Page 129 of Mistaken Magic

"Whatabout here?" he asked. "Ican probably make a little opening in the window for him..."Hepaused. "Toriancould, at least."

"Notthat magical?"Iasked, moving over beside him.

"Plentymagical," he assured me. "Ijust don't have a knack for delicate work.Glassis delicate, so...Yeah."

Igestured to the spot before him. "Well, that works for me, andI'mkinda getting used to the idea of keepingJackhappy."Ireached for the table beneath the window. "There'sno reason this can't move over, either."

Hawke'shand landed on mine, stopping me from whatIwas about to do. "Ican move it," he promised.Onceagain,Iwas stuck looking deep into his eyes.Strange, caramel-colored eyes. "Ican help with your math course too," he added.

Mylips curled into a smile on their own. "Yeah?Whotold?"

"Keir," he admitted. "We'vebeen parsing out your classes.Wildersaid he's gotLiterature.TorianandKeirare debatingHistoryofFaerie, butIthink you should letTorianhave that.Hekinda lived there his whole life.Brackenshould pass you inSelf-DefenseandOffensiveCombat.Tagwill give you something for your skillset, because she's the most fair humanI'veever met - "Hepaused. "Right.You'rehuman."

"Hawke?"Iasked, aware he seemed off.Nervous, almost.

Heturned his attention to the poles that would becomeJack'sroost. "Whyaren't you scared of me,Rain?Thefaelings are."

"WhyshouldIbe?"Icountered. "Ithought you could be trusted."

Thatmade him look back.Fora second, his strange eyes measured me, and then he let go of the poles.Onestep put him right before me.Slowly, he reached up to trail his thumb over my ear.

Thenail was thicker thanIexpected, but it didn't tangle in my hair.Hewas gentle, but the intensity of his gaze wasn't.Ofall the faeI'dmet,Hawkeseemed the least human, but was that simply because he didn't try to fit in as much?Wasthat why he expected me to fear him?

"Noteven a shiver," he said softly, moving his hand again. "That'swhat makes you interesting, becauseIhave a feeling your lack of fear has nothing to do with a lack of intelligence."

"Wasthat a compliment?"Iasked.

Hiseyes dropped to my lips, then they slid down to hang on my pulse for a second before the guy simply turned and started messing with the poles again. "DidtheHuntscare you at all?"

"Freakedme right out,"Iadmitted. "TheHuntsmanlooked like he wanted to break through the glass and get me.Imean, it could've beenJackhe wanted to get, though, since he's a fae thing.Still,I'dnever seen anything like that."

Hishands were quickly screwing the pieces of poles together to make a large,T-shaped structure. "Whatdo they look like now?Theriders,Imean."

"Um, grey.Everythingabout them is this storm-grey color, including their skin and hair.Whiteeyes, like dead.Likethe worst cataracts ever."ThenIpaused. "Buthis teeth were nice.Notrotten or anything.Itwas just that his skin was all shriveled up."

"Themagic being sucked out of them,"Hawkeexplained. "Thestorms were assumed to give them just enough to keep going, but from the sounds of it, that might be wrong.Ifthey're withering, then it could be a case of running on a deficit, draining themselves to complete their task."

"Whyis it different for you?"Iasked. "Imean, if they need magic to survive..."

Hawkechuckled. "Sodo we.Sunlightis a good one, and it's stored in fruit.Thesweetness of sugar is another.Ourdiet consists of the small magicsEarthmakes.Faelingscan thrive on your food, but they'll still go for fruits and sugars for the magic.Theyare part fae and part human, after all."

Thenhe finished the last piece and stepped back to show me a rather typical bird perch.Ithad a sturdy base so it wouldn't fall over easily, and theTmeant there was plenty of room forJackto walk from side to side.WhenImoved to look at it,Hawkestepped around me to shove the table over.Thatleft a nice space before the window, so he moved the roost there.

"Hey,Jack?" he asked, turning to search the room for the bird. "Wannatry it out and give me your opinion?"

Jackimmediately left his perch on my shelf and sailed down to land on the roost.Rattlingin pleasure, he bobbed his head and walked the length of it, then turned around and came back the other way.Thatmade him caw with excitement.Witha little hop, he turned around to look out the window.

"Jack!" he proclaimed. "Rain,Jack!Jack-Jack!"

"Iget the impression he approves,"Isaid. "Thatwas a kind thing.Ihave no idea howI'llrepay you."

"Thedebt belongs toJack,"Hawkeassured me. "Hecan make his own amends."

"Butwhere did you get the stuff?"Iasked.

Hawkesighed and ducked his head. "Wilderconvinced one of the trees in the atrium to help.Hegrew it,Rain.Ijust made the holes and added the screws to secure it."

"Andsanded it,"Isaid, reaching over to feel the smooth wood. "Alittle finishing work.Kindahard to remember that doing things the mundane way is just as impressive as the magical one, huh?"

---