The Lost Mage (21 page)

“Well, we could buy some plastic cups.”

“What’s plastic?”

“It’s a synthetic material, oh, never mind. I’ll show you.”

“But Nora, I have another reason for wanting to go to Ravenwynd’s place.”

“Oh really? And what, may I ask, is that?”

“I need to get the ingredients for a scrying spell,” Darakin answered, blissfully unaware of the jealousy in Nora’s voice.

“Scrying?”

“Using magic to find the krekdapop.”

“I thought we’d established that your magic doesn’t work here.”

“No, Nora, the elementals haven’t been enslaved so I can’t summon them, but magic is universal. I just need some herbs and stuff that I think I saw at Ravenwynd’s shop.”

“Fine, we’ll go see the New Age princess.”

“Who?”

“Ravenwynd.”

“She’s a princess? Members of the royalty have to keep shops in this realm?”

Nora sighed again. “No, they don’t. Once again, I was making a bad joke that you don’t get.”

Darakin wasn’t sure what she was talking about, but he felt compelled to apologize. “I’m sorry.”

“Not your fault.” She kept walking.

The pair headed back toward Ravenwynd’s shop. After a few minutes, Darakin leaned over and whispered to Nora, “I feel like everyone is staring at me.”

She stopped and stood, hand on hip to regard the mage. In a voice too loud for his comfort, she said, “Of course they’re staring at you, you daft mon. You’re balancing a big wad of green, slimy lizard-man residue between two sticks as you walk. What did you expect to happen?” She took off again at a brisk pace, forcing Darakin to take some quick steps to catch up.

“Are you angry with me?”

She stopped and turned toward him and her features softened. “No, I’m not mad. I’m sorry. I guess we put too much stock in what strangers think in this society. Why should I care if people I don’t know are staring? Let’s just go get you whatever it is you need.”

A
ny residual resentment she had disappeared as he smiled back at her.

They made their way to Pandora’s Box and Nora held the door so Darakin could enter without dropping his precious slime.

“May I help …” Ravenwynd’s voice trailed off as she spotted Darakin and Nora. “Darakin! I have to say I wasn’t sure if you’d be back. Welcome. And to you, too,” she said giving Nora a half-cordial look.

“Thank you, Ravenwynd. I was wondering if you had some sort of container that I could put this in.” He held up the sticks with the slime dripping off them.

“Oh dear, I suppose,” she said with hesitation. “May I ask what it is?”

Nora cut in. “Can we play twenty questions after the slime is in a container?”

“Certainly.” Ravenwynd gave her an annoyed glance before smiling at Darakin and heading to her back room. She returned with a glass jar. “Will this work?”

“Yes, thank you.” Darakin put the sticks inside the jar and used them to scrape the slime off so it dropped to the bottom of the container.

Ravenwynd screwed a cap on the jar and set it down on the counter. “May I ask what it is now?” she asked with a sideways glance at Nora.

“Well, we told you that I’m from another realm and that a demon from my realm may be here, right?”

“Yes.”

“Well, that is residue from the demon. I plan to use it in a scrying spell to determine the demon’s location.”

“Oh, I see. Do you know how to do the spell and what you’ll need?”

“Well, my non-elemental magic is rusty, but I think I can put something together. I’ll need some herbs, a scrying bowl and some incense.”

Ravenwynd ignored Nora and took Darakin by the hand to lead him around the store. “Well, I’m sure I’ll have what you need.”

Nora tried not to let the jealousy overwhelm her, instead looking at some of the display cases while Darakin and Ravenwynd shopped for his supplies. A few minutes later, they came back to where she was standing.

“Now, don’t forget to try to infuse the incense smoke into the scrying bowl water.”

“Yes, thank you.”

“Have you done this before? Sometimes, the images you see can be hard to interpret. Maybe you should do it here where I can take a look at it.”

Nora snatched the bag from Ravenwynd’s hand. “We’ll do it back at our place, thank you.” She put a little extra emphasis on the word “our”.

“How much do we owe you?” Darakin asked.

“Twelve sixty.”

Nora fished a twenty out of her wallet and handed it to Ravenwynd, who went to the register to get some change.

Darakin was, for the first time, acutely aware of how jealous Nora was so when Ravenwynd came back with the change, he took Nora by the hand. “Thank you for your help, Ravenwynd. Perhaps we’ll be back.”

The woman noticed the blatant display of affection and looked disappointed as she replied. “I hope so.”

Darakin and Nora left the store and headed back to the apartment. Once on the street, he paused and turned toward her. “Our place?” he inquired with a raised brow.

“Sure and isn’t it where you’re living right now?” she said indignantly and continued walking toward the bus stop.

Chapter Seventeen

As they waited for the bus, the rain came. It was a gentle, soothing spring rain, but the weather person on the morning News had promised it would turn into a torrential downpour soon. Nora opened the umbrella she’d brought with her and wiped the rain off her skin.

“If we could take the subway, we’d be able to stay dry.”

“And miss the feel of the rain on my face? Never!” Darakin lifted his face to the sky and let the drops run down his cheeks.

People stared at the strange man as they tried to pass by without touching him.

“Your society doesn’t appreciate the nourishment of rain. Without it, life would end. This is one of the greatest gifts I give to people in my realm.”

“Aye, well, it rains whenever and however much it wants here. This past week’s been dry, but we’re just off one of the rainiest months on record, so you’ll excuse me if I don’t share your enthusiasm.”

Darakin laughed at her grumpy expression and went back to reveling in the feel of the water on his skin. Reluctantly, he boarded the bus with Nora when it pulled up.

By the time the bus arrived at the stop near Nora’s apartment, the skies had opened up bringing the promised rainstorm. Nora opened her umbrella and offered space underneath it to Darakin. He scoffed at the thought of an elemental mage hiding from the rain and strode off into the downpour.

As he walked, his hair became saturated and the huge drops ran down his body until every inch of his clothing was soaking wet. With each step the denim jeans seemed to be tightening around his legs. Alarmed at the fact that his clothing now seemed to be attacking him, he ducked underneath the umbrella with Nora. She picked up the pace and they ran through the street and up the stairs of her building.

Nora shook the umbrella off in the hall before opening the door.

Mrowley sat up on the sofa, blinking as if just awakened. He sniffed the air.
Ew! You guys smell like wet humans.

“Well, that makes sense, since we are wet humans.” Darakin walked bow-legged into the living room.

“Why on earth are you walking like that?” she asked.

In a distressed voice, he said, “It feels as though these leggings are trying to strangle my legs and rip my skin off. They’re very uncomfortable when they’re wet.”

She laughed. “Aye, that they are. Strip them off. You’ll have to put your old pants on for now. We need to get you more jeans. I’ll take these to the laundry room and put them in the dryer.”

Darakin stripped off the wet jeans and rejoiced in the feel of his loose, soft cotton pants. “Ah. Now that feels good.” He smiled and sat down next to Mrowley.

Dude, you still smell wet.

“Hush now, kitty. Stop complaining.”

“What’s he on about now?” Nora asked as she rummaged through the laundry basket.

“He says we smell like wet humans.”

“Really? That’s too funny!”

“Why?”

“Because people are always complaining about the way wet animals smell. I think it’s funny that they complain about us, too.”

See?
Nora gets me.
Mrowley purred at Darakin.

“Gets you? She’s got both of us.”

No, I mean she understands me.

“No,
I’m
the one who understands you.”

Dude, I don’t mean the meows, I mean my essence. She totally gets who I really am.

Darakin made a sound of disbelief. “Cat, I don’t think any human can ever understand a cat.”

Mrowley nodded.
True, true. But she comes close. I wonder why she’s so sad, though.

“Huh?”

Nora emerged from the bedroom with a laundry basket. “I’ll be back in a few minutes. Just going to put these in the dryer.”

“Okay.” When she’d closed the door behind her, Darakin turned to the cat. “What do you mean you wonder why she’s sad?”