Slowly, I reached across the table, my fingers resting on the smooth black case of her phone. It beeped as I pulled it toward me, indicating a text had come through. I hesitated, than touched the screen, bringing it to life. A green bubble blinked, the new message displayed inside, and I turned the case around to read it.

Hey Tweedle Dee. I don’t want us to fight. Call me soon, ok?

I paused once more, feeling the bug in my pocket. There was still plenty of time before she came back. This could end our search. This could uncover a nest of dragons and their guardians. Or not. Either way, once the bug had been placed, there was no reason I had to see Ember, ever again.

Reaching into my pocket, my fingers closed around the bug and pulled it out.

Ember

When I maneuvered my way back to the table, Garret was in the same spot, his chin resting on his hands as he watched the milling crowd. They watched him, too, or at least I saw several appreciative glances slide his way from passing human females. Bristling, I walked faster, but if Garret noticed the interest, he didn’t respond. His expression, though alert and watchful, wasn’t the hyper-wariness of that day in the mall, when he’d scanned the crowds like he was afraid a ninja would come leaping out at him. He seemed relaxed, more at ease, though as I walked up, a faintly troubled look crossed his face as he glanced at me. It was gone in the next heartbeat, though, so I’d probably imagined it.

Apparently, I was imagining all sorts of things today. There was no sign of any mysterious stalker, watching me through the crowds.

All seemed normal, though with so many people milling about, it was difficult to spot anything. Besides, if someone was watching me, what could they do, in this mob?

“Ready?” I announced, bouncing up to the table. My phone lay on the napkin where I’d left it, and I slipped it into my pocket. Garret smiled and rose to his feet with easy grace, tossing his empty cup into the trash bin.

“Lead the way. I’m ready to tame a giant caterpillar if you are.”

A couple walked by, a stuffed gorilla under the boy’s arm, and I perked up. “Ooh, wait, new plan,” I announced, making him arch an eyebrow at me. “Let’s go check out the Fairway.”

“Fairway?”

I pointed to the stretch of game booths up and down the boardwalk. “Lexi says they’re all horribly rigged,” I explained, watching a skinny guy toss a basketball at a tiny orange hoop, where it bounced off the rim. “But you can win prizes if you score enough points.”

“Prizes?”

“Yeah! See, he’s probably trying to win her that big stuffed penguin.” I pointed to the skinny guy, who was digging through his pockets now, while a dark haired girl looked on hopefully. “But it looks like he only gets three shots,” I explained, as the guy handed the booth attendant another bill, “and you have to keep paying for more chances.”

“So, I’m paying them to play a game that I’m probably going to lose. To win a prize that I don’t even want.”

“Looks like it.” Now that I thought about it, it did seem pretty rigged. Kristin once bragged that a guy once spent over a hundred dollars trying to win her a giant poodle. “Actually, never mind,” I told Garret. “Forget it. I don’t want you to lose a ton of cash trying to win something. Let’s go check out the Ferris wheel.”

I started to turn, but his hand closed on my arm, stopping me.

Surprised, I glanced back to see a faint, almost smug grin on his face.

“What makes you think I’m going to lose?” he asked, making me blink in shock. “If you want a giant stuffed animal, I’ll get you one.”

And he did. I don’t thinkhe missed one target as they bobbed by on plastic waves, even knocking down the tiny, really hard to hit frogs worth three times as much. The kid manning the booth looked reluctantly impressed as he handed him a giant pink bear, the biggest prize on the wall. Garret looked amused as he accepted it, then turned and handed it out to me. I grinned and crossed my arms. “Pink looks good on you, Garret. Sure you don’t want it?”

“I was playing for you,” he replied, smiling back. “Take it. It’s yours.”

“Oh, fine.” I smiled and took the huge toy, hugging it to me. the bear’s fur was silky against my skin, and smelled faintly of cotton candy. “But only if you let me win you something.”

“Deal.”

And I did, finally knocking down six questionably sturdy pins with a softball to win a tiny stuffed blue dog. (This was after the Ring Toss, hoops, and dart game, all of which, I decided, were horribly rigged.) With the amount of tries it took, I could have probably bought the stupid thing three times over, but Garret accepted the prize like it was made of pure gold, and his smile made me warm with happiness.

I did get that strange “you are being watched” prickle on the back of my neck once, but I couldn’t see anyone in the milling crowds, and after a few moments of fruitless searching, decided I wouldn’t let it make me neurotic. Let them stare, whoever they were. I wasn’t doing anything I was ashamed of.

Finally, as the sun began to set over the ocean, we sat side by side on the Ferris wheel bench, rocking gently and watching the crowds get smaller and smaller as we rose into the air. The breeze was cool and the noises of the carnival were muted as the chair took us farther from the ground, the clouds so near I felt I could reach up and touch one. My dragon stirred and fluttered her wings, not satisfied with being below them, wanting to soar overhead. But this was the closest I’d been to the sky since that secret night with Cobalt, and I felt pretty content to stay right where I was.