“About one every other day, I think. Mostly, I counter whatever they’re doing and hold them until the enforcers show up. I hate to admit it, but those charms do seem to be helping. They don’t stop the actions, but they keep things from getting out of control.”
We got off at our usual stop, and he led me in the direction of his house. “Where are we going?” I asked.
“You’ll find out when we get there.”
“Am I dressed okay?”
“You’ll be fine. Can you imagine me choosing to go somewhere too fancy for what you’re wearing now?”
He did have a point. He was wealthy and classy, but too much fuss usually made him intensely uncomfortable. Before I could respond to him, there was a loud bang nearby, something that sounded like gunfire.
Chapter Six
Owen shoved me against the nearest brick wall and shielded me with his body. We both held our breath as we waited for the next shot. Then he laughed when the noise turned out to be a delivery van backfiring. “Maybe I’m a little jumpy after seeing all these magical incidents,” he said with a crooked grin and a flush spreading across his cheekbones.
“If you think the threat’s magical, maybe you should let me shield you,” I reminded him. “They can’t hurt me that way. But I do appreciate the chivalrous thought.”
“I wasn’t sure if it was magical or not. It could have been someone influencing someone with a gun to shoot,” he said, then added, somewhat defensively, “I put up a shielding spell.”
“Well, okay then, as long as you were thinking.”
“I never stop thinking,” he said with a wry roll of his eyes. “That’s my problem.”
I looked up into his eyes, which were just inches away from mine. He gave me a roguish grin that was somewhat out of character for such a nice boy, then bent and gave me a thorough kiss that a moment later was disturbed by a hooting call from nearby.
“Hey, you two, get a room!”
Owen immediately pulled away from me while turning bright red. I looked up to see a gargoyle perched on a shop awning.
“Oh, hi, Rocky,” I said, feeling my own face grow warm. “What are you doing here?”
“On patrol. This is my sector.”
“Has it been busy?” Owen asked.
The gargoyle shrugged. “Eh, not so much today. Things seem to be taperin’ off. But I’d better get back on the beat. You two be careful. Save the canoodlin’ for when you’re safe at home.” He flew back to his post.
We headed in the general direction of Owen’s house, but before we got to his place, he opened the door to the neighborhood’s historic tavern. The hostess directed us up the stairs at the back, and as soon as we reached the top of the staircase, a cry of “Surprise!” rang out. This had to be a record, two surprise birthday parties in one day.
“Don’t hate me,” Owen whispered in my ear as my friends came toward us. “I didn’t know until the last minute that they were doing anything at work, and this was all Gemma’s idea.”
Gemma greeted me with a hug and put a glass of wine in my hand. “You looked like you were really surprised,” she said. “He must have done his job without spilling the beans.”
“And one day I may even forgive him for that.” But I laughed and kissed him on the cheek to show that there was nothing to forgive, even though I wouldn’t have minded spending some time alone with him. That was a precious commodity these days, and I had a feeling it wasn’t going to get better anytime soon.
*
I barely saw Owen during the week since both of us were so busy, so I was looking forward to our move on Saturday because it meant I’d actually get to see him. “Are you sure we don’t need to pack?” Marcia asked on Saturday morning as we waited for the guys.
“That’s what Owen said,” I told her reassuringly. “He and Rod have something planned.”
Owen showed up first with a satchel slung over his shoulder, from which he took a folded booklet that I recognized as a retail version of an MSI spell. “Wait, you’re actually using a spell?” I asked.
“I always use spells. I just usually don’t need the instructions because I’m one of the people who developed them in the first place. But this one is from before my time—a real classic—and it’s not one I use often enough to have memorized.”
Gemma pulled the booklet out of his hands and flipped through it. “This is what a spell looks like? It’s not what I was expecting.”
