Page 11 of Made to Be

I was a basic-ass bitch and ‘twas the season. Sue me.

At first, Cam didn’t seem to know what to do with the plate of food as evidenced by the way he poked at it with his fork and squinted at it suspiciously. A reanimated corpse was a curious thing. After topping each of our portions off with a healthy dose of syrup, I dug into mine and he eventually did the same.

The pleased little hum he made after the first bite made my stomach squirm with delight.

After depositing the dishes in the sink to deal with later, I realized that I would have to be leaving for work in about fifteen minutes. But I now had the perfect adorable excuse to take the long-needed vacation that was well overdue.

I pulled up the text thread with the dean’s assistant and shot him a quick message, giving him the best excuse I could think of for needing a week off at the last minute.

The message showed sent, then read, and then, five seconds later my phone was ringing.

“Shit,” I cursed and dropped my phone onto the counter.

Cam jumped, surprised by my surprise, so I reached up and patted his head. Shit, his hair was so soft.

I grabbed my phone with a sigh of annoyance. I hadtextedhim for a reason. If I wanted to chat, I would have called. As soon as my finger pressed the answer button, I was immediately assaulted with a concerned,

“Oh goodness, Victor, are you okay? I am so sorry for your loss,” Charlie said, voice thick with sympathy.

I cringed, “Um, thanks.”

“You must be just so shaken up. Your sister, my goodness. Were you two close?”

My sister?I rapidly skimmed over the paragraph I had typed up and realized belatedly that… yep. I had indeed told him that my sister had passed away unexpectedly.

I didn’t even have a sister.

Lucky for me, Charlie didn’t know much about me. Not many did. I kept to myself as much as possible. It was, like, a requirement for hermits.

“Yeah, we were. Super close,” I said solemnly. “So, like I mentioned, I’m going to need some time to-”

“Oh, don’t you worry about a thing, Victor,” Charlie assured me. “You take the next two weeks. Spend some time with your family. The semester will be on holiday for a week the end of this month anyway. You know how big Halloween is around here. Plus, your students’ semester projects are already well underway, so we’ll just have a sub step in for you. You’re not missing much. You just take as much time to grieve as you need, and call if you need anything.”

“Thanks.” When the call didn’t immediately end, I cleared my throat, “Well, I’ve ‘gotta go, so...”

“Yes yes, alright. Take care!”

I hung up and set my phone to do not disturb. When I glanced up, Cam was watching me intently, almost expectantly. I saw him glance at my phone then back to me, question in his filmy eyes.

“My phone?” I asked him.

But he shook his head and instead hesitantly reached out to grab my bandaged hand holding theobject. He pulled my phone free to set it gently on the table before examining my shoddy first-aid. I had completely forgotten to heal it up.

His touch left me flustered, but I didn't dare pull away or move too quickly lest I spook him.

“It’s nothing, just a scratch,” I assured him as his dark brows pinched with concern. I watched as he toyed with the metal ring in his bottom lip with his tongue, finding myself mesmerized by the sight. Thoroughly distracted, I didn’t even notice as he unwrapped the bandage to stare at the slice along my palm. It was deeper than I recalled, already red and puffy along the edges. He wore a complicated expression as he eyed it, and I suddenly felt... guilty. Rubbing the back of my neck with my free hand, I added, “I can fix it. Just let me...”

I reached out to pluck a delicate little flower from the bundle of chamomile I had on the center of the table. Twirling it between my thumb and forefinger, its white petals shimmered before the plant wilted in my grasp. My magic soaked up the flower’s life, pouring it directly into my palm as it tingled with warmth. When it was completely withered, I set the crunchy brown stem down. I turned my gaze up just in time to catch his eyes widen with wonder as he watched the wound knit itself back together before healing entirely.

“See?” I flexed my hand where it still sat resting in his. “All better.”

A small, shy smile curled at the corners of his lips. “Better,” he said with a deep voice like silk.

My cheeks heated and I had to force myself to look away. I glanced back to my phone and it had me wondering about Cam’s.

I made a mental note to ask Alice about his possessions and if they’d survived his accident. It probably wouldn’t be a good idea to give him his phone though, what with him being dead and all. What if someone from his past came calling? Then they would find out what I had done and turn me in to the Association of Arcane Studies and I’d be branded a dark mage. Or worse, the Briarwood Police Department would find me. Nope. No way. I wouldn’t survive prison. I just knew it.

Apparently, I had been making a face, because Cam released my hand and reached out to poke my cheek.