“Huh. Staying alive is always about luck. You didn’t know that?”

He flashed her a quick grin. “You taught me, remember? Back when we went looking to rescue Logan Tom from that other out-of-control Knight of Whatever-He-Thought-He-Was?”

“That was a long time ago,” she said, looking away again.

“Not so long. Hey, I missed you. Got no one else I can rag on like I can on you. I might have been jealous, too, you know. You choosing to stay with Logan instead of coming with me, I mean. ’Cept I’m not like that.”

She kept her gaze averted. “You don’t need to be jealous of me. There’s no reason for it. Now go to bed.”

“You think we’re getting any closer to where we’re supposed to go?” he asked, ignoring her.

“If I had any idea where it was we were going, I might be able to answer that. Go ask your friend Hawk.”

“Ah, Bird-Man won’t say anything. He’s not over our fight with the demon yet. Something happened to him out there. He won’t say what, but something. You could see it. He was all froze up when we found him. He couldn’t move, even to defend himself. Like he lost his nerve, something I didn’t think he would ever do. He was just standing there, waiting to die.” He paused. “I don’t know about him. Might be he can’t even find his way anymore. He’s got that look, as if everything’s a mystery and nothing he does will make it clearer.”

“Maybe you should try to help him out then. You and the other Ghosts. You’re his family, aren’t you?”

“Naw, he won’t listen to me. Never has. Never will.”

She glanced at him, irritation mirrored on her face. “Better that you go try to change the situation there than continue sitting around here annoying me. Okay?”

“Hey, I’m just trying to—”

“Panther, are you listening to me? Do you understand what I’m saying to you? I’m telling you I want to be alone. Got it?”

He went silent then, staring at her in confusion. His anger surfaced in a hot wave, but he tamped it down quickly. “Sure, I got it.” He gave her a nonchalant salute. “No problem, Kitty Cat. See you later.”

He got up and stalked off, stung by the rebuke. He hadn’t quite gotten to where he couldn’t look back and still see her when the last vestiges of his anger gave way to concern. Something was wrong. He almost turned back, wanting to know what it was and if he could help her deal with it. But he knew what her response would be, how she would treat him, and he didn’t feel like he wanted to risk that. So he continued on.

He would try again tomorrow, he told himself.