Page 2 of Medium
I might have developed a tiny crush on Ellis, but DMs didn’t bond with DMs. I could ignore my attraction until it went away.
He glanced over at me. “I forgot to tell you. I painted my living room last weekend.”
“Yeah? What color?”
He grimaced. “Off white.”
“That’s... nice? What color did it used to be?”
“Blue. I really liked the blue, much better than the off white. But I couldn’tnotpaint it off white, you know?”
I got it. He and I were both nesting, which is what happens when magic carriers were about to meet their mates. We were compelled to make our homes more appealing to whoever would show up. Greg, the DM of the Central District, had gone so far as to buy a new house.
Luckily, to date the only things I’d had to buy were new sheets, a comforter, and a hammock for the back yard. Those purchases had stretched my budget further than I liked, so I was hoping they were the last of it.
Ellis, on the other hand, had traded in his MINI Cooper for this much bigger SUV, and he’d put flowers in planters around his back deck. And now the paint.
“That sucks. So you’re thinking, what, your mate will be someone who doesn’t like color?” I frowned. Ellis was wearing a bright orange polo with royal blue shorts. Surely the magic wouldn’t give him a mate who only liked neutrals.
“I don’t know.” But he sounded worried. “I have a strong urge to paint the bedrooms the same color.”
“Maybe... maybe your mate is an artist, and they need a plain wall to display their work.”
He flashed me a startled grin. “Yeah? That would be cool.”
I smiled back, my crush making my face go hot. Ellis was really attractive. Not in a model gorgeous way like Greg was, but in a friendlier, guy-next-door way. I especially liked how his dark brown eyes always found mine when we were in the same room. And the way his cheeks puffed up under his glasses when he smiled. He was a few years younger than me, and his umber skin was smooth except for the laugh lines next to his eyes. My magic was always reaching out to hiswhen we were near each other, and it was hard to tell it to back down. And I really, really wanted to dig my fingers into his mane of coils.
I wished badly that DMs mated other DMs. I could only dream of getting someone as amazing as Ellis. The walls in my house were already white. Well, they’d been white when my grandfather had painted them twenty years ago at least.
But Ellis and I were each destined for somebody who was either a different type of magic carrier or a Wonder, a paranormal creature who’d originated in the Elven dimension. They were the source of most myths and folk tales, like shifters, trolls, or pixies.
The Elves had gone back to their own dimension after World War II. I couldn’t say I blamed them. Humans as a species were fucked up. But they’d bestowed a certain amount of their magic on a bunch of trusted humans before they’d left, and Ellis and I were descendants of those original magic carriers. Sometimes random people showed up with magic, like Cal, the Seer who was now bonded to Greg. Ellis or I might end up with someone who was also new to our world.
My phone rang. I sighed when I saw the screen. “Hi, Jed. I’m off today, remember? Ricky approved it last week.”
Jed grunted. “Right, and I’m sorry, but Ricky’s not answering his phone.”
I groaned. Ricky was the boss’ son, and he did as little actual work as possible. “I get it. What’s up?”
What was up was that Ricky had bungled an order to our supplier, asking for azaleas when the client wanted rhododendrons. We were supposed to do the installation next week. Luckily Jed had noticed when he was reviewing the paperwork to see how many people we’d need on the crew. I toldhim to call the supplier and find out if it was too late to correct the error.
I hung up and rubbed my face. I doubted that would be the last call I’d get today.
“Everything okay?”
“They can’t survive without me at work,” I joked. Or maybe I only wished it was a joke.
Ellis chuckled. “I know what that’s like.”
Unlike me, Ellis’ career was going places. He was in sales for a mobile phone company, and his clients were corporations who wanted their employees to have dedicated work phones. He made good money, and he liked his job.
Two things I didn’t have with my job.
When we were getting close to Bent Oak, I googled a bakery for us to stop at. Greg had told us he and Cal were making lunch, so Ellis and I picked up some lemon bars for dessert. We weren’t sure if Ms. Jackson would eat them, but at least we’d have something in our hands when we arrived.
When we got back in the car, I texted Greg to let him know we’d be at his place soon.
But then I read his response. I glanced at Ellis. “Um.”
