Daniel suddenly shot his hand up in the air and waved, snapping me out of my sadness spiral. I followed his gaze, and we were soon greeted by a cute, curvy woman with a bright smile and tight black curls framing her face. There were certain beings who just exuded joy without saying a word, and she was one of them. Dressed in a bold green sleeveless knee-length dress and what I learned were called high top white sneakers, she cheerfully waved at us, looking around the table.
“This is Daria,” Daniel began. “She owns the bakery that Lila used to own. Daria, these are friends of Lila’s from the fae realm. Jalisa and Ivan.”
She waved again with both her hands now, her face excited. “Oh, how nice. How’s Lila doing?”
Ivan lifted a shoulder. “Well, I’m her new best friend, and she’s doing great.”
Billie scowled and mumbled something I couldn’t pick up.
Daria gave him a questioning look, not falling for his lie. “I feel like that first part isn’t true.”
“You’d be right,” I began. “Although he is close friends with the guys in her pack.”
“Well, tell her we miss her.” She looked around the table again. “I don’t want to interrupt. I was dropping off some desserts from the bakery.”
“We sell them here,” Daniel explained to us, picking up a glass of wine. “They’re a hit.”
Ivan rubbed his hands together, gleefully. “Well, we’ll have to try them then.”
Daria shimmed her shoulders in apparent appreciation. “Yes, please do. Oh, while I remember it, I hope you don’t mind, but Daniel told me about your troubles. I’m a necromancer, so Ican’t be of any help unless you were to die. But my soon-to-be brother-in-law has a witch on retainer who might be able to help.” She glanced over to Billie. “She’s not part of a coven so she’s not in your network. It’s possible she’s into some shady things so I can’t vouch for her.”
Ivan tilted his head from side to side, pondering her proposal. “Well, it’s possible that dark magic got me here so maybe dark magic can get me out.”
“Wonderful, I’ll set something up,” she replied before clapping her hands. “Ok friends, I’m gonna get out of here. Lovely to meet you two and so sorry about all that’s happened, but I’m rooting for you both. You’re both gorgeous and I’m sure amazing. I’ll be in touch, and hopefully we can kick this spells ass.”
She really was a tornado of love. I wanted to snatch her up and put her in my pocket for when I was feeling down.
After Daria left, we tried her desserts, which did not disappoint. Sufficiently stuffed, I moved to get up, intending to go to the bathroom, but Ivan mimicked my moves, getting up as well. “I’m going to the restroom.”
He nodded. “I’ll wait outside for you.”
I looked to Daniel and Billie as if they could help me, but they just looked at us, intrigued. I suppose I hadn’t opened up and explained to them that I had a new bodyguard. “Ivan, you don’t have to follow me. In fact, it might be weird to be posted outside the women’s bathroom.”
He shrugged, unbothered. “I could care less. I go where you go.”
I scrunched my face up in annoyance. I really did care for my dragon, but even while living with him back in the fae realm, I hadn’t spent so much time with him. I could barely go to the bathroom without him right there. Even waking up in the middle of the night to get water had him alert and eyeing my movesfrom across the room. The attack at the ball had really pushed him to his limits, but this couldn’t keep going.
Daniel sat back, picking up his wine glass, an amused grin on his face. “She really will be alright. The bathrooms are right down the hall.”
Ivan shook his head, stubborn. “Someone’s trying to kill us, we can’t drop our guard. We don’t know if our enemies followed us here.”
I’d thought of that possibility. I wasn’t naïve enough to think we’d be totally safe here, but Ivan was starting to spiral. It would only get worse for him if we let the paranoia overtake us. That was the opposite of what we were supposed to do to slow down the memory loss progression. Something had to be calm for him. However, I also knew I had to pick my battles.
I turned toward the back of the restaurant leading to the bathrooms. “Fine, but don’t be weird.”
He snorted, following me. “You act as if I’m going to follow you to the toilet…again.”
I rolled my eyes. “Let’s say exactly what occurred. I was on the toilet, and you hopped on the sink and started talking to me. That can never happen again.”
“I’m clear on that after you conjured your sword while cursing at me.”
Just as I suspected, going to the bathroom was uneventful. However, when I left the bathroom, I didn’t see him. I assumed he had gone to the bathroom as well because I knew he wouldn’t go back to the table without me after making all that fuss. I decided to wait for him to avoid any arguments, leaning against the wall.
Suddenly, something I could only describe as slimy crawled down my spine, causing me to shiver. I turned and spotted something shift in the dark corner of the hall near the exit. It was off to the right, and I squinted my eyes, leaning forwardto better see. That didn’t help, but I saw something. Two small, floating orbs, the size of eyes, suddenly appeared, beaming out in my direction. The slimy feeling from earlier spread, making me want to gag.
I instantly conjured my sword and walked toward the darkened corner, holding back the rising fear inside me. I wasn’t a hero, but I couldn’t ignore when something felt off. I didn’t know the human world much, but I didn’t think random appearing orbs was normal. “Come forward!” I shouted, gripping my sword, ready to strike.
I heard an eerie laugh, a heavy whisper that raised the tiny hairs on the back of my neck. The orbs disappeared, but something told me that whatever it was, it was still there. The slimy feeling encasing my body would not release me. When I reached only feet from the corner, I raised my sword in front of me and slowly extended it into the darkness, intending to poke the possible entity. My heart pounded in my ears as I steeled myself for a fight. However, the sword struck against what seemed like a wall. I dragged it down and swiped across. Nothing. But something was definitely there before.
