Chapter 38: *CHAPTER 38*

"Sorry we're late," Malcolm drawled as we took our seats at what the giant blaring blue neon sign outside had dubbed Ro's Diner.

While we'd been at the crime scene, Caleb and Richard had called to ask if we wanted to meet them for dinner. They'd been seated at one of the booths when we arrived, drinks in front of them. Caleb waved us over as I followed Malcolm's broad back into the overly crowded diner. We picked our way through the crowd until we reached the table they had commandeered in the back.

The diner was one of those classic affairs with the black and white checkered tiled floors and red faux leather lined booths. A gold-trimmed music box sat against the wall by the entrance that was playing a low song from the eighties. A counter took up the back wall of the room with a glass case displaying desserts—crisp-looking pies, cakes, and some variety of berry cobbler. The restaurant was packed with more people than I would have expected from something this far out of the way of the city.

I slid and scooted my way into the booth until I was seated against the wall in the seat across from Caleb. The overly stuffed red pleather booth seat squished beneath me as I leaned my head into the back of the seat. My stomach was already gurgling in a painful complaint at the smell of food.

It was surprising how starving I was after I'd made a conscious effort to eat more lunch today after skipping breakfast. My insides were gnawing on themselves and when Caleb slid a glass of water across the table to me, I took it gratefully. The cold liquid slid down my throat and settled in my stomach curbing the emptiness there.

Caleb was in another cut-off band t-shirt, his black hair gelled and mussed in the front, a few new blond streaks scattered throughout. Richard who sat beside him, stood out in the casually attired diner crowd with their shorts and t-shirts, his tweed suit with the matching vest looking out of place like a vase set against a backdrop of tin cans.

After tugging the leather jacket free from his arms and draping it neatly on the back of the seat, Malcolm slid onto the bench beside me. Even in the seemingly tight bench, I was glad to notice there was ample space between us. After what had happened between us in the truck--I hadn't been able to look at him. I couldn't bring myself to regret what had happened. Not at all. But I didn't know how much of it had been us and how much of it had been the Curse forcing us together. It left me in an awkward position I didn't even know how to begin to handle. Dinner with Caleb and Richard was a distraction that I desperately needed right now.

The sight of Caleb's band t-shirt prodded back the memory of him mentioning he'd had a gig earlier, "How'd the show go tonight?" I asked him in between sips of water.

He grinned, leaning back on the bench, looking pleased with himself, "Better than I'd hoped actually. Another talent scout was there during the performance tonight. He loved a few of our songs and we booked to fill in for one of the usual bands of the most exclusive clubs in the city."

I grinned back, "That's amazing!"

Beside me, Malcolm made an impressed noise low in his throat before asking, "What club is it?"

"Nightshade."

Malcolm's eyebrows shot up, clearly impressed.

I didn't know anything about nightclubs, but I was guessing it was about as exclusive as they came around here.

Caleb's eyes bounced between the two of us mischievously, "Don't worry, I've already got you both on the list. No need to thank me," his gloating smirk was playful and Malcolm chuckled quietly under his breath.

Before we could ask him anything else a stout middle-aged waitress appeared at the edge of our table to take our orders. With a swift scan of one of the sticky menus on the table, I ordered one of the first things I saw off the list and the waitress left as quickly as she'd come.

When the waitress was out of earshot, Richard leaned tweed-lined forearms against the table. A deep line had formed between his eyebrows, and he pushed the thick glasses he always wore up his nose, a pensive gesture, "There's something pressing that I've been needing to speak with the two of you about."

Malcolm also seemed to sense the uncharacteristic tension radiating off of Richard, because he leaned back in his seat, suddenly assessing, "What is it?"

"About an hour ago, I received the results back for your MME testing, Kassie."

The hunger that had been assalting my stomach only moments ago turned now felt like a brick. The MME was the last bit of testing I'd done in Richard's office when the results of the placement test came back inconclusive. Malcolm's shock stiffened his shoulders, a mirror to my own surprise that I felt clenching at my chest. "How is that possible," Malcolm asked, "MMEs usually take a few days to process. It's only been one. We can't even get them done that quickly at the Oculus."

"Peter called in a few favors to get us bumped up the list."

Malcolm looked both impressed and mildly envious. Richard scratched at his beard, the sleeve of his dress shirt riding up his arm, behind the thick rims of his glasses, his eyes turned to me, "Your first experience with Magic was the night you and Malcolm bumped into each other, correct?"

I nodded, "Like most people I assumed Magic was something out stories. Why, what do the results say?" I asked. A large part of me didn't want to know. Based on the tension leaching off of Richard, I was wondering if this was something I'd wish I didn't know later on. But like passing a car accident on the side of the road, even though a part of me didn't want to see, I couldn't look away as the impending damage approached.

"I had the report printed out. Here," Richard told us as he rifled through his briefcase, before setting a thick and stapled stack of papers on the table in front of both Malcolm and me. The papers were covered in small lines of text and lined graphs that I didn't have the patience to look through at the moment.

I don't think I was imagining the sympathetic tightening around Richard eyes as he watched me, "I only ask about your previous experience with Magic because the results may come as a bit of a shock for you Kassie. In my office you were very adamant about the fact that you were human."

"I am human." I said automatically, almost mechanically.

"I know this will come as a bit of a shock to you," Richard explained to me gently, "but you do indeed have a rare strain of Magic in you."

All I could do was blink at him, shock simmering through my body.

Beside me, Malcolm's eyebrows shot in the air, "What sort of Magic does she have?"

"That's the surprising part in all of this. You don't have just any type of magic, Kassie, you have Blood Magic."