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She trailed behind me into the kitchen. “What did they offer you? Money to fix up your house?”
I glanced at her. “Not quite. He offered to help us deal with the Wild Hunt, said they have vast resources at their disposal.”
She hoisted herself onto the counter and sat. “See? They’re smart. They figured you out fast enough to know that they were better off appealing to your desire to help others than yourself.”
Addison was right. Money would’ve been an easy and obvious carrot, and one I would’ve rejected.
“Except they guessed wrong, because I still said no.”
She smirked. “But you considered it.”
“For about two seconds.”
“You should’ve let them help,” she said.
“Absolutely not. I value my life and the lives of everyone in Fairhaven.”
“What about my life?”
I looked at her. “You wouldn’t be here now if I didn’t.”
She glanced away. “Fair enough.”
I debated whether to tell her about the final offer with no strings attached, the one I was genuinely considering. It seemed they’d also figured me out fast enough to appeal to my desire to be reunited with my family. In the end, I decided to keep this one to myself. I didn’t want Addison to worry that I’d hand her over for a few stolen moments with my parents because I wouldn’t.
At least I didn’t think I would.
I noticed the box of Scrabble on the kitchen table. “What’s that doing out?”
“I don’t know. It was there when I came downstairs. I thought you put it there.”
I glanced around for any sign of guilty ghosts, but they were nowhere to be seen. Probably not a coincidence.
“I like games.” Addison planted herself in a chair at the table. “Wanna play?”
“I’m not in the mood.”
“Oh, I think you’re always in a mood.” She opened the box and started to remove the pieces. “Come on. One game. It’ll be your only chance in this lifetime to kick my ass.”
I pondered the game. I was pretty good at Scrabble.
“No cheating,” I said.
“No promises.”
I joined her at the table and shook the bag of tiles. “Do you know how to play?”
“Spell words. Win points. Is that the gist of it?”
“Basically.”
I withdrew seven tiles and held the bag out for her to do the same.
Addison smiled. “I once turned a Vegas casino into a den of vipers during a poker game. Gods, that was a blast.”
“Because you were bored?”
“Because I was losing. There’s no better distraction than the fear of imminent death.” She tapped the table. “You really ought to be taking notes. You won’t get these golden nuggets anywhere else.”
