Page 8 of No One Aboard

Francis nodded grimly. “Or, God forbid... a cake.” And he reached suddenly into the frosted skyscraper of a dessert and grabbed a fistful.

Lila shrieked, but his attack wasn’t meant for her.

Rylan ducked as the chunk of cake soared past him. He grabbed an empty plate to use as a shield, but then Tia was beside him, her own slice brandished above her head like the gloved fist of an army general. She sent it dangerously close to her father’s face, and war was officially declared.

Lila took cover behind Alejandro, who chuckled good-naturedly as Francis and Tia tore his creation to shreds. Rylan would have apologized to him if he’d had the time, but whenever he dared glance away from the battlefield, he ended up with cake in his hair.

“Alejandro spent days on that cake!” Lila shouted.

“Oh, I’m so sorry, Mom.” Tia stuck her hand into what remained of the twelve layers. “We should have saved some for you.”

Lila’s pupils constricted under the brim of her beautiful white sun hat. “Taliea Indigo Cameron...”

Tia charged, Rylan just behind her.

Rather than flee as her children bore down on her, Lila quickly shed her hat and sheer cover-up. She looked like a dandelion seed with its fluff blown off as the twins rammed into her and rubbed frosting onto her skin like it was tanninglotion. Francis whisked the hat and cover-up out of harm’s way, probably guessing his wife would rather have those be rescued than herself.

Rylan couldn’t stop grinning. Lila’s screams had reached an operatic pitch that would have been envied by Christine Daaé. But she was also laughing, hysterically, like everyone else.

Tia and Rylan released their mother, who attempted to give them a dire that-was-a-mistake expression, though it was difficult to take her seriously with gold flakes and frosting smeared on her bikini.

“Francis, get me the hose.”

Tia grabbed Rylan’s arm, breathless. “Go, go, go!”

They flew down the companionway just as Francis armed their mother and she aimed the water their way.

Rylan shut the hatch behind them, and they staggered into the salon, giggling like little kids.

“We definitely won.” Tia flicked crumbs off her sunglasses.

“We retreated,” Rylan pointed out. He was short of breath, feeling almost giddy.

This is what you’re thinking of leaving behind, he thought, watching his sister. So it didn’t feel at all impulsive when he reached for her hand and said, “Stay.”

Tia squeezed his hand. She looked even older and fiercer than Rylan had remembered her.

She shook her head, and his heart sank just beneath his ribs.

“Stay withme,” she countered.

But he couldn’t, not if she left, because there was something Tia didn’t understand about their family. The Camerons were not a thing that could be left behind.

Chapter 4

Lila Logan Cameron

Call sign: Cassiopeia

The Day Before Departure

“What a mess,” Lila declared, wiping a streak of frosting from her husband’s clean-shaven chin.

Francis shrugged and sampled a bite of ruined cake with his thumb. “Never tidy with Tia.”

Alejandro took the hose and started rinsing cake off the deck. “You started it, Francis.”

Francis grinned and found a rag to help.