Page 30 of Looking for Love in All the Haunted Places
Voice lowered, Georgia said, “You need to tell Xander about this. He’ll want to know.”
Stephen nodded, exhaling irritation.
Chase asked Lucky, “Are you really okay?”
“Totally fine.” She regarded him for a moment—he was wearing a dark gold long-sleeve top. “That’s a lovely shirt. The color looks fantastic on you.”
Georgia said, “You do understand that this is definitive proof that the house is targeting you, right? I sincerely hope you can handle what comes next because it’s going to try to take you out.”
“I appreciate your concern but I’m not leaving. So.”
“You say that now, but no one makes it past the third night for a reason.”
“Which is?”
Georgia hesitated, glancing at Stephen, who had nothing to say.
Lucky sighed theatrically. “Look, if you’re not going to tell me, stop bringing it up. Whatever is gonna happen, is gonna happen and I’ll deal. But I’m not leaving.” She turned on her heel, pleated skirt twirling as she walked away to join Maverick and Rebel.
Behind her, Georgia muttered, “Famous last words.”
Lucky volunteered to put the groceries away while Maverick and Rebel began cooking. The refrigerator had been stocked with the foods she requested during her onboarding. Basic items like bread, cheese, milk, eggs, and tofu. Pasta, cereal, and ramen had been stored in the pantry and there was also a full spice rack. She’d been on her own awhile and yet had never quite mastered the art of feeding herself. A compulsive snacker by nature, she often didn’t realize she needed to eat something besides Hot Cheetos until she was starving, and by that point her food had to be cooked as quickly as possible.
Rebel must have been in charge of the grocery trip. The team had purchased juice boxes, chips, fruit snacks, oatmeal cookies, and maple syrup. Kind of adorable the way they all doted on her, even after her stunt yesterday.
Growing up, if she’d done anything like that…she shook her head to clear the memories away. She didn’t get to choose her parents. They didn’t get handbooks on how to be perfectcaregivers. They gave her what they could, and she appreciated them for it, but that was as far as their relationship went these days.
Lucky watched as Georgia sidled up beside Maverick, asking, “Ooh, can I have a triangle pancake?”
“Why a triangle?”
“Seemed like it would be difficult. Gotta keep you on your toes, Super Dad.”
Maverick scoffed and continued cooking. “Any other special requests?”
Stephen and Chase had already settled in at the dining room table, sharing the laptop between them. They both shook their heads, barely sparing him a glance.
About twenty minutes later, Maverick finished making the heart-shaped pancakes, which were apparently Rebel’s favorite, and placed one single triangle pancake onto Georgia’s plate.
“Now, that’s just rude. Show-off—you gotta be kidding me. Why does this taste so good?”
“Secret daddy recipe,” Rebel said, happily drenching her pancakes in syrup. Maverick settled into the seat next to her.
“Lucky,” Stephen began. “We were hoping we could talk about your interview yesterday.”
All eyes were on her. Just as she’d planned. “What about it?”
“You made a fairly interesting claim regarding having ESP. I’d love to hear more.”
“Not a claim,” she clarified, smiling. “Not a party trick. Not a hoax.” After thorough experimentation and research, she’d decided her personal flavor of ESP was a mixture of the following abilities:
Advanced explicit memory—her complex storage system of information
Eidetic memory—total recall of every first impression she’d read
Mild synesthesia—some cores and intentions had a smell
Temporary empathic absorption—short-term internalization of outside emotions
