Page 2 of Castings & Curses

“Dion?”

“That’s right, you weren’t involved in the student exchange.” Fabian had met him perhaps once and promptly forgotten about him. “He was Matt’s student and an illusionist.”

Recognition dawned on Fabian’s face. “Oh, that guy. You kept in touch?”

“More or less. Dion’s the reason I could add illusions to my repertoire.” She wriggled her fingers and let the water in front of her rise into a dolphin shape. It jumped into the air and splashed on her knee, not leaving behind a single drop of water.

Fabian whistled, impressed. “Awesome, I can retire then.”

Lucille bumped her shoulder into his with a laugh. “Don’t. It’s not real. Not like your water.” As her thoughts returned to Dion, she took a deep breath. “Anyway, we were trying to make it work despite the distance, and it went all right—until there was no distance.”

“Sounds like a bad ending?” Fabian asked carefully.

“Not exactly bad. We just realised it was nothing more than an illusion after all. Not enough reality underneath it all. We’ll keep in touch, of course. I think.” The lack of sorrow Lucille felt about the end of the relationship told her it had been the right thing to break up with Dion.

“Well, in that bikini, I’m sure you won’t stay alone for long.”

Lucille shaped her mouth in a mock gasp. “Ooh-la-la. Am I hearing a compliment from your mouth, Fabian Bendtfeld?”

He raised his hand, a mischievous twinkle in his eyes. It was all the warning Lucille got before cold water splashed her face.

Shrieking, Lucille jumped up. When the surprise faded, she had to fight back a smile. “You’re so going to pay for that!”

Fabian had already jumped back into the pool and put some distance in between them, grinning wildly. “Come and get me then!”

“Ugh, fine!” With a wide smile, Lucille glided into the water.

* * *

A little later,Lucille and Fabian took a break from swimming and got in line for ice cream. The little kiosk was making a year's worth of revenue from these sunny days, and the line only moved slowly.

“Malcolm would’ve loved this,” Lucille mused, bringing up the Archdemon of Greed who had given them so much trouble last year.

“Don’t remind me.” Fabian shuddered. “Tell me more about Bali instead.”

Lucille laughed. Leave it to Fabian to avoid all talk of monsters and demons. Graciously, she regaled him with more details. “Well, I ended up loving diving so much, I got my Open Water certification. I might even do the Advanced so I can go down to forty-five metres, but I’m not sure I want to brave German waters for it.”

Fabian glanced at her in surprise. “That’s so cool. I always imagined you would spend your summer tanning on the beach, flirting with boys.”

That was pretty much everything else she’d done. “Judging by my experience, it’s much easier to flirt with boys in the water.”

The innuendo flew right over Fabian’s head. “So, you’ve replaced Dion already?”

Lucille winced. “Just a short fling. Nothing serious.” She didn’t like being reminded of how short-lived her romances always seemed. “Anyway, the beach was nice but boring. The world underwater though…” she sighed, “breathtakingly beautiful. And without any marepires.”

In front of them, a girl with a wide-brimmed hat glanced at them, concerned, probably wondering what strange conversation topics they had. She would get used to Greenvalley’s quirks soon enough.

“Oh, dear. Vampires above ground are bad enough. I wouldn’t want to meet any underwater.”

Lucille shuddered remembering the marepires they’d fought in Marseilles. On her recent trip back, they’d been fortuitously absent. “Same. We had sharks, though. Nice, friendly sharks. And turtles! You can’t imagine how beautiful it is to swim with—”

Suddenly, the girl in front of her fainted. Her friend tried to catch her, but it was Fabian who managed to keep her upright. Concerned, he exclaimed, “Woah, careful.” He checked with the other girl. “She needs shade. Let’s help her over there.”

Together, they carried the fainting girl to the shade of a bunch of trees. Lucille picked up the hat she’d lost and followed behind, wondering if they should call an ambulance. Without the hat, the girl looked unnaturally pale, even paler than Fabian. Her long blond tresses fell over her shoulder, and her eyes fluttered. She and her short-haired friend were about Fabian and Lucille’s age.

“Are you okay?” Lucille handed the hat back to help her shield from the sun.

Fabian let go of the girl. “Probably the heat. I’ll get some water.” And with that, he jogged away.

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