Although completely disarmed, it still would not deter Evie. She looked at Aleiya, appraising her for a moment. Then realization hit her, holding her chin with a finger and thumb.

  “Oh! I see! It’s a Crystal Forest kinda thing.”

  She patted herself down, rummaging through each pocket. She was careful not to crumple her gift from her new Auntie.

  “Fairies and their weird customs, am I right?” She mumbled to herself with complete, unearned confidence before finally settling on something buried deep within her jacket pocket.

  “Perfect! Here! This is for you!” Evie gave her a toothy smile, her fangs glinting in the light.

  Aleiya took a look at it.

  She had no idea what the strange object was, but the woman seemed… proud of it? So it must be important in some way. It was plastic, she knew that much, but didn’t know exactly what it was. A long thin tube with some sort of metal clip on one end and a point at the other.

  She took it gingerly into her hand, making sure not to touch the overly exuberant woman. Aleiya examined it closer, the point had ink on it.

  What was she supposed to do with it?

  “Nice, right? Got my hands on that bad boy when I went spelunking in one of those Old World markets.” She snapped her fingers trying to find the word.

  “What’s it called? What’s it called? Oh! The mall!” She waited for the thank yous and the praise, but when they didn’t come another moment of realization hit her.

  “Oh, right! You have NO idea what this is. Silly me.” With an unwavering smile, she dramatically paused.

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  “It’s a pen!” She announced proudly, taking another out from one of her pockets. She took the cap off of hers, then scribbled on her hand, leaving blue marks on her palm.

  “See? Has a ball point and everything! I even refilled it with my own ink.” She held up two fingers. “For 20 bels each I can get you more refills!”

  Sullivan slowly tilted his head. Stared at her. And then crushed her hand in his grip.

  “OW! Okay! Okay!” Evie punched Sullivan’s hand over and over, trying, failing, to make him let go.

  She held up two fingers once again.

  “Two bels! Just two! No profit at ALL—out of the goodness of my own heart!”

  She pressed her whole palm into her chest to emphasize just how enormous said muscle was.

  “The sheer generosity! The self-sacrifice! Saint Everest is what they call me in these streets!” Evie was brought to her knees, her penance well deserved.

  He let go.

  Evie cradled her wounded hand, sticking her tongue out incredulously at Sullivan as she smoothly rose to her feet. Unrepentant.

  Then a small sound, a puff of air really, escaped Aleiya.

  She smiled despite herself, trying to hide it with the back of her hands, the pen still held in her fingers. It brought the attention of the other two to her. Sullivan blinked in quiet surprise. The sound of Aleiya’s quiet, twinkling giggles felt like tiny bubbles bursting in his chest.

  Evie’s big toothy smile was back in full force.

  Her thumb and finger at her chin, “Why, yes, Princess! My comedic genius is not only famous, but world-renowned! I shall permit thee to laugh at your leisure.”

  She glanced out of the corner of her eye.

  Those pupil-less, pearl-like mirrors shimmered in the low light, catching the lamp’s yellowish glow. They didn’t reflect the room as it was, not exactly. More like how it might appear in a dream—cleaner, quieter, suspended in a hush no one dared break.

  Like stardust catching the light as it hovered in the air.

  Those eyes should have been eerie. Alien. And maybe to most people, they were. But not to Evie. Instead she saw a quiet warmth resting behind that gaze, unassuming but deep.

  A slow, unfamiliar stir. A small breeze through a long sealed room. She didn’t know what to call it—only that it made her chest feel too full and too empty all at once.

  Familiar. Familial.

  And Evie, who had never been good at naming her feelings, didn’t know what to do with it. Except make it hers somehow. The usual Drakovich response.

  Evie took another moment to appraise her. Then shifted her gaze back to her Uncle. With a flick of her ink-black hair, she held up 2 fingers.

  “I’ll give you 200 bels for her.”

  Evie was cast out of her uncle’s office.

  The door slammed shut in her face.

  “Come on! She’s too pretty for you anyway!” She kicked the door before leaving.