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It wasn't a trick of the light. And then my beer turned into a Coke. And then we got dessert worthy of the Ritz, but the waitress doesn't even notice and asks us if we want dessert. I can't catch my cup, and now it's snowing inside a restaurant. Water I could understand from a leaky ceiling, but snow?" He shook his head. "And now you're going to tell me that none of that happened, and you're mad at me for telling the waitress we didn't want dessert."
I glanced toward Owen and Rod. Owen, who looked just a wee bit smug, gave me a solemn "go ahead" nod. I turned my attention to Ethan and asked, "Do you see things like that often?"
He ran a hand through his hair, making it stand up on end. "Would it sound totally crazy if I said I did?"
"Try me."
"Okay, then. Yes, I do see things like that every so often, more often lately."
"How long have you lived in New York?"
"Just since law school."
"And where did you live before that?"
"A small town upstate."
"Did you see weird things before you moved to New York?"
He shrugged. "I probably wouldn't have noticed if I had. I never took my nose out of a book. I'm crazy, right? This is turning out to be a great date."
I leaned toward him across the table. "Have you ever considered the possibility that you really are seeing people with wings? Or that you've really seen elves and gnomes around town, or that gargoyles come and go from churches and buildings? Or that some people seem to be able to flick their wrists and get whatever they need?"
He stared at me like I'd grown wings myself. "How did you know?" he asked in a hoarse whisper.
"Because I see them, too, and I'm pretty sure I'm not crazy. In fact, I know that fairy at the other table. Her name's Trixie, but she prefers to be called Trix. I work with her."
His mouth hung open. "Huh?"
"Do you believe in magic?"
"Magic? You mean like pulling rabbits out of a hat and card tricks?"
"No, more like making things appear out of thin air—for real"
"I've read all the Harry Potter books, all the Lord of the Rings books, and the entire Narnia series, among others, but otherwise I haven't given it much thought."
It appeared that I'd found a real fantasy nerd. I wasn't sure if that would make this easier or more difficult. "Well, magic is real. It's different from the books, and to be honest, I don't know a lot about it, but a lot of those fantasy creatures you read about are real. There are people who really can do magic."
"Can you do magic?"
I shook my head. "Nope. I'm as nonmagical as you can get, to the point that magic doesn't work on me. And you're the same way. That's why you see the things you do. Most people have just enough magic in them to be influenced by it. They don't see weird things because the magical people have ways of masking them so they look normal. But we don't see the illusions. We see the truth. So we see the wings and the ears and the results of spells."
He took off his glasses and rubbed his eyes again. "Wow." He shook his head, then pinched his own arm, winced, and blinked. "Wow. Either I'm really and truly nuts or this explains a lot."
"Believe me, I know how you feel. I didn't get clued into all of this until very recently."
"I don't know what to think. I don't know whether to believe you or whether I should just start drinking heavily. There's no such thing as magic."
"You'd be surprised. Want me to introduce you to Trix?"
He shook his head violently. "I'm not sure I could deal with that right now."
"I do know some people who'd be better at helping you figure this out than I am. I work for a magical company. They need people like us to help them see through all the illusions. You could be an incredible asset to us. There was already the possibility we might retain you for some legal matters, if we thought you could deal with the truth, but you being an immune, well, that changes things. We're always looking for people like you."
"I just... I don't know."
"What will it hurt to talk? At worst, you'll get a better sense of whether or not you're crazy."
