Page 4 of The Spell Caster

“Come on,” he said, his voice rough with sleep. His warm hand circled my entire upper arm as he guided me inside, stepping on the switch for a standing lamp. He glanced outside, checking behind me before shutting off the porch light. “Hang on a second,” he said, then grabbed a handful of clothes from a drawer, disappearing into a bathroom.

So awkward. I put a chilled hand to my flaming face. Costi’s tiny apartment was immaculately clean and without any decoration. Only the rumpled navy comforter gave any indication that someone lived here. It was a far cry from when we were kids and his room was a permanent mess that left his foster mom throwing her hands up. There was nowhere to sit except the bed, so I remained standing, losing my nerve.

As a spell caster, even an initiate, I wasn’t supposed to be here. Spell casters were strictly off-limits to guardians. It wouldn’t matter that we were just friends. Costi would get in trouble if anyone caught me here in the middle of the night.

Just as I decided to flee, Costi emerged. He had thrown on black tactical pants and a gray T-shirt that stretched over those muscles, the edges of his ink peeking out from the neckline. He hadn’t even attempted to tame his wild hair.

“Sorry to wake you up,” I said, wrapping my arms around myself.

“Don’t be,” he said as he bent to lace up a pair of tall black boots with some seriously thick soles. “Didn’t think you’d come.” He tilted his head at the door. I nodded.

I walked along beside him as he led us through a path in the field behind the apartments to the seawall. A salty, humid breeze kicked up from the ocean below. A few beacons blinked far out at sea, and the lights of the Northern Sea Circle glowed softly in the distance across the open space. The pathway along the wall was lit only by the waxing moon but was bright enough to walk by.

“You wanna tell me what’s up?” Costi said after several silent minutes, pausing to turn and look at me. The sound of the sea hushed his voice.

“I haven’t seen you in a while.” I braced my hands on the seawall’s protective metal railing, facing him.

He glanced away guiltily, and it struck me that he’d also been avoiding me. Why?

“How’s—” I cleared my throat. This was ridiculous. I’d never felt nervous around Costi in my life. “How’s guardian life?”

His expression lightened. “You saw my luxurious apartment.”

I breathed out a laugh, then hesitated a moment. “I heard you haven’t been assigned yet.”

“Not yet,” he said slowly, looking at me in a way I couldn’t decipher.

Spell casters could create powerful bursts of witch fire, but our familiars were child-sized demons, and concentrating on casting made us physically vulnerable. A trained guardian was a necessity—we needed someone to defend us if the enemy got within range.

With four years’ difference between us, he finished his guardian training at the same time I graduated from school. Ever since we realized the timing worked out perfectly, Costi and I had planned to pair up.

I was the only spell caster graduating in our Circle this year, but I hadn’t come forward, and I was certain the guardians didn’t appreciate him putting off his assignment for months like this. He was holding his career back, waiting for me, and hadn’t even once questioned what was taking me so long.

He propped his arms on the railing, looking out into the dark distance as he waited for me to continue.

“You should let them assign you. I can’t pair with you,” I blurted. My voice was barely louder than the rushing waves, but he heard me. An unfamiliar feeling pricked at my awareness, a subtle brushing of something like magic. I shook my head to clear it.

For a moment, Costi was quiet, his gray eyes shadowed. “You changed your mind.”

“No! Never.”

He looked at me. “Tell me.”

I took a steadying breath to tell him everything. “This morning—well, yesterday, at this point—I got up early and went to do my summoning circle.” I scuffed my foot over the sand-strewn cement of the walkway.

Costi’s solid presence drew the story from me.

“The spell worked perfectly, but—” I stopped in confusion as a wave of strange magic dumped over me, like being hit with a live wire. “What was that?”

He slammed a hand down over my mouth, staring into the sky behind me. His perfect stillness shot alarm through me, and I froze.

“Layla,” he breathed into my ear. “I’m gonna need you to invoke your familiar. There are angels above us. They’ve already seen us. You need to hit them quickly.”

What? Angels, here? I shook my head vehemently, pulling his hand from my face. “I can’t.”

“I got you,” he said as he whipped a dagger I hadn’t noticed out of his boot, eyes on whatever was coming for us. He pushed me behind him. “I’ll defend you.”

“Costi, I don’t have a familiar!” I whispered frantically.

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