They stepped out of the door and moved beneath the awning just outside the window. A shadowy glow illuminated the side of Knox’s face from the flame, and he blew out a plume of smoke, tucking the lighter in his back pocket. They turned their backs to us and a cab drove by, splashing water on their feet.
Sunny cleared her throat. “So you’re telling me you’re a sorcerer?”
If only
. “I’m not able to cast spells or brew a love potion, if that’s what you’re asking. I can’t work magic, but there
is
magic in what we can do. I never gave much thought to the idea that some things—beyond explanation—are magic. It’s hard to believe the world isn’t what we thought it was.”
“Prove it.”
I leaned forward. “I could be arrested by the Mageri for public display of power. Laws must be followed.”
God, I was starting to sound like Justus.
She looked into my eyes searching for evidence, searching for truth—searching for her old friend. “They never found your body and I… I hoped it wasn’t true.”
I rubbed my fingertip over a dark stain on the table. “Why did you have the funeral so quickly? I was still missing, and then I turn the page and there I am… in the obituaries.”
“How did they find me? I was nowhere near the road.”
Sunny shrugged. “If he made you into a Mage, why did he leave you?”
“I don’t know. Bringing me close to death, if not killing me, was somehow part of his process. I think he took it too far with me and thought I really died—that he failed. Maybe he planned it so there would be no loose ends to tie up, and he could pick me up at the morgue like a pair of slacks at the dry cleaners. Samil never saw my transition, but somehow he sensed I was alive. He followed me a couple of times, but flashed out of sight before I ever saw him. I don’t think he was sure it was me, and I thought I was just getting paranoid. I was in denial, wanting to go on living a normal life. Can you blame me? I was scared,” I said, running my finger around a bottle of stout beer. “Everything changed when I met Justus. I can’t trust anything Samil said to me. Now he’s dead, and I may never know all the facts about why he really did this. It doesn’t matter anymore; what’s done is done.”
“What woke you up?”
“I couldn’t breathe,” I said, shaking my head. “I’m not sure if I was dead the whole time. I just know what he did to me.”
Whatever magic Samil possessed with the gift of creation was dark magic. If he could create a Mage upon their death, or even after, it spoke volumes to that power.
“This isn’t how a Mage is created. That part of my life is behind me, and I’m only telling you because I want you to know. It’s a sore subject, and I don’t like talking about it.”
“What have you been doing all these months?”
“Learning who I am, I guess. Do I miss my old life of paper jams at the office? Not really, but I plan to get another job. I’m not sure what I’m qualified to do for the Mageri, but there’s got to be something out there for me, and I intend to find out what it is.”
“I’m still not sure if I can believe this,” she muttered.
“Sunny, I know a million stories about you. It may never be enough. I just want to sit and talk for a little bit.” I tore the label off the bottle and let a minute pass by. “How’s my mom doing?”
She snorted and swallowed half her drink. “Bat crazy. She won’t talk to me anymore. She’s found Jesus.”
“Really? Where was he hiding?” We laughed together and she ruffled her fingers through her hair. “At least she found somebody. It really tore me up wondering how you two were coping. Did she take Max?”
“You mean that devil cat of yours? Yes, reluctantly your mother took him. I think she felt guilty.”
“He isn’t the devil, just a little possessed.”
“And in need of an exorcism.”
“I wanted to believe you were alive because some weird stuff happened.”
“What weird stuff?”
“It’s my fault.” She submersed an ice cube in her glass with the tip of her finger.
A rowdy group of men entered the room and one of them slammed his hands on the bar. “Three beers!” he called out.
“There’s no way you could have known that was going to happen to me. Don’t even think about blaming yourself.”
Her fingers wound through a curl of hair as guilt flooded her eyes. “Marco led me to believe he was the one. What a joke. Marco only wanted to know about
you
.”
“
What?
” I asked in disbelief. I met the guy
once
.
“Marco was involved, Zoë—uh, Silver. I can’t get used to that name.”
“It’s fine. You’re human, so you can call me whatever you want.”
“I went to see him that night after I dropped you off. He discarded me like some floozy. I thought it was because he was messing around, so we argued. When the phone rang, he answered it and went ballistic, yelling in Italian. I couldn’t make heads or tails of the conversation. We haven’t seen each other since that night.”
“Is that why you came up here, because you think this is somehow your doing?”
“Maybe it’s why I can believe all of this. Marco scared me, and I moved because of him. I loved that little apartment and hated myself for getting involved with him. None of it mattered. You were gone and my life was a mess.”
“What are you not telling me?”
“Well,” she began, “we never fought like that before. Most of our quarrels were minor and we always kissed and made up. I never saw that side of him, and I—”
Two fists—one sporting a ring shaped like a knuckle-duster—planted on the table. We raised our attention to a man with a shaved head, dripping from the rain. Deep lines carved across both of his cheeks, and his eyes were small and sunken in. They were also all over Sunny. A foul stench of cheap cologne burned my nose and I angled away from him.
“You ladies want some company?” Drops of rainwater rolled down his head and splashed across my hand.
Sunny didn’t even look up because she knew how to handle men. “Scram. You’re leaking all over our table.”
“Yeah, it’s crying like a bitch out there. Me and my boys would like to buy you girls a beer.”
His fists remained on the table as if he were claiming his territory. The music switched to an old rock song, and Sunny buffed a nail on her sleeve.
“As you can see,” she said, “we already have a drink. Try the next table.”
He dropped his ass in the seat next to her as his two companions moved in closer. One covered in tattoos looked like he used a knife to shave his head, while the second guy was bigger, wearing a baseball hat and sweatshirt.
I was a woman with little patience, and these were men with little brains. “These seats are taken.”
I moved to get up when Matty muscled his way in the booth, boxing me against the wall.
Sunny reached for her clutch. “I’ve got pepper spray, so if you don’t beat it I’m going to—”
Sean snatched the purse and tossed it to John who held it over his head.
“Let’s be friendly. Didn’t your mother teach you to be polite?” Sean asked.
“Give me back my purse.” She stood up and reached over Sean, trying to grab it. Little did she notice that Sean was getting a private tour of her assets.
“Feisty one. I’d ask you to sit, but you’re giving me a lovely view, princess.” He curled his octopus hand around her waist and howled, “Always wanted a hellcat!”
I leaned in and grabbed his wrist, prying it away. “Let go of her!”
Matty’s fingers hooked in my jeans and yanked me back in my seat. I snapped my arm back, hitting him in the chest with my elbow and he wheezed, grabbing his sternum.
There were pros and cons to being a Mage. The pro was that I could move and heal fast. The con? Well, that meant I couldn’t do any of these things around humans. Justus never taught me how to fight someone in a restaurant booth, either.
“Give it to me!” she demanded.
“You hear that, John? She wants you to give it to her,” he chuckled.
Sunny may have been saucy with a lot of bite, but she fought like a girl, slapping him with the flat of her hands as he laughed.
“Let go of me or I’m going to call the cops right now. Get your hands…
off
of me!” A few heads in the bar turned, but no one wanted to get involved.
Almost no one.
“You heard the lady,” a deep, gravelly voice barked.
Sunny paused from her struggle, looking up with desperate eyes.
Knox had John in a headlock and looked as immovable as a statue. I didn’t even see him coming, but he moved in quick and took control. He aimed his eyes at Sean like a firing squad, watching the hands that clutched her hips. Water streamed down his face from the rain outside, and his shoulders were speckled with it.
“Remove your hands and I’ll let you keep them.”
“This is none of your business,” Sean replied.
“Walk out of here,” Knox warned, “because I only give one warning and you’re two seconds away from getting chin-checked.”
Knox wasn’t looking for a physical confrontation. Knox
was
the physical confrontation. His skin stretched taut over hard muscle; a chisel couldn’t have broken through him.
Adam yanked Matty out of the booth, pinning an arm high on his back as he flung him across the room. I managed to kick him in the rear with my heel, feeling a little embarrassed. It’s not that I minded a little chivalry, but I knew I could have handled the situation better, and I failed.
Sean sized up the competition and threw out his hands in surrender. “We’re not looking for any trouble. We’re just having a little fun with these girls.”
“In fact, why don’t you join me outside for some
fun
?” Knox suggested.
Sean weighed his chances with Knox, which were slim to none on a good day. When he stood up, Knox took hold of the back of his neck and shoved him across the room. It wasn’t every day I saw a group of guys having a standoff, so it was interesting to see all the chest beating and tail tucking.
Knox directed his focus on John, who was still wedged between his arms. His lips peeled back, and he leaned in close.
“You
should
give the lady back her purse. That would be the right thing to do. Ask me why I hope you don’t.” John’s fingers wrapped around the bicep constricting his air. “Because I want nothing more than to get Medieval on your ass.”
He emphasized his threat with a hard squeeze. John cursed and threw Sunny’s clutch. It skidded across the table, knocking over an empty beer bottle. Knox shoved the sorry bastard to the floor, waiting for him to fight back.
He didn’t.
The music switched to a slow song, and the men angrily left as everyone went back to their drink.
“Some real gentlemen you got in this city,” Sunny fussed. She ran her fingers over her dress and blew out a breath. I lifted a napkin crumpled in the corner, wiping the table down when Sunny looked up at Knox.
“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean you.” She tried to get out of the booth to let him sit down when he touched her shoulder, and pulled away immediately.
“Did he hurt you?”
When she shook her head, a curl sprang out of place and bobbed in front of her nose. She blew out a hard breath and pouted, tucking the hair behind an ear. Sunny was more emotional than I was, and it looked like she was hovering on the edge of tears. Knox snapped his head towards the door, easing around, when Adam pushed a hand against his chest.
“Cool it. This isn’t the time.”
Knox tightened his jaw and looked at Sunny. “Slide in. I’m taking the end.”
Her eyes rose to meet his and the moment they did, his ears turned red. Cherry red. He cleared his throat, pulled the cap from his back pocket, and yanked it over his wet hair. Did she even notice how he looked at her? The man blushed like a furnace. Knox sat on the edge, facing away from us like a loaded shotgun ready to fire.
“Reminds me of that time we went to Shreveport,” I said.
Sunny slapped her hand on the table and her voice went up a pitch. “I always said you were a magnet for trouble.”