Page 31 of The Mage on the Hill
At a stoplight, Darius felt it safe to glance over with what he hoped was a quelling glare.
“Uh-huh. Arden kinda lost it when he saw you, and Elias was mad, but he was better about it, and now you’re scared Zubayr won’t even see you. They kicked him out, too, didn’t they? The guild?”
“Because of me,” Darius snarled, then huffed when he realized Toby might misconstrue where the snarling had been aimed.
“Oh. Because he was there that day? That, um, that’sreallysucky of them.”
One of the few clear memories he had of the time afterward was Zubayr coming to visit in the hospital. Catatonic had been the doctors’ diagnosis at the time, though sometimes Darius had been aware. Zubayr had held his hand and told him, softly, regretfully, that he couldn’t come back. The guild had barred him and had forbidden him contact with Darius.
When he’d finally settled in the house on the hill, he’d made the effort to confirm where Zubayr had gone, though he’d known in his bones. Back to the site of Zubayr’s own salvation, to Pine Creek Gorge—he’d taken up residence there. Darius had driven several miles farther before he realized he’d let Toby’s last question hang.
“Yes.”
“You know what worries me?” Toby asked around nibbles on a ginger cookie. “That your communication style is starting to feel normal.”
Entirely possible that Zubayr would refuse to see him. The guildhadforbidden it, and Zubayr had never been comfortable with bending rules too far.
They stopped for lunch at a diner around noon, where Toby chattered away about books he liked to read. Apparently mysteries were a favorite. Darius listened in a skimming sort of way, diving into his own thoughts and surfacing every now and then to be sure he hadn’t missed anything important. It wasn’t that he found Toby’s monologues boring. He simply found himself unable to concentrate for more than a few moments at a time.
“How do you feel?” Darius finally inserted into a critique of a Dick Francis novel.
“What? Oh. Not bad, really, considering. A little bit like I was trying to run a 5K and fell down a hill instead, but not like I usually feel after an explosion. I mean, that’s okay, right? Me feeling not terrible doesn’t mean something ominous, does it?”
Darius shook his head. “No. Diverted power.”
“Elias said something like that too.” Toby fidgeted with a french fry. “Did you get anything from the overflow? I mean, like what kind of magic I’m throwing off?”
I need to answer this. Really answer this. He can’t be kept wondering.“Phone.”
“What?”
“Phone, please.”
With the tip of his tongue protruding from the corner of his mouth, Toby fished his phone out of his jeans pocket. “Um. Okay? I thought I wasn’t supposed to be using it?”
“Not for calling.”
Darius pulled up Toby’s message app and began to type.I don’t have anything definitive yet, but I can tell you what you’re not. There’s no hint of Fire or Light. I’m not getting an Earth impression either, and that would be the most obvious to me. Air is also unlikely. Water is still a possibility, as are Life, Dark, and Animus. Understand that these are impressions that I have and are in no way scientifically verifiable conclusions.
Forehead crinkling in an adorable way, Toby read the message. “But that’s good, right? Process of elimination and stuff?”
“Half the outer web.” Darius shrugged. “Good start.”
“Also, why haven’t you been typing out answers all this time? It’s a lot easier on you and gets a lot more info across.”
“Ha.” Darius’s lips quirked up no matter how hard he tried to prevent it. “Someone… said practice.”
“Yeah, I did.” Toby reached across to pat his hand. “You’re right. But good call for when it’s something complicated.”
What isn’t complicated right now?Darius managed a grunt and returned to his salad, ordered instead of a massive burger like Toby’s since Darius couldn’t recall eating a vegetable in the last few days. For Toby, it didn’t matter quite so much. He needed calories desperately. Not that Darius couldn’t use a few pounds himself, but he wasn’t twentysomething anymore.
Toby’s laugh broke into his nutritional meanderings. “You’re not listening at all anymore, are you?”
“Sorry.”
“Nah. It’s okay. We’ll watchEndeavoursometime instead of me telling you about it. I think you’d like it.”
Darius nodded even though he had no idea what Toby was talking about, but the nod pleased Toby, which was more important. Those smiles warmed him from his core outward, his own little patches of interior sunlight when Toby granted them to him. He found himself wanting more of them, and wanting them filled him with guilt. He had no right. None.
