Page 21 of Two Who Live On

After having a discussion I’d dreaded, I felt a bit lighter, which had nothing to do with my haphazard delivery and entirely to do with Caleb’s way of handling it. And if he could handle the academy of his dreams literally conspiring against his success to showcase others, Icould handle a few offhanded comments about my relationship with Enchanter Evergreen.

I sighed. Whichever app I’d forgotten, I would read through the notifications and delete.

I pulled out my phone and smirked. I hadn’t been the subject of more online chatter. Or, likely I had, but no missed apps, which was a win in my book.

Nope, the bombardment came from text messages. I rolled my eyes scrolling through a few casual “hellos” from folks I hadn’t talked to in years—or ever—but then found a flurry of unread messages from Milo.

My heart thumped faster, and my cheeks warmed. Even before reading through the texts, I felt his concern synced to each inhale I took. He must’ve been nearby for work. The passion and care thrumming through the air was soothing, though, completelyvanishing the annoying start to the day that work had practically washed away already.

There was a slight time difference between this flurry and the next batch of unread texts Milo hurled.

He was out late, probably most of the night. Maybe he’d gone home, but more likely, Milo had gone back to the guild and fallen asleep at the office, finishing paperwork or making sense of one of many other visions too early to sort.

I scrolled through all of Milo’s self-conscious texts, emojis, gifs, and still saw floating bubbles by the time I’d reached the end. I quickly typed back, upset he’d been consumed by panic this morning. It was pleasantly strange, this thump in my heart, the idea he’d spent all day concerned about my feelings, but all I wanted in this second was to alleviate his nerves.

And I was. I hadn’t kept track of the thoughts glomming onto me out of curiosity or the one’s eager to pry for info since arriving at the auxiliary gym. Work was a wonderful distraction. I contemplated adding an emoji, something kind and smiley. Something that’d make my comment resonate. My phone buzzed. Too late.

He followed his comment with a questioning gif. Something to show hishumor and lightly address his concern. I bit back a chuckle.

I added a kissy emoji. Gross. Removed. A heart? Tacky. Maybe a black one. No. Love eyes? Worse. I sucked my teeth, taking a deep breath and pushed all the outside voices rattling in the back of my mind like static noise. These damn teenagers were in my head and Milo didn’t make it any easier liking these coded text conversations that were impossibly difficult to decipher.

The perk to work was it helped distract me from how openly dating the great Enchanter Evergreen had put my life under a microscope, and if he said it’d pass soon, I believed him. I trusted him even when I didn’t believe him.

Damn clairvoyants, always playing some angle. Especially this one, determined to make the brightest future possible he could for everyone involved in his life. A future I was eager to get to as I wasted time sending silly texts back and forth like instruction didn’t matter, work didn’t exist, and the past was washed away. It was a calming few minutes.

Chapter Eight

Chapter Eight

Milo was right. It’d been a week, and the intrigue had fizzled out. Sure, people still stared, their surface thoughts teeming when they saw me walking down the hall, but overall, the excitement had faded. It helped Milo didn’t indulge the press but remained candid during interviews. And sure, I’d chosen media blackout—which also massively helped—but it was important for work purposes to stay on top of current events, so I had to keep up on the news. I couldn’t help it if I was a part of the events. Still, fuck all things social media related. Enchanter Evergreen could navigate that storm on his own.

With lunch wrapping up, I made my way outside for a quick smoke before my afternoon classes. I took a deep inhale, allowing the nicotine to ease my stress, which settled the tension of my magic as I sat in my car. The minds in the academy fizzled for a few puffs before bouncing back to start bubbling thoughts. Then something struck outat my telepathy—a seizing chokehold between me and the mind. I dropped my cigarette, gasping and coughing when this tether yanked at my chest, reeling my heart into an unsteady thrum.

I stomped the cigarette out, barely snuffing the ember that burned a tiny hole into my driver’s seat floor mat. Fuck. Pressing a hand to my chest, I forced breaths that didn’t help. Still, joy reeled me toward it. I blinked away my spotted vision of the parking lot until all that remained was Milo. What was happening?

I was completely and fully engulfed by everything rattling around his head, minus the redacted visions streaming between his musings. This made no sense. Yes, my magic had grown, and syncing to Milo intensified much like our relationship, but he was on the other side of the city. My telepathic range on its best day might reach a mile if I truly put in the effort, further if I broke off a manifestation. But I hadn’t conjured a manifestation. Had I? No. All the same, despite the incredible distance, I could feel Milo’s emotions, hear his thoughts, and see Milo’s office alongside the staff parking lot like a dual screen.

Closing my eyes tightly, I let Milo’s office envelop me as I processed this. Somehow, I’d linked to his mind, completely silencing the thousands of thoughts bustling between us. I hovered beside him, intangible and invisible, and glued to his thoughts by my psychic magic. Milo sat in his chair, hands gripped against the leather, staring at a newspaper slapped atop his desk.

VAMPIRE STRIKES A SECOND TIME!

“Definitely not a vampire.” Milo smirked. “It’s never a vampire.”

“I don’t care if it’s a goddamn warlock with a kink. Word of a demon in the city isn’t what anyone wants right now.” Enchanter Campbell jabbed a finger against the article, crinkling the page.

“When would someone want a demon in the city? Asking for research purposes.”

“I want you to get rid of the demon.”

“Which one?”

Enchanter Campbell’s jaw clenched, a familiar sight for Milo because it was the only giveaway when something stunned her. Despite his aloof commentary, she didn’t feed into it, and after a single blink of Milo’s eyes, Enchanter Campbell had shifted her expression to something neutral.

“I see you’re aware of the demon or potentially others,” she said. “When were you planning on sharing this information?”

“Nothing potential about it. There’s some moving about,” Milo said. “I planned on bringing it up when I had a plan. Honestly, I’m surprised you care.”

“Why wouldn’t I care?”

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