“Hello, hello, hello!” she called as she hit the bottom of the stairs. She crossed her arms and nodded. “Bola.”
“Delta,” Bola said. “Thank you for letting us drop in.”
“And which of you is the resident genie?” There was a disconcerting gleam in Delta’s eyes.
“I am.” Eden stuck out a hand the way she’d learned to do when she met new people on Earth, but Delta ignored it.
“Are you wearing a wig?” she asked, staring unapologetically. Her eye sockets were enormous.
“Oh, yeah.” Eden had almost forgotten she didn’t need it anymore. She slid the beret and the brown bob off her head, pulled the elastic out of her hair, and shook it out.
“My, my,” Delta said. She grinned, and Eden saw that the gap between her front teeth was as wide as ever. “I can’t wait to pick your brain.”
“I’m Pepper,” Pepper spoke up. “Pleased to meet you.” Eden could tell that, despite the circumstances, she was trying her very best to be polite.
The gray thing whizzed by again.
“Frederick!” This time, Delta reached out and swiped it out of the air. She opened her cupped hands to reveal a tiny bird.
“Is that a zebra finch?” Eden asked. What had looked like a gray blur was actually the finch’s striped white-and-black pattern. The orange color on its cheeks meant it was a male.
“Yes—very good.” Delta rubbed the back of her index finger along the bird’s side. “One of my boys. This one’s a troublemaker. Oh, hello there.” She was smiling at a random spot on the floor.
Bola cleared her throat. “Will we be staying upstairs?”
Delta seemed to rejoin them in reality. “Yes, yes. Come with me.”
As the three of them followed her up the stairs, Pepper and Eden exchanged a wide-eyed look.
“I have two rooms for guests,” Delta said, indicating them once they’d reached the second floor.
“Eden and I will take one,” Pepper said. “You can have the other one, Bola.”
“The pets and I live on the third floor.” Delta pointed to another staircase. On this one, the carpet was worn away almost completely.
Eden shivered. She hoped there wouldn’t be any need for her to go up there.
“Freshen up, and then come downstairs,” Delta said. “Dinner will be served in ten minutes.”
Eden was surprised, because she hadn’t smelled anything cooking. Still, she was glad to hear there would be food. She followed Pepper into their bedroom.
Peeling wallpaper in a dull blue floral print covered the walls. In the center of the room was a saggy bed with a yellowy comforter. A scraggly teddy bear with creepy eyes slumped against the pillows, but Pepper immediately took it by the arm and tossed it off. She kneeled on the floor and opened her suitcase.
“Want to change?” she asked. “I brought some of your clothes.”
But Eden couldn’t pretend everything was normal. Something had been nagging at her for the past half hour.
“Pepper,” she said, “why did you ask Bola to come?”
Pepper looked up from the suitcase.
“I thought that you and I could take care of this together. Now that Bola’s involved, it changes everything,” Eden continued.
Pepper got off the floor and sat cross-legged on the bed. The mattress gave a weird groan and sank down where she sat.
For the first time, Eden noticed how tired Pepper looked. Beneath her eyes were dark circles, and although Eden was sure nothing in the world could take away their sparkle, it definitely wasn’t as bright as before.
“Eden,” Pepper said, “last night when you didn’t come back, I was terrified. I waited for hours. I tried messaging the masters, but my messages wouldn’t go through. I knew something was very wrong.” She swallowed. “Xavier and Goldie had told me that if something ever came up that they couldn’t help with, I should get in touch with Bola. So I did.”
“But now that Bola knows I’m living on Earth, everything’s going to be different. Once we get the lamp back, I want it to be you and me again, back in New York.” Eden fought to keep her voice from shaking. “Like it was.”
“It will be,” Pepper insisted. “But we can’t do this alone. We need help.” She took a breath. “Look, I know Bola isn’t your favorite person. Frankly, she’s not mine either.” Pepper whispered this part, and made a funny face. “But she’s going to help us.”
“I guess so,” said Eden reluctantly.
“Why don’t you change your clothes, and then we’ll see what Delta’s made for dinner? Hopefully it’ll be fresher than this house.” Pepper stuck out her tongue.
As she changed into a T-shirt and cotton shorts in the bathroom, Eden hoped with all her might that Pepper was right.
Hopefully, Bola wasn’t going to cause more harm than good.
If anything, Delta’s dinner was a little too fresh. Once they’d sat around the table in the dining room downstairs, she served each of them what looked like a thick, raw hamburger patty topped with an egg yolk.
“Steak tartare,” she said proudly. “A Parisian specialty. Bon appétit!”
Eden looked down at it dubiously. She liked steak, but she’d always eaten it cooked.
“I filled Delta in,” Bola said. The raw meat didn’t seem to bother her at all; she dug right in.
Eden poked the egg yolk with her fork. The yellow orb started to ooze onto the meat.
“The resident genie, living here on Earth. I never would have dreamed of this.” When Delta grinned, the gap between her front teeth made her look like a jack-o’-lantern. Frederick and another zebra finch sat on her right shoulder, pecking at one another.
“Let’s focus on the matter at hand,” Bola said.
“The way I see it,” Pepper said, “we’ve got to get the lamp back from Brightly’s lab. We’ll figure out how to remove the plasma shield; then Eden can make a request for reentry.” Pepper seemed as hesitant as Eden about the tartare; she hadn’t taken a bite yet either.
Eden felt an unexpected blast of warm air on her leg. She looked down but saw nothing. She scratched the spot with the heel of her other foot.
“So first, we plan an operation to get into Brightly’s lab,” Bola said. “Eden, what type of security do they have?”
“I’m not sure,” Eden said, trying to remember. “But I’m guessing it’s pretty advanced. Everything looked really high-tech, and they controlled things using electronic tablets. Like that magnetic force that kept me stuck in the chair.” She smushed the tines of her fork into the tartare, making it flat and wide like a pancake.
“Well, we’re not dealing with amateurs,” Bola said. “Eden, stop playing with your food.” Eden speared a tiny bit of meat and put it in her mouth. Actually, it wasn’t bad.
“Are there Loyals whose powers can help us?” Pepper asked.
Eden got a surge of giddy curiosity. She’d always wanted to know this stuff. “Yeah! Do you guys know everyone’s powers?”
Bola cleared her throat importantly and threw her shoulders back. “As you know, an alum’s thousandth wish is secret unless she chooses to share it. However, many Loyal alumni have chosen to confide in me, in case any powers or skills they acquired might be useful for the cause.”
“Tell me!” Eden said. “I want to know them all!”
Bola shot Eden a glare cold enough to cause frostbite. “I can’t help thinking that sharing this information is highly inappropriate.” She sighed. “However, I suppose it’s necessary.”
“So?” Pepper asked. “Who’s going to help us? Are other Loyals on their way?”
“No. We don’t need anyone who’s not in this room,” Bola said. “Which is for the best. I’d prefer for the other Loyals not to know what’s going on. A few of them saw Brightly’s announcement and have already contacted me, but I’ve told them the situation is under control.”
“Why?” Eden asked. It seemed strange, considering Bola had called them all to San Diego a couple weeks earlier.
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“They’d go into an uproar if they knew the entrance to the lamp was blocked. And anyway, Xavier and Goldie didn’t want everyone to know that Eden’s living on Earth. And I always respect their wishes.” She eyed the others around the table. “So. This remains between us four.”
“But how will we do it?” Pepper asked, looking puzzled.
“Well, Delta will be crucial.”
Eden looked at Delta. She seemed to have checked out of the conversation, and was letting the finches on her shoulder nibble from her fork. She might as well have been on another planet.
How was she going to be helpful? Next to Eden, Pepper looked doubtful too.
“When Delta retired,” Bola said, “she wished for the ability to make things invisible.”
“Only one thing at a time,” Delta said, without taking her eyes off the finches. Apparently she was listening after all.
“Really?” Eden asked. “What do you use that for?”
Delta turned from the birds to a spot on the floor next to Eden. Suddenly, a high-pitched bark pierced the air. Eden screamed and leapt up from her chair. Below her was a golden retriever puppy.
“That’s Trevor. He wants your tartare. Better eat up,” Delta said.
Pepper had leapt up too. “How long has he been there?” she sputtered.
“Since we sat down,” Delta said calmly.
“But I didn’t hear him either!” Eden exclaimed.
“That’s because I don’t just make things invisible to the eyes. I make them invisible to the ear as well,” Delta said. “You can feel them and smell them, but you can’t see or hear them.”
“I thought I felt something breathing on me down there.” Eden leaned down and scratched Trevor behind the ears. Now that he was visible, she could see how adorable he was.
“Have you been able to see him?” Pepper asked.
“Of course.” Delta clapped her hands, and Trevor came bounding over.
“I figured you had something hiding in here,” Bola muttered.
Eden and Pepper sat down again. “So you’re thinking if we can get Delta into the lab, she can make the lamp invisible and smuggle it out?” Pepper asked.
“Something along those lines,” Bola said.
“You won’t be able to smuggle it out with that plasma shield protecting it,” Eden said. “I know we’re all immortal, but that pain was insane. We’ll have to figure out how to remove the plasma shield in the lab.”
Bola cleared her throat. “That won’t be a problem.”
“What do you mean?” Eden asked.
Bola sighed. “I don’t like sharing this. Again, I must request that you keep this information between us.”
“What?”
Bola cleared her throat. “I don’t feel pain,” she said.
Eden raised her eyebrows. Beside her, Pepper’s eyes widened.
“Like, at all?”
“No,” Bola said. “It was part of my thousandth wish.” Eden had never seen her as uncomfortable as she seemed now.
“Whoa,” Pepper said softly.
“Like, emotional pain too?” Eden asked. That would explain a few things.
“No!” Bola scoffed. “Of course I feel pain emotionally. Do you think I’m a monster?”
Eden zipped her mouth shut.
“The point is, I won’t have a problem removing the lamp from the plasma shield. Now can we move on?” As much as Bola liked taking charge, she sure didn’t seem to like talking about herself.
“Okay,” said Pepper, shrugging. “Then it sounds like we have a plan. Or the start of one, at least. When is this going to happen?”
“As soon as possible,” Bola said. “Eden, we can find the location of Brightly Tech online. Can you tell us how to get to the lab once we’re inside the building?”
“Negative.”
Bola threw back her head in exasperation.
“Sorry! I was in those two rooms the whole time, so I never saw any other part of the building. I know it was high up, because I fell a really long way when I jumped. But I couldn’t tell you what level we were on, or how to get there. I was a little traumatized, if you know what I mean.”
“Not a worry,” Pepper said cheerfully. “We’ll figure it out once we get there.”
“Hmmmm.” Delta’s voice wavered between pitches in a spooky melody. “I don’t think so.” She shook her head emphatically, her bird’s nest of hair flying out in all directions. “Not if we don’t know where to go.”
“Well, what’s the alternative?” Bola asked.
Delta held her plate below the table so Trevor could lick the remains.
“I could go to Brightly Tech tomorrow morning,” Pepper said. “I’ll feed them a false tip about Eden’s whereabouts! Trust me, I know how to play a role. Then, I can check out the building’s layout from inside.”
“You can’t show your face in there, Pepper,” Bola snapped. “We’re dealing with the world’s most powerful tech mogul.”
“So?”
“You’re all over social media!” Bola rolled her eyes. “I don’t understand how no one’s figured out you’ve had ten different names.”
“Seven.” Pepper crossed her arms and pouted.
“I’m also too visible,” Bola said. “God knows what I could be traced to. I’ve held a few prominent positions in my day.”
Eden made a mental note to ask Pepper about that later.
“You think he could connect you to those?” she asked.
“Of course. The way they tracked Eden today proves he can access anything.” She eyed them one by one. “By the way, I hope you’ve turned your cell phones off. Obviously, it’s not safe for us to use them until we’ve retrieved the lamp.”
“Oh, right. Good point,” said Pepper. She pulled hers out of her pocket and powered it off. “I brought Eden’s here, too, but it hasn’t been on since I left New York.”
“I’ve never had a cell phone,” Delta said.
Bola’s eyes rested on Delta. “That’s true. You could go to Brightly Tech, Delta.”
Delta twitched her nose and blinked rapidly.
“Why could Delta go?” Eden asked.
“She’s completely off the grid,” Bola said. “I had to call the house’s landline to reach her today.”
“I’ve never even touched a computer,” said Delta, wide-eyed.
“Me neither, until this morning,” Eden reassured her.
“Okay then,” Pepper said. “Delta will go tomorrow morning, and try to find the best way to get to that lab.”
“Wait,” Eden said. “Delta, can you make people disappear?”
She nodded rapidly. “Yes, of course.”
Eden’s toes tapped excitedly on the floor. “Why don’t I go with her? If Delta makes me disappear, I can sneak around and learn more.”
“Absolutely not,” Bola said. “You’re the one they’re all searching for.”
“But they wouldn’t be able to see me! Only Delta could.”
“No. If anyone’s going to go invisible and do recon, it should be me or Pepper.”
“But you weren’t there before,” Eden said. “I was! Like I said, I can’t tell you how to get to the place where they had me—but if I go there, I’m sure I can find it.”
“Bola,” Pepper said, “she has a point. You and I wouldn’t be as effective. We wouldn’t know what we were looking for.”
“But look at her track record,” Bola said, gesturing toward Eden. “She’s shown herself to be far from responsible. And besides that, she’s a child.”
“What did I tell you?” That defiant spark was back in Pepper’s eyes. “Don’t condescend to Eden. We’re all working together on this.”
“Bola, look,” Eden said. She leaned forward and gazed right into Bola’s ice-cold eyes. “I may feel pain, but I’m still immortal. No one can really hurt me. The worst they could do is trap me again—but they can’t even do that if they can’t see or hear me.” She swallowed. “I’ll be just like a ghost. Right, D
elta?”
“Exactly,” Delta whispered. Her eyes were enormous as she nodded. “You’ll be a ghost.”
“I don’t like the idea of sending her back in there either,” Pepper said. “Of course I don’t. But I do trust Eden. She’s a smart kid, and this is a smart idea.”
Eden’s cheeks warmed with pride.
Bola looked from Pepper to Delta, and then, finally, at Eden. She sighed dramatically. “Fine. I can’t believe I’m agreeing to this.”
“Trust me,” Eden said. “I won’t let you down.”
Trevor barked.
“Trevor agrees,” said Delta. And even Bola had to laugh.
A few arrondissements away, the inner circle of Electra assembled at headquarters.
They met in the third-floor executive boardroom. Eight white leather office chairs surrounded a polished walnut table. Remote-controlled wood-paneled walls could slide open to expose an exquisite view of Avenue Montaigne through full-length windows; but tonight, they were closed. Real Electra meetings—not the ones about art and auctions, but the ones about the lamp—were rare, shrouded in secrecy, and always, like this one, held at night.
Normally, gossip and laughter preceded board meetings, but tonight only nervous whispers floated through the air.
“Ladies,” Sylvana said, “let us begin.”
She was sitting at the table’s head, of course, wearing a sleek black pantsuit and killer pumps. Her lengths of gold hair were wound into a no-nonsense bun, and burgundy lipstick made even her mouth look dangerous.
Violet was sitting on her right side. She’d made sure to be the first one in the room so she could claim the coveted seat.
“Thank you all for making your way here on such short notice,” Sylvana said. “Though I wouldn’t expect anything less from my inner circle.” Indeed, almost all of the key Electric were here: Violet, Athena, Kingsley, Monroe, Julianna, and Heloise. Sylvana had sent them a tersely worded e-mail, informing them that their presence was required. Only Zoe was missing; she’d stayed in San Diego to keep an eye on the Rockwell family.
Heloise was the newest addition to this group. She sat across from Violet, on Sylvana’s other side. Heloise had been a member of Electra in the early 1900s, but she’d left after a disagreement with Sylvana that Violet didn’t know much about. About a year ago she’d come crawling back, and had quickly managed to weasel her way into the inner circle.
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