His coppery eyes focused on Rosalina. He raised a thin eyebrow, which made me notice, for the first time, that they were completely white, like his hair.
“Um, this is my friend, Rosalina,” I said.
He quickly removed his apron, placed it on a hook near the stove, and came around the island. We were forced to turn in our stools to face him.
With a smile he extended a hand toward my friend. “Nice to meet you, Rosalina.” No smirk, no smugness, just genuine interest.
She lifted her hand hesitantly as if she were afraid Damien might bite it off. But he only squeezed it gently and deposited a slow kiss on her knuckles, his strange eyes never deviating from hers. Color rose into her cheeks as she mumbled a reply.
Really? The creep was flirting with my best friend. What the hell? Maybe shifting and killing someone wasn’t entirely out of the question.
“Can I offer you anything to drink?” he asked after finally releasing Rosalina’s hand.
“No, thank you,” we both said in unison. We had agreed not to drink or eat anything that he might offer. Mages could be tricky like that, and we already knew this one couldn’t be trusted.
“Mmm.” He scanned us carefully, judging, understanding the full meaning of our response.
I shifted in my stool, feeling uncomfortable. We were practically accusing him of trying to turn us into toads—or whatever evil mages did to their unsuspecting victims.
To my relief, he simply shrugged and said, “Your loss.” He walked toward a fancy espresso machine and began grinding coffee that smelled heavenly. “I figured you would eventually come. Shifting involuntarily when you least expect it can’t be any fun.”
“I actually haven’t shifted again. Just the once,” I said.
Damien turned from the machine and faced me. “You haven’t?”
I shook my head.
“That’s... interesting.” He pronounced the word interesting as if he actually meant “weird” instead.
We sat quietly for a moment while he considered, only the bubbling of the pot filling the silence.
“What do you mean?” Rosalina asked at last.
Damien’s attention shifted to her, and his coppery eyes seemed to sparkle, becoming more vivid. “Because it would take a reasonable amount of strength to prevail over a wild animal that has been caged for twenty years. Though, my spell hasn’t completely worn off, and it’s still keeping the wolf somewhat in check. But I would be lying if I hadn’t expected to read about some awful massacre in the newspapers this morning.”
“What?!” I said indignantly. “You mean I could have gone on some sort of rampage and you just let me go as if...” I waved my arms around at a loss for words, then turned to Rosalina. “What is wrong with this guy?”
“I normally don’t involve myself with werewolf matters,” Damien said. “I only did it with you to help your mother. You know, she and I had a thing back in college and—”
I put a hand up. “Hold your horses. I don’t want to hear about any of that.”
That was just disturbing, especially since I kept forgetting that he and Mom had been classmates in college. Despite his white hair, he didn’t look a day older than thirty. I wondered how old he really was, though, and how many spells it took to keep him looking so young.
“Fine,” he said, rolling his eyes, then went back to his coffee machine and pressed a few buttons. Soon the entire kitchen filled with the unique scent of coffee.
As if he’d forgotten we were there, Damien went about the kitchen gathering plates and utensils, then pulled out several containers from the six-foot-wide refrigerator and started preparing breakfast.
My stomach growled at the sight of bagels and cream cheese and jelly. I had already eaten breakfast, but lately hunger had been assaulting me even more often than before. Mostly, I was hungry for meat, though, and couldn’t seem to have enough of it. I’d eaten an entire package of bacon this morning, while Rosalina watched me over the rim of her mug.
He placed a bagel inside a toaster oven and crossed his arms, waiting.
Rosalina elbowed me and nodded toward the mage, encouraging me to ask my questions. His comment about expecting to read about a massacre in the papers still rang inside my head. I didn’t think I would be able to stop myself from shifting for much longer. I could feel the pressure mounting. My wolf felt like a ticking bomb, and the explosion would not be pretty.
Cocking my head and tapping my chin, I stared at the mage. If I was going to go on a rampage, it might not be a bad idea to start here. It would teach him a lesson for doing unnatural things to people. Or at least, I could get him to blast me with a killing spell and take me out of my misery.
“Is there no way you can help her?” Rosalina asked, since I’d become enthralled by the idea of sinking my claws into Damien’s willowy ass.
“I’m afraid not, love,” he said.
“Each year,” he continued, without turning from the oven, “that I applied my spell on Toni, it grew increasingly more difficult. Amalia was supposed to keep a close eye on her daughter to catch any symptoms that indicated the magic was wearing out. I warned her that if Toni shifted, it would put an end to the subterfuge. You see, the spell has kept the wolf confused. Um, how can I explain?”
He finally turned to face us, making a flourish with one hand as if to draw an explanation from the air. “The wolf was trapped inside a labyrinth that didn’t allow it to see the exit, the light. Every time she got close, the spell would have created a diversion, guiding her away from the surface. But now that the wolf has figured out the exit and has gotten a taste of freedom,
