She plucked at her shirt. “Can’t you tell?”
Now that she mentioned it, she was dressed strangely. Her jeans were studded with fake diamonds and crisscrossed with zippers. Her shirt had batlike sleeves and diagonal stripes.
“These clothes belonged to Mrs. Unger’s daughters,” she said. “I’ve been wearing them since they were in style.”
Jax stared at her, completely floored. This girl looked only a couple years older than he was, but she’d been living in the Unger house since the eighties. She met his gaze sadly as he took it in. At that moment, Jax would have happily thrown a brick through the window of any store in the mall and stolen whatever clothes she wanted just to make her smile again. “You don’t have access to anything more . . . recent?”
She shrugged. “Magazines. Newspapers. Books.”
“Library books,” Jax gasped. “I’ve been getting them for you all along.”
“Thank you,” she said.
He couldn’t believe it. Mrs. Unger’s ghost was real and not a ghost at all. “Soda,” he said, remembering. “I promised you a soda. How about I go get a couple?”
For some reason, that made her bite her lip. It looked like she was trying not to laugh. “Okay.”
“Wait here. I’ll be right back.” Jax dashed into the house, praying they actually had soda. He threw open the refrigerator, found half a six-pack, yanked two cans out of the plastic rings, stuffed a half-empty bag of chips under his arm, and hurried outside.
He was afraid she wouldn’t be there, but she was sitting on the edge of her chair and looking nervous, as if she couldn’t believe she was still there either. He handed her a soda and set the bag of chips on the ground near her feet. “I’m kinda surprised we have any chips left,” he said as he sat down. “Riley can eat a whole bag in one sitting.”
Jax popped the top on his soda and looked up to find the girl eyeing him quizzically. “Is that his name?” she asked. “Riley?”
“Yeah.” Didn’t she know? “Riley Pendare.”
“Pendare,” she said, one corner of her mouth turning up. “Is that what they’re calling themselves these days?”
“Who?”
“His family.”
“I don’t think he’s got any family. Neither do I,” Jax added mournfully, swigging from his soda. “What about you?”
There was a long silence, and Jax realized her expression, which had been near laughing before, had gone cold. He lowered the can, wondering what he’d said wrong.
“Are you trying to use your inquisition on me?” she asked flatly.
“No, I swear! Or at least, I don’t think so,” he corrected himself. He hadn’t meant to use it on Giana, but he had. “I didn’t learn about it until a couple days ago, and I don’t really know what I’m doing yet. How did you know?”
She tilted her head with a puzzled expression. “Your mark told me.”
“You mean the symbols have meaning?”
She put the soda on the ground and picked up the bag of chips. “That’s the definition of a symbol. It has meaning.”
Jax slapped his hand over his face. “I meant—most people get tattoos with pictures they like. And they don’t always know what the pictures mean. Or care.”
“If you did that for your mark, it wouldn’t work.”
He’d never really wondered what the symbols on his family crest meant. He’d just thought they were decorative. His eyes wandered to the girl’s left wrist, but the skin there was pale and unmarked.
“My people don’t need them,” she said, answering his unspoken question. “Or honor blades, either.”
That opened up a lot of other questions in his mind about her people, but Jax wanted to know something else first. “Will you tell me your name?”
Her eyebrows shot up again.
“You can make one up, if you want,” Jax suggested. “You said names change. Just tell me what to call you, instead of Hey you.” When she didn’t answer him, he said, “Okay, never mind. I’ll pick something. Like Mildred. Or Lulu.”
“Evangeline,” she said suddenly.
Had she made that up? He didn’t think so. If she was going to invent a name, wouldn’t it be something ordinary, like Jessica or Caitlyn? “Nice to meet you, Evangeline,” he said. “I’m Jax.”
“I know. I got your note.” She smiled again. “And your kobold.”
My what?
The sound of a motorcycle engine rose over their conversation.
She dropped the bag of chips and was out of the chair before Jax could say a word. By the time he’d stood up, she was gone. The kitchen door of Mrs. Unger’s house slammed shut.
“Darn it, Riley.” Jax flung himself back into the chair.
Seconds later, Riley coasted into the yard, brought his motorcycle to a stop, and cut the engine. Jax drank his soda while Riley dismounted and removed his helmet. “What’re you doing?” Riley asked.
“Having soda and chips.”
“Who with?” Riley looked at the second chair and the second soda. Then he looked up at the Unger house. “No. Way.”
Jax shrugged and reached for the abandoned bag of chips. He was having a hard time suppressing his grin. “I can introduce you, if you like,” he bragged.
Riley looked back and forth between Jax and the Unger house, his mouth hanging open. Then his gaze settled on Jax. “No.” He tossed his helmet at the second lawn chair. It hit the back and tipped the chair over. “She doesn’t want to meet me. I’m her jailer.”
While Jax choked on a mouthful of chips, Riley turned on his heel and disappeared into the house.
15
JAX FOLLOWED HIM inside, clutching his soda in one hand and the bag of chips in the other. “What do you mean, jailer?”
Riley slammed the kitchen cabinet doors open and closed. “Why don’t we ever have any food in this house?” he growled.
“Who is she?” Jax asked.
“I told you not to bother her.” Riley’s eyes dropped to the chips. “Gimme that.” He grabbed the bag and dug for a handful.
“I wasn’t bothering her. I got home from my bike ride and ran into her outside.” Actually, she’d run into him, but Jax would’ve eaten dirt before admitting she’d knocked him down. “You need to tell me. Even she said she didn’t know why you left me so clueless.”
“She said that?”
“More or less. Who is she? Why is she there?”
“What else did she say?” Riley looked hurt.
“Not a lot. You came back and interrupted us.”
Riley answered Jax’s second question first. “She’s hiding there.”
“But you said jailer. You’re keeping her in Grunsday or keeping her in that house?”
“She can’t get out of Grunsday,” Riley said, his voice weary. “As for the house, I’m supposed to keep her there, but I doubt she wants to leave anyway.”
“How do you know?”
“My father talked to the Kin who put her there. A long time ago. You’ve figured that out, haven’t you? That she’s older than she looks? I mean—” Riley corrected himself. “She’s barely old enough to drive, but she was born over a century ago.”
“Okay.” Jax tried to piece everything together. “All of Grunsday is a prison, but Evangeline is a prisoner in her own home, too?”
“Is that her name?” Riley asked in a quiet voice. “Evangeline?”
“How can you guys live next door to one another and not know each other’s names?”
“We knew each other’s family names,” Riley said gruffly. “That was enough.”
“Then what’s hers?”