I perused the list. It looked like the Pink Peppercorn was strictly vegan fare. I’d never been to a vegan restaurant before. “Where’s just plain breakfast?” I asked. “That should be safe enough.”
Cacey flipped the menu and pointed to the back.
“I guess I’ll take the tofu scramble,” I said after a minute. “Spinach, soy cheese, asparagus, and shiitake mushrooms with home fries doesn’t sound too bad.”
“Yum! I’m going with the vegan hot tamale platter. And I want a Coke, like, now,” Cacey replied. “What are you getting, Uri?”
“Tofu burrito.”
“You don’t mind if we eat in front of you, do you?” Cacey asked Caspian. She didn’t seem to care that people might notice she was speaking to him.
“It’s not like I have a choice, do I?” he said. “Be my guest.”
The waiter glided over and took out a pen and pad. Cacey rattled off her order, and I could see that he was taken with her melodic voice, just like I’d been the first time I’d talked to her. He had a hard time paying attention to what he was writing as Uri and I told him what we wanted, and his gaze kept straying back to her colorless eyes.
“I would absolutely love a Coca-Cola to go with my meal,” Cacey said, maintaining eye contact. “In fact, we all would.”
A funny metallic taste filled my mouth, like burned toast, and I reached for the pitcher of ice water that was sitting on the table. After pouring a glass, I gulped some of it down quickly.
“I’ll see to it,” the waiter murmured. “And I’ll get this order put in right away.”
“Thank you!” Cacey called as he walked away.
“Is she always like this?” Caspian asked Uri.
“Every time. Worse when she really wants something.”
“That’s enough from you.” Cacey pointed to Uri. “And you, too, dead boy.” She pointed to Caspian.
“Don’t do that,” I whispered.
“Do what?”
I made some abstract gesture with my hand. “Point to Caspian. Bring attention to him. People might see.”
She looked around us at the half-empty room. “Honey, these people in here have better things to do with their time than pay attention to us. They’re too busy discussing what will happen when they go home to their underground bunkers and assemble to conquer global hunger and world peace with hugs and teddy bears. They don’t give two shits about what we say or do.”
“You’re eating here,” I said to her. “Does that mean you go home to your bunker and hug teddy bears?”
Her smile turned sharp. “I don’t hug anything.”
Then she winked at me, and I laughed. “Okay, okay. Tell me about this car, then. Why couldn’t you just get a new one if the bus was so crappy?”
She leaned back in her seat. “Um, duh. Because we’re Revenants.”
She left it at that, and I swear to God I could have strangled her. Instead I raised an eyebrow.
“Neat trick,” she said.
I waited for her to continue, but she didn’t. “Soooooo, are you going to give me the real reason?” I said.
She just stared blankly at me.
“Uri?” I pleaded, turning to him.
“We couldn’t get a new car because that was the one given to us to use for our job duration,” he explained. “You take what you can get.”
“So, wait,” I said. “Were you guys given the bus, or did you take it?”
They exchanged a look.
“A little of both,” Uri said.
“Is that because of the mind mojo thing?”
Cacey nodded, but Uri frowned.
“How does it work?” Caspian asked.
“Like all things wise and mysterious beyond your grasp,” Cacey said. “It just is. Accept it. Move on.”
“Do I have it?” he persisted. “Can I do mind mojo too?”
The waiter suddenly appeared, holding three cans of Coke and three glasses of ice on a tray. He sat everything down on the table with a flourish, and Cacey beamed at him. “Thank you, good sir.”
He stuttered a “Y-you’re welcome” before fleeing.
Cacey didn’t even bother with her glass, but chugged the soda straight from the can. “Deeeee-licious!” she crowed after a full minute’s worth of swallowing. “This really is the best stuff on earth. Trust me. I’ve been around.”
Caspian drummed his fingers on the table. “Cacey,” he said. “Mind mojo? Do. I. Have. It?”
“Why don’t you try?” she taunted. “Go ahead and lay one on me, big boy.”
I couldn’t help the snort of laughter that escaped me. Honestly, she was so ridiculous at times.
Caspian stared at her.
She stared back.
He screwed up his face and squinted his eyes. Nothing happened. Finally he wiggled his fingers. “Abracadabra?” he said.
“Nope,” Cacey replied. “You don’t have it.”
Uri leaned sideways and spoke to Caspian. “What were you trying to make her do?”
“I was trying to make her tell us that she’s a pretty, pretty princess.”
I laughed loudly. “That I would have paid to see.”
“Hey!” Cacey said.
“Paid. Like, a hundred bucks.”
“I am a pretty, pretty princess,” Cacey said automatically. “Pay up.”
“Doesn’t count. You already told us he doesn’t have it.”
Uri, Caspian, and I burst into laughter while Cacey crossed her arms and acted all pissy.
“Oh, get over it,” I told her. “Move on.” She stuck her tongue out at me, and I rolled my eyes. “Seriously, though. Is there a reason why Caspian can’t do the mind mojo thing?”
“Because he’s a Shade, not a Revenant,” Cacey said. “He’s not like us.”
“So only Revenants can do it?”
She shook her head. “Sorry. I can’t tell you how everything works. That’s the way it … works.”
I glanced at Uri and opened my mouth to ask him, but he shook his head too. “Sorry, kiddo. She’s right on that. No unfair advantages.”
“But this whole thing is like an unfair advantage,” I replied. “How many people know that they’re going to die?”
“Technically, everyone knows they’re going to die,” Cacey said.
“I mean, how many people know they are going to die soon? As in having-lunch-with-the-people-that-will-take-their-souls-any-minute-now soon.”
Cacey and Uri shared another look, and then Cacey shrugged. I was about to ask again, when she said, “Ooh! Here comes the food!”
The waiter made his way out of the kitchen with a loaded serving tray and then passed around the plates when he got to our table. My tofu scramble actually looked pretty good, and it smelled delicious. I felt bad that Caspian was going to have to just sit there and watch us eat, but he gave me a reassuring nod.
The food, as it turned out, was tasty.
Cacey barreled her way through her tamale while Uri demolished his burrito. “Wow,” I said, only halfway through mine. “You guys were hungry.”
“We’ve just come to appreciate fine food,” Uri replied.
Cacey sighed in happiness as she drained the last of her Coke and reached for Uri’s. “Sleepy Hollow doesn’t have any place like this,” she said. He patiently nudged his glass over to her.
I cleared the rest of my plate as they discussed ordering something to go. Ultimately they decided against it, and the waiter came back with our check. Luckily, I’d pocketed some money before I’d gone to the doctor’s that morning, and I pulled a ten from my back pocket.
“Don’t worry about it,” Uri said. “We’ve got it covered.”