Mind Games

Rem stepped out of the back door. “Hey, Bullet Train,” he called to Bray. “Hey, Ty, want a beer?”

“Oh God, yes.”

“Got you covered. Macaroni salad in the fridge, too, and some of that brown bread she makes ’cause she thinks it’s healthier. It’s pretty good.”

To prove it, he took a bite out of the slice he held in his hand.

“I pay him in food for beta testing.”

“I could beta test.”

“No. But I’ll feed you.” By the time they reached the house, Rem had already carried out the salad bowl. He unhooked one of the beers caught in his fingers, passed it to Ty.

“Didn’t know you guys were meeting up on the hike.”

“Neither did we.” Ty took a long pull. “Jesus, this is the best beer in the long history of beer.”

As Thea went inside to get the rest, Rem turned to Ty. “You got ideas about my sister?”

Ty took a second, more cautious pull of his beer. “I don’t know that I’d call them ideas.”

“Friend, I know ideas when I see ideas. Thea can take care of herself and all that, but she’s got some tender spots that don’t show.”

“Noted.”

“Okay, cool. That’s it. Other topic advice? Hiking boots. Ankle support, traction, and snakes.”

“Snakes? We didn’t see any snakes.”

Darkly, Rem looked at the back screen door. “Sometimes you don’t. But they see you.”

When they all sat at the picnic table, Rem turned to Thea. “I left you copious notes.”

“I expected no less.”

“It’s a little squishy on the third-level fight-or-flight play.”

She huffed out a breath. “It is.”

“The snake pit’s too dark.”

“It’s supposed to be dark. You need to earn the torch.”

“You can’t earn what you can’t see. Now, say if the snakes glowed before they strike? You’d have that quick flash of light, even if it killed you. They got me half a dozen times, by the way, and I’m good at this. You keep getting killed, you get bored.”

“Glowing snakes.” Oh, damn, she could see it. “Different colors depending on what kind, how venomous.”

“There you go. It’s a damn good game, Thea.”

“Damn good game,” Bray repeated, chomping on generously buttered brown bread.

“Sorry.”

Ty shook his head. “Happens. Happens a lot in our house. Why do they glow? Snakes don’t usually glow.”

“Good question.” Rem toasted him.

“Because they’ve ingested irradiated mice over many generations.”