Jessica speared the last piece of chicken on her plate and wondered if it was possible to die from too much excitement. Probably not, she decided, or Odelia would have expired last week when they first stepped off the bus and saw the actual size of Aethelwulf.
The apartment Odelia's cousin had found for them was small—two bedrooms, one bathroom, and a kitchen that seemed to have been designed for people who enjoyed bumping elbows—but it was clean, and the window actually closed properly, and nobody had ever been groped in it.
"This place is insane," Odelia said, for approximately the fiftieth time since they had arrived. She was sitting opposite Jessica on the small table in their kitchen, eating rice and chicken. "Did you see the houses on Creek Drive? Actual mansions, Sid. With gates. And gardens. And probably indoor swimming pools filled with champagne."
