Page 11 of Shinji Takahashi: Into the Heart of the Storm

“What’s your name?” he asked the boy.

One brow arched in wary surprise. “Why?” the kid asked. “The cops around here already know me. You’re not going to surprise them by turning me in.”

“I wasn’t going to.” So the kid had had dealings with the police before. Shinji wasn’t surprised. “I’m Shinji, by the way,” he went on. “This is Lucy, and hermouseis called Tinker.”

Lucy gave him a look of confused disgust. “What are you doing?” she whispered.

Shinji shrugged. He didn’t really know. He just hoped the exchange of names would get the kid to talk.

The boy gave him a weird, puzzled look, then shrugged. “It’s Roux,” he said, pronouncing the name with a longoosound.

“Why’d you steal Tinker?”

“What? I don’t know.” Roux shrugged again. “It looked cool? I wanted to see what it did? I thought I could outrun a pair of tourists? Take your pick.”

“You could’ve just asked,” Lucy said, still in a stony voice. “I would have let you hold him.”

That made Roux laugh again, but it was a bitter sound now. “Yeah, asking doesn’t get you crap around here.”

“Shinji? Lucy?”

Oliver appeared at the end of the hallway, Phoebe behind him. When Roux saw the two adults, his jaw tightened, and his eyes darted toward the exit behind them. Oliver’s gaze swept over the situation, lingering on Roux, and he raised a knowing eyebrow.

“Everything okay here?” he asked, keeping his eye on Roux. He moved himself to further block the exit from the hallway, in case the new kid decided to bolt. “Shinji, Lucy, you all right? What happened?”

“Ahhh-haaaaaaa!” Phoebe lunged past Oliver, both arms held in front of her in a karate stance. “Are you in danger? Where are the bad guys? Don’t mess with me!” she warned an invisible attacker. “I am trained in Shaolin Kempo, Brazilian jujitsu, and Wing Tzun kung fu!”

“We’re fine,” Shinji blurted before Lucy could say anything. She frowned at him, but he ignored her. “There was just…a misunderstanding. It’s been taken care of.”

“A misunderstanding,” Oliver repeated. He sounded dubious and cast an appraising glance at Roux. Shinji could tell Oliver knew what was going on, but he shook his head and moved aside so he wasn’t blocking the hall anymore. “Well, misunderstanding or no, let’s not take off without

warning in the middle of a strange city, okay? You nearly gave me a heart attack, and we haven’t even left land yet.” He sighed and ran his fingers through his hair. “If I managed to lose you two before we even got on the boat, Priya would never let me hear the end of it.”

“Aw.” Phoebe lowered her arms. “I was hoping we would get a chance to put our fighting skills to the test, Oliver. You and me, battling hordes of bad guys?” She gave the air a dramatic chop. “That would have been amazing!”

“Ah, no, it would not,” Oliver countered with a shudder. “I don’t know what fighting skills you’re talking about, but mine are limited to me flailing about with a cane and hoping I hit something.”

Shinji knew this wasn’t true. Oliver could fightverywell. Their self-defense classes with the ex-pirate proved that. But Oliver also liked to downplay his fighting skills, either to maintain the element of surprise or because he truly despised fighting even though he made it look easy. Shinji didn’t get it, but there was still a lot about Oliver Ocean that was an enigma.

“I would like this trip to not involve any encounters with large scary bad guys, if at all possible,” Oliver continued. “Kids, let’s go.” He turned away and motioned them all out of the corridor. “The ship is waiting for us in the harbor, and Mano has already called to see if we’re on our way.”

Shinji started to follow Oliver but caught Roux’s gaze before he did. The other boy was watching them leave, his

expression unreadable. Once again, Shinji felt that weird sensation inside that wasn’t his; it was as if the Coatl was intrigued by the stranger who had stolen Tinker. He wanted to know more about the kid, but Oliver and the others were already walking away. With a final glance and an apologetic shrug, Shinji hurried after them.

On the long walk back to the harbor, Lucy abruptly and rather aggressively punched him in the arm. “Ow!” Shinji exclaimed, frowning at her while rubbing his bruised shoulder. “What was that for?”

“What do you mean, what was that for?” Lucy scowled back at him, and her angry voice startled him even more than the punch. Lucy rarely became embroiled in an argument. Probably due to her Hightower upbringing, but the angrier she got, the colder and icier her demeanor became. Usually. “That boy stole Tinker!” she went on indignantly. “He would’ve gotten away with it, too, if we didn’t chase him down. Why were you even talking to him?”

“What did you want me to do, punch him in the face?”

“I wouldn’t have complained.”

“It turned out fine,” Shinji pointed out. “We got Tinker back. Besides…”

He trailed off. He was going to say that the magic seemed interested in Roux or maybe it was trying to warn him of danger, but then he noticed Phoebe Mystic watching them over her shoulder. If she heard him mention anything

about the tattoo or the Coatl, she would definitely want to know about it, and Shinji didn’t want to spend the next hour detailing what had happened.

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