Adam frowns at the summoning circle drawn on my floor. “What’s this?”
“Spell work. Told you. Witch stuff.”
“What kind of spell?”
“The witchy kind. Very technical. You wouldn’t understand.” I’m babbling now. “Lots of herbs and candles and... other... witch things.”
Adam gives me a long look. Then he sighs. “Felix. Are you sure you’re okay?”
“Positive. Absolutely positive. Never been better.”
“Because if something was wrong, you’d tell me, right?”
The genuine concern in his voice makes guilt twist in my stomach. Adam is my best friend. My only friend, really. He’s always been there for me. And here I am lying straight to his face about having a shadow king in my flat.
“Of course,” I say. “You know I would.”
It’s not technically a lie. If something was wrong, I would tell him. This isn’t wrong. This is... complicated. Very, very complicated. But not wrong.
I hope.
Adam steps closer, his eyes scanning the room more carefully. He’s looking at the chalk marks, the candles, the general state of chaos I’ve been living in. I can see him trying to piece together what’s going on.
“You’ve been acting strange,” he says quietly. “Ever since the fire. I know that was traumatic, but Felix, you can talk to me. You know that, right?”
“I know.” I try to smile. Try to look like everything is normal and fine and not at all chaotic. “I’m okay. Really.”
“Okay.” Adam doesn’t look entirely convinced, but he’s respecting my boundaries. That’s one of the things I love about him. He worries, but he doesn’t push. “But I’m serious. If you need anything. Anything at all. You call me.”
“I will.”
“Promise?”
“Promise.”
Adam pulls me into a hug. I stiffen for a moment, then relax into it. He smells like coffee and safety and everything comfortable and familiar. Everything that my life has neverhad and probably never will. For a moment I let myself pretend everything is okay, that I’m not lying to him.
“I worry about you,” he says into my hair.
“I know.”
“You’re important to me.”
“Obviously. I’m awesome. Of course I’m important.”
He pulls back and looks at me seriously. “I mean it, Felix. Don’t shut me out.”
“I won’t.”
Another lie to add to the pile.
He leaves. I hear his footsteps on the stairs. The door to the coffee shop opening and closing below.
I stare at the empty summoning circle, my heart still racing, my hands shaking with leftover adrenaline.
“You can come out now,” I say to the air.
Nothing happens. The flat is silent.
