I hadn’t even got my poncho off when I heard Sylvia’s slightly raised voice coming from her bedroom.
“Well, whatever was wrong with you, you seem perfectly fine now. I’m sure you’ll be right as rain for work tomorrow.”
Isabella replied, but I didn’t quite catch what she said.
“Never mind, I’ll make the bed myself. Just pick your clothes up off the floor, and I’ll see to the rest myself. There’s a dear.”
The door opened, and Isabella emerged, her wings drooping in a sulk, though she rolled her eyes when she saw me. She was still in her flimsy night dress, and I wondered if she’d been in it all day—though a wicked thought in my head told me she might have just put it back on. Had Sylvia walked in on her in flagrante delicto? That would have been something to see.
“Hey, Cat. I didn’t hear you come in. Raining, huh?”
I hung my poncho up and tucked my wet hair behind my ears. “You could say that.” Rain didn’t cover it. It was coming down violently out there, and I hadn’t thought to take my umbrella with me. “I guess I’ll be staying in tonight.”
Sylvia popped out behind her. I’d hung my poncho over her gray velvet cloak on the hook behind the door, but she was dressed quite formally in her elegant silver dress and shimmering scarf, and didn’t look like she’d been home long enough to settle in. I now noticed her travel bag, sitting unpacked beside the sofa. Her tight lips and harangued expression told me she wasn’t best pleased with how things were in the apartment. I shot a glance across to the kitchen. Apart from several mugs and cereal bowls, it didn’t appear too bad. There were also two wineglasses. Jimmy didn’t drink wine.
“Well, hello, dear. My, my, don’t you look like a drowned rabbit. I guess I just missed it.” She checked her watch. “You’re home a little early. Is there anything wrong at the store?”
I shook my head. “No, nothing at all. Henry sent me to check on Isabella.”
“Ah, right. I’ll unpack and then boil some water so we can all have some tea.”
I had to confess I felt less than delighted as Isabella took her stuff into my room. Well, I’d come to think of it as mine, even if it wasn’t.
“It’s okay. I’ll put the kettle on.” I went straight to the kitchen and poured some water into the empty kettle, mesmerized by the hollow sound as the water gushed in. Anything was better than thinking about Isabella and who she’d been with last night, though part of me was dying to know. If it hadn’t been Jimmy, then who was it? If Sylvia hadn’t been home, I’d have had it out with her. After all, we were guests in this apartment, and it could have been anyone, and anything could have happened. It didn’t sit well with me that I’d been asleep with a total stranger in the next room. All right, maybe Isabella was there, but did I really know her? The more I thought about it, the more I wound myself up.
“Thank you, dear. I’ll be done in a jiffy.” Sylvia closed her bedroom door.
All alone again, I set to clearing the dishes. I could have used magic, but I didn’t want to join Isabella in the bedroom just yet and was grateful for the distraction. I’d cleared some drawers out for her earlier and figured she could work the rest out for herself. She usually did.
I was drying the glasses when Isabella emerged from our room. She shimmied straight over to me and leaned close to whisper. “You’ll never guess!”
“What? That you’re not sick and have been fooling around with some dude in Sylvia’s bedroom all afternoon?”
Isabella pulled back. “Wow. How did you guess that?”
“It’s a bit obvious after what when on last night.”
She blushed pink. “Oh. You heard that?”
I rolled my eyes. “Like I had a choice?”
Isabella grinned and grabbed hold of my arm. “Oh, Cat. He was so amazing! I never thought a man like that would even look at me twice, let alone—well—you know. I think this time it’s true love.”
I thought about what she’d said about meeting up with an old friend and decided to be charitable. “Well, just promise me this. Whatever you do, let my brother down gently, okay? He’s a good guy. He deserves that at least.”
To be fair to Isabella, she had the grace to color a little more. “I will, I promise. I mean, I like your brother a lot. He’s sweet, but Freddy Tilney’s in another class entirely. The man’s just so dashing and rich, and before long, I couldn’t say no to him. He’s clearly used to getting whatever he wants.”
I turned to face her, leaving a mug suspended in midair.
“Wait! What? You’re telling me you’re seeing Freddy Tilney?”
“Sure, why not? He said you’d met him. Isn’t he just gorgeous?”
My brain sprinted to catch up. “But I thought you said this was an old friend? Someone you’d known for a long time.”
Isabella squished her face up and tried to look all cute and playful. It didn’t work on me. “Did I say that? Oh well, maybe it came out wrong. Oh, don’t look at me like that, Cat. It’s love. True love. I couldn’t help myself, really, I couldn’t.” She sighed, as if remembering a delicious moment.
The kettle whistled, and I used the excuse to turn and finish putting tea into the infuser. I was irritated by the idea she thought everything was outside her control. What, she had no will of her own? If I knew anything about Isabella, I knew that was a load of toad poop.
“Just remember what I said, will you? Break it to Jimmy gently. He likes you a lot.”
Isabella stood with her back to the counter, her wings folded gently around her hips. “I will. Eventually. Just not yet.”
I felt a flash of rage, but I swallowed my bile. It took all my self-control not to shout at her. “Why not? The sooner the better. Would you rather I spoke to him?”
She shook her head. “No, no. I’ll do it. Give me a day or so, please. I really do like him. Give me a day or so to think.”
I clunked her mug down on the counter, furious. “Don’t leave him dangling too long. If you haven’t told him by the time I get back from the Abbey, then I will.”
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Isabella cast me a sly, mischievous look. I had half a mind to call Jimmy up then and there but wanted to give her the chance to do the right thing. I guessed a few days wouldn’t hurt. Jimmy was unlikely to die of a broken heart in so short a time. At least I hoped he wouldn’t.
So this was true love, then? If my own encounter with Freddy Tilney had been anything to go by, then I very much doubted it, but perhaps I was being unkind. I knew too little about fae to understand the depth of their true feelings, and no one who looked at Isabella could question her beauty. She was entitled to true love as much as the next person, but one comment still stuck in my craw and made me doubt her sincerity. “Dashing and rich.” Those were her exact words. Was that her true motive after all? No one who knew us would believe we were rich, but Jimmy was a med student with prospects. And everyone seemed to be supposing we came from money. To be fair, I had done nothing at all to dispel this notion, but then why should I?
“This is awesome tea,” Isabella said. She peered at me over her mug, and I knew what she was thinking. She wanted us to be friends again and for this conversation to be over. Come to think of it, so did I.
“Glad you like it. How about we order Chinese tonight? There’s not a lot in, and I don’t fancy going out in this rain.”
Sylvia chose that moment to emerge from her room. She had changed into a more casual black dress with fringe tassels, and her hair was loosely tied up on her head. She looked pretty tired, but less grumpy than when I first saw her. “That’s an excellent notion. I’m buying, and you girls can tell me how you’re doing over dinner.” She took the offered mug of tea from my hand and snuggled down on the edge of the sofa, curling her feet up under her.
Isabella shook her head. “Sorry, I’d love to, but I can’t. I told Freddy I’d go out with him later. In fact, he’s probably on his way over right now.”
Sylvia’s reply was indifferent. I got the impression she had yet to warm to our fae friend. “Oh, if you must. Another time, perhaps. All the more for me and Cat,” she added cheerily.
Isabella clasped her mug and took it through to our bedroom. I thought she was being a little bit rude. After all, by all accounts, the two had never met, and Sylvia was doing her a huge favor giving her not only a job but also providing her with bed and board. Still, who was I to argue? All I knew was if it had been me, I’d have canceled with Freddy and met him some other time. But Isabella was Isabella. Maybe, if I were lucky, she would stay gone the whole night and I would have the bed all to myself. If only.
“Well now, how are you progressing through that magic book I got for you? It’s much easier, isn’t it, having a book all your own?”
I sat down on the smaller love seat opposite her and cradled my hot tea in both hands. “Yes, it really is. Thank you for finding it for me.”
Pleased, Sylvia waved her hand dismissively. “Don’t mention it. Is everything else going okay?”
“Yes, yes, I think so. I enjoy working at the shop, and I’ve met all sorts of wonderful people. Henry has me practice a new spell from the book every day, but I’m struggling a little with focus work.”
“Oh, well, that can be tricky. Lots of people struggle with that at first.” Sylvia’s smile did little to reassure me I wasn’t letting her down. I had so hoped to ace at everything, and I didn’t want her to think I wasn’t trying my hardest.
“I am working on it, and Henry said we could spend some time on it while I’m at the Abbey.”
Sylvia’s kind smile didn’t falter. “I’m sure you will. Just don’t let it be all about work. Sometimes it’s good to have a little fun, you know. Take a leaf out of Isabella’s book. She seems to have no trouble at all having a good time.”
“I will, I promise. So how was your trip? Did you get what you wanted?”
“Not quite, but I made a solid beginning and made a lot of new contacts. These things take time. It will all come together when it needs to, I’m sure.”
Sylvia yawned and closed her eyes for a moment. I wondered if she needed a nap, but she opened them quickly enough when Isabella came out of the bedroom, dressed in a pink shirt with peekaboo cutouts on the shoulders and discreet slits in the back for her wings. Her beautiful hair tumbled loosely over her shoulders, and her skin looked naturally vibrant. Unlike me, she had the sense to carry a clear plastic umbrella. She had no time for small talk but made straight for the door and pulled on her coat.
“Freddy not coming up?” I kept my tone as upbeat as I could.
“No, I said I’d meet him in the lobby. You ladies have a lovely night, and I’ll see you later. I’m not sure what he has in mind, so don’t wait up.”
“Okay.”
As soon as the door closed behind her, with a swish of her hand, Sylvia magically opened a drawer in the table by the sofa, and a takeaway menu bearing the Laughing Dragon emblem levitated her way.
“Japanese, did you say?”
“Yes, please.”
Sylvia quickly scanned the paper and tapped her lips thoughtfully. “I’m in the mood for sushi.” She closed the paper up and held it out to me. “Can you summon this?”
I nodded. “For−ðyldian hêore.” We both watched as the menu hovered in the air and drifted across the room to where I was sitting. It landed neatly in my hand.
“You had no trouble with that,” Sylvia remarked.
“No, because it’s not alive. And if I’d lost my focus for one second, it would have fallen.” I rubbed my forehead, remembering the Rubik’s cube. “You should have seen me trying to summon a starling yesterday. I thought the entire flock was going to come through the window!”
Sylvia smiled. “It’s a ley line thing. Nothing that Henry can’t fix. Do you know what you want?
I quickly checked out the menu. “Tempura, please.”
“Splendid.” Sylvia summoned the menu back, and with another swish of her hand, the menu glowed brightly, and the face of a harried Chinese woman appeared in the air. “Two California rolls, two tempura rolls, two miso soups, and, um, add on a bowl of rice for me.”
“Delivery or pick up?”
“Delivery.”
“Cash or charge?”
“Charge, please.”
“Forty minutes. Bye.” The image popped, and the woman was gone.
“They’re always so busy, but I never order anywhere else.” Sylvia plumped up a couple of cushions and settled into her seat. “There, now, we’re all set. Why don’t you make another cup of your excellent tea, and then we can have a proper catch-up?”
I got up grinning, pleased to have some time to spend with Sylvia before heading off to the Abbey. There was so much to tell her, so much I had seen and learned. Even so, there were some things I couldn’t share, not yet. I hoped she wouldn’t guess at my feelings regarding Henry. As my employer, I was afraid she wouldn’t like it. Not that anything had happened as such, but still.
“Well. What exactly do you want to know?” I refilled the kettle, and after rinsing both our old mugs, I went back to the sofa.
“Well, for a start, what do you think of Isabella?”
Ugh. I’d kind of hoped to dodge that question. I was still angry with Isabella for messing about with my brother’s feelings, but I didn’t want her fired for it. “She’s great. We practice our spells together after work. She helps me with ley line spells, and I help her with potions.” That was true enough, and I thought it a reasonable answer. I sighed, remembering Isabella’s heat spell, which I was only now beginning to master.
“Well, don’t worry. She has an advantage; fae children have magical blood and are born with certain basic skills.”
“I still wish I was as good as her at it.”
“But you are adept at earth magic. It is your calling, and that’s an entirely different type of magic—it’s potentially far more powerful, and it’s something fae have difficulty getting to grips with. Putting you together was an excellent idea, I thought.”
I nodded. That was true, as far as it went.
Sylvia stretched out a sleepy yawn before fixing her intelligent eyes on mine. “What in Gaia’s name is she thinking, dallying with Henry’s brother?”
Wow. I had no idea that she knew exactly who Freddy was. Had she heard us from the bedroom? If not, Sylvia was better informed than I would have guessed. Indeed, it wouldn’t surprise me if somehow, she knew everything that had happened since she left. “I’ve no idea. I only just learned she was seeing him a few minutes ago.”
“Silly girl. That man goes through women like Kleenex. It’ll all end in tears, you mark my words.”
I couldn’t have agreed more. The only question was, whose tears were most likely to fall?
Ding! The food arrived, filling the room with wonderful food smells. And it was delivered by a handsome young man who offered Sylvia a bow and smiled at us before vanishing…more’s the pity.