Page 39 of Rescue

“Exactly!” Paige says. “That’s what we’re doing too! Come with us.”

I can tell that Dylan and James are looking for a way to refuse, their gazes shooting toward Haylee. But Layla puts an end to that. “That sounds awesome!” she says. Under the table I think I see her squeeze Haylee’s hand. “Just what we need today, a little fun.”

“That’s settled then!” Paige says happily. “I think we should start at the castle, obviously, because it’s pretty much the center of town and, like, totally famous.”

“I feel as if a warning is in order before you agree to spend your day with us,” Cash interrupts. “Paige, uh, gets a little carried away with her planning.”

“That’s not true!” Paige cries. “You always have fun when you hang out with me, buddy.”

“Like in the old-timey village?” he asks.

“That was Levi’s idea,” she argues. “And you had fun anyhow!”

“The neon museum.” His voice is flat as he holds up a finger, ticking off the places she’s dragged us over the last few years. “The cat museum. The largest ball of string. The salt and pepper—”

“Okay, okay.” She slaps a hand over Cash’s mouth, and Reed snickers. “You made your point. But all of those things were fun!” She glances at Haylee’s friends, who now seem a little alarmed. “We’re not doing anything all that strange today,” she assures them. “Just a little normal sightseeing.”

I don’t think Paige has ever been satisfied with normal sightseeing in her life, but I don’t point that out. I’m too busy shooting furtive glances at Haylee, trying to judge how she’s feeling about all of this. But she doesn’t argue, doesn’t complain, just continues to stare at the ground until the rest of us stand to go. She follows almost robotically, something about her jerky movements making my stomach clench.

I step to her side, trying to ignore the glare I get from James, and nudge her shoulder a little with mine. “Hey.” She winces, and my stomach clenches again. What upset her so much? “Haylee.”

“I don’t want to talk about it,” she mutters, and her voice is much more fierce than I would have thought her capable of right now.

“We don’t have to,” I say quickly. “I just wanted to tell you that Paige…” I glance over my shoulder to make sure no one can overhear me. “She can be a little overenthusiastic sometimes, but wedousually have fun with her. Even when she’s making us do something ridiculous.” I take a deep breath. “There have been some days when, uh, I’m having a rough time. And Paige can usually take my mind off whatever shitty thing is bothering me.”

Haylee looks up at me for the first time, and it takes everything I have not to pull her into my arms. Whatever protective streak I might have is set off big time by the look on her face. Her pale skin makes it obvious she hasn’t slept any better than me, and her eyes are huge and dark, filled with something that looks a lot like shame. A lot like pain. She watches me for a minute, as if searching for something in my face, before she finally nods. “Thanks. I guess it’s worth a try.”

Relief flares in my chest as we follow Paige outside, where she confers with Frank, one of our bodyguards. “Okay, here comes the transportation,” she says brightly, sounding a lot like a kindergarten teacher. “There should be room for everyone.”

I follow Haylee into the waiting van. Even faced with the evidence of how rough things are for her right now, there’s a part of me that feels better than I did yesterday. Maybe it’s seeing her, being near her. Maybe it’s the fact that she isn’t pushing me away. At least not right now.

The drive to the castle is short enough that we could have easily walked had security not been an issue. It’s situated in Old Town, perched on the top of a towering, dormant volcano. “That’s pretty sweet,” Cash says, looking up at the ancient structure. “VeryLord of the Rings.”

I’ve been to the castle before, on our last tour of Europe, but I was on my own then, my brothers satisfied with hanging out at the hotel, probably recovering from a night of heavy partying. I enjoyed it then, the historical aspect appealing to what my brothers would term my nerdy nature. And Cash wasn’t joking—it does look like it belongs inTheLord of the Rings. But my feelings that day were nothing compared to how it feels touring the castle with Haylee.

To my very great surprise, and to James’s seeming annoyance, she sticks by my side when we pile out of the van. Paige, ever diligent in her planning, arranged to have sections of the castle cleared out as we walk through. For once in my life, the special treatment doesn’t rankle. Unlike Daltrey and Cash, I can usually get away with being in public without recognition—at least I can when I’m on my own. When we’re all together, it’s virtually impossible to avoid detection, but when it’s just me, I rarely have a problem. Who’s going to recognize the bass player? That’s probably one of the many reasons I’ve earned such a reputation for being a loner. It annoys me to no end that we have to be surrounded by security when we go out together.

But today the security doesn’t seem like such an imposition. From the corner of my eye I watch as Haylee slowly relaxes. Her arms straighten out, her shoulders becoming less hunched, as she looks from side to side, taking in the sites, her gaze no longer solely focused on a spot on the ground directly in front of her. When we take a minute to lean against the outer ramparts, looking down at the entire city stretching before us, the blue waters of the Firth of Forth beyond, she actually smiles.

Expecting my brothers to spend hours touring a historical site—even one that does look like it might be attacked by orcs at any minute—is asking for way too much. After an hour or so, Paige hurries us off to the next stop on her plan.

“What in the hell is this?” Daltrey asks, looking up at the brick building.

“It’s supposed to be really cool—”

“Paige.” There’s a warning note in his voice. “What is it?”

She huffs. “It’s a kind of museum, okay, Daltrey?”

“I knew it was a museum.” He crosses his arms over his chest. “I thought we had an agreement after the neon museum in Vegas.”

“This isn’t a weird one—”

“Camera Obscura,” Daisy reads from the sign, squinting. “And World of Illusions.”

“It’s a magic museum?” Cash groans. “Paige.”

“It’s not a magic museum,” Paige argues, looking to Reed for support. He holds up his hands in defeat, and her eyes narrow. “Coward,” she mutters before turning back to the rest of us. “Look, it’s rated highly on all the travel sites online. There’s supposed to be tons of cool stuff in there to look at. And if you would just be open-minded for five minutes—”