"It couldn't have been too great if she came home with someone else," Gemma quipped.
"It wasn't bad, actually. He's a nice guy," I said. The date had been deeply strange, but he had been nice.
"Did he talk about anything other than work?"
I'd more or less planned it that way, so I couldn't blame him if he hadn't. "I found his work interesting, but we did get around to other subjects." Like my work and the existence of magic.
"Do you like him? Do you think you'll see him again?" Gemma asked.
"I have a feeling I'll see him again," I said in all honesty. "At least, I hope so. And I think I do like him." He was cute and smart, and he seemed to have a sense of humor. He was also as ordinary as I was. He didn't hide behind an illusion, and he couldn't work his will by waving his hand. That set him apart from all the other men in my life these days.
"He was pretty cute, in a nerdy sort of way," Marcia mused. "It was too bad he had no personality."
"I thought he had plenty of personality," I protested. "You just didn't like not being the smartest one in the room for a change."
"You may have a point there," she said. No one could say Marcia wasn't honest, even with herself. "But still, you're welcome to him. He's a better fit for you than he is for me anyway. Just as Jeff was definitely suited to me."
"Maybe we should swap dates more often."
* * *
By this time I was no longer surprised to find Owen waiting for me on the sidewalk each morning when I left for work. I was surprised neither of my roommates had commented on the gorgeous guy who made a habit of hovering in front of our building. This was Owen, though, who had a talent for making himself seem invisible, whether he used magic or not.
"That was quite a discovery you made this weekend," he said as we began the walk to the subway station. "You honestly had no idea you were dealing with an immune?"
"Not really, though I suppose there was a clue I missed. But it works out well for us if he is immune and he's a lawyer who may be able to help us. That's if he doesn't just go nuts."
"It must be difficult, to see things you know shouldn't be there and not understand why."
"You two didn't help with that. Were you trying to outdo each other in weirdness?"
He turned red. "How do you think he'll respond? Do you think he'll show up?"
"I certainly hope so. If he does, be gentle with him. He seems to have been on the verge of a breakdown for a while. He's been under a lot of stress, and that's why he thought he was losing it."
"Didn't we do a good job telling you the news?"
I tried to recall that day when my view of the world had been turned upside down. It seemed so long ago, I couldn't remember a time when I didn't know about magic. "I didn't go insane, and I seem to be functioning okay, so I suppose you didn't do so bad," I admitted.
He opened his mouth like he was going to say something else, then shut it abruptly, clenching his jaw like he was making a concerted effort not to say anything more.
We didn't talk much the rest of the way to work. He looked pensive, totally lost in thought, and I let him think. We needed all the brainpower he could muster right now.
I let Sam and the lobby security guard know I was expecting a visitor, then went upstairs to check in with Merlin. "He's coming at ten this morning," I said. "I hope that's okay."
"It's wonderful. I can't believe you found us such a good resource."
"Let's not get carried away. He was really freaked, so I'm not sure how willing he'll be to cooperate. This might have been easier if we hadn't had to spring the truth about magic on him the way we did."
"I'm sure he'll be fine. We'll meet with him in my office."
"Okay, I'll let you know when he gets here."
It was hard to concentrate on my other work—going over some reports for Merlin—while I waited for ten to arrive. Then it was ten after ten, and I hadn't heard anything. I tried not to be disappointed. It was a lot to expect someone to deal with.
I'm not even sure I would have shown up if I'd known ahead of time what I was facing.
Finally, at fifteen after, Hughes called me from the lobby to say my guest had arrived. I hurried downstairs and found a pale, sweaty Ethan standing there, looking dashing in a dark power suit. "I'm sorry I'm late," he said. "I almost didn't come at all. I walked around the block a few times before I made up my mind."
