Page 61 of Out of Sight

Yorwell cocked his head. “It is unlikely after all this time.”

Avor nodded. “I will ask some of his people to find out if they have seen him.”

To Lucia’s amusement, he pulled out his phone and started typing.

Regis grinned. “I know, I thought he would do everything with magic, but nope, he likes cellphones.”

Lucia listened to the conversations, and she tilted her head. “What’s a gerblin?”

Avor grinned. “A typo. I have big fingers. You are eavesdropping?”

“Text dropping, I guess. I can’t help it. It is the sound that I hear and the voices in my thoughts.” She looked at Ira. “Do you and your mommy want your nails done? Yorwell gave me a studio set up somewhere, and the distraction will keep me from listening so hard. I will invite my cousin, and she can come, too. I am putting little robots on her fingers.”

She glanced at Yorwell, and he nodded to her with a smile. She was doing a people thing.

Regis smiled. “I work with my hands, so I don’t know how long polish would last.”

Yorwell said, “Third door to the right of the fireplace. Toward the back of the house.”

Lucia smiled and brought her cake and ice cream with her while Regis and Ira followed.

Regis smiled. “You do nails?”

“I did. It will be a test to see if I still can. If not, I am going to owe Yorwell for all the stuff he purchased.”

She followed the directions and paused. There was a sign reading “Lucia’s Studio” in soft cursive. “Wow. So this must be it.”

She opened the door, and a soft light illuminated the space. “Holy sh—ucks.”

Regis grinned. “Nice save.”

“Thank you. I am out of practice. Well, Ira, what would you like your nails to look like?”

Ira smiled. “Can they have circuit boards on them?”

Regis moved to intercede, but Lucia went to the polishes. “Yes, they can. What colour?”

“Pink and silver?”

“Have a seat in the chair. Regis, think about what you want and take the second chair that just appeared.”

“I just want a nice buff and maybe a clear polish.”

Lucia grinned. “Keep that in mind.” She got the warm, soapy water and paused to stare at the autoclave that was sitting on the counter. “He went off my list a bit.”

Regis chuckled. “They tend to. They can, so they do.”

She filled the bowls for them to soak their hands gently, and she found a sketchbook and pencil where they should be. She drew out the design and showed it to Ira.

She grinned and said, “Yes, please.”

The next half hour went by with Ira talking about school and Regis supervising the manicure and nails. While Ira was curing the top layer, Regis got her manicure and the buffing with clear polish.

Regis asked, “What was that?”

“What?”

“The magic at the end?”