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“I have to wait for everything,” Elijah grumbled.
“I have video of my jump,” Val offered. “Later, we can watch it.”
Kaj opened his mouth, most likely to object, then closed it. “Okay.”
She bit back a smirk. “Maybe Elijah can write a paper on the aerodynamics of parachutes,” she said as she took a slow turn around his room. “Elijah, this is so cool. And all these ribbons.” She walked to his shelves to inspect them.
“For the math club, mostly,” Elijah said, sounding embarrassed. “No sports.”
She cast him a glance. “Math geeks end up ruling the world, kid.”
Elijah rolled his eyes. “That’s what my dad says.”
“He’s right.” She turned her focus to the windows. “Hurricane glass?”
Kaj nodded. “This area was heavily damaged in Katrina. The house that was here before was demolished. A lot of the new construction has hurricane windows.”
“Good.” She met Elijah’s eyes. “That means anyone wanting to break that glass to get to you will have to use something noisy like a Sawzall. Which I doubt they’ll risk doing, because it’ll wake me up.”
Elijah frowned. “What do you mean, it’ll wake you up? Where are you sleeping?”
“In the guest room next door,” she said quickly, reassuring him. “But I’m a super light sleeper. I’m going to give you a panic button, like you used last night. It’ll screech loud enough to wake the dead, but I’ll also be wearing a receiver that will vibrate to wake me up. And I’d like to put a monitor in your room. I’m not spying on you. But I will hear if you yell or if anyone tries to come through that window.”
Elijah hesitated and Val could see the indecision on his face.
“I want you to feel safe enough to be able to sleep, Elijah,” she said quietly. “The monitor is only one tool that will help with that. If you don’t want to, I’ll find another way.”
He hesitated a beat longer but finally nodded. “Okay.”
“Thank you.” She checked her watch. “I want to check the alarm contacts on the windows, make sure they’re all hunky-dory, then I can try my hand at making lunch.”
“I am hungry,” he admitted. “And tired. I didn’t sleep much last night.”
“There’s chicken wraps in the fridge,” Kaj said.
Elijah clenched his teeth, and Val saw real anger flash in his dark eyes for the first time. “I know,” he gritted out. “I made them. I’ll go eat. I’m also going to call Aunt Genie.”
“If she’s asleep, don’t bother her,” Kaj warned.
“I know, Dad,” he snapped. “I won’t bother her if she’s asleep. I’ll text René first to make sure she’s awake.”
“Who’s René?” Val asked.
“My uncle,” Elijah said, still sounding irritated. “He’s the reason Aunt Genie moved here and why we had to follow. René was in college in New York, but then he graduated and came back home. Here, to New Orleans. He’s an architect.”
Val kept her tone mild. “When you talk to your aunt, can you ask her for a convenient time for me to call?”
Elijah huffed. “Fine.”
Kaj watched Elijah head down the stairs, then sagged against the doorframe. “He never used to snap at me like that. I know that he’s probably just hungry and tired and stressed, but...” He sighed. “I hate that he’s hungry and tired and stressed.”
“He’s more rattled than he wants to show.”
Kaj stared at her blearily. Even haggard and worry-worn, he was still a very handsome man. “He’d never lived anywhere else until we came here. I...” He shrugged helplessly. “I thought I was doing the right thing, uprooting him to follow Genie. And then all of this happened.” He crossed the room and sank onto Elijah’s bed, which was made with military precision.
She wasn’t yet sure if Elijah’s perfection at age ten was a good thing or not.
She moved to the doorway, taking a moment to make sure Elijah was all right. She’d already secured the downstairs, so he was safe. She could hear him talking to his aunt, so she turned her attention back to Kaj, her heart hurting for him.
