Wish Apon A Star

Annabelle - Puzzle Pieces

"Hey, James." I peeked through a window in the back, studying the people inside, who were oblivious. And arguing. Leo had disappeared inside with the man who'd dropped off the note (clearly, he'd known who'd given it to him), obviously expected. "Come here."

He did, grumbling all the way. It'd been pretty clear that what he wanted was a nap–or anything resembling sleep. It was almost four in the morning, and none of us had slept all night. That was pretty typical, but tonight felt longer than usual. "What do you want, Annie? And why are you snooping?"

"Because," I said, "I'm being useful." He came and stood next to me, and I jabbed a finger at the arguing people inside. "Tell me that guy doesn't look familiar."

His eyes widened in recognition. "That's the guy who..."

"Gave us the job," I finished. "Yeah."

"Who's he arguing with?"

"Dunno." I squinted, but I was pretty sure I'd never seen the guy in my life. The way he was standing, though, made it looked like he was trying to get Cane Guy to leave. Which also didn't make sense. Were they not working together, then? But Cane Guy clearly wasn't here for a newspaper. Had they worked together? Maybe Nicole's dad didn't pay up, or...

James and I watched as the man forced Cane Guy toward the door. He went, arguing all the way. We heard the door slam from out back.

James raised his eyebrows. "Huh."

"Huh," I agreed. "What time is it?"

"What? Why?"

"Because we're supposed to start causing a distraction if it's time," I said, like I was explaining something to a toddler. He hated that, which was why I did it all the time. I was a nice person.

He rolled his eyes, but checked his watch. "Okay. You go wait for the signal and try not to kill yourself." He grinned. "I'll go blow stuff up."

"Lovely. Have fun." I gave him a tiny wave as he headed off.

"I will!"

I headed around the back of the building, where I could see most of the rooms. If they were at the front, that was a problem. But I'd figure that out if it came to that. I always did.

A few minutes later, an explosion nearly knocks me off my feet. James is done, then. Which meant it was time to try out my favourite new spell–one I was hopefully going to get into a lot of trouble with.

I rapped on the window, and Leo came over to it, forcing the lock. Nicole didn't climb, which surprised me. That's what she had used to do when she was stressed–we'd look for her on top of some building, after taking the stairs like normal people. But I hadn't seen her do that in weeks, now that I thought about it, unless she had to.

When we're finally streets away and back at the inn, we stop. Obviously, he knows where we are, and the fire proved we're nowhere near invincible. But it feels safer here, anyway.

...

Nobody goes to sleep.

Instead, we're all sitting up in the living room, wide-awake (ish). Everyone would be getting up soon, anyway, so there didn't seem to be much point. We'd just have to wake right back up. Leo and Nicole curled into one of the big armchairs, neither one speaking. James and I repeatedly kicked each other in the shins under the table.

"What exactly happened?" James asked, and I kicked him in the shins even harder. He had no tact. Ever.

Nicole blinked, hard, like she was trying not to cry. "I'm sorry," she said. "I'm sorry. I didn't know what to do–and–and–I told him. I told him your names, I told him why we were at the tower, I told him about Leila. And the worst part is I would have told him anything, if you hadn't set off that bomb. I would've. I'm sorry."

"You have nothing to be sorry for," Leo said softly. He looked up at the clock on the wall. "Come on, Nicole. You can at least try to sleep a little today." He stood and offered his hand, and she glared at him.

"I'm fine. I'll stay down here."

"I will carry you up those stairs."

"You won't."

"I will."

She kept glaring at him, but got up. "Fine. Whatever. Apparently, I'm a toddler who needs to take a nap."

"Nicole–"

"Save it." She started towards the stairs.

Leo spun her back towards him. "Nicole, listen to me. You are not a child. I don't think you're a child. I think you're exhausted and haven't slept in days. There are bags under your eyes. You don't have to sleep, but you can at least rest for a while. Okay?"

"Leo." Whatever she says next is inaudible, as is his response. But she goes up the stairs with him. As he left, he turned and mouthed, I'll be back.

James and I went back to kicking each other in the shins.

When Leo finally appears back downstairs, almost everyone is up. Lily has already challenged Eric to a game of cards, probably after bribing him. He doesn't look super happy to be there. I sat at the table with James and Leo, eating another cinnamon twist. Also, I probably spilled half a pound of sugar on the table, but whatever. It was worth it.

Leo drank coffee, which was surprising. He never drank coffee. "It was a trap," he said finally. "I mean, I knew I was walking into one, but they'd probably been waiting for her. They had some sort of witch there–he called her Anaka. I'm sure he would have asked her more, but you two started that distraction, and they left us."

"So, she gave a bunch of stuff up?" I kicked James in the shins again, hard. He needed to somehow learn how to actually be a decent person. "What?" he whined. "I'm just asking. And I mean if they were torturing then I guess I could see how–"

"They weren't," Leo said. "They were hurting me." He studied his hands. "We still don't know much, but...he thinks we know something, I guess, and he wants it. Just...please don't bother her for a little while. She needs a break. All the constant pressure she's been under for the last few days–months, really–it's catching up to her. So, I'm asking you to please give her at least a day or two. If you need a spy, there are plenty of people here to do it. Okay?"

"Okay," I agreed, then added, "We saw Cane Guy."

James nodded. "He was arguing with some guy. He got kicked out."

Leo frowned. "So, they're not working together?"

"Maybe they were at one point," I said, "but not anymore."

"Leila's not working for her dad," Leo said, thinking. "Maybe she's working for Cane Guy? And if he thinks we know something about that operation..."

"That would explain some stuff," James agreed.

But it still left too many holes.

Word Count: 1,177