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"Anytime. I'll keep telling the hotel I don't need maid service and we'll leave everything the way it is."
I nodded and let out a deep shuddering breath. Adam put his arms around me and I leaned against his shoulder and breathed. Just breathed.
When I pulled back, I said, "I'm sorry."
"For what?"
"This." I gestured at the room. "You did an amazing thing for me, and I turned it down."
"Because you have another solution. One that may turn out better." He leaned toward my ear. "As much as I wanted to give your powers back, I think you're making the right call."
He pulled back and smiled, his face just a few inches from mine, and I thought I could kiss him. Just cross those three inches. A quick kiss on the lips, and if he just wants it to be a thank-you, then he can pretend it was, and we can carry on.
Three inches. Cross it. Kiss him. Find out what happens.
Only it wasn't three inches anymore. He was already pulling back.
But I could still do it. The moment hadn't passed. Kiss him while I could pass it off as a thank-you.
Then Adam got to his feet. "If you're really feeling guilty, though, my Jeep still needs a new top."
I took a moment to find a smile. "Didn't I already promise you that? A bribe for not telling anyone you had to rescue me from a drunk guy at a motel?"
"Shit, that's right. Switzerland, then. You can buy me that trip to Switzerland."
"Big step up from a new convertible top."
"I earned it. Days of research, when I could have been out with Clay and Elena, kicking ass. Definitely worth a trip. Maybe two." He waved me to the door. "We should get back and help Aaron and Cassandra."
And so the moment passed. Again.
While Adam, Cassandra, and Aaron continued their research, I told Paige and Lucas about Adam's ritual and the man in the alley. They thought I'd made the right ch
oice.
I helped Adam for the rest of the day, then spent the evening doing spell practice with Paige and Lucas. I managed a weak light spell and an even weaker energy bolt. In other words, I could see well enough to get to the bathroom in the night and could give an attacker the equivalent of a static shock. Considering I'd only been working at it for less than a day, though, it was a good start. Baby steps, Paige said. Most spellcasters needed to do this at the start of their training. I was just going back and repeating the parts I'd skipped.
Adam came by at ten, and announced that he needed a drink. Paige and Lucas were not welcome to join us because they made lousy drinking buddies--their idea of a night at the bar was a couple of beers, and once that hit them, to sneak off to be alone together.
They said they'd be working for a couple of hours yet. If they were still around when we got back, they'd give Adam a lift to his hotel and take me back to their condo.
"Oh, please," I said as we made our way back to headquarters. "Nobody noticed."
"You were lighting the candle with your fingertips," Adam said. "They noticed."
I stopped on the corner and looked both ways. Lights smeared together in a blur. Skyscrapers swayed. I blinked and started to step off the curb. Adam pulled me back.
"Um, car?" Adam said as one whizzed past.
"It was on the other side of the road."
"No, it wasn't."
"Yes, it was," I said. "Apparently you're the one who's had too much to drink. You were also the one lighting the candle with your fingertips."
"Only after you started it, and only because people were looking, so I figured if we both did it, it would look like a party trick."
"What else would it look like? I was lighting a candle, not teleporting across the room."
