Page 29 of Entranced By the Basilisks

Ari nods. “They respond to your emotions.”

Guilt joins the fear on Emilia’s face.

I clench my jaw. “Shouldn’t you have told her that sooner?”

Did he want something like this to happen?

Ari shrugs, embarrassed in a way I haven’t seen before. “I truly didn’t think of it, or know for sure really.” He turns to Emilia. “Cheer up, little Medusa, I’ll fix this.”

And he does before Emilia can snarl at him for the nickname. Ari grasps one of Mrs. Rivera’s outstretched hands, and in an instant, the gray and cold stone disappears.

“Mrs. Rivera, I presume? My name is Ari, and I have the pleasure of healing you today. Where did you get bit? Oh, never mind, I see it. May I?” Now Ari waits for Emilia’s mother to catch up to the world around her. Including the sight of Ari in front of her.

After a second, she nods. “Yes.”

Ari instantly sets to work. The magic flows from him, and like when awakening her from stone, the bite heals in an instant. A stab of jealousy pinches my heart, but it’s expected. Ari is the solution. Emilia called me, told me she needed me, but it’s him she actually needs.

“You were not who I was expecting,” Mrs. Rivera says.

Emilia pipes up, “Jasper is here too, Ma.”

Her voice seems to caress my name and I enjoy her saying it too much.

Mrs. Rivera turns her head and smiles. “Oh, there you are. It’s nice to see you again, director.”

“Jasper is fine,” I say, and I’m surprised by myself. Two people in a day starting to call me by my first name. The next thing you know the heart I keep frozen is going to thaw and become endangered from all sorts of things.It’s just because I’m in this woman’s home. It doesn’t mean anything more than that.

“And Ari, you say?” Mrs. Rivera asks.

Ari flashes her his signature bright smile. “Yes, ma’am.”

She holds out her healed hand to shake. “I’m Maria Rivera.”

“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Mrs. Rivera. May I call you—”

“You may call me Mrs. Rivera,” she says with a sharp, raised brow.

I can’t stop my smile at that, and Emilia bites her lips. There are few people who aren’t swayed by Ari’s charm, but he doesn’t let her tone dissuade him.

“Happily. You have a beautiful home, Mrs. Rivera.” He lays on the charm heavier, and Mrs. Rivera purses her mouth to keep from smiling at him.

“Thank you,” she says, the picture of a gracious host. “And thank you for healing the bite. We were very worried for a moment.”

Emilia’s inhale shudders from beside me. It might have been just a moment for her mother, but Emilia’s trial had been much longer. Beginning with this morning, the hits have been constant since then. It’s a surprise she’s still on her feet. She must be running on fumes.

“I was hoping to bring up the topic of you staying at my place while you learn how to control your new abilities,” Ari says as if sensing her weakness.

“I don’t want—”To control them. I want them gone.Emilia stops the statement before she can repeat the words from earlier. Her eyes reach her mother’s. “I’m so sorry, Ma.”

“What is this about you living with him?” Mrs. Rivera asks.

“I invited her for safety reasons and convenience so that I could teach her the magic she’s been given. She’s what our kind call Chosen. Our Goddess granted her these abilities.”

Mrs. Rivera’s brows shoot up and she eyes her daughter. “You seem to have misplaced some details when you told me how your day went.”

“I said the important stuff,” Emilia says, flustered. “They’re helping me find a way to get rid of this. Right?” Emilia looks to Ari.

He beams at her. “Right, but you’d really deny me your company?”

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