Sorceress, Interrupted - By A. J. Menden Page 0,34
for, all right? Can I have that? Is it all right with you if I have one thing, just one small thing, that makes me try to be a better person? Or is the idea of being a better person just so abhorrent to you that you have to crush it in everyone you come in contact with?”
I was stung. He kept acting like he knew all about me, that I wasn’t capable of anything more than what I showed everyone. Moments like this reinforced why I acted the way I did, why I kept such huge walls up around myself. I really did feel sorry for him and was wishing there was something I could do. But the moment I let feelings for my fellow human beings come out, I get hurt or at least verbally smacked around. It never pays to invest yourself in another person; you only get pain for your trouble.
I laughed and drew misanthropy back around myself like a cloak, a second skin. I was back to being what I wanted to be more than anything else in the world: Someone above being hurt by others. Someone who no longer cared.
What the hell. I still cling to delusions, too.
“Hope is for losers,” I said stiffly. “And being a hero is overrated. I wouldn’t recommend it. The world is a nasty, hateful place. You know that, I know that. Even the EHJ know. People may thank you for saving the day, but they’re never going to be around when the chips are down. You’re just going to get kicked in the head for your troubles. That’s why I never do anything unless I get something out of it. I’m surprised you haven’t learned the same lesson.”
I shrugged. “Keep your masochistic tendencies if that’s what it takes for you. Subject yourself to this torment for all I care, but do it on your own time. Right now we’ve got a job to do. If your personal life gets in the way, we’re going to have a problem. I’m not someone you want to have a problem with.” I whirled and walked away before he could say anything, heading back to the now-empty parking lot.
Gravel was crunching under my feet before Cyrus caught up. “Fantazia, wait!”
I turned, giving him my coldest stare. “What?”
He came to a stop, holding his hands up in a gesture of surrender. “Don’t give me the death-ray look. I just wanted to say I’m sorry for going off on you like that. You didn’t deserve it—for a change.”
I returned the tentative smile he gave me. It wasn’t like I didn’t appreciate his pain. “Well, I’m sure I’ll deserve it at some point in this ill-conceived partnership. You just lose the right to yell at me then.”
He nodded. “Sounds fair. All right. Work to do, work to do.” He glanced at the silver car next to his, then at me in surprise. “Does Lainey know you have this?”
“Not exactly.”
“Have you ever even driven before?”
“Not exactly.”
He raised an eyebrow. “And you didn’t wreck it?”
“Of course not!” I protested. “And if I did bump it into anything, I might have magically fixed it. But she doesn’t need to know about that.”
He eyed me and then the car. “I wouldn’t pick you as the PT Cruiser type.”
“Well, I certainly wouldn’t have chosen the color or the baby seat,” I retorted. “I’m thinking something in a red.”
“A Mustang, maybe?”
“Why would I want a horse?”
He laughed, and I felt the tension between us ease. “Let’s go save the world, Fantazia.”
CHAPTER TEN
“So what’s our next move?” I asked as I slid into the passenger seat of Cyrus’s car. I was trying to be sensitive and let him lead the investigation, seeing as he seemed a bit depressed. We’d just dropped Lainey’s PT Cruiser off at the EHJ garage.
He revved his engine. “We rattle a few cages, see what we can find. Harass some people I know, harass some people you know. Rinse and repeat.”
“Who would you like to start with?”
“I’m driving, so let’s go with one of mine. Wait. Is today Wednesday?”
I stared at him. “I have absolutely no idea. Does it matter?”
“It does if we want to know where to catch him.” Cyrus rolled his eyes up in thought, tapping the steering wheel as he ticked down the days. “Yep. Wednesday.”
“So glad to know that.”
He looked pointedly at my seat belt. “Fasten up, sweetheart. I like to drive fast.”
“A car wreck isn’t going to kill me,” I said. “I’ll heal.”