Page 119 of The Tribes of Magic
“Everyone needs friends.”
“Savannah—”
“Especiallygrumpy hermit Sorcerers who think they don’t need anyone.”
“You’re not going to drop this, are you?”
“Nope.” I smirked at him.
He sighed. “I’m a lost cause, you know.”
I pushed my grin wider. “Even better.”
He shook his head. “Why do you care about me? Why are you doing this?”
“You seem like a nice guy. And you’re hurting.”
“That has nothing to do with you. You don’t have to help me. You don’t have to fix me.”
“Oh, haven’t you heard? I like to stick my nose in other people’s business.”
He snorted. “You don’t say.”
“You have a friend now, Killjoy. I care what happens to you. When you need me, I’m here for you. The sooner you accept that, the happier you’ll be.”
He chuckled. “Goodbye, Savannah.”
“Until next time, Killjoy.” I gave him a hug, which seemed to confuse him even more, then I left the Clinic.
CHAPTER 5
BLACKOUT
As soon as I returned to Metamorph training, I got the sense Rhett and his buddies were up to something, and sure enough, they collectively tackled me on the first exercise. I woke up in my bed a few hours later with no idea of how I’d gotten there. All I knew was I’d missed most of the day’s training.
I jumped out of bed, heading for the door, steeling myself to give those bullies a piece of my mind. I threw open the door and found Kato on my doorstep.
“You look upset,” he said.
“That’s because I am upset.”
He came inside. We sat together on the sofa, and I told him what had happened in training today.
When I was done, all he said was, “You’re certainly popular.”
I blinked in surprise. Sarcasm wasn’t something I heard often from Kato. Maybe it was the surprise that cooled my anger. Or maybe it was the realization that he was teasing me. Kato didn’t tease anyone. I decided I liked that new flavor on him.
So I returned the teasing in kind—along with a big smile. “It’s pretty awesome to see my influence is rubbing off on you.”
“Oh, yes,” he said drily. “Awesome.”
Conner spontaneously popped up in my living room. “Sorry to interrupt…this. Do you want me to come back later?” He watched me struggle to stand back up, which included lots of huffing and puffing. “Or do you need someone to give you mouth-to-mouth?” His eyes lit up with mischief.
I threw a pillow at his head. My aim was so bad, he had to lunge to catch it.
“Are you all right?” Kato asked me.
“Much better than I was before. I wonder who brought me back here after I backed out.”
