Page 73 of The Spell Caster

Scrolling farther, I finally read a line that made me pause: traps a familiar. Excitement shivered through me. Now this was promising—

A sound in the hall made me look up. My bedroom door banged open, and Costi rolled in like a hurricane, all anger and black combat gear.

I shot up and grabbed Hazel’s tablet before it fell. “What the—”

He slammed the door shut and stalked toward me, throwing himself on my bed sideways with a frustrated groan. “Fucking useless,” he growled, splaying a muscular arm over his eyes.

A light flicked on in the hallway—Costi had probably woken everyone up. My heart was still beating a million miles an hour. “What’s useless?”

“Daire. The Arcaenum. They’re gonna get people killed.”

“What’s going on?”

“The whole thing is fucked. They have five witches watching the sky from fire towers in the mountains, and their brilliant plan is to relay any sightings to the teams on the ground—in the woods.”

I balked. “That’s a horrible setup! Spell casters can’t hit anything in the sky if there’s a bunch of trees in the way. They’ll cause a forest fire while the angels just cruise in and murder everyone!”

Costi made a low sound. “Wish they’d make you security coordinator.”

“They’re acting like they still think of the angels as mindless creatures when it’s obvious they’re planning things. There has to be a way to make them understand. I’m still a delegate. Maybe I can get through to them.”

“They’ll kick you out.”

“Probably,” I sighed. “But I have to try.”

“I’m going with you,” he said.

“I don’t need to tell you what a bad idea that is. They’re not happy with you.”

“Got a lot of bad ideas when it comes to you.” He gave me a faint smile.

“You could have a little self-preservation,” I said, poking him in the side.

“Where’s the fun in that?”

***

The day was clear, but the cool of the oncoming autumn lingered in the air, and the sun hadn’t quite made it above the mountains bracing the Circle. I huddled into my cardigan as I waited outside the cafeteria.

“Hey,” I said to Calamus warily as he approached. “Thanks for meeting with me.”

He sighed. He was dressed immaculately in his crimson spell caster robes as usual, his short dark hair neatly brushed. “You shouldn’t be outside, Layla.”

I bit back a retort, reminding myself that I didn’t come to fight. “Let’s go in, then.”

I followed him into the crowded cafeteria. A few spots were still available for sitting, and we found a place at the end of a bench table.

Calamus brought over two mugs of hot tea and set one in front of me, ever polite and attentive. “I wanted to apologize for my behavior at the chamber. I shouldn’t have taken my frustrations out on you.”

I blinked. “I wasn’t expecting an apology, but thank you. I’m… sorry I yelled at you.”

He smiled. “Despite everything, I want us to be friends.”

Despite everything? What does that mean? I breathed in, centering myself. “I want that too,” I told him, hoping it was true.

He looked into my eyes. “How have you been? You’re not frightened?”

“I’m not scared. I am wondering how we haven’t been attacked yet.”

---