Page 42 of Looking for Love in All the Haunted Places
“I got frozen peas!” Rebel appeared at Lucky’s side, handing her the bag.
“Thank you, Shortcake.” She smiled weakly before tilting her head and placing the peas longways, from chin to forehead.
“Take these,” Georgia said.
Lucky felt a hand on hers, turning it palm up. She temporarily displaced the peas to take the two Tylenol with some water. “Thank you.”
“What the hell happened?” Georgia asked.
“I’m not sure,” Lucky said. “I accidentally read Stephen and Xander back-to-back. Something must have gone wrong inside my memory palace.”
Her automatons never failed her. They usually retrieved her readings so fast they rarely ever backed up like that anymore. And it had only beentwo—she should’ve only felt a little tired, not like this.
“Memory palace?” Stephen whispered, clearly not to her, but she answered anyway.
“You try housing over a thousand readings on top of all your other memories and see how you feel without one.” She pointed at the room at large to emphasize her point. “Once I read someone, it stays with me forever. I needed an efficient filing system to keep my head clear.”
Stephen said, “My apologies. I didn’t realize that’s how your power worked.”
The room seemingly fell silent, but she knew they weren’t just standing around staring at her. “I can hear you trying not to talk. I don’t have that kind of headache.”
Maverick said, “I’ll get breakfast started. You should eat something since you took those pills. Rebel, come on.”
“I want to stay with Lucky.”
“No, come on. I need your help with a special project.”
“Holler if you want me,” Georgia said, voice fading into the distance. “I’ll come right back.”
Lucky listened to a procession of steps as they left her alone to recover. She waited a moment before saying, “I know someone is still there.”
“I am,” Xander said. “Is it all right if I sit next to you?”
She shrugged. “Anybody else?”
“Just me.”
Lucky sat up and removed her glasses to give the peas contact with her eyelids. The burning and pressure were fading, but the persistent ache unfortunately kept rolling right along. “What do you want?” She quickly lifted the bag to look at him, nearly laughing as he sucked in a breath, eyes widening. “The rupturing takes the normal amount of time to heal. Should be back to normal in a few days.”
“Does it still hurt?”
“I’ll be fine.”
“I fear I owe you an apology as well. I honestly believed you wore the glasses as a comedic bit.”
“Nope. It’s all in the name of self-preservation. And occasionally fashion. I like to match them to my outfit for fun,” she said. “So. They finally called in the cavalry…”
He nodded. “They had some rather interesting things to tell me. Primarily concerning you.”
“Hey man, I warned you. Did I not say I was uniquely qualified for this job?” she joked.
“You did. I believed your assertion was rooted in an abundance of hubris.”
She removed the peas to squint at him, regretting it immediately when her sore facial muscles protested. “Where in the hell are you from? Do you always talk like that?”
“Whenever it suits me.” He smirked. “Don’t worry—it’ll grow on you.”
“Does that mean you’re sticking around?”
