Chapter 16
The high from our couple’s date night followed me for the next few days, keeping me afloat.
Milo had a bit of pep in his step, too, being extra flirty at home and even more ravenous for time alone than he had been before.
It seemed this little outing jump-started our romance, too.
Not that it was lacking, but I found myself a bit more than usual, trying to keep up with Milo’s eager exploits.
Still, I relished the happiness in our lives and would chase that high for as long as possible. It kept me content during my long hours of work. Between searching for leads on the Celestial Coven across the globe and scouring Winston Cobalt’s mind for functional memories, I had a tiresome schedule.
I also let my manifestations wander the city, keeping a close eye on my students. Their internships continued to blossom, and I only hoped for the best for them all.
Despite being half asleep myself, my telepathy latched onto Milo as he left early for work. I followed alongside him in blurry wonder as he got ready and flew to Cerberus.
In his office, Milo prepared for some morning workout and set out three mats. Much to my surprise, a yawning Hayden and an eager Caleb stepped inside.
“Good morning, Enchanter Evergreen,” Caleb said with far too much enthusiasm for five in the morning.
“Coffee…” Hayden groaned, stepping over to the collection of fancy gadgets Milo had in his office, from a basic pot to a top-notch espresso machine.
These were not Cerberus standard, but a fringe benefit to Enchanter Evergreen being so highly sought after.
“You didn’t make coffee.” Hayden pouted, tapping the empty pot. “No caffeine. Wwwwwwwwhy?”
“You could’ve been here on time and made your own.”
“Boo,” Hayden whined. “I’m technically an hour and forty minutes early.”
“And yet you’re still twenty minutes late for our training.”
Caleb muffled a laugh, surface thoughts revealing this was pretty typical. Since his Cerberus badge as an intern didn’t work outside of standard office hours, he always had to wait on Enchanter Russo to swipe him in late.
“All righty,” Milo said, rubbing his hands together. “Let’s start with some basic stretches and get our breathing synced up.”
Hayden grumbled, following Caleb and Milo’s lead as they started a yoga routine.
This was quite unexpected. Glossing through their minds, it seemed they did this three days a week since the internship began.
According to Hayden’s exhausted morning mind, he’d been doing this since Milo hired him as an acolyte.
“It’s important to remember your breathing,” Milo said, demonstrating the transition into the next pose. “Our breathing connects us to our roots. The stronger our connection, the more likely we’ll feel the chamber click when casting.”
“Right,” Caleb said, jotting a mental note.
It turned out Milo had been working with Caleb and Hayden on perfecting their root magics.
Despite not having a full grasp of a perfected root magic himself, Milo took the pair under his wing.
It made sense he’d work with the pair. Caleb had already demonstrated perfected banishment, even if he lacked the ability to fully control it, and Hayden possessed infinity draw, which meant his magic technically didn’t have a limit.
Though his body certainly did, and it seemed he didn’t do his best work this early.
Not that I could blame the guy. I wrapped myself tighter in my blanket, enjoying the comfort of sinking into my mattress, while Hayden suffered with those two morning guys chipperly making their way through their yoga routine.
Black tar erupted into a flurry of white wisps that funneled around the corner, attempting to escape the pulse of banishment surging through the streets.
“Sloppy as usual, branchless.” Kenzo weaved past Caleb, smirk on his face, and gray static in his palm. “Leave it to me.”
“Not happening.” Caleb flew faster, too fast for the corner.
A bolt of static zapped him just enough to lessen his telekinesis and make it easier for Caleb to pivot. With a lock on the wisps, he banished the cluster and cleared the area of demonic energy.
“Not bad.” Kenzo shrugged.
“You didn’t have to help,” Caleb said. “I had it under control.”
“Yeah, I know. Just trying out that whole teamwork bullshit thing that Novak keeps running her mouth about.”
“What’ve I said about reporting in before flying off?” Enchanter Novak shouted from above, scouting the sky for any wisps floating away.
“Oh, shut the fuck up,” Kenzo shouted back. “You’re not my mother, you clingy psycho.”
“Thank God for small miracles,” Novak thought.
“See, that’s what I mean.” Caleb gestured. “It seems less like you wanna follow Novak’s advice and more like you wanna, I dunno know…”
“You clearly think you know something.” Kenzo furrowed his brow. “Spit it out, branchless.”
“It just seems like you’re being overprotective.
Well, not that. Um… Overhelpful, maybe? Like you are—hmmm, I dunno know—making up for being not the nicest or most helpful person in the past, and now you’re like helpful overdrive.
Just a little bit. Not like a lot lot. But with the static, you altered my trajectory just enough so I could finish the case.
And last week, you used your hex to enhance my banishment on that fiend, so I don’t know.
Just a random, silly, weird little kind of observation I made. Maybe. I might be wrong.”
“Oh, shut up, branchless.” Kenzo shoulder bumped Caleb, leading him to follow, so they could make their way back to their mentors. “You’re definitely overthinking it.”
He wasn’t, though, and that sent a cold rush of anxiety coursing through Kenzo.
All the years he’d spent resenting Caleb, bullying his former best friend, belittling him, breaking him—it’d finally come to a head, and somehow the boys resolved their differences.
In doing so, it left a huge weight of guilt consuming Kenzo from the inside out.
It didn’t help that Caleb didn’t have a chip on his shoulder for Kenzo’s many hateful antics.
Nope, Caleb was simply grateful to have his friend back.
It drove Kenzo mad. He needed to rectify his wrongs, needed to help Caleb.
So, Kenzo completely overcompensated by making Caleb his personal training project, ensuring that his branchless best friend would succeed.
It also meant, occasionally, Kenzo helped Caleb achieve a task.
Always something small and innocuous in Kenzo’s mind.
He didn’t want Caleb getting a big ego over sloppy moves, but he hadn’t realized that Caleb had noticed Kenzo’s helpful little assists.
When the boys reached the rest of their group, Enchanter Russo called Caleb over, and the pair led the others down a few streets.
“Where are we going?” Novak asked, faintly recognizing the neighborhood they passed through.
“You might remember a case we took on a few weeks back,” Russo said. “I thought we could grab a bite.”
The group made their way into a hole-in-the-wall pizza restaurant that typically saw its best clientele around midnight to three in the morning, catching the hungry drunks bar hopping or heading home.
Still, the place had amazing, giant slices of pizza. They ordered and crowded into one large booth opposite a few kids recording themselves on their phones. After a few minutes, the kids kept stealing glances at the booth and whispering to each other.
“You’re Enchanter Russo, right?” one of the kids asked.
“He works with Enchanter Evergreen,” another said.
Hayden ended up being dragged away, chatting with the kids while everyone else ate their slice of pizza. Within a few minutes, the kids had somehow convinced Hayden to join them in some terrible dance trend.
“Wait, wait, wait,” Hayden said. “If we’re doing this, I’m going to need my badass intern.”
He waved over a reluctant Caleb, whose moves were stiff, but he had the routine memorized within their first practice run through.
After the kids finished up, they laughed, thanked Hayden and Caleb, then left the empty restaurant.
“Okay, but I should probably upload my own vid of that trend,” Hayden insisted. “Think we can pull that off again?”
Caleb nodded with a big, goofy grin. “Definitely.”
“You know what would make it even better?” Hayden’s eyes widened with a ridiculous idea. “What if we all did the trend? Mentor and intern match up.”
Somehow, the absurdity of this didn’t bother the employees in the back, more fixated on their phones than the handful of dancing customers in their store.
And the prospect seemed to intrigue Ellie and Tara, who immediately joined in.
Neither of them moved as well as the boys.
In fact, Ellie seemed to step on Hayden’s feet more times than not, and Tara nearly headbutted Caleb twice.
“Come on, Kenny.” Caleb waved him over.
“Pass.”
“Lena, try it out.” Hayden trotted over to the booth, extending a hand, which she ignored.
“It’s fun,” Ellie added. “You don’t have to take everything so seriously.”
Lena scoffed. “I don’t.”
Tara fluffed her hair, posing carefree in front of the phone. “I think they’re afraid.”
Kenzo slowly craned his neck, appearing like some angry owl. “Excuse me?”
“Nothing.” Caleb flailed his hands back and forth.
“I mean, it makes sense,” Tara continued. “A bully perfectionist obsessed with how you’re perceived despite pretending not to care what others think of you.”
I smirked. She was certainly leaning heavily into a basic diagnosis.
I’d wager she was enrolled in the introduction to psychology course and found a new lease on life from it.
A lot of third-year students focused mostly on elective courses to keep their academics lighter, and I’d endured lots of students over the years who believed they were board-certified psychologists after reading a few chapters of their textbook.
That said, she was spot on about Kenzo. Lena too. Neither of them knew how to have fun because they couldn’t quantify it into a form of achievement.