Elsewhere, Chapter 1

I checked my phone to see what time it was, and then I sighed in disappointment.

My blind date was half an hour late.

Or maybe he wasn’t going to show up at all. Or maybe he’d poked his head into the bar, seen me, and decided to leave without even bothering to come tell me I’m not his type.

There were barely four patrons in the bar on that Tuesday evening. And I’d given the man I was meeting my description on the dating site so he could recognize me: long platinum blonde hair, blue-grey eyes, average height, and that I’d be wearing a dark pink top and a black skirt. I told him he could find me at the bar, drinking ginger ale. That last part had amused him, or so I’d thought. But I was very newly twenty-one, and despite all my friends telling me I’d get used to the taste of alcohol, I hadn’t yet. And meeting someone for the first time while tipsy seemed like a bad plan. I still didn’t even know what kind of person I was when I was intoxicated. I wanted to make a good first impression.

As thirty minutes late spread to forty-five, I sighed again. The bartender came over and offered me a sympathetic smile.

“Stood up?” he asked, his voice matching his expression.


I nodded.

“That sucks,” he said sympathetically.

I nodded again.

“Something stronger?” he asked, gesturing to my half-empty glass of ginger ale. I was surprised for a moment at the suggestion, since I knew I looked young, but the bartender had already carded me when I first sat down at the bar, even before I ordered my non-alcoholic beverage.

I pursed my lips as I considered the suggestion. It seemed unlikely my date would show, and I’d already planned on using a service for the ride back to my apartment.

“Yeah, okay,” I said, nodding. Then I scrunched up my nose and asked tentatively: “Something where I can’t taste the alcohol?”

The bartender grinned again. The expression made his whole face light up attractively.

“I can do that,” he said with a conspiratorial wink. Then he leaned slightly over the bar and stage-whispered at me: “You know, I wouldn’t have stood you up.”

I giggled. I couldn't help it.

“Thank you,” I said, my lips still quirked up at the corners.

“Matthew,” he said.

He reached over the bar, offering his hand for a handshake.

“Jelly,” I said. I watched him blink, and I felt my cheeks get a little pink as I took his hand. “Short for Evangeline.”

“Jelly,” Matthew repeated warmly. “Nice to meet you.”

“Likewise,” I said before I let go of his hand.

The door opened behind me, and I turned to look.

The number of patrons in the bar doubled as an attractive couple with their arms around one another and two individual men entered one after another. The couple and one of the men headed to the bar, leaving several stools between themselves and the next nearest customers. The last man, a tall, dark blond-haired fellow in an unseasonably long khaki coat, slid into a booth and frowned out across the bar.

Playing the part of Mr. Darcy this evening…

I turned back around and found Matthew the bartender setting a brightly colored drink with a fruit skewer garnish in front of me.

“Thanks,” I said.

Matthew gave me a little salute and then went down the bar to greet his new patrons.

I sipped my drink. I could barely taste the alcohol, which made the mixer the best I’d had so far in my short time as an imbiber of spirits. I was nearly finished with the beverage when Matthew came back to check on me again.

“So?” he asked, looking down at the glass and then meeting my eyes.

I gave him two thumbs up and finished off the beverage.

“You want another one?” he asked.

“Yeah,” I said. “One more. Then I’m done.”

He nodded and then went down the bar again.

“Done so soon?” a masculine, disappointed-sounding voice said from my left.

I turned and found a red-haired man pouting at me. Actually pouting.

I blinked at him. He was average height, pale and freckled (like me, though my foundation hid my freckles). He had generous lips and a dusting of nearly translucent red stubble across his jaw.

“I got stood up,” I blurted out, caught off guard by the man and his unexpected expression. I felt a little fuzzy.

“I’m sorry,” the man purred as he took the stool beside me. “That’s bad luck. I’m sure it wasn’t on purpose.”

I nodded. The man’s voice was pleasant, and his expression was sympathetic.

“Bad luck,” I repeated. It seemed like my drink had hit me all at once, but I felt relaxed. “Yeah.”

The red-haired man grinned at me.

“I see you met Sean,” the bartender said, startling me. He set down a new glass of fruity boozy goodness and my credit card and receipt. “Be careful. He’s our local ladies’ man.”

Matthew wasn’t smiling anymore, but his voice still sounded friendly. I tucked my credit card into my wallet and signed the receipt for my drinks, leaving Matthew a generous tip.

“I’m always a gentleman,” Sean the redhead said, grinning at me. Then he winked and leaned closer to add in a quieter tone of voice: “In public.”

I tittered again, feeling warm and disarmed by his accented voice and easy smile. I picked up the glass Matthew had set on the bar and took a long sip from it.

“Just be careful, Jelly,” Matthew said.

I looked at him when he said my name. His expression was serious. I started to frown, confused as to why he wasn’t smiling any more.

“Jelly?” Sean said, pulling my focus again. “What a tasty little moniker. I bet it’s short for something, isn’t it?”

“Evangeline,” I confessed, wrinkling my nose.

“The bringer of good news!” Sean declared, his green eyes sparkling.

“Something like that,” I said with a nod. It had been a long time since I’d looked up what my name meant.

“I’ll drink to that,” Sean said, lifting a half-filled mug of dark beer. “Sláinte!”

“Cheers,” I replied, lifting my own glass to my lips again.

Sean drained his beer in one pull. I took a long drink of my own beverage but didn’t quite finish it.

“Let me walk you out, yeah?” Sean said, his tone surprisingly firm.

“I haven’t called for my ride yet,” I started to protest.

Sean set a hand on my bare arm. I blinked at him in surprise.

“Call outside,” he suggested in a firm but friendly tone. “It’s a lovely night. Fresh air. Good company.”

I blinked a few times. I felt even more fuzzy than I had the minute before. But stepping outside to call for my ride seemed polite. And fresh air sounded good. My head was getting a little muddled.

“I…” I said. “Okay.”

I finished my drink and stood up. Sean kept his hand on my arm; a warm, pleasant weight. In another situation, it might have seemed odd, I thought, but just then it felt natural for him to be steering me toward the door.

“There’s a good girl,” Sean purred. He walked me outside and then along the front of the bar. He started leading me toward the alley. I hesitated, but he shushed me and ran his fingers along my arm as he spoke in a soothing tone of voice. “This way. It’s fine. There’s a shortcut.”

“Shortcut to what?” I asked, my voice sounding slurred even in my own ears. I thought I should be more upset, but I couldn’t seem to find the will. Going into the alley felt wrong, but I couldn’t quite remember why it would be wrong.

“You’ll see,” Sean said in a more predatory tone of voice as we rounded the corner. He flashed a grin at me and I thought I saw a flash of something strange in his eyes, like they reflected light back at me the way a cat or dog’s eyes might.

I tried to stop walking again. Sean let me, but he pulled me into his arms.

“There now, delectable Evangeline,” he purred, “let’s see if you taste as sweet as your name.”

Then he pressed his mouth to mine.

The kiss startled me, and again I was struck with the thought that something was wrong, but I felt so relaxed and Sean was an excellent kisser. He ran his hands up and down the skin of my arms as he moved his lips against mine.

It was a fantastic kiss. Easily top three in my life up to that point. Sean moved his mouth against mine with a gentle, exploratory pressure. He set a languid rhythm and hummed softly, a slow, hypnotic melody that made his lips vibrate slightly.

As the kiss progressed, I started to feel more lightheaded. I broke for air and took a deep breath. Then I sighed and swayed into Sean’s chest. He caught me with a chuckle against my mouth.

“Delicious,” he purred.

I opened my eyes, and then I frowned in confusion at Sean. He looked different.

“Are your eyes glowing?” I asked in confusion and mild, distant-feeling alarm.

“Almost certainly,” he murmured as though my question had amused him.

“That’s… not normal,” I said. My thoughts were muddled. I felt warm and relaxed, but I also knew something was wrong.

“Shh,” he replied, kissing me again.

His touch was distracting, and I couldn’t remember why I’d been concerned. I stepped more firmly into his embrace and snaked my arms up around his neck to combat my dizziness. He hummed in approval and deepened the kiss, making me sigh against his mouth. I responded to him eagerly, shivering in anticipation as he pulled me flush against his body and slid his hands down my back to the waistband of my skirt.

Very dimly in the far recesses of my mine, I could still hear warning bells, but the physical sensations of the kiss and the embrace were delightfully distracting.

I never wanted to stop kissing Sean.

“Let her go,” a masculine voice called out from the mouth of the alley.

I startled, pulling my head back from Sean’s. I blinked a few times, but my vision seemed blurry.

“Feck off,” Sean growled at someone behind me.

“What’s…?” I started to say. I could feel my eyebrows drawing together. Confusion settled over me like a blanket of cobwebs, and I started to pull away from Sean.

“Whoa, whoa,” Sean soothed as he tightened his grip on me. “Hey now. Don’t worry about this arsehole.”

I felt my shoulders relax at his words and the way he massaged circles into the flesh of my lower back.

“If you Sway her again, you’ll regret it,” the man at the end of the alley said.

The interloper’s words sounded like a threat, but I couldn’t imagine why he’d be threatening Sean. And what did he mean by 'sway'? Well, I was swaying on my feet, but Sean was holding me up.

“I said feck off, ‘Turge,” Sean snapped in irritation at the other man.

I slid my arms down from Sean’s neck and turned to look at the meddler. Sean tried to stop me, but he only succeeded in keeping my hips close to his. I got my upper body turned so I could see the other man standing at the mouth of the alley.

His right hand was glowing with crackling blue-white light.

Like Sean’s eyes were glowing and flashing green.

What the hell was going on?

“Let go of me,” I said to Sean, my voice weaker than I liked. My head was still spinning from the alcohol.

Was it the alcohol? Alcohol didn’t cause hallucinations, did it? I hadn’t eaten or drunk anything else. Unless the bartender had drugged me, I should just be tipsy.

“You don’t want to fight me,” Sean said in a persuasive tone. He started stroking my arm again.

I felt a conflicting sense of peace intruding into my thoughts, as if Sean’s words had somehow entered my head and were influencing me.

“I warned you, phage,” the man at the end of the alley said in an angry bark.

Then he started chanting in what sounded like Latin.

The peculiarity of the situation helped me clear my thoughts a little, but I still felt muddled and fuzzy.

Sean growled, his eyes glowing brighter green. His attention was fixed on the man with the glowing blue hand. I had no idea what was going on, but my gut told me that Sean had been influencing my thoughts somehow. That was impossible, but so were the glowing eyes.

I may not have understood what was going on, but I knew that I didn’t want any part of it, and I’d already told Sean once to let go of me. He hadn’t. He was trying to grab me again, and that was Not Okay.

Feeling sick and angry as well as confused, I decided I’d had enough of his macho bullshit.

I kneed him in the groin.

Sean seemed unprepared for the attack. He staggered back, turning his glowing eyes on me. He snarled, and his features shifted, becoming inhuman. His skin went translucent. His teeth were all suddenly pointed. Instead of freckles, his see-through skin revealed inky spots that swam along his skull, moving and shifting independent of his skin and muscles.

I gasped in horror and disbelief at the same time the other man shouted something, and then a crackling ball of blue light smashed into Sean’s chest.

The red-haired creature flew backwards, hitting the dumpster hard and slumping to the ground. Blue electricity continued to arc over Sean’s chest as he twitched, his shoes drumming on the asphalt.

“What the hell,” I squeaked, my voice a solid octave higher than normal. I turned to look at the man who’d just shot lightning down the alley. He was wearing a familiar-looking long coat. He was the broody one from the bar. Mr. Darcy. Or whatever his name actually was. I gaped at him and kept speaking. “Who the hell are you? What the hell did you just do?”

“Leave now. Questions later,” the man said, irritation crossing his features. He gestured impatiently when I didn’t immediately move. “Now!”

“Go where? I don’t have a ride. What did you do to Sean? What is Sean?” I said, questions pouring over one another in my adrenaline-spiked confusion. “Who the hell are you? What the hell are you?”

Mr. Darcy made an exasperated noise and started walking purposefully toward me.

“Stay back!” I warned him. I tried to assume a defensive stance, but I was too dizzy to manage more than a clumsy sidestep.

“Do you want to stay in an alley with a fucking auraphage?” the man asked in an sarcastic tone.

“What the fuck is an auraphage?” I shot back as I crossed my arms over my chest.

“Like a—” the man said. He pursed his lips for a second as he looked around, his gaze darting from object to object around the alley. When he finished the sentence, he sounded like the word tasted bad in his mouth: “Vampire.”

“There’s no such thing as vampires,” I said immediately.

I watched the man frown. He narrowed his eyes and scowled at me.

“Fine,” he said after a handful of seconds. “Let it eat you. I shouldn’t have tried to intervene. Fucking mundanes.”

He turned and started to leave, his coat fanning out.

I glanced at Sean. Or the thing called Sean. Then I looked at the lightning man again. I felt a stab of anxiety and disappointment at his egress.

“Wait!” I called after him. I stumbled toward him, uncrossing my arms and steadying myself on the wall. “Who are you? What the hell did you do? What—is this for a movie or something?”

“No,” he said without looking back, “but you can believe that if it makes you feel better.”

I caught up to him in the parking lot, and then a fresh wave of dizziness caught me. I let out a noise of distress and doubled over, putting my hands on my knees as I panted.

The man in the coat stopped walking and looked at me with a guarded expression as I took a few deep breaths.

“You going to puke?” he asked me without sounding at all like he cared.

“No,” I said with as much annoyance as I could force into my voice while I was nauseated and my head was spinning. Then my stomach protested my answer, and I let out a shaky breath. “I think.”

Seconds ticked by, and then the lightning guy sighed.

“If you promise not to vomit in my car, I’ll give you a ride somewhere,” he said in a resigned-sounding tone of voice.

“Why the hell should I go anywhere with you?” I asked him between huffs of breath.

“Oh, I don’t know, because I saved your life?” he snapped. “Or because the fucking auraphage will kill you if you’re still here when my spell wears off.”

“Auraphage? Spell?” I parroted. “Is this some kind of role-playing game thing?”

I shook my head, but I had to abort the action as another wave of dizziness and nausea washed over me. I groaned and swayed to the side. The asshole in the coat caught my arm, shocking me with a little burst of static electricity when he did so. I weakly tried to shake him off.

“Come on, princess,” he said in a softer, more resigned (but no less annoyed) tone of voice. “I’ll take you to a night clinic. Or a bus stop. Or just five miles down the road. But we need to move. Now. Before ‘Sean’ gets up again. Okay?”

I hesitated.

I didn’t like the idea of getting into a strange man’s car, but I was dizzy, so I was going to need help getting back to the bar at the very least. I needed to sit down. Or maybe lie down. I felt like I had finished a high-intensity aerobics class, while suffering from a cold, during finals’ week: completely sapped of energy, weak, shaky, and overwhelmed. And I wanted to ask more questions, even if I was going to get ridiculous and unbelievable answers. Maybe I could filter through them to find something that made sense.

And even if Sean wasn’t a vampire, I didn’t want to talk to him again. So that left lightning boy. He was my only viable option for answers, and I had a strong feeling that once Mr. Darcy was out of my sight, I wouldn’t get another chance to find out what in the hell had happened in the alley.

“Fine,” I mumbled. “Just to… a grocery store or something. Or maybe coffee.”

“Whatever,” my reluctant rescuer said with a note of relief. His emotions seemed really easy to read based on the tone of his voice. “Let’s just get you in the car, okay?”

I took another deep breath, and I stood up a little straighter.

“Yeah, yeah, before the 'vampire' wakes up,” I said, rolling my eyes.

“Exactly,” he said in a completely serious tone.

I shook my head slowly and leaned into him, letting him support some of my weight. He grunted but didn’t complain as he led me to a fairly new, fuel-efficient model of car. It was painted a deep, forest-y green. I felt another stab of panic. Getting into the car was dumb. I knew that.

“And what are you?” I asked in a nervous rush as he used his key-fob to unlock the car. “A… a wizard?”

He turned his head to arch an eyebrow at me.

“Not the terminology I’d use,” he said dryly. He grimaced and then shrugged. “But more or less.”

“Like you didn’t call Sean a vampire?” I asked in the same rushed tone of voice. I was stalling and I knew it. “Some special vocabulary for your game or cult or whatever.”

“Coven?” the man offered in the same dry tone.

For some reason, his annoyed teasing made me feel better about accepting his offered ride.

“Sure, why not,” I said with a shrug that turned out to be a bad idea. I groaned and closed my eyes for a moment to let the dizziness pass. “So, you have a coven?”

“No,” he said in a clipped tone of voice as he opened the passenger side door of his car.

“What’s your name?” I asked rather abruptly, stalling again as I realized I had no idea.

“Leo,” he said in a surprisingly polite voice. He held my arm lightly and looked at me with a level, inquisitive expression. “And you’re Evangeline. Right?”

As he looked at me, I noticed his eyes were mismatched. His right eye was bright blue. His left was darker.

Was it the streetlights? Or were his eyes always like that?

“How do you know my name?” I asked him cautiously.

“I overheard you introduce yourself to the phage,” Leo said patiently. “And he said it again in the alley.”

Well, that was completely reasonable, I supposed. I nodded slowly and then looked into his car. It seemed completely normal. He seemed completely normal.

But so had Sean.

And Sean wasn’t normal. Or even human, possibly. But I wasn’t going to learn more unless I took a risk and played along with Leo.

I wrinkled my nose and looked up at him again, trying to find some confirmation in his expression or features to make me feel like I wasn’t being incredibly stupid.

“Change your mind?” he asked quietly, his gaze darting back and forth between my eyes. I could feel his hand on the center of my back, light but supporting, his fingers splayed wide.

I shook my head and then winced and let out a little groan at the renewed nausea.

Leo helped me into the passenger seat and waited for me to fasten my seatbelt before he shut the door. Then I watched him walk around the front of the car. He got in on the driver’s side and fastened his own seatbelt before he started the car. The local classic rock station came on with the engine, and Leo turned it down as he backed out of the parking space.

“Jelly,” I said, apropos of nothing. “People call me Jelly.”

“Good for them,” Leo said in an off-hand, dismissive way.

I frowned for a moment and the slowly licked my lips. The answer could have just been reflex, or it could have a darker implication.

“Does that mean you’re not a… people?” I asked in a slow, tentative tone of voice. “Are wizards not… human?”

He turned to shoot me an expression that looked either offended or amused. Maybe both.

“I’m a Thaumaturge,” he said, pronouncing the word clearly. “Not a wizard.”

The mocking way he formed the word ‘wizard’ made me roll my eyes.

“Oh, I’m so sorry I got your weird magic words wrong,” I said as I leaned back and closed my eyes for a moment. The street lights sliding past the windows had been bothering them.

I heard him snort.

Silence (or muted rock music, anyway) fell over the car for a moment. My anxiety level started creeping higher again. I frowned and thought about what had happened and what he’d said.

And what he hadn’t said.

“You didn’t answer my question,” I pointed out as AC-DC faded away and a commercial for a car dealership started. I opened my eyes and looked sideways at Leo’s with a furrowed brow. He had a nice profile. In the passing street lights, I could see the stubble on his chin. He had a strong jaw and an almost regal nose. “Are you… human?”

Leo pulled gently to a stop at a red light and turned to look at me.

“Yes,” he said in what I assumed was intended to be a reassuring tone. “Thaumaturges are humans who can use magic.”

“And Sean,” I started in a very quiet, tentative voice, “wasn’t human?”

“He isn’t human,” he said in a very gentle tone. He looked at me for another moment. I watched the traffic light turn green. It colored the side of Leo’s face and reflected off his left eye, making it look black. His right eye was intensely blue; the blue I’d always wished my eyes were instead of the more slate color I possessed. “Do you believe me?”

I fidgeted for a moment and then gestured with my chin at the intersection.

“Light’s green,” I said, trying to sound flippant. I sounded barely audible instead. I cleared my throat as Leo dragged his gaze from me and started driving again, but my voice was still tentative when I spoke next. “I think so, yeah.”

He nodded and drove another block before he spoke again.

“How do you feel?” he asked.

I thought he was trying to sound clinical, like a doctor. But I also thought he genuinely wanted to know.

“Tired,” I said honestly. I let out a deep breath and fidgeted in my seat. “Weak. Dizzy. That’s not just the alcohol, is it? It’s because of… Sean?”

“Probably both,” he said sympathetically. “The auraphage didn’t have time to cause you any permanent injury, but any amount of damage is bad news. You’ll regain your strength over the next few days.”

I shook my head slowly. I didn’t think Leo was lying to me, but what he said was so difficult to believe. Wizards were real. Vampires were real.

“Auraphage,” I repeated again. Something about the word seemed wrong. I racked brain, trying to figure out why the word felt incorrect to me. “If… If Sean was a vampire, wouldn’t that be sang… sangre—sangrophage?”

Leo’s eyebrows shot up and he looked at me with clear surprise.

“You speak Latin?” he asked, his tone matching his expression.

“French,” I said with some pride. “Just finished a degree in it, actually.”

Leo’s look of appraisal transformed into one of approval, and then he looked at the road again.

“Auraphages don’t drink blood,” Leo said in a matter-of-fact tone.

He sounded suddenly closed off. I wasn’t sure why he’d gone from curious and friendly back to full on Fitzwilliam Darcy, but I wasn’t going to lapse back into silence. I still had questions. Lots of questions.

“They eat your aura?” I offered tentatively, letting the statement rise at the end like a query.

“Your spirit,” he said with a little nod, his eyes still on the road.

I frowned at that clarification. It didn’t feel helpful.

“Like your soul?” I said with even more doubt in my tone.

“Exactly like your soul,” Leo said in a serious tone of voice.

I shifted uncomfortably and frowned for a moment, I didn’t consider myself a religious person, but the idea of something eating my soul was still unpleasant. I pursed my lips, and then I turned to look at Leo again.

“They eat your soul by making out with you in an alley?” I asked with a heavy dose of skepticism.

“By having sex with you, usually,” Leo said, still sounding as though he believed what he was saying.

You’re nuts, I thought to myself.

“Why sex?” I asked instead of vocalizing my thought.

“Lowers your mental and spiritual defenses,” he said. “Makes you vulnerable to their psychic attack.”

“Right,” I said, drawing the word out as I shook my head again.

“Don’t ask questions if you don’t want the answers,” Leo snapped. I saw his jaw clench. “Where am I dropping you off?”

I ignored the question for a moment.

“You know this all sounds ridiculous, right?” I said, pushing off the seat back a little to turn to face him. “Vampires and… Tha…”

“Thaumaturges,” he supplied, his jaw twitching again.

I remembered the word and managed to say it at almost exactly the same time as Leo.

“Thaumaturges, right,” I said. “That’s totally normal.”

I sighed and leaned back into the seat.

“Where am I dropping you off?” he repeated.

Was he done answering questions? Had I pushed him too far with my disbelief? I had a deep, niggling feeling that he was telling the truth. About everything. But it was so hard to not react with skepticism.

But I couldn’t exactly bring the subject up with anyone else. If I started asking people about 'thaumaturges' and 'auraphages,' I was going to end up laughed at. At best.

Who else could I talk to? I wasn’t about to try to track Sean down, vampire or not. So, I was left with Leo, and we hadn’t exactly exchanged numbers or last names or anything. I had no way to track him down after I got out of his car. I needed to take advantage of the opportunity. I might not get another.

“I live about ten minutes north of here,” I said. “Would you mind…? If, I mean… If it’s safe for me to go home?”

My final question sounded more vulnerable than I wanted.

I watched his expression soften slightly as he glanced at me.

“Unless it knows where you live, you should be fine,” Leo said in a voice that reached for detachment and missed. It actually felt reassuring.

“How would… it do that?” I asked, wrinkling my nose.

“Well, did you tell it where you live?” Leo asked in a mildly sarcastic tone, arching an eyebrow as he glanced at me.

“No!” I said immediately. “But if he—if it was a vampire—”

“Auraphage,” Leo corrected.

“Whatever,” I said. “If Sean was an… auraphage, could he, like… read my mind?”

Leo scoffed, and I scowled at his profile. It felt like a double standard that he could laugh at my ignorance, but my skepticism irritated him.

“No,” he said in answer to my question. He didn’t sound condescending, either. That was mildly mollifying. “Auraphages can’t read minds.”

I took a deep breath and nodded slowly. Then I pursed my lips again.

“Okay,” I said. Then I shot him a suddenly anxious look. “What about Thaumaturges? Can they?”

Leo frowned in confusion, and then he turned to grin at me in clear amusement. I narrowed my eyes at him and thought murderous thoughts. Just in case.

“Why?” he asked, his voice warm, teasing, and matching his features. I wondered if he was ever capable of hiding his emotions. “Have you got something you don’t want me to know?”

“That’s not an answer,” I said, wishing I didn’t sound as petulant to him as I sounded in my own ears.

He nodded once, and his expression shifted abruptly. Instead of smug, he looked rather like a chastised schoolboy.

“Bad habit,” he said in a tone that implied the two words were supposed to be interpreted as an apology. “I can’t usually speak freely around mundanes.”

Because they’ll think you’re crazy, I thought. But I believed him. Maybe that made me crazy, too.

“And that’s me?” I asked. “I’m a mundane?”

“Well, you’re not a Thaumaturge,” he quipped.

I rolled my eyes, but a new cascade of questions came to me. How could he tell I wasn’t a Thaumaturge? I almost asked, but something else seemed more important.

“Doesn’t mundane mean ‘from earth’?” I asked. “Is Sean an… alien?”

He didn’t laugh.

I’d been hoping he’d laugh.

“In a manner of speaking, yes,” he said instead of dismissing my question as ridiculous. “Auraphages aren’t from another planet, but they are from another plane.”

“Another plane,” I repeated slowly. I shook my head. “I don’t understand.”

“The spirit world. The floating world. The shadow world,” he said, listing off the options quickly. “Call it what you will. It’s like an overlay. Here but not.”

“That’s…” I started to say, but I didn’t know where to take the sentence. I frowned and shook my head again. I furrowed my brow and crossed my arms over my chest.

“It’s a lot,” Leo said gently. He sighed. When he spoke again, his tone was harder. It sounded forced, but he was clearly trying to put a wall between us. “Look, I’m sorry you got dragged into this, but it’ll be over soon.”

“Over?” I repeated incredulously. “What? I’m supposed to just forget this ever happened?”

“That’d probably be best,” he said plainly.

“Don’t be absurd,” I said, closing my eyes and continuing to frown. “I can’t just forget it.”

How was I supposed to forget Sean’s glowing eyes or alien features or the way Leo had thrown lightning?

“Well…” Leo said after a long moment. He sounded speculative.

I felt the hair stand up on the back of my neck.

“Well what?” I asked cautiously as I wondered if he could make me forget. I didn’t want to suggest it, just in case it was possible and he hadn’t thought of it yet.

I waited, but he didn’t speak for several blocks. He turned to look at me at another red light.

“Don’t you think that’d be easier?” he asked with genuine curiosity. He looked so sincere. “To just go back to your normal life?”

I started shaking my head before he finished speaking.

“Back to ignorance?” I said, posing the sentiment as distasteful with my tone and grimace. “No, thank you. I’d rather know what’s out there.”

“Even if there’s a lot of bad shit out there?” he asked in the same serious tone.

The light turned green and he reluctantly looked away from me to resume driving.

“Yes,” I said.

I meant it.

Black Sabbath came on the radio, quiet and slightly foreboding. I sat tensely, waiting to see if Leo would say anything. I watched him out of my peripheral vision. He kept clenching his jaw when he wasn’t rocking it from side to side. It seemed like he was thinking, maybe considering options, so I tried to be patient and see what he’d decide.

Finally, he pulled abruptly into the mostly empty parking lot of an all-night diner.

I looked at him with open surprise, but he just stared forward as he pulled into a spot close to the entrance of the restaurant. He cut the engine and pulled the key out of the ignition.

“What—” I started to ask.

“If I’m going to explain shit to you, I need coffee,” he said, finally glancing at me. The flickering neon lights of the restaurant's sign camouflaged his expression. “And maybe a cheeseburger.”

I let out an amused little huff at his second requirement.

“Does that mean I’m buying?” I asked with curiosity. Did he expect me to pay for the information with diner food? It didn’t seem like a terrible deal.

“What? No,” he said immediately. “Or, I mean, you don’t have to.”

He sounded flustered. That amused me.

I unfastened my seatbelt and opened the passenger side door. He got out more quickly than I did and was waiting in case I needed help as I stood up. I felt less dizzy but still weak. I told him as much when he asked how I was doing.

“Some food will probably help,” he said in a tone that sounded more hopeful than confident.

I nodded, but I had no way of knowing.

Leo offered me his arm, and I hesitated before taking it. I thought I could probably make it the short distance to the restaurant unaided, but I wasn’t too proud to refuse offered help. Just in case.

Leo closed the car door and locked the vehicle with his key-fob, then he led me slowly and carefully toward the glowing glass doors and the smell of breakfast foods.

Waffles suddenly sounded like the best idea ever.