some pretty long hours. Especially lately.”
“If I lived closer we could have some fun. We both deserve a little fun in our lives, don’t you think?”
“Sure, we deserve it,” I said, “but life doesn’t work like that.” Longing for days filled with shopping, movies, and time not working washed through me. Nola was right. I hadn’t taken time to have fun in forever.
But someone had tried to kill me today. My life didn’t have room in it for leisure. Not yet. Maybe not ever if I stayed Hounding and working for the Authority. And how would I explain my double life to her? It’d probably take her a day of living here before she started asking what I really did with my time, what I really paid the price of magic for. And those were the kinds of things she didn’t know, couldn’t know if she was going to stay safe from the secret magic users and battles going on in this city.
“What?” she asked.
I raised an eyebrow. “What what?”
“What aren’t you telling me? What happened? Are you in trouble?”
You know, for someone who made her living reading body language, I was hell at hiding my true feelings from Nola.
“I just . . .” I glanced at Zay. He was leaning back, looking like he wasn’t casing the restaurant. No help there.
“Listen.” I leaned my arms across the table. “Things have been pretty hot around here—with the Hounds, and with magic, and with all the crap my dad was mixed up in with his business. From some of the jobs I’ve done, I can tell you things are only going to get worse for a little while. I don’t want you mixed up in it. I don’t want Cody mixed up in it.”
“Cody,” Cody said.
“And I don’t want you to get hurt. If you really want to leave the farm, that’s fine. I mean, I know I don’t have any say over what you do, but I’m going to miss the hell out of that place—I love it out there. But I totally understand letting go of things that are in your past and moving on.
“Just, please, wait a little while before moving here for good.”
She adjusted the alignment of her knife and fork on the table, and then put her napkin in her lap. “What difference will waiting make? There’s never a good time for change. And dangerous things are always going to be happening in the city—dangerous things happen everywhere. I don’t use magic. At all. So it’s not going to hurt me. And I promise I am smart enough to stay out of the way of trouble. I’ve lived on my own and run a business for years. I think I can handle a suburban neighborhood and a fenced yard.
“Besides, my boyfriend is a police officer. I’m sure he would let me know if I were moving somewhere he doesn’t think is safe. I’ll be fine. Safer than you.”
I took a drink of water and tried to dig up a smile. “I’m still going to worry about you.”
She laughed. “You’re ridiculous. Worry all you want. I’d rather gossip. So, what’s really been going on lately?”
The waitress brought our lunch. Between chowing down on the club sandwich and devouring fries, I filled her in on all the Hound stuff, and some of the Zay-and-me stuff, which Zay told her I got mostly wrong. So I made him give her his side of the story about me hiring him as a trainer and our sparring sessions and unspoken agreement to move in together.
It was nice. Normal. By the end of it, we had all had a good laugh, and I, for one, was stuffed. I finished off the last fry on my plate, dragging it through ketchup and steak sauce before popping it in my mouth.
“How long are you going to be in town?” I asked.
“A week or so. Paul and I have tickets to the Cirque du Soleil on Sunday.”
“Nice. Are you going too, Cody?”
He nodded. “And my monster.”
“Maybe,” Nola said. “I have to meet your monster first before we decide if he can go.” He seemed content with that and went back to folding his napkin into the shape of a bird.
A cell phone rang. That wasn’t my ring, or Zayvion’s.
“Sorry.”
“If I lived closer we could have some fun. We both deserve a little fun in our lives, don’t you think?”
“Sure, we deserve it,” I said, “but life doesn’t work like that.” Longing for days filled with shopping, movies, and time not working washed through me. Nola was right. I hadn’t taken time to have fun in forever.
But someone had tried to kill me today. My life didn’t have room in it for leisure. Not yet. Maybe not ever if I stayed Hounding and working for the Authority. And how would I explain my double life to her? It’d probably take her a day of living here before she started asking what I really did with my time, what I really paid the price of magic for. And those were the kinds of things she didn’t know, couldn’t know if she was going to stay safe from the secret magic users and battles going on in this city.
“What?” she asked.
I raised an eyebrow. “What what?”
“What aren’t you telling me? What happened? Are you in trouble?”
You know, for someone who made her living reading body language, I was hell at hiding my true feelings from Nola.
“I just . . .” I glanced at Zay. He was leaning back, looking like he wasn’t casing the restaurant. No help there.
“Listen.” I leaned my arms across the table. “Things have been pretty hot around here—with the Hounds, and with magic, and with all the crap my dad was mixed up in with his business. From some of the jobs I’ve done, I can tell you things are only going to get worse for a little while. I don’t want you mixed up in it. I don’t want Cody mixed up in it.”
“Cody,” Cody said.
“And I don’t want you to get hurt. If you really want to leave the farm, that’s fine. I mean, I know I don’t have any say over what you do, but I’m going to miss the hell out of that place—I love it out there. But I totally understand letting go of things that are in your past and moving on.
“Just, please, wait a little while before moving here for good.”
She adjusted the alignment of her knife and fork on the table, and then put her napkin in her lap. “What difference will waiting make? There’s never a good time for change. And dangerous things are always going to be happening in the city—dangerous things happen everywhere. I don’t use magic. At all. So it’s not going to hurt me. And I promise I am smart enough to stay out of the way of trouble. I’ve lived on my own and run a business for years. I think I can handle a suburban neighborhood and a fenced yard.
“Besides, my boyfriend is a police officer. I’m sure he would let me know if I were moving somewhere he doesn’t think is safe. I’ll be fine. Safer than you.”
I took a drink of water and tried to dig up a smile. “I’m still going to worry about you.”
She laughed. “You’re ridiculous. Worry all you want. I’d rather gossip. So, what’s really been going on lately?”
The waitress brought our lunch. Between chowing down on the club sandwich and devouring fries, I filled her in on all the Hound stuff, and some of the Zay-and-me stuff, which Zay told her I got mostly wrong. So I made him give her his side of the story about me hiring him as a trainer and our sparring sessions and unspoken agreement to move in together.
It was nice. Normal. By the end of it, we had all had a good laugh, and I, for one, was stuffed. I finished off the last fry on my plate, dragging it through ketchup and steak sauce before popping it in my mouth.
“How long are you going to be in town?” I asked.
“A week or so. Paul and I have tickets to the Cirque du Soleil on Sunday.”
“Nice. Are you going too, Cody?”
He nodded. “And my monster.”
“Maybe,” Nola said. “I have to meet your monster first before we decide if he can go.” He seemed content with that and went back to folding his napkin into the shape of a bird.
A cell phone rang. That wasn’t my ring, or Zayvion’s.
“Sorry.”
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