by W. J. May
That being said, Gabriel was a fantastic chef.
“Morning,” he called back, cracking more eggs into the batter with his free hand. “Are they not feeding you kids over there? Do I have to call social services?”
She flashed a grin and headed into the kitchen, only to see the others were already seated.
“You sneak past your dad?” Lily asked brightly, perched in her favorite chair by the window with a steaming cup of tea. “I always figured your house would be the hardest.”
“Really?” Jason swept down the hallway and settled in a chair beside Aria, pulling a shirt over his head and shaking out his blond hair. “You think her house is the hardest?”
It was true. She couldn’t imagine many things slipping past Gabriel.
“My front door is an elevator,” Benji countered. “Beat that.”
Aria laughed, and buttered herself a biscuit. She and her best friend had escaped mischief many times, only to sneak back to his house and get outed by that infuriating ding.
“Not that it mattered this morning,” he continued with a touch of amusement. “My mom heard the word waffles, then popped out of bed like a zombie and dragged herself over here.”
On cue, the five of them turned to the kitchen and saw Molly stretched out on the counter with a thermos and a straw—trying to mainline caffeine. Gabriel worked around her like it was perfectly normal, shifting her legs occasionally to get at the utensils underneath.
“I still can’t believe some of the things she’s done,” Benji murmured, those bright eyes of his glassing over as his mind churned through the hours of casefiles he’d just read.
Aria glanced over sympathetically, then thought of her own mother—probably shrieking for help as she battled the flaming pancakes on the stove. She’d once seen her father lift the car out of a pothole, then pale with fright as a family of ducks waddled into the street. When they went to the movies last summer, Julian had a surprise vision and walked into a wall. Luke was still sporting a fashionable mohawk. By all accounts, Gabriel and Angel should have been long dead.
How was it that such a strange assortment of people had accomplished so much?
“At least you got to read about it,” Jason said lightly, stabbing his fork into a biscuit so hard it rattled the plate. “I have no idea who my mother even was.”
Aria glanced over in surprise. It wasn’t often Jason talked about his biological parents. That mishap with Dorian over his last name must have gotten to him more than she’d thought.
He glanced at Lily, trying to smile. “By all accounts, it’s a miracle she wasn’t your mother.”
Lily crinkled her nose. “Gross.”
“What?” Benji’s eyes gleamed wickedly. “You really think your mom never slept with anyone other than your dad?”
Lily shot him an icy look. “Why don’t we go tell my mom that you’re speculating about her sex life?”
That shut him up.
“It wouldn’t have been so bad,” Aria teased, flicking Jason with a drop of coffee. “Having Uncle Julian as a dad, Lily as a sister. She could have civilized you.”
Lily sniffed. “...unlikely.”
“At least I wasn’t adopted by your mom,” Jason said suddenly.
His body tensed immediately after, like he couldn’t believe he’d spoken out loud. There was a strained moment when he and Aria locked eyes before both of them looked quickly away.
“Breakfast is served.”
...thank the Maker.
Gabriel appeared just a moment later, shattering the tension as he set down a giant platter stacked with waffles. Condiments were already on the table, and the children descended like a pack of wolves—spearing off choice selections with their forks and picking them clean.
“I swear, it’s like you guys always know when there’s food in the house,” Gabriel murmured, looking much more dignified as he leaned back in his own chair, taking sips of coffee. “Sometimes I wonder if you have the place bugged.”
Aria snorted into her waffles, but kept her eyes on her plate.
Of course the seasoned spy thinks he’s under surveillance, instead of considering the possibility that his teenage son might have a texting problem.
“Uncle Gabriel?” James asked, his mouth crammed with waffles and syrup. “Who’s the person you’d want to fight the least?”
Benji and Aria shared an excited look, then leaned forward at the same time.
The kid’s not entirely useless after all. And he’s obviously still obsessing over those mission reports like me.
Gabriel lowered his coffee in surprise. “Fight?”
“Of our parents,” Aria took over seamlessly. Her eyes twinkled with mischief. “I think I heard somewhere that you guys weren’t always on the same side...”
Gabriel threw a pained glance at the ceiling, muttering under his breath. “I knew we should never have taught you how to read...”
“The least,” Aria insisted. “Who would you want to fight the least?”
“Your mother,” he answered instantly.
It was no surprise. Everyone in the world would have given the same answer. However, given that fact, it was the last answer the overeager children wanted to hear.
“Besides her,” Aria said impatiently. “Who besides my mom would you never want to fight?”
Gabriel thought about it for a moment. “Julian.”
Lily twirled her fork in the syrup, looking decidedly smug.
“What about my mom?” Benji asked eagerly.
Gabriel shook his head with a smile.
“Your mom would knock me on my arse before I could even get close. There’s a reason people don’t mess with your mother.”
This statement was followed by a comical flash of lightning from the kitchen.
“The only way I could beat her is to use my tatù, which would hurt her very badly,” he continued thoughtfully. “That’s something I would never do.”
There was a moment of silence.
“What about my dad?” James asked curiously.
Like a tennis match, the friends’ eyes shot to Gabriel at the same time. It was the question they’d all been wondering. Ever since they saw that failed mission—that redacted file.
Gabriel paused again, like he was remembering something. Then he gave James a wink.
“I very much enjoy fighting your father.”
Speak of the devil...
At that very moment the door opened, and Devon himself walking inside—flanked by Rae and Julian. The psychic was slightly out of breath, like he’d sprinted across the park. Rae had soot smeared across her face, and her eyes were glued to the floor.
“Morning, sunshine,” Gabriel greeted her brightly. “You try to make pancakes?”
Instead of answering, she stomped straight to the kitchen to join Molly. There was a rustling of fabric as they adjusted on the counter, lying side by side.
Normally, this would have made more of an impression. But the kids were still staring at Devon, heads spinning from what they’d just heard.
After a moment, James leaned over to Gabriel and whispered in his ear, “...do it.”
Gabriel ruffled his hair with a grin. “Eat your waffles.”
“Morning, guys.” Devon settled beside them obliviously, grabbing a plate and taking some waffles for himself. “I see you made a good decision and fled for your lives. Side note: the house is going to be off-limits for a while, just until we can repair the structural damage to the roof.”
As he spoke, a trio of white vans topped with ladders parked across the street.
“So, Lily,” he continued with a smile, “what did you think of your surprise?”
“That car is incredible,” Jason blurted without thinking. Benji kicked him furiously beneath the table and he hastened to add, “I saw it parked out on the street.”
“Which time would that be?” Gabriel asked lightly. “When you snuck out late last night, or when you snuck back in early this morning?”
Jason developed a sudden preoccupation with his waffles.
“The car is amazing,” Lily covered quickly, flashing a bright smile. “Did you know about it?”
Devon nodded with a smile. He’d been there when Julian had picked it out on his own sixteenth birthday. Paying with a check from an anonymous trust.
“It’s actually funny you should mention it,” Aria said stiffly, swiveling to face him in her chair. “Because if Lily got one, then I see no reason why—”
“You aren’t allowed to have a car,” Devon answered automatically.
Aria crossed her arms, eyes narrowing to slits. “You and mom have, like, fifty.”
He considered for a moment before continuing practically. “Your mother shouldn’t be allowed to have a car either.”
“I heard that!”
As the shrill voice echoed from the kitchen Julian settled down beside him, a freshly conjured mug of coffee in his hands. He flashed them all a bright smile, helping himself to a waffle.
“Morning.”
The kids stared back with the same peculiar expression, each of them thinking of a different casefile they’d just read. At one point, James lifted his hand—probably trying to imagine him with a beard.
“Well, you’re all especially creepy this morning.”
The psychic stared a moment longer, then turned away deliberately. At the same time, there was a metallic buzz at the table and Devon pulled out his phone.
“Sh—Crap,” he cursed under his breath, staring down at the screen. “It’s Brussels. That means you, too, Skye,” he added, raising his voice to be heard.
There was a grumbling from deeper inside the house.
“You going to leave me chained to a briefcase again...?”
Devon pretended not to hear, re-reading the text with a frown.
“I was supposed to take James to renew his passport.”
“I’ll do it,” Julian said instantly. “I was heading to the embassy anyway after lunch.”
James perked up with excitement. “Maybe we can hit that arcade with the life-size chess set on the way home?”
Julian flashed a faint smile. “Have you finished your English essay?”
There was some awkward fidgeting.
“...not entirely.”
“Then I’m not entirely sure we’ll go to the arcade.”
James flashed an entreating look at his father, but Devon held up his hands.
“You heard your uncle. Now finish your breakfast.”
The two had been parenting each other’s children for years.
Once, when Aria was a toddler and Julian had foreseen a particularly difficult night, he’d showed up unannounced at the house with a bottle of wine and a stack of cheesy movies. “We’ll take turns with her,” he declared. “Make a night of it.” On a similar such occasion, when Lily was teething and had been crying for three consecutive hours—Devon walked her back and forth in the park from dusk until dawn, letting the frazzled new parents get a few hours’ sleep.
“But it’s not due for three more days,” James complained. “Lily gets a freaking car, and I’m not allowed to go to the arcade?”
Jason pushed his chair away from the table as Julian leveled his nephew with a steady gaze.
“This is my cue to leave,” Jason muttered under his breath.
Aria flashed a grin and followed.
Together, they wandered through the house—past the moms lounging in the kitchen and on to the living room. Most days they would have stopped there, but for whatever reason Jason kept walking—down the hall to his father’s library.
Aria followed him, keeping quiet and mulling over what he’d said at the table.
At least I wasn’t adopted by your mom...
Jason flat-out loved Rae. Whatever he was implying, it had nothing to do with her. But then, why would he have said it in the first place? Or rather, why say it to her and not also Lily? They’d been together since they were kids. They had a rhythm, damnit. Why did they keep breaking it—
“Here it is.”
She glanced down to where he was kneeling on the carpet, holding the same deep burgundy book he’d found in the library. His fingers traced over the gold lettering.
“I knew I’d seen it before.”
“Seen what?”
They both startled as Gabriel swept inside, having spotted his son’s blond hair from the hallway. His eyes swept over them curiously before landing on the book.
Jason held it up between them.
“They have a copy of this at school.” He said it very casually, hoping his dad didn’t notice the faint flush. “Our new librarian brought it in this morning.”
“Really?” Gabriel sounded surprised. Not so much that they’d been at the school, but that it was stocked in the library. “You’re sure it was this book?”
Jason nodded distractedly, glancing down the hall to where Benji was trying to con Lily into writing his essay, and James was trying to bribe his uncle to take him to the arcade.
“Arie and I are going out,” he announced suddenly. “I’ll be on my cell, okay?”
Now it was Gabriel’s turn to be distracted. He waved his son off with a nod, taking the book from his hands as the two youngsters slipped out the door. He was still staring at it when they left.
Chapter 8
The London morning was just picking up steam as Aria and Jason headed outside. Birds were chirping, cars were honking in the distance, and the old lady who fed the pigeons had already set up on her usual bench with a full baguette and a copy of Entertainment Weekly. The kids gave her an automatic wave, then stepped over the curb of the street and into the park.
The rest of the city might have been moving quickly but the kids were operating at a slightly slower pace, trailing their feet through the lingering drops of dew. Technically speaking, their night hadn’t ended yet. Both had been awake since the previous morning’s dawn.
“So what’s up?” Aria asked suddenly as they meandered slowly down the grassy lane.
She’d assumed he had just wanted to get out of the house before Gabriel started asking questions about why they were at the school library. But even though they were out in the open, he still looked troubled. In fact, it looked like he was steeling himself to speak.
“I just wanted to...” He trailed off suddenly, staring at her with wide eyes.
“What?” She froze immediately in place, glancing behind her and patting down both sides of her blouse. “Do I have syrup on me or something?”
It took him a second, then he gestured quickly to the silk bow tied behind her neck.
“No, it’s just...your ribbon was about to fall off. I didn’t realize...” His eyes flashed ever so briefly to the bare skin on her back. “I’ve never seen you wear that before.”
The curse about having fair skin was that it made every blush look like a third degree sunburn. Aria flushed a deep shade of crimson, then quickly tightened the bow—wishing like crazy that she hadn’t left her sweater in Lily’s car. She’d forgotten she was still wearing the flashy ensemble she’d chosen for the birthday party. She was surprised her dad hadn’t said something at breakfast.
“Oh, thanks. It’s-it’s new.”
WEIRD! Why is everything so WEIRD between us?!
This was the boy she’d eaten mud with in their third year. The same boy who helped her cheat on homework assignments. Who’d been there when she threw up a gallon of Pop Rocks and had to be wheeled to the infirmary, leaking purple sludge from her mouth.
They’d gone swimming together. Sang karaoke together. Slept in the same tent.
But one little ribbon and we start to unravel...
As fate would have it, Jason seemed to be thinking the same thing. A little crease furrowed his brow as he turned away deliberately, trying to remember what he’d planned on saying before.
“Listen, things have been weird ever since I—”
“Why did you leave?” Aria interrupted suddenly.
S
he hadn’t planned on saying it. She’d actually resolved herself to be quiet for once and let Jason get whatever was bothering him off his chest. But the second she looked up at him, staring into those familiar eyes, she didn’t feel weird or self-conscious. She felt angry. A kind of angry she was just beginning to understand. One that had been eating away at her since the second he stepped out of the rental car and waved to her across the street. But beneath the anger lay something worse.
...she was hurt.
Jason froze perfectly still, staring down at her in surprise. “I wasn’t—”
“You left me here for the whole summer.” Her eyes were prickling but she her gaze never wavered, folding her arms tightly across her chest. “You just-you just left.”
His lips parted as all those speeches he’d been rehearsing died on his tongue. The resolve he’d been bolstering himself up with since landing on British soil died along with it. Twelve weeks of silent mantras and fierce determination. But it vanished the second he looked into her eyes.
“Can we sit?”
Her eyebrows shot up in surprise. The Jason she knew was fiery—there was no better word to describe him. When cornered, he fought back. But despite the accusation, there wasn’t an ounce of fight in his eyes. If anything, he looked a little nervous. And a little sad.
She cast him a measured look, then they settled beside each other in the grass.
“Remember the day school let out last year?” he asked quietly.
She nodded silently. That was the day everything started falling apart.
“Well, that afternoon I got a phone call from this woman who works for the Ministry of Housing. Just a cursory thing, I guess, because I’d turned eighteen.” He paused ever so slightly. “She asked if I wanted to officially ‘forfeit the property’ left by my parents’ estate.”
It took Aria a second to catch on. Gabriel and Natasha didn’t own any other property other than the house where they just ate breakfast. Then it clicked.
“Your biological parents?”