Corbin laughed. “You must be Kelly. Maeve’s told us so much about you. I’m Corbin.” He held out his hand, but Kelly ignored it and swept her arms around him in a huge hug.
“Omigod, our fairground hero, we meet again. You were absolutely the most amazing person ever, saving Maeve from the fire like that and helping me nurse her back to health. A regular Florence Nightingale, only with infinitely more muscles. Maeve’s told me hardly anything about you, except that you’re a total brainiac and you’re hot. But I knew that already. Honestly, I thought you were the one she’d end up dating, but it’s probably for the best that she chose Arthur because if you’re as brainy as she says then the two of you would have really boring children?—”
My cheeks flamed red, but Corbin only laughed more. “I can see we’re going to have our hands full with you.”
“We were going to give you the mezzanine,” Arthur added. “But no way am I lugging that bag up the ladder. It’s the monolith from2001.”
I laughed, but the reference was lost on Kelly, who’d never wasted the rare moments our parents weren’t monitoring our TV time by watching science fiction films.
“Who’s in that room?” Kelly pointed to the tiny double bed under the window in Jane’s room.
“I am.” Jane appeared at the doorway. She wore a black tank top and old-fashioned pedal pushers, her hair tied back with a polka-dot scarf. She shuffled Connor to her other arm and smiled at Kelly – a rare, genuine smile. “I’m Jane. And this is Connor.”
“Aw, isn’t he cute?” Kelly rushed over. A few moments later she had Connor in her arms, cooing as she dangled a tiger toy in front of his face. “Don’t worry about it. I’ll take the fold out sofa. I sleep deeply. Nothing wakes me up once I’m gone.”
“You don’t know how relieved I am to hear that,” Arthur said, with a glance at the pink backpack.
I glanced at Corbin, trying to keep my voice steady. “Is Rowan around?”
“Yeah, how is he?” Kelly asked. “Is he okay?”
I remembered just in time that I’d told Kelly he’d been in a car accident. “He’s okay. His injuries weren’t as bad as we first thought. He was discharged, but he’s got a concussion, so he has to rest a lot.”
Yet another lie. This time I just wish I knew what I was lying about.
Corbin nodded. “He’s in the room having a nap. He’ll be out when he’s ready.”
The message was clear – don’t disturb Rowan now. At least he was safe and back here with us. I wished I could read Corbin’s mind and figure out what was going on, but that wasn’t my power. I had the distinct impression that if I could get inside Rowan’s head, I’d end up lost there.
“Where are the others?” Flynn and Blake weren’t anywhere to be seen, either.
“They weren’t here when I got back. If I had to guess, I’d say they went out for food.”
Luckily, Kelly was too busy with Connor to care that much about the whereabouts of the other guys. She bounced over to the couch and flung herself down. “So, when can we start sightseeing?”
How could she be this chipper after a long-haul flight? “You don’t want to rest a bit first? We could order in some food and?—”
“This is my first time in another country. I want toexplore. You promised we’d go and see all the London things.”
I thought of the meeting Clara had arranged for us with Isadora, the leader of a London coven, in a couple of hours. “I can’t today. Corbin and I have an appointment to do with our research project, but?—”
“I can’t believe you’re not even in school and you’restillstudying. What is this all about, then? You discover a new type of space dust?“
“No, actually. It’s to do with my mother.” Briefly, I explained that I’d seen the portrait of my mother in the castle and that it was painted by a famous artist. “I want to learn more about the artist, but he’s in an institution now, so we can’t go talk to him, but this person might be able to tell me more about her. That’s why we’re in London.”
“That’s so cool. I want to come.”
Shit. “No, you can’t. This is a meeting with um…with a reclusive historian. It took Corbin all week just to convince her to allow the two of us to visit. If I bring another person she won’t see us. Plus, you’ll find it insanely boring, trust me. But the other guys are free, so they could take you somewhere. What do you want to do first?” I asked Kelly.
“Big Ben! No, the Tower of London! No, Buckingham Palace! Can we see the changing of the guards?”
“I bring sustenance!” Flynn yelled as he and Blake barged through the door, stacks of takeout containers balanced precariously in their arms. The familiar smell of curry and naan bread wafted across my nose, and my stomach growled.
“I guess we’re eating first,” I said. “Kelly, this is Flynn and Blake.”
“Greetings.” Flynn tipped his hat to Kelly. She wrapped her arms around his neck.
“Eeeee! You’re Scottish! I’ve never met a Scottish person before!”
