The Healing Power of Sugar: The Ghost Bird Series: #9 (The Academy Ghost Bird Series) (37 page)

Gabriel snickered. “Trouble, you look gorgeous. What are you talking about?”

Luke covered his mouth with his fingers, but I could tell by his eyes that he was grinning.

I rolled my head back, sighing. Boys.

Luke and Gabriel led the way through the parking lot.

Once we were inside, I could feel the buzz from all the excited shoppers. Some of the shops were dark and closed but carts had been set up in front of them. People at the carts were giving out free coffee, small cups of water and offering samples from a local bakery. We didn’t take any more coffee or the samples, although they did look delicious.

Above us, there were more Christmas lights. Holiday music played over the sound system.

However, some stores had crowds of people in front of them. I presumed they were waiting for them to open.

We passed the jewelry store, where a few men eagerly talked, pointed to the displays, and looked impatiently through the still-closed doors at sales clerks.

Down the hall, a gift shop was already open.

“They’re catching people early before the rush,” Gabriel said. “Let’s check it out.”

“We should get to the toy store,” Luke said. “We should get to that one first.”

“We’ve got time,” Gabriel said. He checked his phone again. “Seven minutes. We spend five here. We’ll run to the next store.”

Luke emitted a half-chuckle, half-groan. “We’re starting the running now?”

The gift shop we stopped at was brightly lit, and a woman wearing a very flattering pink suit greeted us as we entered. The aisles were a little crowded with shoppers. The shelves were lined with a dazzling array of novelty items: little pillows embroidered with Charleston tourist attractions, sweet grass baskets, pineapple-themed desk sets. Each of the items was nice, but to me, they felt very impersonal. None seemed suited to the boys. Would Uncle like a desk set? He didn’t seem the type.

I combed through the entire store and the boys seemed to do the same. It wasn’t a large store but it had many shelves with lots of little knickknacks. I was disappointed that, among all of the various items, nothing seemed to stand out. Would picking out the right gifts be more difficult than I realized? Perhaps I didn’t know enough about the boys to pick the right item at all.

I studied a stack of coffee mugs, trying to think if Kota might like one, when an arm went around my waist.

Luke stood beside me, checking out the mug. “I think we ate too soon,” he said. “I’m drawing a blank right now. Maybe I did eat too much sugar.”

I tilted my head to rest it on his shoulder, breathing in his sweet vanilla scent. “Who are you looking for right now?”

“Something for you.”

I lifted my head, looking at him. His face was close now. “What do you think you’ll get me?” I asked, teasing.

“Not enough,” he said, breathing out slowly.

My breath caught, heat rising through my face. I hadn’t forgotten what he’d said to me at his house. Since then, we’d been apart and busy—never alone. I wanted to ask him what he meant:
Don’t leave.

I kept my face close, but still. “You don’t have to get me something to make me happy,” I said. I wanted to say more, but was having trouble coming up with what to say that was honest and helped him to understand, I didn’t want to leave.

He loomed close, quiet, looking at me with an intensity in his brown eyes.

My heart was jittery, but I didn’t think it was all the coffee anymore.

“Shit,” Gabriel said behind us.

The moment between Luke and I was suddenly over, but my heart was still buzzing with warmth. Luke glanced at me once, a pained expression on his face.

I loved being around them, but sometimes, it was awkward. Had Mr. Blackbourne had a chance to talk to him yet? I desperately wanted to know, because I had so many questions, especially about the plan and how he felt about it.

Gabriel was gazing at a set of silver boxes and picked one up. “Would Pam want one of these? I don’t even know.”

I placed a gentle hand on his shoulder, directing his attention. “If you don’t know,” I said, “then it’s the wrong thing.”

Gabriel nodded slowly and put the box back on the shelf. “I think we started in the wrong store.”

I reached down to take his hand. The boys had been up all night, and it seemed after food, they were starting to crash hard. “Come on,” I said. “We wanted to get to the toy store. We don’t have to get it all tonight, do we?”

“All tonight,” Gabriel said, his crystal eyes sharpening a bit. He tugged on my hand.

“Then let’s try another store,” I said, squeezing his fingers. “One person at a time. Who are we looking for at the toy store?”

Luke looked at his watch and then frowned. “Hey, we’ve got two minutes.”

The boys jumped into action then, leading the way through the crowded gift shop to the front. Out in the hallway, they stopped briefly to orient themselves before, as one, they turned left and started to walk off. They stopped ,looked at each other, and then each grabbed one of my hands and dragged me forward, so I was walking between them.

THE DEAL

T
he toy store was just starting to open their doors when we got there.

The crowd made a sort of circle around the entryway that was still gated. Could all of those people fit into the shop? I supposed around Christmas, most people were shopping for children.

As we waited, store employees were passing around sale flyers that included what was going to be put on sale.

There were also several security guards, directing people to stand back.

I was about to tell the boys that maybe we should wait, when the doors opened.

Gabriel and Luke grabbed my hands.

“Hang on,” Gabriel said.

Luke tugged me along, closer to him. “Don’t let go,” he said. “Just stay with us.”

There was a rush, and the boys dove in, pulling me with them. They weaved their way around the group trying to get in.

My heart was in my throat as I stayed very close to them, gripping them for dear life. What were we doing? Why were we rushing?

Once the boys got inside, the crowd seemed to disperse. People ran for displays, grabbing items off a shelf and then rushing for the registers.

Thankfully, the boys had stopped just inside the doors and looked around.

“What should we get?” Luke asked. He went to one display that wasn’t particularly popular. “Kinetic sand? Do you think Kota would like it?”

“Too messy,” Gabriel said, his eyes scanning the area. He dodged a couple that was trying to get around the crowds to get to a wall display of video games. Gabriel turned, caught a Nerf display and then gasped. “Holy shit fuck, let’s get swords!”

I followed his gaze toward a huge display of various Nerf guns, foam bullets, and a lineup of various styles of swords.

There was a large barrel full of blue-handled, foam-padded swords and Gabriel pulled two out, holding them up. Then he pointed one in my direction. “Sang, check out what we’re getting for Nathan.”

I smirked. “We’re getting him foam swords? Do you think he’ll like them?”

“Of course he will,” Gabriel said. “Are you kidding? We’ll spend a week wearing these things out.”

Luke pulled two more out. “If we get them, we have to get four. Remember what Kota said about buying toys?”

“Are we buying for Nathan or us?” I asked with a small smile.

Luke and Gabriel shrugged, but tucked the swords under their arms, seemingly sure of this purchase.

I pulled one out, just to look at it. The foam was thick. Wouldn’t it hurt if we were battling things out? “Shouldn’t we get something like a gun?” I thought it’d be better to have the Nerf guns; the bullets were light, and I imagined getting shot at would be better than being beaten by a sword.

The boys paused at the same time and then looked at the row of guns.

“Kota wouldn’t like it,” Luke said. “The bullets would get all over the place and the dog would eat them. We could play at my house, but Sprinkles might drag them all into his house.”

“I’ll never understand how you two picked up a pet skunk.” Gabriel turned toward a hand gun. “We don’t have to play at Kota’s or your house. We’ll play at Nathan’s. Maybe we should get the small handheld ones…wait.” He moved to a row of bows and arrows. The arrows were foam-tipped. “These are new.” He gazed at them and frowned. “But they’re all pink. Why are they all pink?”

“I want one anyway,” Luke said.

I sighed, feeling like they were forgetting why we were here. The bows did look cool, though. I picked one up, touching the handle. There was a button on one side. When I pressed it, the handle glowed.

The boys looked at mine, and then their eyes brightened.

“Fuck me,” Gabriel said. “The girls get all the cool shit.”

“Let’s get three.”

“Four. We’re forgetting Nathan.”

“Five. Kota might like these. He plays archer a lot in his games. Maybe he’ll like the real thing…the toy version at least.”

In the end, they did pick up the swords, the bows, a collection of science kits for Kota, a bubble gum machine for Dr. Green, and a Wiffle Ball bat with a bag of a hundred Wiffle balls and a stand, plus, for Silas, a net you set up in the yard to collect them.

“Do you guys get everyone toys?” I asked.

“We get stuff they get to play with in one of the yards or in the street or wherever,” Luke said.

“Yeah, Sang,” Gabriel said. “Every year, everyone gets other stuff that’s just boring. We get them the cool shit.”

I looked at the stuff we were buying and then at the stuff other shoppers were getting: game systems and games and some rare collectables. “Why did we come now for Nerf guns and bats? Is this a good sale?”

“Sang,” Luke said, hooking his arm over my neck. “It’s not about the sale. It’s the rush. Everyone’s buying now.”

I wasn’t sure I understood why they delighted in being out with everyone else. I guess it was a bit of a rush. Maybe it was like the football games they watched with the people earlier. Maybe they weren’t really into what was going on. They just liked participating.

We stood in the long line, looking at different displays and discussing what would be good to get everyone else. Some shoppers had moved on to other stores. Others were still looking at shelves that were starting to empty. I was amazed at how many people were buying carts full of things.

“Where should we go next?” Luke asked.

“I was thinking about Victor,” Gabriel said. “Maybe we should get him a little toy piano.”

“We got him that last year.”

“Some sort of really big puzzle thing?” Gabriel suggested.

Luke shook his head. “Hmm. Any ideas, Sang?”

I shrugged, dazing out at that point. Now that we weren’t moving, my eyes were drawn to the movement of other people. The boys continued to talk about options while I looked out the front window display of the shop.

A person in a white mask passed by.

I blinked, sure I was seeing things.

No one was there.

I checked the other window.

Nothing. No one passed by.

I turned toward the exit. Had I really just seen that? I was too tired. Maybe I was just delusional from the long day, lack of sleep and all the sugar.

Still, I didn’t want to ignore anything. My radar was up and I suddenly felt alert. There had been too many times when I’d ignored subtle signs and I’d been wrong to do so. I dropped what I was carrying, and headed for the door.

“Sang?” Luke asked. “Did you see something you wanted?”

I ignored him, stepping out into the hallway and looking at all the people. Was I sure of what I’d seen? Maybe it was a particularly pale person. I looked around but there wasn’t anyone wearing all black, like Volto usually did. It wasn’t that terribly crowded now that everyone was in the various stores, so I wouldn’t have missed him if he’d been there.

“Sang?” Luke said. He’d followed me out, looking up and down as I did. “What’s wrong? Did you see something?”