“Probably Captain Christie,” I said.

We all laughed.

“All right, enough of this,” Lon grumbled, probably uncomfortable that Kar Yee might get the idea we talked about bizarro shit in front of the kid all the time—which we did. Mostly because Jupe was the one always bringing it up, but all that was supposed to stay inside the Butler circle of trust. Kar Yee might be my best friend, but she hadn’t yet crossed over the proverbial family line.

“Let’s just get back to the experiment,” I suggested.

Lon relaxed his grip on my knee. “Jupe, start out with something easy. Get Kar Yee to tell you her favorite color.”

“No, it’s gotta be something she wouldn’t normally tell me.”

I waved him over and whispered in his ear. He grinned. “Okay.”

Kar Yee kicked off her shoes as he sat on the sofa across from us, facing her. “Let’s have it,” she said. “Do your worst.”

He snorted a merry laugh, then shook out his hands—what a drama queen—and closed his eyes to concentrate.

Many Earthbounds had a demonic ability, more commonly known as a “knack.” Lon’s knack was called empathy: he could hear your emotions. Lots of inconvenient baggage came with a knack like his. It was hard to get used to wearing your feelings on your sleeve, and nearly impossible to lie to him. But I didn’t mind . . . most of the time.

Jupe didn’t inherit his father’s knack, unfortunately. Nor his mother’s: allure. Yvonne was a supermodel and Lon’s ex-wife. Jupe did get a lighter version of her toffee-colored skin and her long, lanky shape, but he wasn’t able to charm you into thinking he was a god.

In a way, what he could do was worse. His knack was called persuasion, a rare ability that Jupe liked="Bt Jupe to refer to as his “Jedi mind trick.” From what we could tell so far, he could command you to do things with his voice alone. He’d started coming into his knack about a month ago. I’d seen it in action, and it was nothing to screw around with—poor Lon had nightmares about Jupe robbing banks and knocking up all the girls in his class. Jupe’s doctor had encouraged Lon to let the kid practice it in controlled situations, so he could learn to use it the right way.

“Kar Yee,” Jupe said, his voice overloud, pupils twitching back and forth like he was in waking REM sleep. “You want to tell me how much money you paid for that gold coat.”

She jerked back, as if he’d slapped her. “Twelve hundred, but it was on sale, I swear.”

My jaw dropped.

Jupe made a victory fist. “Yyyes!”

“I don’t like this game,” she complained, crossing her arms over her middle.

Lon’s silent chuckle vibrated through his chest. “All right. We know it works. What we really want to know is how long the effects last.”

I threaded my fingers through Lon’s. “You need to convince her that her favorite color is pink, say.”

“Pink,” she scoffed.

“Exactly. Then she can report back to you when she starts hating pink again.”

“If,” Jupe amended. “It might be permanent. What about that, Dad?”

“Mmm.” The distant storm clouds outside Captain Christie’s “range” distracted Lon. I glanced out the window as well. Was the yacht speeding up? Felt like we were going a lot faster.

“I don’t know about this. I don’t want to start buying pink clothes,” Kar Yee said.

“Fine. Black leather, then,” I told Jupe. “Make her go bananas for black leather.”

“Oh, no. Why don’t you force Captain Lon over there to tell you something?” Kar Yee suggested. “Like where he’s hoarding his pirate booty.”

Lon flicked a dark look toward her, then his son. “You do, and I’m putting you on one of those flimsy lifeboats attached to the side and dumping your ass in the ocean.”

Kar Yee began whispering something to Jupe that made him grin like a crazy person.

Lightning streaked the sky through the portside windows. “That seemed close,” I murmured to Lon.

He glanced out the window again. “Maybe the captain’s weather knack isn’t as strong as he claimed. Does it look darker toward the bow to you?” Instead of waiting for an answer, he raised his voice without looking away from the window. “Don’t do it, Jupe. I mean it.”

I glanced up in time to see Jupe’s face straining. A flood of words spilled from his mouth. “Dad-you-want-to-tell-us-how-much-you-paid-for-those-jeans.”

“None of your damn business.”

We all looked at him in surprise.

Lifont>“Didn’t work,” he said as his hand trailed down my back and curled around my waist.

“Maybe it doesn’t work on men,” Kar Yee suggested. “Some knacks only work on one sex or certain ages. Cady and I knew a Earthbound in college who could only read the minds of small children.”

“My knack worked on that guy at the amusement park,” Jupe argued. “He was about my dad’s age.”

“And Bob,” I added. “You helped save your dad’s life by encouraging Bob to heal him. Your knack is pretty strong—maybe you need a minute to recharge. That happens to me when I’m doing magick.”

“Maybe. Or maybe I should try it on you, Cady.”

“Nuh-uh. We have a pact.” No magick used on him, no knack used on me. “Only life-or-death type situations.”