1. Jules #4
“It’s a utility charm,” I say, turning it over between my fingers. At the look of confusion on Evie’s face, I add, “They’re basically low-level ward carriers. Staff gets them for minor functions like crowd smoothing, access buffering, noise dampening. Boring stuff like that.”
I tilt the charm slightly, catching the faint shimmer in the acrylic where the warding sits just under the surface.
“This one’s a hush variant,” I add with a grin. I tap it lightly. “Makes things easier to overlook. Not invisible, nothing as cool as that, just easy to miss. They’re not exactly easy to get. It isn’t mine.”
Evie’s expression shifts. “So you’re telling me your creepy doll is wearing a stealth charm?”
“Skeleton,” I correct. “And I’m telling you,” I say slowly, still turning it over, “that Craig just got a lot more interesting.”
A beat of silence passes over us.
Kaia groans. “…Okay,” she says, dragging a hand down her face. “That part might be on me.”
Evie turns slowly. “You? What?”
Kaia winces. “I staged him… with the charm.”
Evie just stares at her. “You staged him.”
“He was supposed to scare Jules,” Kaia says, like that makes it better.
I lean against the dresser, fully delighted now. “Oh my god. You set a trap and caught the wrong victim.”
Kaia cuts me a look that could probably kill weaker people, then turns back to Evie. “I’m sorry,” she says. “Seriously. I didn’t think he’d scare you.”
Evie throws her hands up. “He jumped at me!”
“He did not jump,” Remy says, dry. “He is inanimate.”
“He keeps appearing in different places,” Evie snaps.
“Because Jules keeps moving him,” Mina says, stepping in beside me.
“Craig has agency,” I say. “You just don’t understand him.”
“He’s creepy!” Evie insists.
“He’s a good luck charm,” I counter.
“And he’s spiritually pure,” Mina adds calmly.
Evie turns to her. “What does that even mean?”
“It means he has good energy,” Mina says.
Evie exhales hard, glaring at me. “Good energy or not, Jules keeps moving him!”
“That’s why I staged him,” Kaia cuts in. “To give Jules a taste of her own medicine.”
Neither of us acknowledges that.
“I move him strategically,“ I correct.
“For what purpose?”
I consider that. “Vibes.”
Remy snorts. Mina smiles. Kaia looks like she regrets every decision that led her here.
Evie just stares at all of us. “I hate it here,” she mutters.
“You love it here,” Kaia interjects.
“I love you,“ she corrects, pointing at Kaia. “The rest of this,” she gestures vaguely at me, Craig, the entire situation, “is questionable.”
“That’s fair,” I say.
I push off the dresser and grab my charger from the nightstand.
Mission accomplished.
As I pass Craig, I pause and tilt his head slightly for effect.
Evie makes a noise of pure betrayal. “Stop doing that!”
I grin. “No.”
And then my phone dings. I freeze. Oh. Oh thank god.
I yank it out of my pocket, already unlocking it. “I have news.”
Mina looks up immediately. “What?”
“Be calm,” I say.
“Too late,” Kaia mutters.
“It’s here,” I say.
There’s a beat of silence as the girls stare at me.
“…What’s here?” Kaia asks.
I look up slowly with a wide smile. “My DoorDash.”
“You ordered food?” Mina asks, already halfway hopeful.
“Mhm! For us,“ I say, because I’m not a monster. “I ordered all of our favorites from Sunset Diner.”
That’s all it takes. The entire energy of the room shifts.
“From Sunset Diner? Oh my god,“ Evie says, immediately forgiving everything. “You’re my favorite person right now.”
“Right now? I’m always the favorite.”
Kaia exhales, some of the earlier tension melting out of her shoulders. “You’re not supposed to order delivery here,” she says, as if it’s some moral obligation to remind me every time I do so.
“I’m not supposed to do a lot of things,” I say, already heading for the door. “And yet…”
Remy closes her notebook with a resigned snap. “You’re going to get us in trouble.”
“Not if I don’t get caught,” I shoot back.
Mina is already following me. “Wait, what did you get?”
“Yummy things,” I say.
“Jules! That’s not an answer,” she protests.
“It’s the only one you’re getting until I return victorious.”
Evie perks up. “Do you need backup?”
“Yes,” I say immediately. “But also no, because you’re loud.”
Kaia shakes her head, but there’s a smile pulling at her mouth now. “Be quick.”
“I’m always quick,” I say, already slipping into the hallway. “That’s, like, my defining trait.”
“That’s not—“ Remy starts.
Too late. I’m already jogging down the hall, toward the elevators. Because yes, technically, we’re not supposed to order food directly to the Tower. Security reasons. Brand reasons. Control reasons.
Whatever.
And yes, if I get caught, I’ll get in trouble. But there’s a very specific system if you know how to work it. Timing. Entrances. Which security guard pretends not to see you if you don’t make it weird.
And I never make it weird.
The elevator doors slide open. I step in, grinning to myself.
Honestly, after the week we’ve had, we deserve this. And if I have to commit a minor corporate crime to make it happen? Worth it.
Especially with Eon about to assign us a babysitter.