Chapter 14: *CHAPTER 14*

“It looks like you two have been busy.”

Caleb and I both glanced over the back of the couch to see Malcolm pulling himself up from where he was leaned in the doorway. With the television’s volume up so high, neither one of us had heard him come in.

After Jenna had left for the hospital earlier, I’d borrowed Caleb’s phone so I could call in sick to the Cafe. My manager, Janice, had not been thrilled to say the least. She’d chewed me out for ten minutes and I’d been drained by the time I finally managed to end the call.

Caleb had tidied the kitchen while I made my calls, but it didn’t feel like he was hovering. There was something about his easygoing attitude and lankier build, his hair matted with sleep, reminded me of my friend Matt. It put me at ease in spite of everything else.

When I’d finished, I’d chewed on my bottom lip, looking around the tidy kitchen, “What do we do now?” I asked Caleb, handing his phone back.

He’d shrugged, “There’s not much we really can do except wait to hear back from Malcolm and my dad.”

I’d never been good at sitting around waiting for people to take care of problems for me and the thought of doing so now sent a flare of anxiety shooting through me. Caleb must have sensed my unease because he quickly got us into a Back to the Future movie marathon. We were two movies deep when Malcolm appeared like a ghost behind us.

With his sudden presence, the black Mark on my arm started to tingle. I scratched at it idly as I watched him come further into the room. He was wearing a white t-shirt today instead of black. His jeans were dark, but there was something that looked like an ink stain on the knee. His hair was sculpted back into something that Lauren would describe as artfully messy.

He rounded the couch to plop himself down into the arm chair across from us. His stance was casual, but something about him leeched tension as he scratched at the stubble at his jaw that hadn’t been there last night.

His eyes flickered between where Caleb and I were lounging on the couch watching a movie and something in his expression twitched. Just the sight of him had the irritation from last night resurfacing. I knew I didn’t really have a reason for that annoyance, so I shoved it down, forcing my face to smooth out what was probably a grimace into something resembling calm.

“You guys are back early,” Caleb said, “Did you find something?”

“Hello, hello,” Richard called cheerfully from the kitchen, his accent as thick today as I remembered it being last night, “How was your morning?” He rounded the corner with a bowl of pasta salad in his hands, his button down shirt rolled up at the sleeves.

“Great,” Caleb grinned, turning to Malcolm, “As far as people you could’ve brought home in an accidental marriage with, you at least got lucky enough to get someone cool.”

Malcolm grunted noncommittally, eyes narrowing infinitesimally. Caleb ignored that, leaning forward to snatch up a few chips that we’d been snacking on in the center of the coffee table, “So, how’d it go? Did you find anything?”

“Not a thing,” Malcolm reluctantly admitted, “We combed through the archives for hours, spent most of the day hunched over old record books. We got through a good portion of them.”

Caleb let out a sympathetic whistle, “That’s rough.”

I tried not to be disappointed, chewing the inside of my cheek. My stomach sank nauseatingly at his words. Admittedly, I’d been hoping that this could all be good and over with and I could put this fever dream behind me.

Richard came around the couch, to sit in the pristine white armchair by the fireplace. He took a prim bite of pasta salad before interjecting, “While we didn’t find an exact replica of the Marking in the archives, we do know that your particular Curse Marks are shaped in a way that we’re able to confirm them as some sort of Binding Magic.”

“So, not anything we didn’t already know.” Malcolm tugged his fingers through his hair.

“The good news,” Richard said, after primly wiping at his lips with a napkin, “is that Peter was able to locate a few books in his personal collection and he will bring them by tonight.”

I pursed my lip, “When you talked to him, did he say anything about finding a way to break the Curse?”

Richard smiled, standing up from his chair, bowl of pasta now empty, “Unfortunately we didn’t get a chance to speak with him for very long—he’s been in and out of meetings all morning. But let’s keep our fingers crossed that he’s able to give us something more when he comes by tonight.”

Richard paused in the doorway on his way out of the room, “Thank you for being so understandable about all of this, Kassie. We’ll do everything in our power to get things back to normal for you as soon as possible.”

I sent him a grateful smile, “Thanks, Richard.”

Beside me, Caleb let out a long breath, the cushions jostling as he huffed his way to his feet as well, “After that, I’m going to need some Doritos, you guys want anything?”

When Malcolm and I both shook our heads, he shrugged in a suit-yourself gesture before plodding out of the room on muffled footsteps.

I watched him go, feeling like he was leaving me with the wolves. I knew from what Jenna had told me and what Caleb had mentioned himself that he and Malcolm were cousins, but they didn’t look anything alike. Didn’t act anything alike either— at least from what I’d observed. Finally, with no choice left, nothing to avoid it, I turned my eyes back to Malcolm.

He was still leaning back in the armchair across from me, legs out in front of him, booted feet crossed at the ankles. Long fingers entwined across his waist while his head leaned back against the back of the chair. His stance may have been casual, but he radiated a tension I didn’t think I was imagining. As I slowly—reluctantly—turned his way, he was already looking at me. Looking for what, I wasn’t sure.

For a long tense moment, we just stared at each other: with me observing him, him observing me, and both of us knowing we were sizing the other person up. The silence was loud enough to deafen.

He raised an eyebrow, "What's that face for?" He finally asked.

"I'm not making a face."

“You look like someone just kicked your dog,” He eyed me up and down unconvinced, his face shifting from smooth tension to infuriatingly smirky in a fraction of a second, "Still mad about your car?"

It was that blatantly uncaring expression that sent me over the edge. The fact that he destroyed my way of getting around and had the audacity to look smug about it told me everything I needed to know about him.

I forced myself to take a deep breath before responding, making a conscious effort not to grind my teeth together, “You know what, yeah, I’m still mad about my car. And if you think for one second that you're going to get out of paying for burning it up, you've got another thing coming--"

“Dude, you burned up her car?” Caleb’s voice interrupted from the doorway. I jumped, and I don’t think I imagined the way Malcolm tensed, both of us surprised by Caleb’s return.

Malcolm turned back to his cousin, eyes still on me, “It was a minor casualty in me saving her life, yes.”

Caleb let out a low whistle, before turning to me, “That sucks,” He turned back to the blonde idiot, “You’ll have to get her one as a wedding gift.” He teased with a waggle of his eyebrows. I met Malcolm’s look of abhorrence with a revolted expression of my own.

Caleb just chuckled under his breath, the only one amused by his joke, “Did you at least fill out the paperwork with the Oculus to get her compensated?”

“I’ve been a little busy.” Malcolm said blandly.

Caleb shrugged and turned back to me, “The covens have money set aside for when things like this happen. Believe it or not, a lot of things get destroyed when people are learning to use their Magic. When I was first learning to shift air currents around, I crashed a couple of flat screens down in Best Buy.”

“Still not allowed to go back inside if I’m remembering right.” Malcolm grinned.

A sheepish look crossed his face, “What can I say, the judge was grouchy that day.”

A reluctant smile broke on my face.

Malcolm turned back to me, “I’m going back over to your neighborhood to do another sweep of George Morelli’s house. I didn’t get to stay long enough to go over everything last night. Richard thought it might be a good idea for me to take you with me so you can grab any stuff you might need. You want to come?”

Caleb’s eyebrows shot up in surprise, chomping on a Dorito,“You live in George Morelli’s neighborhood?”

“He was my neighbor. You knew George?”

“He was in our Coven, so I ran into him every once in a while. I still can’t believe what happened.” Equal parts remorse and shock flitted across his face.

“Wait, George was in your Coven?" I asked them, "So does that mean—“

“He was Magi,” Caleb confirmed, “Water I think.”

George had magic? He’d seemed so normal. For some reason I hadn’t connected the dots last night with everything else happening. It made sense that he was Magi though if Malcolm was investigating his death. It was just hard to believe that my quiet unassuming cat-loving neighbor had a connection to the people here.

Malcolm pulled himself to his feet, tugging me from back my thoughts, “So, you coming or not?”

Talking about everything that had happened with George reminded me that I definitely needed to check on my house. And while I wasn’t looking forward to spending more time along with Malcolm, a single glance down at my rolled up borrowed yoga pants reminded me that while it was nice of Jenna to lend me some clean clothes while I’d been here, it would be good to have clothes that actually fit me, “Yeah, I’m coming.”