Page 65 of Harbinger

“So you spelled them not to notice?”

“Something like that, yeah. The problem is, it counted as a reality-warping spell, even though it was only on a small scale.”

“It’s not a big deal.”

“Many would disagree.”

“Fuck them. The actual issue is that it came to that for you, that you actually needed to go to those lengths because all those shithead guests around you made you feel so badly.”

“Thanks,” she said, before eating more of the waffles and clearly loving them.

“You can’t change how others view you. The only thing youcancontrol is whatyoudo.”

“Hence me not doing anything to impact anyone.”

“You mean, not embracing your power?”

“In a way. Although, it’s come to my attention that I need to find a better balance where that’s concerned.”

“Well, I can absolutely help you with that.”

“Yeah?” she asked in a teasing tone, all the intensity of earlier easing off now.

“Sure. Think of it as my first act of friendship.”

“Wouldn’t it be the third? Trying to defend me against Kai, then this picnic? Unless you’d like me to view the picnic as more of a seduction technique?”

“Oh, believe me, there’d be no ambiguity to it if that was the case. You’d know if I was turning it on, gorgeous.”

“Brazen with it, are you?”

“Let’s just say that I don’t hold back with what I want.”

She stared out at me for a moment.

And then she held the plate of Spicy Seared Steak out to me. “Have at it. I heard you’re a fan of red meat. Although, you like it well-done, and this is medium rare.”

“How you like it.” I took a piece of steak and put it on another plate. “But we can fix that for me.” In the next moment, I opened my mouth and released a carefully targeted blast of my dragon fire, cooking the steak right there, achieving a perfect well-done state within split seconds. “There,” I said, grinning out at her.

She smiled back at me. “Very nice.”

We sank into it then, just eating and enjoying each other’s company, falling into the ease of it, and the fact that despite being new to one another, there was no real awkwardness in the silence as we ate.

It was comfortable and warming, to be honest.

After a while, as she finished eating another one of the Pepper Honey Glazed Chicken Skewers, she looked over at me and said, “Thank you for doing this. It cheered me up.”

“I’m happy that you like it. I’m not happy that you needed cheering up, that something got you down.”

She clearly didn’t want to talk about what exactly had happened, because she shifted the subject quickly and asked me, “How are you taking to Maven Academy so far?”

“It’s not bad. There are a lot of knowledgeable professors here. The students keep to themselves, a lot in cliques, and I don’t really care for that. They’re not that welcoming to outsiders, but some of the professors make up for it. Especially Blackwater.”

“Professor Blackwater is a good one, yeah.”

“I didn’t meet your grandpa yet. I have one of his classes in a few days.”

“Yeah, he’s teaching two this year, both advanced classes.Apex Magic Theory and Practical Application, along withForbidden Weaving & the Art of Spellbreaking.Which one do you have?”

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