Page 24 of Jacinth

As though synchronized to the second, both Jacinth and Niko flinched and threw their hands over their ears.

“Okay, that’s my cue. I’m going to go get something to eat and shower. Can I bring you anything later?”

Jacinth shook her head and Niko wandered off. Was he whistling?

Jacinth continued to cover her ears for so long that I worried she may not have wanted me to come.

“So should I...?” I gestured over my shoulder.

No response.

All right, I knew when I wasn’t wanted. I pulled my feet under me and went to stand as Jacinth let out a huge sigh of relief and slumped all of a sudden.

“Is everything all right?”

“Have you ever seen that movieGhost? When Swayze sits in Whoopi Goldberg’s room and sings, ‘I am Henry the Eighth’?”

I nodded, not understanding where this could be going.

“Well, imagine the song being sung. As a round. By Harley Quinn and an ancient tone-deaf sea witch.”

“Sounds unpleasant.”

She nodded. “They only stopped because—”

She was cut off as dead flowers rained down around us.

“Oh boo, Gladys. You’re just jealous of all my gentleman callers... I don’t care if he looks like a sailor you used to know. You always say that... Ghosts and ghouls, don’t make me come over there and wash your mouth out.”

At that point, there were some obscene gestures and some downright weird moves. I assumed some turf war or long-standing grudge was playing out its new iteration. Eventually Jacinth swept up all the dead flowers in a fist and shook them in the general direction they had originated from.

“Well, I’m going to get my necromancer to bring these back to life, and then I’ll have beautiful fresh flowers on my grave while you have nothing but weeds!”

She sniffed in triumph and dropped beside me, quietly murmuring, “Please don’t tell her that Orion isn’t interested in me. She’ll never let me live it down... well... you know what I mean.”

“Your secret’s safe with me.”

She turned and grinned at me, her face softening some after the great flower battle. Gently, she knocked her shoulder into mine.

“So tell me. Who is Skyler? I feel like I’ve learned a bit about Niko, and I don’t know how much more I need to know about Orion, but I feel like I know nothing about you.”

I frowned for a moment. “Orion is much deeper than he seems. He has been through a lot in his life—”

“I didn’t ask about Orion. I asked about you.”

“Right. Okay, well, I’m the youngest of the three of us, Orion’s the necromancer, strongest in the world, and then there’s Niko. Well, you better than anyone can see how powerful a medium he is—”

“Sky.” Her voice was gentle. So was the hand she laid against my elbow. “I know about your brothers. What about you?”

I thought. What came to me wasn’t flashy, it wasn’t even something I wanted to look too deeply at.

“I am no one. An observer. I am here and gone. I am present in what has, and what will happen, but not a participant.”

“So who are you?”

“I... I don’t know.”

CHAPTER 19

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