Firewalker (Worldwalker 2)

“What does that mean?” asked Tristan, crossing his arms.

Lily looked down and tucked her hair behind her ear. “Um, he, like, helps me with my diet and managing my reactions—”

“I thought you didn’t have reactions anymore,” Tristan challenged.

Lily looked up, annoyed. “And he’s helping my mom. Holistically. You know, using herbs and stuff.”

“Cool,” Breakfast said, sensing a fight building between Lily and Tristan. He took Una by the elbow. “See you tomorrow?”

They said their good-byes and Tristan drove Lily home, still fuming a bit over Rowan. When he dropped her off, Tristan stayed in the driveway after Lily had gone inside.

Rowan came up behind Lily and looked over her shoulder through the curtains at Tristan, still sitting in his car. “He’s not going to stop,” Rowan said.

“It’s just a few more months.” Lily turned in his arms and smiled up at him. “And then you and I can go anywhere we want. We can drive cross-country. Or fly to Europe!”

Lily felt that huge, gray emotion well up inside Rowan again. She was about to ask him what was wrong, but he kissed her quickly and hugged her to his chest. “I would love to see the whole world with you,” he said, his voice catching.

As Rowan held her, Lily felt his gaze drift back out the window. Tristan finally gave up and drove away.

* * *

For the next two days Lily managed to come up with an excuse every time Tristan, Breakfast, and Una hinted they wanted to come over to her house, but by Saturday, Lily’s little entourage had had enough of her evasive behavior. They showed up on her doorstep with bagels and coffee at eight o’clock in the morning, and Rowan let them in with a huge smile.

You couldn’t have lied and said I wasn’t here, Rowan?

No. Now explain bagels. Do you dip them in the coffee?

You don’t know bagels? Oy vey.

Rowan and Breakfast hit it off immediately, and strangely, over computers. Rowan had been fascinated by computers from the moment Juliet taught him how to use one, and he’d spent some of his study time teaching himself about telecommunications, computer processing, and coding. Breakfast couldn’t believe he’d finally met someone who was as into code as he was, and for a while they seemed to be speaking a totally foreign language. Lily looked at Una, her eyes wide with surprise that Rowan and Breakfast would have so much in common.

“What can you do?” Una said. “He’s a geek. But he’s my geek.”

Lily laughed. “Don’t take this the wrong way or anything, but you two make kind of an odd couple.”

“You think?” Una replied, smirking. “Believe me, it was a shock to me, too, but he grew on me. Like a fungus.”

“But he’s your fungus, right?”

“Right.” Her smile suddenly fell. “It’s still hard sometimes, though. We’re such opposites.”

“He’s very affectionate,” Lily said, following an instinct. “And I gather that you’re not the hand-holding type.”

“No,” Una said emphatically. Her light expression suddenly dark

ened. “I usually don’t like to be touched.”

“Maybe that’s why he’s so good for you,” Lily suggested quietly. She knew there had to be a story there, but she didn’t push. Una wasn’t a tea-and-sympathy kind of girl.

While Lily and Una were relaxing into each other’s company, Lily could sense that Tristan was getting more annoyed as he watched Breakfast and Rowan’s conversation.

“Wait a second,” Tristan said, rudely interrupting Rowan. “I thought you were some holistic herbalist life coach, or whatever.”

“I know a lot about herbs and how to use them,” Rowan answered patiently.

“So what’s all this about code?” Tristan continued. “Are you a computer programmer on the side?”

“No,” Rowan said. His eyes narrowed slightly, but he kept his tone even. “I’m interested in computers, but I grew up learning how to handle special people like Lily.”