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“I’ll be okay. It was quicker and easier this way.”
He fell asleep almost as soon as he got into the car, and I hoped we didn’t get stopped this time, since I didn’t have any Jedi mind tricks in my arsenal. I’d have to resort to crying. I let the car creep away from downtown without the headlights on until we were well out of the zone of suspicion. Then I took back roads to arrive home from the opposite direction, as though we were coming from out of town.
When I’d parked and killed the engine, I nudged Owen awake. “Are you wearing anything under that black sweatshirt that might look less suspicious?” I asked him.
“What? Why?” he mumbled sleepily.
“Because I don’t think you need to be climbing trees or in and out of windows right now. And I think you need sugar. We could go in the back door, have a snack in the kitchen, and then if we get caught on the squeaky steps, we can say we just went downstairs for a midnight snack. The thought of food should distract Mom. She’ll be so terrified about her guest going hungry that she’ll insist on going downstairs and cooking you a three-course meal, and she’ll forget to wonder why she didn’t hear us going downstairs.”
“Very good idea,” he said, making no move to get out of the car.
I got out and went around to Owen’s side, where I opened the door and pulled him out. I nudged him into a position leaning against the side of the car and unzipped his sweatshirt to discover a plain white T-shirt underneath. I pulled his sweatshirt off him, removed my own sweatshirt, and locked them and the bag of magic tricks in the trunk. I then got an arm around his waist and led him up the back steps into the kitchen.
Under the kitchen light, he looked even worse than I realized, very pale and drawn, and with his eyes sunk into dark circles. I put a kettle on to make cocoa, then found two packets of mix. While the water heated, I cut a couple of slices of cake and put one in front of him. “Eat!” I ordered.
He nibbled at the cake while I mixed up the cocoa, then I put a mug in his hands and made sure he took a few sips. By the time he finished half the mug, he looked a lot more human. That was reassuring enough that I was able to sit and drink my own cocoa.
“If doing all that had this effect on you, how did Dean do it?” I asked.
He finished his cake, and I got up to cut him another slice while he replied. “I imagine it took him all night, and there would have been fewer patrols then. It was harder for me to do magic tonight than it was yesterday. I’ve probably been using more power than is wise in a place like this, for too many days in a row. I shouldn’t have done as many demonstrations as I did earlier in the day, and I may have gone overboard in controlling Dean. I probably could have done that physically, but I thought using magic would have more impact.”
“I’m worried about you being weakened while Idris is in town and doing some pretty big tricks.”
He shrugged. “He won’t be able to keep that up for long, and he doesn’t have any immunes to draw power from. I have you and Teddy. And your mother, if things get desperate, though I’d prefer it not come to that.”
“Well, with any luck, Idris’ll just hide out from the fairy godmother from hell and his new bosses for a few days and leave us alone so you can rest.” I hesitated, then asked, “How long do you think you’ll be staying?”
He flushed a pale shade of pink, but I couldn’t think of what was so embarrassing about my question.
“It depends. I was supposed to leave today, but I want to make sure we know what Idris does, and I won’t leave as long as I know he’s here. Do you think your parents will mind me staying a few days longer?”
“If you tried to leave before being here less than a week, my mom might hide your car keys.”
A loud squeak on the stairs startled both of us into silence. A few moments later, Mom came into the kitchen in a bathrobe. “I thought I heard voices,” she said.
“We were having a midnight snack,” I hurried to explain. “We didn’t mean to disturb you.”
“Oh, it’s no trouble. I might even join you.” She then got a good look at Owen, and I found the play of emotions across her face to be fairly amusing. At first the mom instincts won as she noticed how sickly he looked. Then other instincts took over. The funny thing about Owen was that as gorgeous as he was, he somehow looked even more gorgeous when he wasn’t looking his best. He was a sight to behold in a tuxedo, but in a T-shirt, his hair rumpled, unshaven, with his glasses on, and with dark circles under his eyes, he could stop traffic. There was a hint of danger to him then, lurking beneath his boy-next-door exterior. Even better, he was entirely unaware of this effect and didn’t seem to notice when he was affecting women that way.
Then the mom instinct fought its way back to the surface. “Are you okay?” she asked. “You don’t look like you’re feeling too well.”
“I must not be sleeping well away from home. I never realized I was so used to hearing traffic and sirens all night long,” he said.
“I can make something for you, if you like. Maybe an omelet?”
He shook his head. “No, thank you. Katie made me some cocoa, and I had some cake. Now I think I’ll get back to bed and try to get some sleep.”
As much as I wanted to get into my own bed, I lingered with Mom for a while. “Are you sure he’s okay?” she asked when the squeak on the stairs told us he’d made it to his room. “He doesn’t look too good.”
“I’m sure he’s just tired,” I said. “Remember how it took me a few weeks to get used to the quiet after I got back here. And it’s never too restful sleeping in a strange place, especially in someone’s home.”
“You don’t think it’s anything we’ve said or done, do you?”
“Mom, he’s fine. He’s having a good time. I just think he’s a little overwhelmed. He doesn’t come from a big family, and he lives alone, so he’s not used to having all these people around. But I think he’s adjusting. He and Teddy really seem to be hitting it off.”
“If you’re sure.”
“I’m sure.” I kissed her on the cheek, then headed toward the stairs. “Now, I’m getting back to bed.
