Page 75 of The Spell Caster

It’s not me, it’s Calamus being oblivious! I desperately tried to convey with my eyes.

I took the tablet out from my cloth satchel and held it out to her. “Thanks for letting me look through it.”

“No problem,” she said, taking it from me with a little more force than strictly necessary. She clutched it against her chest like a shield, looking like she would bolt at any moment.

Oh fate, this is such a mess. “I, um… found one that looked like it might work. I was wondering if… if you might help me with it. If you want to try it. I’m not great with circles,” I told her, trying to broker some sort of peace.

Hazel flushed a bright red. “I’m not a circlewright,” she said thickly, glancing at Calamus.

I withered. Fate, I had thought Calamus was oblivious, but here I was pulling up every single insecurity this poor woman had and throwing it in her face. I couldn’t have done worse if I was trying.

“You found a circle spell?” Calamus asked me with interest.

Oh fate, he really is oblivious.

“He has a copy of the database. He can help,” Hazel said, stepping backward. “I’d better… get going.” She hustled away before I could tell her to be careful outside.

My insides curdled. I had to fix this somehow. “That was kind of her. She seems really sweet. Smart and beautiful,” I said.

He frowned with mild distaste. “Who, Hazel? I suppose.”

Yikes. Poor woman.

Calamus pulled out his phone. “Which spell were you looking at? I can help you with it if it looks viable.”

I sighed. “JB47,” I said, giving Hazel’s designation. I had been trained in circle magic in school, but doing new circles was always difficult. A trained circlewright like Calamus would save me a lot of time and headaches.

He tapped a few buttons and raised his eyebrows. “Traps a familiar? Great find, Layla.” He beamed a smile at me and opened the attached image of the diagram to examine it. “It’s complete, and it looks straightforward. It’ll only take an hour to trace. I’ll find us a place to try it out.”

I sighed. “Thanks, Calamus. You’re doing a lot for me, and I appreciate it.” He really was trying to be helpful. It felt shamefully one-sided, and I wished I could do something for him in return, but I couldn’t give him what he wanted from me.

“It’s my pleasure,” he said, picking up my empty mug for me as he stood. He rested his free hand on my shoulder, looking down. “I have to go, but I’ll get in touch as soon as I find out anything about your father.”

“Hey, Calamus,” Datura said to him as he passed. She and Oliver were heading for me with their trays of food.

My lips tipped down. They had a mischievous look, and I wasn’t in the mood.

“Good morning,” Calamus replied politely, nodding to them as he navigated away.

“No one brought us breakfast today!” Oliver cried as he slid into the seat Calamus had vacated.

“We’re so hungry,” Datura complained, squashing me over on the bench so she could sit too. I was trapped unless I wanted to bother the people on our other side.

Oliver clutched his belly dramatically. “We nearly died, but someone’s too busy flirting to feed us.”

“If you’re starving, then eat,” I said, stealing a strawberry from Datura’s plate.

“So,” said Datura, completely ignoring my suggestion, “when is it?”

“When is what?” I asked automatically, realizing too late that I’d just played into whatever she was setting up.

“The rival fight,” she said with a sharp grin.

I groaned, sinking my head into my hands. I was glad they weren’t at the last Arcaenum meeting or they’d never let this go. What counted as a rival fight? Did it have to come to blows?

Oliver pushed two orange slices into a pile of baked oatmeal. “In this corner, we have the brooding guardian Constantine, who inexplicably moved in with us and glares violently at anyone who looks at Layla—”

“Cut it out,” I hissed.

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