Booker didn’t look convinced, but he raised the glass bottle to his lips and took a sip. “Yuck,” he said, pulling it back and glaring at the vessel.
Ego chuckled. “I got a whiff of it carrying it up here. It doesn’t smell appetizing, but you can’t wait until tonight to sleep. You look dead on your feet already.”
Booker leaned back against the headboard. “I am. Between leaving Tahlia behind and this thing following me and ridiculing me each night with my stepmom’s words, it’s been hell.”
I sat down at the end of the bed and patted his foot. “I can’t even imagine what you’ve gone through. I’m so sorry, but we’re here for you now.”
“Even after…everything I told you?”
Ego climbed onto the bed right next to Booker, and I laughed quietly to myself. He and his cousin were so much alike that they might as well be the same person. Sky and I had been roommates for one whole night the first time he crawled into my bed next to me to chat like we were the oldest of friends. It had taken me years to figure out just how starved he’d been for human contact—like real connection. I wondered if Ego was the same way?
“Listen, I know you think that when you get mad, you’re subconsciously cursing people, but I have a different take,” I said.
“Oh yeah?” Booker asked.
While Ego pushed the vial to Booker’s lips, I nodded. “Mhm. Based on what you said about Tahlia and her booboos, I’d say you’re definitely a healer. Would you agree with that?”
He half-nodded while shrugging one shoulder. “Sometimes. Maybe.”
“Definitely,” I said.
Taking the glass jar once Booker was done and holding it in one hand, Ego threw his other arm around Booker’s shoulders.
“You probably held little Tahlia in your arms and wished for her booboos to quit hurting, soothed her, and told her it was going to be okay. Am I right?” I asked.
“Of course.”
“So when you got upset with your stepmom, did you ever curse her, hope that she had an accident or that something bad would happen to her?”
“No,” Booker said, sitting up and glaring at me. “I’d never do that.”
Ego chuckled and yanked Booker back next to him. “We know that.”
Booker’s face twisted in confusion, and I laughed. “Ego and I are in complete agreement.” And wasn’t that something? How quickly this man, who’d just learned about magic, was not only accepting it but also logically looking at this situation for the young sorcerer. “It sounds like coincidence.”
“Or maybe karma,” Ego interjected.
“Whatever it is, it wasn’t your fault. Did the timing suck? Sure, but I can guarantee you that her company didn’t suddenly decide to replace her position with AI on that specific day because you were pissed at her.
“Is it possible that your anger caused the earthquake in your house?” I tilted my head, thinking for a second. “Yeah, that probably definitely happened, but that doesn’t mean you had any control over something that flew off the wall hitting her. It could’ve as easily struck you.”
“Mhm,” Ego agreed. “What did you do when the house started shaking?”
“I grabbed Tahlia and pulled her under the kitchen table with me.”
“And your stepmom?”
Brooker’s lips twitched. “She stood in the center of the room screaming.”
“Well, that about sums that up then. I think you very well may be some form of healer, but I’m not sold on the fact that you’re omniscient and can heal and destroy. I might be wrong, but…” I trailed off.
Ego shook his head. “I don’t think you’re wrong.”
Booker’s eyelids were starting to flutter, and he let out a loud, jaw-cracking yawn. Ego pulled his head onto his shoulder and began to hum. Five minutes later, Booker’s breath deepened with sleep.
“Poor guy. I’m so happy Kingston and Skylar found him,” I murmured, not wanting to wake him up.
Ego stroked his fingers through Booker’s hair and responded with his words sung in a soothing melody.
