Eden's Escape

by M. Tara Crowl

  Violet nodded. “I need to remember that there are other things out there in the world. Good things.” She threw her shoulders back. “I officially resign.”

  Eden had to suppress a cheer. She still didn’t care for the other Electric, but she’d developed a soft spot for Violet.

  Sylvana’s honey-colored hair had gone limp, and her lipstick was smeared. Standing alone against the wall, she was a smaller, more pitiful version of her former self.

  “But what will I do?” she said softly.

  “You could keep Electra operating,” Goldie suggested. “Run it as a normal auction house.”

  Sylvana sniffed.

  “Sylvana, let me tell you something,” Goldie said. “Actually, this goes for all of you.” The eyes of every genie alum turned to her—Electric and Loyal. “Some of you have represented this legacy poorly. Some of you have been devious and vengeful. Some of you have even removed your genie bracelets.” She paused for a moment and closed her eyes. That one seemed to hurt her the most. “But. You are still genie alumni. And do you know what that means?”

  Eden smiled. She knew exactly what was coming.

  “Each and every one of you is graceful, brilliant, and terribly beautiful.”

  Eden looked at Violet, in jeans, a T-shirt, and a floppy topknot.

  Then at Monroe, who, for once, was staring soberly rather than scowling.

  At Kingsley, in her blue mermaid dress.

  At Delta, with her huge eyes, frizzy hair, and the gap between her teeth.

  And the others: Bola, Pepper, and Sylvana.

  Each of them was a part of this legacy, too.

  “Don’t you ever, ever forget that,” said Goldie.

  Pepper put her arm around Eden’s shoulders and gave her a squeeze.

  “Now then! What do you say we carry on with our lives?” Goldie sniffed. “I’m going to turn into a pumpkin soon.”

  The former Electric started trickling out, though some of them stopped to say goodbye to Goldie first. As the last one made her exit, Goldie’s eyes settled on Eden and Pepper. “Not you two, of course. I promised Xavier he could do the post-granting assessment. As soon as I’m back in the lamp, he’ll be on his way.”

  “That didn’t cover it?” Eden asked.

  “Of course not! This is Xavier we’re talking about.” Goldie’s eyes twinkled. “Goodbye, my beauties!” She held the lamp out with the spout facing her, and there was a flash of light. When the lab faded to darkness again, she was gone.

  Tyler came back through the door. “David Brightly has left the building,” he announced. He looked around. “Where’d Goldie go?”

  “Back in the lamp,” Eden said. “But now—”

  There was another flash of light. This one brought Xavier.

  Even fresh out of the lamp, he was as elegant as ever. His dark hair was slicked back, his mustache was pencil-thin, and one eyebrow was raised coyly.

  “Hello, Eden, Pepper,” he greeted them. “Bola. Delta, good to see you. And…” His eyes rested on Tyler.

  “Now,” Eden said, “you get to meet Xavier.”

  Tyler approached him respectfully. “Hello, sir. It’s an honor to meet you,” he said.

  Xavier raised his eyebrows at Eden. Pepper’s grin couldn’t have been any wider. “And you as well, my boy,” he said. He took Tyler’s outstretched hand and gave it a good, strong shake.

  Xavier turned to Delta. “Delta, you have a house here in Paris, correct? Would you be so kind as to host us for a short meeting?”

  “Sure,” Delta said. Her eyes were massive as she nodded. “My car’s parked outside.”

  “Very good.” Xavier tugged at his mustache. “Now, what are the chances we could find a good Parisian baguette at this hour?”

  Delta’s pets seemed to love Xavier almost as much as they loved Delta, so they swarmed the dinner table while the humans ate the bread and cheese they’d tracked down. Then, even though it was the middle of the night, Tyler and Bola joined Delta to take Trevor on a walk. Eden suspected that they were also trying to give her, Pepper, and Xavier privacy for the assessment.

  Once they were alone, Eden and Pepper told him everything. It had turned into quite a story, and there were parts that Eden was nervous to tell. She expected him to scold her for setting the lab on fire, but she was wrong.

  “That was quick thinking,” he said. “You knew you had to get out of there, and you found a way to do it.”

  When she was done, he sat back in his chair and touched his fingertips together. “The world is changing,” he said. “Much more rapidly than ever before. It seems technology on Earth has advanced to the point that it’s nearly as powerful as the lamp’s magic. In some ways, maybe it’s even more powerful.” He shook his head. “I’ve been remiss. I refused to acknowledge the importance of these advancements. I didn’t equip you with the knowledge you needed.”

  Eden felt all mixed up. Hearing Xavier admit he was wrong was really disconcerting. “It all worked out in the end,” she assured him.

  “Yes, it did. And for that, we are fortunate.” Xavier tugged on his moustache. “But we have to do better.”

  “What do we do?” Pepper asked.

  “We adapt,” he answered decisively. “Pepper, when you’re back in New York, you must enroll Eden in a school with mortals. She’s got to see what the world is truly like. No shielding her from it anymore.”

  A school with mortals. Eden swallowed. It was going to be different than Pepper’s school of street smarts. But Xavier was right: it was time.

  “Are you going to tell the other alumni that Eden is living on Earth?” Pepper asked.

  Xavier pondered that. “I will if they ask,” he said at last. “Although we wanted to keep it quiet, quite a few alumni know at this point. The others will most likely have seen Brightly’s search for Eden in the news. Now that the spout is unsealed once again, I won’t be surprised if questions come our way. And I won’t lie to our genies.”

  “Xavier,” Eden said, “do you really think Sylvana is done being evil?”

  “It seems she doesn’t have a choice,” Xavier said. “She’s lost her followers. And if she tells every person she meets that she wants to use them to find a genie lamp and take its power—well, I’d imagine it would be hard for her to find new ones.”

  “So is it safe to say Electra is no longer a threat?” Pepper asked hopefully.

  “It seems to me that Electra may very well go on as a successful auction house. And in that, I wish Sylvana the best. I really do.” Xavier smiled slyly. “I attended an auction there once, out of curiosity. I wore a big hat and sat in the back of the room. I must say, I was impressed.”

  Eden remembered how, in New York, she’d wondered whether Xavier had ever sat in on one of Pepper’s shows. As she watched Pepper’s lips curl up into a quiet smile, she had a hunch that Pepper was wondering the same thing. But neither of them asked. Some questions, Eden supposed, were better left unasked.

  Just then, Delta, Bola, Tyler, and Trevor burst through the front door.

  “Perfect timing,” Xavier said. “Delta, you’ve been an excellent host, but I must return to the homestead.”

  Each of the women hugged him goodbye, and Tyler shook his hand.

  “It seems my Eden has found some very good friends in you and your sister,” Xavier said.

  “She’s been a very good friend to us,” Tyler said.

  Finally, it was Eden’s turn to say goodbye.

  “Until the next granting, my dear,” said Xavier. “Whenever that may be. Au revoir!” With a salute and a flash of light, he was gone—and so was the lamp. Already, they were off to a new, unknown location somewhere on Earth.

  It was sort of a relief to know that some things never changed.

  The next morning, not even the squawks and barks of Delta’s menagerie could awaken Eden and Pepper. They slept past noon, and stirred only when the cat leapt onto the bed and nestled between them.

  Pepper woke up giggling
. “There’s a cat in this house too?”

  “Oh yeah. We met last night,” Eden said, rubbing behind its ears to make it purr.

  The cat must have crept through the splintery new hole in the door to their bedroom. Just as Eden had expected, Jane and Jean Luc had kicked it in after she’d escaped through the window.

  A knock came at the door, followed by the sound of a throat being cleared.

  “May I come in?” asked Bola.

  Eden and Pepper glanced at each other with raised eyebrows. Eden sat up straight and crossed her legs. “Sure.”

  Bola was dressed in black leather from head to toe, and her magenta lipstick had been freshly applied. “I’ve got to jet off,” she said. “But first I want to say something.” She took a few steps forward and sat stiffly at the foot of the bed. “I’m…sorry.” The words came out unnaturally, like this might be the first time she’d ever said them. “After yesterday’s trip to Brightly Tech, I suppose I was a bit…harsh.”

  Under the covers, Pepper squeezed Eden’s hand.

  Bola’s eyebrows furrowed. “I’m not heartless, you know. In fact, I feel things very strongly. Perhaps that’s why…” She trailed off.

  “You wanted to protect the lamp so badly?” Eden prompted.

  “And you. I wanted to protect you,” she said fiercely. Bola looked into Eden’s eyes, and for the first time, Eden saw past her diamond-hard shell. She saw that beneath it was a sense of loyalty so strong, it took precedence over things that most people valued. Things like tact, and convention, and convenience.

  Bola might not be Eden’s favorite person now, or ever. But just like Pepper had promised, she had helped them. And Eden would never hesitate to trust her again.

  “We never could have saved the lamp without you,” Eden said. “I’m glad you came. I really mean that.”

  Bola’s face softened. “Thank you for that,” she said. For a moment Eden thought she was going to say more—or maybe, possibly, even hug her.

  But neither of those things happened. She was still Bola, after all. In a flash, she was on her feet.

  “I’ll miss my flight if I dawdle any longer,” she said. “Pepper, Eden. Until next time.”

  “Happy trails!” Pepper called behind her, waving. When Bola was gone, she turned to Eden. “Well!” she marveled. “What do you think of that?”

  Once they were dressed, Pepper and Eden went downstairs to the living room, where Tyler had slept. He and Delta were playing with the pets—which included another dog and a few new birds. They seemed to multiply by the day.

  “Sorry we slept so late,” Eden said.

  “That’s okay,” Tyler said. “I doubt I’ll ever have another chance to play with pets that disappear and reappear.” Another bird appeared to join the one already on his arm, and he laughed. Delta winked at Eden.

  “We should probably leave today,” Pepper said. “Unless you two want to stay in Paris longer?”

  “I wish I could, but I should get back to San Diego,” Tyler said. “I talked to my dad this morning. He’s pretty mad. But he’s glad you’re okay, Eden.”

  “Do you have money to buy a flight?” Eden asked.

  “We’ll figure it out.” Tyler shrugged and smiled. “He gave me a credit card number to use.”

  “Nonsense,” said Pepper. “Your trip is on us.”

  “Oh, no. I couldn’t—”

  Pepper held up a hand to stop him. “Yes, you will! And also, the masters insist on flying you, your sister, and your father to New York to visit us—as soon as you’re able.”

  “No way!” Tyler said, looking at Eden excitedly.

  “Really, Pepper?” Eden was ecstatic.

  “Of course! It seems Tyler made a very good impression on them.” Pepper winked.

  “I’d love to…but I don’t know if my dad will go for that,” Tyler said.

  “Well, let’s get him on the phone.”

  They set up a video chat like the one Brightly had used in the car when Eden was invisible. Eden got to talk to Sasha face-to-face, and Pepper got to meet both her and Mr. Rockwell. In California it was very early in the morning, but the Rockwells didn’t seem to mind.

  Pepper’s irrepressible charm worked even through a tiny screen sending her image across the world. A few minutes later, she’d convinced Mr. Rockwell to fly out with Tyler and Sasha the following Friday, which happened to be the start of Labor Day weekend. Pepper used her phone to book their flights, as well as flights for that evening to New York for her and Eden, and to San Diego for Tyler.

  By then, it was time for them to pack and head for the airport.

  “I would drive you,” Delta said, “but I don’t think the pets would appreciate it. I’ve spent more time away from them in the past two days than I usually do in months.”

  They assured her it was all right, and got a cab.

  Eden had never been in a plane before, or even in an airport. When they got there, she was surprised to see how hectic and confusing it was. Outside, people zigzagged across the pavement, pulling suitcases on wheels or hefting duffel bags over their shoulders.

  Once they entered through the sliding glass doors, counters stretched along the walls inside, below signs emblazoned with airline names. A line of impatient-looking mortals snaked in front of each counter.

  They had to pass through security, which was like what she’d done at the Empire State Building, but more complicated. Here, you had to take off your shoes and put them in a bin that rode down a conveyor belt to be X-rayed. People with computers had to take them out and place them in separate bins. Luckily, Eden only had her backpack.

  But before they got to the belts and the bins, they had to show their tickets and identification to security guards at the entrance. When Eden showed her passport, the young security guard did a double take. “Aren’t you the girl everyone was looking for?” he asked.

  Before they’d booked their flights, they’d checked to make sure Brightly followed through with his end of the agreement with Goldie. Sure enough, the morning news was dominated by Brightly’s announcement that the search for Eden had been a hoax, and was over.

  “Yes,” Eden said to the security guard. “That’s me.”

  “Wow!” he said. “So it was all a lie! Why would David Brightly make that up?”

  Eden shook her head and smiled. “I guess you’d have to ask him.”

  After security, they had to say goodbye to Tyler.

  Pepper stood on her tiptoes and hugged him. “It was a true pleasure to meet you, Tyler,” she said. “Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to shop for some airplane reading in that store over there.” She wiggled her eyebrows at Eden as she left them alone.

  Eden and Tyler stood against a wall to be out of the way of the people rushing down the hall. Tyler shook his hair out of his face. “I hate saying goodbye to you,” he said. “But at least this time I know I’m going to see you again.”

  Being this close to him made Eden dizzy. “I still can’t believe you came all the way here,” she said.

  “I think I’d do anything for you.” Tyler took her hands, and a shiver ran down her spine.

  She swallowed. “I—”

  But before she could say anything, he leaned forward and kissed her cheek, as close to her lips as possible without touching them. Blood rushed to her head, and her body throbbed with happiness. The world had gone all wobbly and wonderful.

  She realized he was waiting anxiously to see her reaction. When she smiled, he broke into a big smile too. “Okay,” he said. “I have to go. But I’ll see you soon.”

  “Very soon,” she agreed.

  When they hugged, he kissed the side of her head where her hair met her face. Then he squeezed her hands one more time, turned, and went down the crowded hall. She watched his gray backpack as he disappeared into the masses. Just before she lost him, he turned one more time and waved.

  When Eden joined Pepper in the shop, her guardian’s arms were full of magazines and chocolate bar
s.

  “Hey, kid,” she said sunnily. “Anything you want to add to the stash?”

  Eden grabbed a bag of gummy bears and a book of crossword puzzles. She was sure her face was red as a cherry, but Pepper didn’t say anything about it. Eden was grateful. She wanted to keep what had just happened locked inside her heart, the way she’d once kept memories of Earth.

  After buying everything, they went to the assigned gate. Their flight was just beginning to board.

  A few minutes later, Eden followed Pepper through a gray tunnel that led to the plane. Their seats were near the back. Pepper told Eden to take the window seat so she could watch the clouds outside.

  “Is this plane smaller than normal?” Eden asked as she slid into it. Her knees nearly touched the back of the seat in front of her.

  Pepper almost choked on her water because she was laughing so hard. “No, this is regular size,” she said. “But I know exactly what you mean.”

  Once everyone had boarded, they were instructed to buckle their seat belts. The flight attendant did a safety demonstration, and finally, the plane started rolling forward. It accelerated faster and faster until it lifted clear off the ground.

  Eden pressed her forehead against the window and watched Paris disappear beneath her. The plane rose through a layer of fluffy white cumulus clouds that obscured Earth’s surface completely, and Eden settled back in her seat.

  She frowned. In the back of her mind was an annoying nagging feeling.

  She was utterly relieved to be on the way back to New York with Pepper, and the fact that Tyler and Sasha would be there soon made things even better.

  And yet, she had the unsettling suspicion there was something she’d missed, or forgotten about.

  “Pepper,” Eden said.

  “Mmm-hmm?” Pepper was absorbed in a magazine. Her hair was in a puff of a ponytail high on her head.

  “Why do you think Jane Johnston left the lab last night? Up till then, she was Brightly’s best friend.”

  Pepper closed her magazine, but kept a finger inside to hold her place. She pursed her lips. “I’m not sure, kiddo. Maybe she wasn’t as good a friend as he thought.”