Chapter 4 #2
I went home in a daze as my thoughts kept circling back to the interview that hadn't felt like an interview.
In fact, it had felt a little bit like a date—with magic.
Had that really been magic, though? I didn't want to believe it, but couldn't think of any other explanation for what had happened, either.
For a moment there, my body hadn't listened to me.
He'd had me completely under his spell, and although he hadn't, he could have pushed me to do anything.
But that wasn't even the scary thing.
The scary thing was how much I'd enjoyed it. How much I'd wanted him to push.
So much for not being over my last boyfriend.
So much for not wanting a stranger.
Something was seriously wrong with me.
When I reached my brother's house, my first instinct was to go into my room, draw the blanket over myself and hide for a bit, but I still had dinner to prepare, and maybe that was just as well.
I enjoyed cooking, after all. At first, I'd learned a few simple dishes to impress Rory, then I'd gone on to more complex things until I could spend hours in the kitchen without ever noticing the time pass.
My cooking skills were probably among the few reasons my brother didn't try harder to kick me out.
He liked to eat about as much as I liked to cook.
Most days, that worked out fine, but tonight, I could hardly stand sitting next to him while he kept asking me about my day.
Usually, he never took an interest.
What he really wanted to know was whether I'd be bringing in money any time soon.
"How did it go?" he asked.
I made a non-committal sound.
"C'mon, you can tell me."
"I don't think it went too well," I said finally.
"What happened?"
"He… tried to pull some weird shit. I can't even describe it."
"What weird shit? Did he come on to you?"
Had he? I thought about it. In reality, he hadn't done much more than put a scarf on me. I could argue that he'd tried to make me kiss him. But had he really? I wasn't too sure about anything that had happened.
"Do you think dragons have magic?" I asked.
"Magic?" My brother raised an eye brow. "I don't know about magic or whatever, but there's all kinds of funny stuff in the legends, isn't there?"
"But they're just legends."
He shrugged. "You never know what's true."
I frowned. There had to be some way I could find out more about this.
"You think he tried to use magic on you?"
"I don't know." I stood, taking my still half-full plate with me. "I'm done eating."
"You sure?"
"Yeah." I excused myself and carried my plate into the kitchen, where I put the leftovers in the fridge. I had to talk to Luca. Maybe she could help me sort the mess in my head. And tell me why I wanted to see Tyrel again so bad when I knew he was trouble.
Back in my room, I picked up the phone and called my friend. She answered after the second ring.
"Adrian?" her voice was almost timid in a way I'd never heard it. Something was going on. But what?
"Yeah, it's me."
"How did your date go?"
"It was… I don't know how it was. I would have called sooner, but I had to make dinner first."
"I see." She took a deep breath, audible even through the phone. "What happened? Do you think you're gonna get the job?"
I cringed. "Uh… probably not." A sigh escaped me. As much as I'd tried to tell myself that I didn't care, the prospect of failure was disappointing. To think I'd never be caught in Tyrel's gaze again… The whole experience had been scary, but also exhilarating.
You're being stupid.
"What happened?" Luca asked again. "Was he an ass? I've heard dragons are mostly asses."
"He wasn't… well, he asked some things about Rory and I… kind of freaked and stormed off." Not my proudest moment.
"I'm sorry, Adrian." Her voice softened. "Maybe you really weren't ready. I pushed you. I shouldn't have pushed you."
"It's fine. It wasn't your fault."
"No, it's… Man, I really wanted this for you." She sniffed. For some reasons, all of this had her more upset than me.
"Are you crying?"
"No, I'm…" She exhaled. "Damn it. I didn't want to tell you like this, but I'm pregnant again. I'm having another child."
"You…" What? "That's… that's great, Luca!" But even as I said the words and I wanted to be happy for my friend, everything drew tight beneath my ribcage. Suddenly I felt the urge to throw the phone against the wall and see it smash open.
"It'll happen for you, too, Addi. I know it will."
I swallowed down the lump in my throat. "Yeah. Yeah, sure. Mara's going to love being a big sister."
"Oh, I hope. We really hadn't planned this quite yet, but…" She laughed awkwardly.
"Don't feel bad for me. I'll be fine. You be happy about your little miracle. How far along are you?"
"Only about eight weeks, the doctor says."
We continued the rest of the phone call like that.
Both of us trying to pretend that I hadn't majorly messed up today and that everything was going to be fine.
I managed to believe that lie for about as long as the phone call.
But once I hung up, I fell into my bed and pulled my pillow over my head.
And as soon as I closed my eyes, Tyrel's image rose to the forefront of my mind.
You fascinate me, he'd said.
But what did that mean?