“Care to prove it?”
“Hell yeah.”
“You’ll have to go the rest of the day and not flirt with anyone.”
“You gonna follow me?”
“No, I have a friend who makes Truth Stones. It’s a very basic version of Rio’s powers. It looks for one emotion: Desire. I have one here.”
She takes out a small bracelet with black stones strung together.
“It’s held by Samson string. So only my hand will be able to untie it from your wrist.”
“This is gonna monitor how much I flirt?” Jay asks.
“Yes,” Isabella says, just as she exchanges a quick glance at Rio. I look at Rio as if to ask what’s going on. Rio suppresses a smile and shakes his head.
“We just met and you’re already try’n to tie me down…” Jay says.
She places the string of black stones around his wrist.
“How does it work?”
“Every time you feel desire, one of the stones will turn blue. There are twelve stones in all. If we meet tonight and all the stones have turned blue, then I was right.”
“Fine, but when we meet up and all the stones are still black, I want an apology so heartfelt, it would make Omnis weep.”
“Fine, whatever,” she says, as she gets up and heads out the door.
“Can you believe that chick? How dare she act like I can’t control myself?” Jay asks.
We all look away from him.
“What y’all try’n to say?”
“Nothing. It’s just that you’re very…friendly,” I say gently.
“C’mon baby girl, don’t do me like that.”
Before we left the diner, three of the stones had turned blue.
********************
We ignore Jay’s ranting about how the stones must be defective and head over to Tony-Tone’s shop. As usually, he has on an obnoxious Hawaiian T-shirt and chain. He greets us with his arms wide open. No one on the team is eager to hug Tony-Tone, but I don’t have the heart to leave him out there with his arms wide open. So I hug him back.
“Hi Tony,” I say, as he squeezes me tightly.
“You know, I gotta be honest, I didn’t think you guys would remember,” Tony says to us.
“Remember what?” Ameana asks.
“Ha, ha, very funny. Like you don’t know today is the anniversary of my original death.”
“Tony, we didn’t know,” Miku tells him.
“Oh. So you never got the evite?”
“Ah, no,” Rio says.
“I guess that’s what happens when I’m in your spam folder.”
“Sorry,” Miku says.
“Oh. And I’m guessing there’s no gift?”
“No.”
“I see,” he says, trying to hide his face.
“We need to talk to you about our mission,” Marcus says.
“Yeah, I’m sure you do, but I’m not interested. You need to go to another Seller.”
“Why?” I ask.
“Why human? Because Tony-Tone is tired of being pushed aside. I send you emails, I call, and I text. Nothing. It’s like we’re not even friends.”
“We are your friends, Tony,” I insist.
“Yeah, that’s what I thought, too. That’s why I set up all your Facebook accounts. You guys can fly around the world, take on Rage, take on the Hun, but you can’t respond to a friend request. Unbelievable.”
“Look, Tony—”Marcus starts with a firm, no-nonsense voice. I signal for to him to remain calm. We need Tony to come with us. And yes, Marcus can force him, but it’s much easier if Tony comes willingly. I think Marcus agrees because when he speaks next, his tone is much softer and controlled.
“We know that you’ve done a lot for us, Tony. We appreciate all of it.”
“You should. I can’t tell you how many Demons have come to me looking for a way to kill Emmy.”
“You didn’t sell them anything, did you?” I ask.
“No, but they can just go somewhere else. You’re in real danger this time, no lie.”
“That’s why we came to see you.”
“We need you to go somewhere with us,” Ameana says.
“Me? You guys really want me to come along?” Tony says, flattered.
“Yeah.”
“It is far away?”
“Well—”
“It’s okay if it is. I have a killer road trip playlist. It’s got all the greatest. If it’s an overnight though, I’ll need to go home and get a few things. Let’s see…my silk eye mask, sound machine, lavender face scrub…”
“We’re going to Pyron,” Marcus informs him.
“The only thing in Pyron is—”
“Kairo.”