“Ryder,” Nancy hisses. “You can’t just ask people what their magic is.”

  Ryder glances between the newcomers and Nancy, genuine confusion on his face. “Why not? Isn’t that basically what Jane did to Savannah and Beaker? And besides, Gigi’s family!”

  Gigi chuckles, a low sound that reminds me of my childhood years, baking in her very dated kitchen, and sleepovers on the lumpy pull-out couch. But like, all those things are good memories. “I guess we are family now,” she says, smiling at Ryder fondly. “And to be honest, neither of us are totally sure of the extent of the powers that we’ve been given. When you have no reason to use them, you just… don’t use them.”

  “We think Gigi’s is related to sewing,” Colton says. “Or anything thread-like.”

  “I’ve already told you, my needlepoint has just always been that good,” Gigi says.

  Colton shakes his head. “I’ve seen your needlework, Gail. It’s never been like that.” He turns back out to the rest of us. “And I have this phone cord in my car that’s been knotted forever. Like, multiple people have tried and failed to unravel it. Gigi did it by just basically looking at the thing.”

  Gigi tsks, flapping her hand. “Fluke. Or a coincidence.”

  “There’s no such thing as coincidence,” Savannah says. “Not anymore.”

  There’s a moment of silence. I turn to find Nancy looking at me. I can’t quite read her gaze, to know what’s happening behind those blue eyes, but I know what makes the most sense for me.

  “There’s a way to know for sure,” I say.

  This time, it’s my name that Nancy hisses. “Jane.”

  “Oh?” Gigi asks, looking over the five Party Members. “Do one of you have a power to sense other powers?”

  “I mean, I guess kinda?” Ryder says.

  “Jane.” Nancy’s hiss is more of a command. “Can I speak to you for a moment?”

  “If you want to speak to her about what I think you want to speak to her about,” Ryder says, his brow furrowing with thought, “then shouldn’t we all be speaking about it?” He gestures to include himself, Savannah, and Beaker as well.

  Nancy looks between us all. “I suppose,” she relents. “Gigi, Colton, would you give us the room for a moment, please?”

  “Oh, come on, Nance—” I start, halfway out of my chair in protest, but Nancy holds up a hand. I drop back onto the chair.

  “Of course, dears,” Gigi says, and pops up off the couch. A moment later, Colton rises to his full height.

  He places a hand gently on my grandmother’s shoulder. “Come, Gail, let’s go grab your bags.” She nods and they head from the room. Colton doesn’t spare me a glance as they walk past, but Gigi places a hand on my shoulder and gives it a little squeeze as they head down the hall.

  We wait until we hear the front door open and shut.

  “Of course I’m adding her to the party,” I say immediately. “It’s my grandmother.”

  “She’s not going to be fighting monsters, is she?” Nancy asks. “I don’t see why she needs to be in the party, regardless of whether she’s a relative.”

  “We don’t expect Savannah to do a lot of monster fighting, but she’s still in the party,” I argue.

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  “I’d really rather be kept out of this,” Savannah says.

  “Kinda hard to do that now, Sav,” I say. “If she’s going to be living here, then she’s going to learn about the Game. If she knows about it, she might as well be part of it.”

  “Is she, though?” Nancy asks.

  I pause. “Is she… is she what?” Realization dawns on me. “Living here, you mean? You think I’m going to toss my grandmother out on the curb?”

  Nancy shrugs, but it might actually be a defensive state, protecting her neck. I’m being a little… shrill, I guess. “I didn’t even know you had a grandmother.”

  “Everyone has a grandmother,” Ryder says. I can’t decide if he’s trying to help or just… being Ryder.

  Nancy smiles at him. “True,” she says, “but I mean one who was still in your life.”

  “I didn’t know,” I answer truthfully. “How could I have known?”

  “Maybe we all have family members trying to hunt us down,” Ryder says, and I can hear the sadness creeping into his voice. “I have grandparents and cousins, too!”

  “We can head back to your house,” I tell him. “Leave a note for any extended family to find.”

  He brightens. But a questioning look spreads over his features again a moment later. “If she did move in here, where exactly would she live? We wouldn’t each have our own floor.”

  There is technically another bedroom upstairs. But I don’t offer that immediately as an answer. Because the answer should be that Nancy moves upstairs into the spare room and we give Gigi the master suite. But I don’t see Nancy liking that option.

  “She said she had her own apartment,” Savannah says. “Maybe she’ll want to live alone.”

  “Yeah, she can take the house on the other side,” Beaker says.

  “She just said she’s getting her bags,” I say, and with a groan I drop my face into my hands, my elbows propped on my knee. “And that’s not what we’re discussing right now,” I say. “The immediate question is whether we tell them about the Game. And also if we have them join.”

  “I’ll agree to tell her,” Nancy says. “Gigi. But there’s no reason for Colton to know or join us.”

  She has a point. As visceral as a reaction as that man gives me, once he heads off to his cousins’, I’m never going to see him again. I nod. “Fine, I can accept that.”

  “Me too,” Ryder says.

  “Do our votes count in this democracy?” Beaker stage-whispers to Savannah.

  I roll my eyes. “Of course your votes count,” I say. “But if you say no, we still win three-to-two.”

  Beaker shrugs. “It’s fine with me.”

  “Me, too,” Savannah says. “I say, the more the merrier.”

  We lapse back into silence. Finally, I break it. “I’ll go… tell them they can come back in. Or help with her bags.” When no one stops me, I stride to the front door, shove my feet into a pair of sneakers, and go outside.

  When Beaker said that there was someone idling in a car, I didn’t give any thought to what that car was.

  The red convertible Mustang parked at my curb was definitely not what I was expecting.

  I blink at it a few times, a little dumbstruck. Colton and Gigi are beside it, two small rolling suitcases and an oversized shoulder bag on the lawn. They both turn to me.

  “Nice ride, huh?” Gigi asks, her face breaking into a grin. She waggles her eyebrows.

  It breaks me from my frozen state and I head down toward them. “How do you even fit in there?” I ask Colton. “You’re a giant and this is a clown car.”

  He laughs. It’s the first time I’ve heard it and, sure enough, I’m a little dumbstruck all over again. The sound is deep and rich and warm.

  It does things to my body that I haven’t felt in a while and I fight the heat that crawls up my neck.

  “Your grandmother said you were fiery,” he says in reply. It’s the first time he’s said anything directly at me, and the strength of his gaze is powerful. “When I first saw you, I thought she just meant the hair.”

  I shrug, aiming for a nonchalant grin. It probably doesn’t read as effortless as I would have liked. “I like to be a walking stereotype,” I say. I have to look away and instead turn to Gigi, who watches the exchange with a knowing little grin. “Should we take your bags in? Find you a place to get settled?” The next question is to both of them. “Are you guys hungry?”

  Colton shakes his head. “Don’t give me another thought,” he says, and I know that I’m absolutely not going to be able to do that. “I’m just Gail’s chauffeur.” He turns back to my grandmother and offers her his hand, palm up. Gigi presses it between her own hands, smiling up at him. “Don’t be a stranger, dear,” she instructs him, giving him a little pat with her top hand.

  He heads around the Mustang and opens the driver’s door. His dark gaze finds mine again over the top of the sports car. “It was nice to finally meet you, Jane,” he says.

  I give him a smile, though his choice of words confuses me for a moment. “Oh,” I say, a thought occurring. “You never told us your magic.” I flush the colour of my hair. Or the colour of the car. “Sorry. None of my business. I’m apparently just as nosy as Ryder.” I try to laugh, but it’s a forced sound.

  Colton gives a little shrug. “Nah, it’s human nature to wonder. But I’m sorry to disappoint. I don’t seem to have gotten a magic at all.”