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“Evidently, I have many.”
“Is it because of the amnesia spell wearing off?”
This witch was one of three people I trusted with the amnesia subject. Though it was safe to discuss it with her, the hair stood up on the back of my neck just thinking about Xavier being nearby. “I don’t know.”
“I’ve met lots of people who have had their amnesia spells broken. It’s common for people to be irritable.”
“People, yes,” I whispered while straightening my posture, “but not Elderlings such as myself.”
She offered a sympathetic grin. “We still don’t know how your bodies are reacting to being on this plane. Even the air is different here. You know that.”
“Minimally different.”
“Even minimal differences can have great effects.”
I slumped. “I wish I knew what to do, Etta. Every time I try to talk to Xavier as a person, he ends up showing his colors as a bully.”
“It sounds like both of you aren’t sure how to express your feelings.”
“Is there a spell for that?”
She giggled while she sidled past me and motioned for me to follow her down the hallway. At the end of it, just like she had said, there was a supply room with a pile of folded cots.
She handed one to me. “Magic doesn’t solve everything.”
“Tell me about it.”
“I wrote my dissertation on spells and hexes.”
The cot weighed practically nothing as I carried it to her office. It seemed the most logical place to go for the time being. “I trust your judgment.”
“Then trust me when I say that Xavier and Leo have both been through a lot. It’s going to take time and patience with them, especially with Xavier.”
“He’s stubborn, and rude, and selfish, and—”
Her wistful smile forced me to stop. I adjusted the cot under my arm while licking the dryness from my lips. That recharge hadn’t done much to raise my body temperature. Either that or Etta kept it as freezing as the Arctic in her health center.
“Is there anything you like about him? Anything at all?” She reached into a miniature fridge and procured a bottle of tea. As she handed it to me, she added, “I don’t think you’d stay in that room all night if there wasn’t anything you liked.”
“I like his son.”
She watched me peel the plastic label with my teeth. Patience hardly made undoing the cap with my teeth any easier. But I got it off, I took a sip, and I used it as a pointer as though it would enhance what I had claimed.
She smirked. “And?”
“I think him rather handsome.”
“Is that all?”
I huffed. “I didn’t realize this had become a criminal case.”
The phone on her desk rang with a lullaby for a tone, whisking her away from our conversation. That was great timing considering how awfully close I’d been to admitting things I didn’t think I was ready to admit. Yes, there was an attraction to Xavier, and I dared to call it a strong attraction, but I didn’t think it was sustainable.
I continuously reminded myself that he was a bully on my way back to the room, and in particular as I set up the cot. I kept chanting the truth like a personal mantra as I transferred him from the chair to the cot.
And I certainly didn’t stop thinking about it, focusing on the truth, harnessing it like a weapon as I curled up on the mattress beside him.
Chapter 17 - Galanthia
