books,” he said.
“Find what?” I watched as he walked to the side of the room where the tea and coffee were, and I might have taken in the line of his back. Where was his coat? Had he taken it off before he came in? Had he not worn one? Maybe he’d been close by and forgotten it? It was frigid out there, but you’d never know from him. It was probably like living in Antarctica. Your blood got thick like molasses.
He poured himself something from one of the pots. Something that steamed. See? He was normal. He’d just forgotten his jacket and now wanted something warm, like normal people did. Nothing odd about it.
“Puddle jumping.” He walked over, sipping a tea or coffee. “It’s not a spell. It’s innate. If it didn’t work the first time you tried, it’s not going to.”
Shit. He was truly the only option to get out of here. I wanted to stomp up and down, cursing, instead of sitting there calmly.
“I didn’t try,” I said, looking back down at the book because I could never keep the lie from my expression.
“I guess the saltwater splatter on the rug must’ve been from Musso,” he said, and sipped his drink. The smell of coffee wafted over, along with a woody scent of his own.
I dropped the book to the side. “So, what are we doing tonight?”
“Learning how to control your magic. You’re no good to me otherwise. A witch who has no control is a danger to everyone around them.”
If I’d been asked what magic lessons would be like a year ago, I would’ve envisioned something with more of a Loris flair—not a lecture.
“You know, if you’re really concerned, you can always send me home now.”
“Not likely.” He smiled, but without teeth or happiness included.
“Yeah, I guess you want to make sure you get those fifteen coins’ worth out of me. Well, lay it on me. I’m a quick learner. I did the dandelions with no issue.” If I was doing this, I was doing it fast and efficiently. This was not getting dragged out for weeks or months.
“We’ll see about that. I need a sprinter. Lighting up dandelions and clovers is the equivalent to magical crawling.” He grabbed the book that I’d placed on the table and pushed it even closer to me. “Let’s start simple. Push that off the table. Flick your wrist, like it’s in your hand and you’re tossing it.”
That was it? I could do that. I imagined the book in my hand, down to the feel of the leather on my fingertips. I threw it. Nothing happened.
He walked over to me, but instead of instructions, he grazed my neck with his fingers. I shivered slightly as he lifted the chain.
“Your hands are cold.” I wasn’t usually a liar but couldn’t have him getting any weird ideas. This was a business relationship. Plus he had a girlfriend who already wanted to stab me with no provocation. If she caught a sniff of something, anything, she’d surely break out the meat cleaver.
He took my chain and put it on the side table, by the tea and coffee pots.
“Try it again.”
I imagined the book in my hand again and then throwing it. Instead of the book flying, the couch I sat on bounced up, dumping me on my ass in front of it.
Hawk walked over and looked down, not bothering to offer me a hand up. “I thought you were a quick learner?”
I got off the floor, with no help from him, and brushed off my pants. “I was infusing dandelions with wishes and magic like I’d been doing it my entire life.”
“Glad you know how to crawl well.” He walked back to the other side of the room, shaking his head, the vein in his neck twitching.
“I will learn fast. You’ll see.”
“You’d better, because I can’t afford to waste time.”
“Why? What do you need, anyway? What kind of spell?” I asked, annoyed that I was working toward something he hadn’t bothered to disclose yet.
“Nothing you’re capable of giving me at the moment.”
Talking was getting me nothing but high blood pressure. I ignored him and his scowl and focused on the book again. I flicked my wrist, concentrating on knocking the book from the table. The book fell off the table. Everything fell off the table, because it flew across the room and landed a few feet short of where Hawk stood.
We both stared at the table for a minute.
“Maybe we should try something