Page 32 of Accidental Magic

“The sarcasm is a load-bearing structure, thank you very much.” I shovel more eggs into my mouth, then hesitate when I realize I’ve finished about half in only a few bites. “Last chance,” I warn him. “If you’re just being a martyr or whatever and you actually need to eat, speak now or forever hold your peace.”

Atlas waves for me to go ahead, so I polish off the rest of my breakfast in a hurry. My stomach growls anyway, barely satisfied. After that long, hot shower, I’m going to eat my body weight in fillet mignon and cheesecake.

“What’s your favorite food?” I ask.

He cocks his head and grins. “Look at you being all friendly and shit.”

I glower at him. “Someone told me yesterday that I need to be less prickly if I want to make friends.”

“Aw, you want to be my friend?” he teases.

“Not anymore,” I quip back.

“Nope, you can’t take it back, you want to be my friend.” Atlas reaches for me. His fingertips brush the back of my hand and a spark of magic sizzles between us.

My eyes widen and he freezes, staring at me in surprise.

“Do that again,” I command.

He slowly moves his hand, his fingertips ghosting along my skin, and another spark flickers.

“Holy shit,” he murmurs.

“Holy shit,” I agree.

TEN

ATLAS

Rune stares at me, a crinkle in his brow, before reaching out to tap his fingertips against mine. We produce the same flicker of magic, but it lasts a few seconds longer this time.

“How is this happening?”

“It’s happened before too. Before I got here. I don’t have my own magic, and frankly, I’m supposed to be immune to it for the most part.”

“I’ve noticed.”

“First, I had a dream and then a few flickers. The witches in New Orleans detected it, and that’s how Kallis figured out I was helping you too. I don’t know how though. I didn’t seek it out.”

“Go back to the part where you realized I was missing in the first place.”

“It was a dream, I guess. An overwhelming vision of you in need.”

A faint smile tugs at his lips. “Do you dream about me often, Gargoyle?”

“No. That’s why it stood out. It was more of a… a message than a simple dream. I knew something was wrong.”

I won’t admit how many times I’ve lain awake thinking about the prickly mage, very much not asleep.

“And you set out to find me because I was so kind to you the first time we met,” he says sarcastically with another smirk.

“You didn’t know our intentions.” I shrug. “It’s not like you tried to kill us.”

“I thought the dragon was going to die when I handed over the amulet.” He looks away for a beat, almost like he’s embarrassed. “I’m glad he didn’t.”

“Me too.”

“Very curious though. The connection between us… Neither of us created it, so where did it come from?”