelashes. I flung my arm around her shoulder, my whole body shuddering with laughter as Arthur tottered toward the Tube station, nearly keeling over from the weight of the bright pink pack.
“See?” Kelly winked at me. “Europe is full of hot men eager to impress a young lady from Arizona with their muscles. I’m going to be fine.”
If one person could make it all the way across Europe without having to carry her own backpack once, it was Kelly.
She glanced around. “Where are the other hot guys?”
“They decided to wait at the apartment. You’ll meet them soon.”
I hoped. Rowan still hadn’t come back when I left. Corbin went out to look for him, but he said Rowan might not want to be found. The look in Corbin’s eyes said he knew what was going on in Rowan’s head, but when I pressed him about it he just sighed and said Rowan would tell me when he was ready. I hoped that would be soon. The sadness and panic in Rowan’s eyes as he fled down the ladder scared me.
We crammed onto the tube and rode on the Piccadilly line to Leicester Square, where we changed to the Northern line. Kelly chattered the whole way about the flight and the airline food and the people she’d met at the youth hostel. It didn’t seem to matter to her that neither of us said much back.
It took us nearly an hour to get her through Camden Market to the apartment. Kelly kept running off to look in the shops. I had to explain to her what a hookah pipe was and stop her spending a third of Uncle Bob’s money on a sparkling red gothic ball gown that looked like something from a fairytale book. Arthur bowled over three teenagers and two living statues with Kelly’s enormous bag.
Since our apartment didn’t have an elevator, Arthur had to lug Kelly’s backpack up three flights of stairs. Sweat poured down his face when he finally dropped it in the doorway. He collapsed on the couch, struggling for breath.
“You can’t just leave it in the doorway,” Corbin said as he came out of the bathroom and saw the bag protruding out into the hall.
“I can and will.” Arthur wiped matted hair from his brow. “It could be one of Flynn’s modern art installations. Call itGuy Slips Disk for Chivalry. I don’t care. I’m not moving it.”
“Boys, boys, don’t fight. I’ll take care of it myself.” Kelly tugged on one of the straps, but the bag didn’t move an inch. She stepped over it. “Later.”
