“He’s still alive!” I counter. “I healed him almost immediately! We sanitized the dining hall. No permanent damage was done.”
“Whatever,” says Kenji, peering into his empty coffee cup.“You’re lucky you have healing powers, or else that could’ve gotten really messy, really fast.” He hesitates, then pulls off his sunglasses, black eyes narrowing. “Hey, why aren’t you with the mercenary right now? Aren’t you supposed to be there every day?”
“Yeah.” I nod, ignoring the way my chest reacts to the idea of seeing Rosabelle again. “Yeah, but she’s being disciplined. She has to spend a few hours alone in the Emotional Garden this morning. I’m supposed to meet up with her in an hour.”
“What the hell is an emotional— Oh,shit—”
Kenji goes invisible, reappearing a second later in the entryway of The Waffle’s Waffles, flickering in and out of sight. “Shit, shit, shit—”
“What?” Winston and I say at the same time.
We crowd him in the entry, on high alert. “What’s going on?” I say. “Did you see something?”
“Okay, I might be out of my mind,” he says, pulling back his invisibility, “but I could’ve sworn I just saw Nazeera walking down the street.”
Winston and I exchange a loaded glance, and a beat later Kenji slaps us both, hard, upside the head.
“Ow,” we shout at the same time.
“What the hell?” Kenji cries angrily.
The owner of the restaurant, a bearded redhead named Kip, is staring at us through the glass door. He frowns at me, like,what’s going on?and I flash him what I’m hoping is a reassuring smile.
“You knew she was here?” Kenji is saying. “You knew Nazeera was coming here,and you didn’t think to tell me?”
“She flies out like every three months,” says Winston, rubbing the back of his head. “You already knew that.”
“Plus, you told us never to discuss her with you,” I add. “You said you didn’t want any details on Nazeera, ever—”
“You’re not supposed to listen to me when I say shit like that,” he hisses, peeking out from behind the doorway.
I know the moment he sees her again, because he stiffens and retreats, collapsing against the wall.
“Oh my God,” he says, appearing and disappearing, his invisibility glitching. “I think I’m dying. Did she get more beautiful? How did she get more beautiful?”
“I think we should take him inside,” says Winston, shooting me a look. “Grab his arm.”
“Is she with a hot Arab dude?” Kenji says, jerking out of reach. He peeks into the street again, then falls back, his eyes squeezing shut. “Wait, don’t tell me. I don’t want to know. I can’t compete with those dudes. Those dudes are just built different. Oh God, I can’t feel my legs.”
A bell jingles overhead and we look up.
“Hey,” says Kip, pushing open the front door in his apron. “You kids okay? What’s going on?” He jerks a thumb behind him. “People are getting worried.”
“Sorry, Kip,” Winston says. “Everything’s fine.”
“Then what’s with him?” he says, nodding at Kenji, who’s stopped glitching only to begin sliding down the wall.
“Nazeera is here,” I say.
Kip’s face falls. He looks from me to Winston to Kenji and back again.“He didn’t know? She comes through like every three months.”
“I forgot,” Kenji says, groaning into his hands.
“That’s okay,” says Kip, regrouping. “You’ll be okay. She’ll be gone in about a week, right?”
Winston grimaces.
“Two weeks?” says Kip.
