Page 11 of The Spell Caster

“I got us a car. We’ll rest here today and pick it up tomorrow morning,” he said. “Should be safe enough.”

I nodded absently as he looked at me, his face not giving anything away.

“So,” Costi said. “You wanna tell me why you were running away?”

Chapter 3

LAYLA

Iblew out a breath.

“How are you feeling? Your arm got pretty banged up, and you haven’t rested,” I said.

“I’ll live,” Costi said dryly. “Tell me what’s going on. Why were you trying so hard to get me in trouble?”

“You’re always in trouble!”

His lips turned upward on one side, and I fought the urge to throw a pillow at his face. I’d save my revenge, biding my time until the cut on his forehead healed. “I’m a guardian now. I’m a changed man.”

I scoffed. He looked at me intently from under languid eyelashes, waiting for my answer to his question.

“I’m… useless.” I dropped my eyes from his as I confessed. “I can’t fight.” I touched the talon cut on my shoulder. I couldn’t believe how helpless I was. It was an embarrassment. No training, no weapon, not even basic self-defense. Spell casters were sitting ducks.

Costi made a dismissive noise. “Fighting is my job.”

“But they could have hurt you a lot worse. You could have died, and I couldn’t do anything!”

Costi dropped his foot from my bed. He leaned forward to cradle my chin carefully with his calloused fingers, tilting my head up to look at him. “But you did. You got them.”

My gaze drifted to his arm. The sleeve of his tee was rolled up, and he’d wound a fresh bandage around his injury. Inked lines of vines and flowers curled above the fabric.

“No,” he said with finality. “It was your first time casting, and we were caught off guard. Don’t you dare feel guilty. You were amazing.” The last part came out in a rush of breath.

Still cupping my face, his gray eyes were warm, glowing with something. Fate, he was… he was proud of me. The knowledge lit up my insides before I was doused by another wave of self-loathing. I pulled away from him.

“But that’s the thing. I shouldn’t have been able to do that. I never summoned a familiar. I wouldn’t even believe I cast at all if I hadn’t felt the spell.”

Costi frowned in thought. “Never heard of anything like this.”

“Me neither.”

“You said… the summoning didn’t work.”

I nodded slowly, nibbling at the inside of my cheek while I worked up the courage to admit how badly I had failed. I owed him an explanation.

“The day after I graduated, I had my summoning room reserved,” I began. Costi nodded, leaning forward with his good arm propped up on his leg. “I learned how to do circle spells in school. They aren’t too hard once you do the same one a few times, they just take forever to trace. So, that day, I traced the summoning circle and pushed the magic in. I felt it catch and burn up just like it’s supposed to.” I picked at a loose synthetic thread on the hotel blanket.

Costi watched me silently, with a serious expression.

I swallowed, my throat feeling tight. “I waited, but my familiar didn’t appear… and then I didn’t know what to do…” I’d been keeping this in so long.

I hadn’t seen Costi in ages. Holly was pushing me out. I didn’t have any other friends. I’d had no one to turn to, and I’d been so, so scared.

He made a small sound in the back of his throat and pulled me up off the bed into his arms before I realized I was crying.

Now that I’d opened the door, everything came tumbling out. “I tried over and over, and it never worked. And then suddenly I can cast spells without a familiar? There’s something wrong with me.” I shuddered miserably, the tears I had been holding back for months tracking down my cheeks.

Costi leaned his cheek on top of my head. He smelled good, like soap with a hint of sandalwood. “There’s nothing wrong with you. We’ll figure this out.”

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