Tragic Magic [boyxboy]

Chapter Twelve

We settled into life as easily and normally as we could. Kaley ate her meals in bed for the first few days, only venturing as far as the bathroom and back, but appeared in the kitchen, to little fanfare, for breakfast the following week. She was invariably the centre of attention whether she was partaking in conversation, reading a book quietly, or not in the room at all. Annabelle and Maya clung to her; Gregory and Edwin hovered protectively; Tristan watched her every move as though scared that as soon as he looked away she’d disappear again. I felt myself fading back into obscurity despite everyone’s profuse words of thanks.

                I knew it was time for me to leave. Being seen as an honorary member of the family and actually being part of the family were vastly different and I felt as though I’d outstayed my welcome; as though I was intruding on this important reunion period between Kaley and her family. I was in the way.

                It was sort of an uncomfortable subject to bring up, though. My contract said I was to work til the end of the summer, but I had a feeling that that was null and void at this point and that, actually, if anybody did a little investigative probing, we’d find the contract wasn’t exactly legally binding. Still, I didn’t want to draw any unnecessary attention to myself while everyone was so busy fussing over Kaley, so I waited a while until an opportunity presented itself.

                That is, I followed Edwin around until he finally ended up alone in the kitchen.

                ‘Hey,’ I said in my most authoritative tone, hoisting myself up to sit on the counter while he pottered around in the cupboards aimlessly.

                ‘Hello,’ Edwin replied, amusement tickling his tone. He’d noticed me tailing him then. ‘What’s on your mind?’

                ‘Going home,’ I cut right to the chase. ‘I came, I saw, I helped defeat some weird-looking alien mutants and rescue the princess. I’m done, right?’

                Edwin turned to look at me, his mirth glittering in his eyes. ‘Not even nearly,’ he said pleasantly.

                I blinked at him. Half-hearted assurances that I was always welcome, I’d been expecting. Outright refusal, not so much. ‘What?’

                ‘There’s plenty more to do here before you go home,’ he added cheerfully, turning back to his fabricated task of looking busy even though he wasn’t. ‘And afterwards I don’t think you’re going to want to go home anyway.’

                I paused, considering the gravity of this. ‘But I will go home at some point, right? Like, for school and stuff? My friends and family? My normal life that hasn’t got magic and evil and British people in it?’

                Edwin shrugged one shoulder carefully. ‘Sure.’

                That sounded upsettingly vague. ‘When?’ I pressed.

                ‘When what?’ We turned to see Tristan entering the room and sauntering to the fridge before opening it to peer inside. ‘When what?’ he asked again when neither of us answered.

                ‘Cody wants to know when he can home,’ Edwin supplied at last. I glared at him. So much for not drawing attention to myself.

                I turned to Tristan just in time to see him arranging his features into impassivity. ‘You can’t leave yet,’ he said nonchalantly. ‘There’s more to do.’