Page 5 of Lumi

CHAPTER 1

In the Name of Science

Eleven Years Later

Lumi

“How was Greece?” I asked Jolene when she came to sit next to me.

“Oh, it was picturesque with the white villages and the teal-blue water. Atlas and I rented a scooter and drove around the island. We had lazy days with breakfast for lunch, and we walked hand in hand on the beach watching the sunset.” Jolene gave a dreamy sigh. “It was perfect.”

“Atlas told me about his proposal,” I whispered with a smile.

Jolene looked over her shoulder at Atlas, who stood by the grill with Damian, Charles, and Nathan. Lowering her voice, she whispered back. “Did you tell anyone?”

“No, Atlas said that he’s going to share the good news tonight.” I touched her hand. “Don’t worry. Atlas and I were always close. You can trust me to keep your secret.”

Jolene sent a loving glance in her future husband’s direction, and as if there was an invisible line between them, Atlas looked over and smiled back at her.

“You two are adorable,” I said and felt a pang of envy in my chest.

“Charles, honey, is the meat ready?” Liv came through the French doors with River by her side. The two of them were carrying bread, salad, corn on the cob, and potatoes.

“Can we help?” I offered.

“No, it’s fine.” Liv motioned for me to stay in my seat.

“Hang on.” Charles turned a few of the steaks and pressed on them with his thumb. “We need two more minutes for the steaks, but I can give you the veggie spears.” Charles filled a plate that Damian brought over to the table where Jolene and I were sitting.

“You’d better not have mixed them with your disgusting meat,” River said with her nose wrinkled up.

“What does it matter? Ye’ve had meat before, and it didn’t kill ye, did it now?” Damian took a seat across from me as he spoke to River.

“No, it didn’t kill me, but still.”

I smiled. “River, you realize that Damian’s question was rhetorical? You wouldn’t be able to answer him if you were dead.”

“True, but sometimes answering the same questions about why I don’t want meat juice on my vegetables makes death seem like an escape.”

Nathan laughed. “How I love the drama you bring into our lives.”

River smacked her tongue. “Me? Dramatic? Huh! You should see some of the people I know in London. I’m the grounded one in my group. Actors and models are entertaining people, but everyone is always fighting to be the center of attention. The other day Carmen Ramos came up with a story about ghosts haunting her apartment. She made a whole episode on YouTube, and now people want to stay at her place to see if it’s true. It’s a complete lie.”

“Maybe the place is really haunted.” Nathan grinned.

“Oh, come on. I don’t believe that for a second. She’s always looking for content ideas and Billie, Carmen, and I had just watched a horror movie two days before she made that episode. Carmen might be a YouTube sensation, but she is getting sloppy when it comes to coming up with original content. Which reminds me…” River turned to Damian. “Can I do an episode with you?”

“Why?”

“I thought it would be fun if I came with you to work. You could teach me how to shoot and catch bad people.”

“Of course. No problem. I could squeeze ye in when we have the ‘bring a civilian to work day.’ I believe it’s comin’ up in about, let’s see… hmm, never.”

“But I could give you exposure, and you could show what it is you do in the emergency response unit. One point four million people saw my last episode.”

“That’s impressive,” I said. “What was the episode about?”

“About these handmade braids that you can use as a hairband when you don’t have time to do your hair. It’s pretty genius, really.”