Free A Lonely Magic by Sarah Wynde

uncertainly.
    “My apologies,” Kaio said, his voice deepening. “I’ll see that’s taken care of by morning.”
    Fen pulled her mouth closed and stabbed another piece of pineapple.
    Gaelith didn’t know what make-up was?
    Aliens, they were definitely aliens.
    Shit.
    “You don’t need make-up,” Luke said. “You’re beautiful as you are.”
    Fen shot him a sideways glance.
    An alien was flirting with her.
    A young alien.
    But maybe Luke wasn’t young. Maybe he just looked young. Maybe he was like a
Doctor Who
alien, a creepy monster zipped inside a human-being suit.
    She chewed her pineapple and swallowed. She wasn’t wrong. She knew she wasn’t. But the silence was starting to feel oppressive. “Thank you.” She took a careful bite of her melon, eyes on her plate. “To both of you.”
    The silence lasted a moment longer, before Kaio began chatting with his sister, easily and about seemingly inconsequential matters, Luke chiming in occasionally. Fen wasn’t sure what unspoken cue they’d exchanged, but much to her relief none of them addressed her.
    Fen didn’t know what to do. She also didn’t understand why she wasn’t having a full-blown panic attack, the kind where death seemed inevitable and imminent. Seriously, her brain dumped crazy-sauce all over her psyche when someone got too close to her on the El and it was going to let aliens and hallucinations slide?
    Maybe this numbness was shock. Maybe she’d used up her body’s entire supply of fight-or-flight hormones in the last few days and it wasn’t capable of being scared anymore.
    Or maybe these aliens didn’t seem threatening?
    As Eladio removed the fruit bowls and returned with plates of grilled shrimp, rice and beans, Fen glanced from one face to another. She knew better than to mistake looks for virtue. The fact that they were pretty didn’t mean shit. She’d encountered more than one handsome jerk in her life.
    But Luke had saved her, risking his life in the process. Kaio, despite his dangerous air, had been more than generous in sheltering her. And Gaelith—well, Fen had never met anyone like Gaelith but she found it impossible to imagine that the older woman could want to hurt her. Or anyone, for that matter.
    Aliens.
    But not necessarily bad guys.
    Gaelith caught her gaze and smiled, seeming to welcome her back to the conversation. “My brother tells me you have art. Is it functional?”
    “I—I beg your pardon?” Fen paused, a bite of shrimp halfway to her mouth.
    “Ow.” Gaelith winced, indignantly turning to Kaio. “What—oh. Yes. I remember.”
    The three siblings exchanged glances and Gaelith turned back to Fen. “Your job. What is your function?”
    Fen let her eyes drop to her plate again, suppressing a desperate desire to burst into hysterical laughter. She’d heard Gaelith’s first question. She hadn’t understood it—functional art?—but she’d heard it. Someone should have given Gaelith better lessons in not being an alien.
    “I’m a clerk in a used bookstore,” Fen answered, as her brain started working again, the numb blankness wearing off. “I sell books to people and buy from them. And I keep the bookshelves organized and the store neat.”
    Luke was better. Healed, the difference dramatic. And Gaelith was clearly unused to dealing with earthlings. Had they summoned her to take care of Luke? How had she arrived? Maybe that was why Fen hadn’t heard the plane. Maybe it was an alien spaceship, technology so ahead of humanity’s that it was completely silent. Or maybe they had a transporter, like on
Star Trek
.
    “And does it give you pleasure?” Gaelith tilted her head in clear interest.
    “Yes, it does,” Fen said. “I love the store.”
    “And books? They are wonderful, yes? Filled with stories and knowledge and ideas?”
    “Absolutely.” Fen’s smile was genuine. Any alien who liked books was all right by her.
    “I should like—” Gaelith paused and glanced at Kaio, before continuing,