David rolled his shoulders in a dismal shrug. “I guess so. He wasn’t the type to say.”
As Mia sat down, Zack shined a contemplative gaze at Amanda and Hannah. “David has a point. You two don’t look a thing alike. You’re not half sisters or adopted, right?”
“Full sisters,” Hannah replied. “It’s a little more obvious without our dye jobs.”
“And you both got bracelets,” Zack pondered. “That can’t be coincidence.”
David nodded. “That’s what I said.”
Amanda kept silent as she sliced into her chicken. Zack could see she was agitated by the subject. He didn’t care. He was just a stiff breeze away from a fierce and unseemly breakdown. He needed this distraction.
“Yeah, that’s a hint right there. The question is why would, uh . . .”
His attention was seized by David, who sat down at the table with a teeming plate of green peas. The boy sprinkled heaping dashes of salt onto his pile, then looked up at his four confounded friends.
“Quite an interesting diet there,” Zack said.
“Just fussy,” David replied. “She did mention something about our potential.”
“Who?”
“The woman who gave me my bracelet. Esis.”
“Ee-sis?” asked Hannah.
“Yeah. Tall and lovely woman. She told us—me and my dad—that I was very important. She said that I was part of something larger now, and that I had the potential to help bring about a great and wonderful change to all humanity. That’s not verbatim, of course, but—”
“She’s insane.”
The others looked to Amanda. She aimed her dark gaze down at her plate.
“I’m sorry, David. If we’re talking about the same person, then I wouldn’t trust a single thing she said. She was completely out of her mind.”
From his frigid expression, David clearly didn’t enjoy her analysis. “I had a hunch you met her too. What did she say to you?”
“I don’t remember the specifics. I just know her behavior was completely erratic. One second she was complimenting me, the next she was grabbing my hair. She . . .”
Thinking about her sister, Amanda decided to censor the part where Esis launched across the alley with blurring speed. That part struck a little too close to home now.
“She was just crazy.”
David shrugged. “Well, the Esis I met seemed intelligent and kind. Not even remotely crazy. In either case, you and I would be dead without her intervention.”
“Am I supposed to be grateful? For all we know, they’re the ones behind all this.”
“Oh, come on. You have no evidence to support that.”
Zack raised his palms. “Okay, hold it. Wait. David, I agree we’re getting ahead of ourselves—”
“I don’t even know why we’re talking about this at all,” Amanda snapped. “Can’t we have one night to recover?”
“Hey, I was about to throw you a bone. As it stands, I’m deep on your side of the crazy issue. I didn’t meet this Esis, but I have nothing nice to say about the guy who gave me my bracelet.”
David raised an eyebrow at Zack. “Do tell.”
“There’s not much to tell. He wore a mask. All I could see were his eyes. But he looked like he was having the time of his life while people were burning to death all around us. That alone makes him someone I’d very much like to unmeet and hopefully never come across again.”
“That’s how I feel about Azral,” Hannah added. “The white-haired man. I mean I know he saved my life twice, but he still scares the living—”
“What do you mean twice?” Zack asked.
Hannah could see her sister tense up across the table. She figured any mention of their childhood incident would send Amanda to tears.
She lowered her head. “It doesn’t matter.”
Frustrated, Zack glanced over to Mia, the lone holdout in the conversation. She stabbed at her food with a dismal expression.
“She didn’t see anyone,” David replied on her behalf. “She was asleep when she got her bracelet.”
Zack scratched his neck in edgy thought. “So from the looks of it, we’re dealing with two, possibly three different people.”
Three, the sisters thought in synch.
David scooped another forkful of peas. “We don’t have enough information about them to form any theories.”
“I think we do,” Zack replied. “The fact that Amanda and Hannah are here right now is a big fat clue that these people chose us for genetic reasons. Why else would they give bracelets to two biological—”
With a choked sob, Mia pushed her chair back from the table and fled the room. Amanda rose from her seat, shooting a harsh green glare at Zack before trailing out the door.
The cartoonist sighed at Hannah. “Your sister’s not the most relaxed of women.”
“She just lost her husband.”
“I know. I just . . .” Zack frowned with self-rebuke, then flicked a somber hand. David listlessly poked a fork at his peas.