Page 63 of Mistaken Magic

"There'sno debt,"Iassured him. "Itwas a favor freely given, and maybeIdid it for my own selfish reasons."

"Whichis why you're so interesting," he said before turning and simply walking away.

Chapter Twenty-Eight

Ichecked onAspenevery hour, just making sure she was sleeping comfortably.Ihad no clue what the medicine - if that fluid had even been medicine - was supposed to do, but she never stirred.Eachtime,IsentToriana message, updating him becauseIknew he was worried about her.

Bythe time the sun began to set, her burns were gone.Herskin was pale naturally, but as she slept, it began to get a healthy glow back to it.Notthe pasty and pallid look she'd had when we brought her into her room.Shewas starting to actually look like her normal self again.

Imade it back to my own room and had just sat down to read through my homework assignments when someone tapped at my door.HalfexpectingLiam,Igot up and unlocked it.Pullingthe door open wide,Ipaused when the person waiting on the other side wasTorian.Heheld something in his hands.

"She'llsleep through the night," he said, "but you didn't come down for dinner, soIbrought something up."Thenhe offered me the container in his hands.

"Uh, thanks?"Itook it and then winced, realizing whatI'dsaid. "Sorry.Habit."Istepped back so he could come in. "Shelooks better, but she hasn't stirred at all.Iwas just about to send you another update, actually."

Hestepped in and looked around, examining my private space.Whenhe saw the plant beside my bed, those pouty lips of his curled into a smile.Crossingthe room, he reached out to caress the leaves, stroking the thing the way someone would a cat.

Andthe plant responded.Thestrange little buds relaxed, revealing what was hidden inside.Asoft green glow began to illuminate the corner by my bed - because the funny-looking "flower" bubbles shined like fireflies.

"Itglows?"Iasked.

"It'saMoonShine," he explained. "Hardto kill but harder to cultivate.Onceyou prove you're friendly, it will glow in response.Apretty good night light, actually."

Iset the container of food down on my desk and moved to check it out. "Ok, that's cool.Ijust thought she'd given me a fae cactus or something."

Hepointed at one of the leaves. "Theylike caresses across the wide part, especially the bottom.Ifyou talk to it while you pet it, the thing might become trained to the sound of your voice.Nameit.Minewill glow whenIsay its name."

"Thatis amazing."Unableto help myself,Ireached down and caressed a leaf. "WhatshouldIcall you, fairy plant?HowaboutGlow, huh?"

Torianjust laughed and started to turn away - but he paused halfway.Hiseyes jumped over my shoulder and his hand snapped out to grab my arm, preventing me from moving.Confused,Itried to look behind me to see what had him so interested.

"Don't," he breathed. "Juststay still for a second?"

SoIstood there like an idiot while he watched something.Hisspring-green eyes darted, clearly chasing something.Inmymind,Icouldn't help but imagine some fae monsters lurking in the shelves, ready to pounce, yetToriandidn't seem worried about it.Itwas more like he was confused.

"Slowly," he finally said, "turn your head and watch your shadow."

Tryingto be subtle,Ilooked back to see what he meant.Theglow of the fae plant had a silhouette of my shape flickering against the wall.Wait, flickering?ThelongerIwatched, the more it seemed my shadow was trying to do something.Grow, move, or something else,Iwasn't sure, but the light from the plant was stable and consistent.Therewas no reason for my shadow to flicker.

Myheart beat a little faster. "Torian, why's it doing that?"Becausehis shadow wasn't.

"Noidea," he said, turning me away soI'dstop worrying about it.

Asif it were that easy.Sure,Imoved back toward my desk, butIkept looking back, checking to see what my own shadow was doing.Yetthe moment it was out of the fae light, the flickering stopped.Clearly, the light bulb in my room didn't cause the same weirdness.

"Whydoes my shadow flicker and not yours?"Iasked.

Toriandropped down onto my bed and made himself comfortable.Noasking permission.Noshyness about it.Theguy took over like it was somehow his right.Isighed, rolled my eyes, and turned back for my meal.Fora moment there,I'dkinda hoped he was more likeAspen, but it seemed these siblings didn't share much in the way of personality.

JustasIopened the container of food,Torianfinally answered me. "It'sinteresting, isn't it?"

Thatdamned phrase again! "Whatis interesting?"

"You."Hefolded his arms behind his head and looked over. "Thesestrange little things happen when you're around.Yousayyou're a human.Iheard you tested as having no signs of magic.Onthe surface, you appear to be a completely normal human girl, butI'mnot sure you are."

"Andyetyou'dnotice when the teachers missed it?"Ilifted a brow, making it clearIcould see through that line.

Thoselovely lips of his curled a little more as his smile grew. "Yes.Ifind it amusing how you think our teachers would know more than me."

---