Shift

TWENTY.2

Blaze could tell something was wrong with Lexi as soon as she sat back down in the field. She was picking at her cuticles, and she kept glancing around as if looking for someone.

His intuition was confirmed when Kayden suddenly joined them. As soon as she settled into the dirt, she sent Blaze a concerned look and jerked her head in Lexi's direction. Blaze nodded. He would try his best to make things okay.

He quickly launched into a few stories from his childhood. He talked about the time he had set his new spell book on fire and when he accidentally turned his lab partner's skin purple after drawing the wrong symbol in a rune circle. He even told stories about his mother, and how she liked to bake cookies and let him build pillow forts all over the apartment. The stories seemed to distract Lexi for a bit, but by the time they boarded the bus back to Le Lieu, she had descended into silence. She spent the ride with her forehead pressed against the dirty glass, her eyes focused on nothing.

As soon as they entered Le Lieu, Lexi headed towards the staircase. "I think I'm going to read in the room."

Blaze glanced over at Kayden and she rolled her eyes. They both knew that the only reason Lexi wanted to stay in the room was because she was hoping that Helio would stop by. She had been doing the same thing for weeks now, and not once had he visited.

"Why don't we go to the pool and lay out instead?" Kayden suggested.

Lexi sent her an I'm-not-stupid look. "You never go to the pool," she said. "Not since the first week we got here."

Kayden ignored her comment. "It's nice to get some sunshine."

"We were just in a field for five hours," Lexi said, sitting on her hip. "I don't need any more sunshine."

"Then when don't we visit Walter's workshop?" Kayden suggested. "Maybe he's working on something new?"

"I don't feel like talking much," Lexi said, reaching for the stair railing.

Kayden looked over at Blaze for support, and he racked his brain for something to say.

"What about I show you an illusion I'm working on?" Blaze ventured.

Blaze was surprised to see Lexi pause. She turned to him and tilted her head. "You make illusions?"

"He made a receptionist for his house in New York," Kayden said quickly. "He's really good at it." The compliment caught Blaze off-guard; every time he had worked on an illusion, Kayden had ignored him. Or at least, pretended to ignore him.

"Um..." Lexi looked conflicted. Her eyes kept glancing up the narrow Le Lieu staircase.

"We can do it upstairs in the room," Blaze offered.

This seemed to seal the deal. "Okay, let's head up then," Lexi said, and without another word she jogged up the stairs.

Kayden looked over at Blaze. "You shouldn't have suggested we do it upstairs."

"She wouldn't do it otherwise," Blaze said, starting up the steps. "Maybe we can keep her occupied enough to not think about you-know-who."

"Voldemort?" Kayden teased.

Blaze rolled his eyes, but he was pleased that Kayden was no longer actively avoiding him.

When they reached the hotel room, Lexi was the only one there, waiting for them on the sofa with a note between her fingers. "Aunt Karen and Mr. Merg are at dinner," she said, putting the note down on the table. "They won't be back until afterwards."

"Ah," Blaze said, unsure exactly what to think. His father and Mrs. Lee had been spending a lot more time together recently. It was weird to see his father around another woman, especially when she was Kayden's mother. It almost felt like he was betraying his own mother in some way by condoning this new arrangement. And yet, it was nice to have his father occupied with someone else; it meant he wasn't as occupied with Blaze.