Mindee Arnett - Avalon

“Ahem,” a voice said from above him.

Jeth looked up, his face going red as he saw Vince staring down at him with his arms folded across his chest in a manner that emphasized his large muscles.

“See something you like?” Vince said.

Jeth didn’t answer. If he said no, Vince would know he was lying. If he said, yes . . . well . . . Jeth wasn’t interested in finding out what big brother might make of such a declaration.

Vince sat down beside Jeth, close enough he had to resist the impulse to scoot over.

“I’d be careful if I were you,” said Vince.

Jeth rolled his eyes. “Are you about to give me the if-you-hurt-her-I’ll-break-your-face speech?”

“Nope. She’s perfectly capable of breaking your face on her own.”

Jeth snorted, although a part of him didn’t entirely doubt this statement. He’d certainly seen for himself how silently the girl could move. She should’ve been a career assassin instead of scientist. She could kill him in his sleep if she wanted to.

“My sister has a hard time trusting people,” Vince said. “Especially with everything that’s happened recently.” His voice grew quiet. “I was shocked when she admitted how much she’d let you in on how we grew up. I think that might be the first time she’s ever told anyone.”

Jeth swallowed, uncomfortable with this news. He didn’t want to read too much into it. Something like hope fluttered in his chest, a pair of delicate wings. Across from them, Sierra stopped dancing. She looked over at them, a mixture of curiosity and concern on her face.

Forcing as much aloofness into his voice as he could, Jeth said, “Are you saying that she trusts me?”

Vince turned his head, pinning Jeth with his gaze. “No. I’m saying she’s thinking about trusting you, and I suggest you don’t screw it up. If you give her a reason not to, you’ll regret it forever. I promise.”

The fluttering feeling evaporated in Jeth’s chest, replaced by a tremor of guilt. Did Vince know he planned on copying the Aether Project? Was this some kind of veiled warning? Jeth wasn’t exactly afraid of Vince, but he had a good healthy respect for his size, not to mention his background as an elite combat soldier. Jeth stared back at Vince, trying to look calm and innocent.

No, he decided, a moment later. Vince didn’t know. How could he? No one knew about his intentions except for Lizzie. And besides, it was such a little thing, really. By the time Sierra’s buyer found out there was more than one copy of the project around, she would be long gone. No harm done.

Fortunately, Jeth was rescued from having to dwell on the subject any longer when Flynn shouted from the galley, “Soup’s on.”

“We’re having soup?” asked Cora as everyone filed in and sat down.

Jeth laughed, giving her blonde head a pat. “It’s just an expression. Although from the looks of this table, everything’s on the menu.”

Milton arrived a few minutes late, muttering a thin, awkward apology that no one paid attention to. Jeth felt a moment’s pity for his uncle. He supposed it wasn’t easy being the only old guy surrounded by a bunch of teenagers.

In minutes, the group had descended into their typical rowdiness, Sierra, Vince, and Cora blending among them as if they’d been there forever. Most of the jokes and stories they shared were old, but the presence of new ears made them fresh again.

“Oh, do you remember when Shady shot himself with a stunner?” Lizzie said as dinner was winding down.

“Did not,” said Shady, mouth agape.

Lizzie poked him in the chest. “Yes, you did. It was my second job. How did that happen again?”

“I remember,” said Flynn. “Shady was showing off for that woman with the big boobs, one of Chopper’s mistresses.” Flynn stood, pushing back his chair. Then he raised his hand like he had a gun. “He was going like this, and then he tried to twirl the stunner on his finger, but he did it wrong and BAM!” Flynn stumbled backward, crossing his eyes and sticking out his tongue. Then he fell down, landing with a loud thump.

Cora burst into shrieks of laughter. Most of the jokes had gone over her head, but not this one. Physical comedy she understood completely.

“Do it again!” Cora said, “Please, please, please.”

Flynn stood up, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand. He moved to reenact the story, but froze at the sound of a loud crack .

Liquid splashed Jeth’s arms, and he leaped back from the table. “What the hell?” He glanced around. Everybody else had stood up, too. The next second he realized why—all the drinking glasses on the table had vanished. Nothing else. No holes, just one second, glasses full of water or juice or wine, and the next, nothing but free-flowing liquid.

“Whoa,” Shady said after a long moment, his eyes wide. “More Belgrave stuff?”

“It would appear so,” Milton said as he picked up a towel and dabbed at the red wine stains on his shirt.

Jeth glanced around the room, looking for more damage. He’d thought they were safe here, so close to the border, from whatever strange phenomenon had caused the damage to the Donerail . But it seemed he was wrong. Haunted . They’d been talking about it all along, the things people said about the Belgrave, but it was the first time the thought actually crossed his mind. Jeth didn’t know anymore if that was true or not, but something was out there, all right. Something that had either grown more powerful in the days since they first crossed the border into the Quadrant—or that had followed them back.

Jeth shivered once, then glanced at everybody in turn. “Everyone okay?”

“Just wet,” said Celeste, fear undermining her casual tone.

Jeth’s gaze landed on Cora. She wasn’t laughing anymore but looked terrified. Ignoring his own fear, Jeth forced a smile. “It’s okay, Cora. We’ll be out of here before you know it.”

From the expressions on all the faces staring at him, he knew it couldn’t happen soon enough.

SO MUCH FOR A PARTY . ALL THE GOOD VIBES AND celebratory spirit had vanished from the room.

“Shouldn’t we leave the Belgrave now?” Lizzie said, looking first at Jeth and then at Sierra. “Aren’t we in danger of more weird stuff happening if we stay?”

“By weird, I think you mean dangerous,” said Flynn.

Sierra turned her gaze to Vince, and the two shared a silent exchange.

Finally Vince said, “I’m not sure this is the same as what happened before. Seems more like a parlor trick than the full-on magic show we got deeper inside the Belgrave.”

Jeth considered the idea. Disappearing glass did seem a little less ominous than the holes. But still—it might be somebody’s hands or head that vanished next.

“Seems risky enough to me,” said Shady.

Sierra pursed her lips. “Yes, but if the nav isn’t ready, we’ll risk even more if we move outside the Belgrave.”

Jeth ran his hands through his hair. He was tired of these between-a-rock-and-a-hard-place scenarios they kept getting into. But Sierra was right; they couldn’t risk getting picked up outside the Belgrave. He faced her. “What if we move closer to the border or just somewhere further down from here?” He glanced at Flynn. “The recalibration only has a few hours left, right?”

“Sure, as long as nothing goes wrong with it,” said Flynn.

Jeth ignored the implication and fixed his gaze on Sierra and Vince. “What do you think?”

“Moving certainly won’t hurt any,” said Vince.

“Okay,” Jeth said, not as reassured as he would’ve liked. “I’ll move us down a ways, and we’ll try to wait it out until morning. But if anything else weird happens, we’ll reevaluate our options. All right?”