Candace felt a swell of something warm and fuzzy as Ari talked. Damn, her bae was good. And if anything, this let her know Ari was fully on her side.

Mr. White nodded, swallowing again. “Your secret is safe with me, Candace.”

“Glad to hear it. Ari says you’re a good guy, Mr. White. I’d like to believe that.” Her phone buzzed, and she glanced at the screen. A message from her mom said she was out front. “My ride’s here. I need to get going.”

Ari walked her to the door and pulled her in gently for a soft, slow kiss. “Call me?”

“Soon as I’m home.” Candace turned to go but drew up short when Mr. White called her name. She glanced over her shoulder, eyebrow arched.

“I look forward to working with you. If you get my meaning.”

Candace chuckled and shook her head. She hadn’t planned on being anyone’s Batman, but if Freefall was going to do this superhero thing for serious? She’d need someone on the inside looking out for her.

“You got my back now, Mr. White?”

“I owe you, and I aim to repay.”

“You wanna repay me? Help my people. Listen to your daughter. Listen to us.”

A look crossed his face, but he set his jaw and nodded curtly.

“See you on the protest line, Mr. White.” She winked at Ari and let the door fall shut behind her. Her phone buzzed again as she reached the elevator. A text from Ari.

Thank you.

Candace tapped out a reply: He’s still got some work to do.

Ari responded: We both do. ♥

Out in the car, Candace’s mom kissed her cheek in greeting. “Any change?”

“Maybe.” Candace couldn’t help the smile that broke over her face. “We’ll see.”

Starlight and Moondust

Starlight and Moondust

Lori M. Lee

According to the locals of Little Nova, a witch lived in their woods. They said she brewed potions, cursed trespassers, and grew her garden on the bones of sacrifices.

Hlee Khue knew better, though. Niam Tais wasn’t a witch; she was a shaman.

Every Wednesday and Friday, Hlee took the trail that wound through the woods north of town. The trail eventually led to a small house guarded by lawn sculptures and a brood of chickens, where Hlee delivered a hearty dinner prepared by her mom, with plenty left over for the next day’s lunch. It was the duty of the tiny Hmong community in Little Nova to look out for Niam Tais, as the woman lived alone with no children to care for her.

Niam Tais had lost her father and brother in the war and then her mother to sickness in the jungles of Southeast Asia. The history of tragedy and frantic escape was the shared story of all refugees. But how Niam Tais came to be here, in Little Nova, was a different kind of story entirely.