Dragon Witch ✔️

31 - Birthday Suit

September 1, Tuesday

This might be the worst birthday week of my life. One day of going to class in an iron-surrounded campus felt like a month of torture. I felt better when I broke my arm and got the flu at the same time. At least it'll be over with tomorrow. I can survive one more day. Even Mom's been sympathetic to how much I hate Rothworth's, which is what makes this all worth it.

On a happier note, Kyton's taking me to dinner. It's not a date or anything. He just feels bad about me having to go to Rothworth's. And I'm pretty sure he wants me to meet some other Otherworlders. We're going somewhere unusual for dinner.

***

"You sure you'll be okay?" Kyton asked.

I pressed my forehead to the car window. We were driving through what constituted "downtown" in Sorciereville. Most of the red-brick buildings were Mom-and-Pop stores. There were a few larger buildings, namely city hall and a couple banks.

Kyton was taking me to an underground Otherworlder cafe. Apparently, it was technically in another dimension or on a different planet or something. That wasn't the scary thing about all of this. No, the scary thing was the fact that pretty much everyone at the cafe was going to be an Otherworlder, and I had a feeling from the way that Kyton talked about it that humans weren't really welcomed there. He'd said that humans were only allowed if they had an Otherworlder to vouch for them. And to pay for any damages they caused.

If it'd been a week ago, I would've been worried that a cafe full of Otherworlders would trigger my blood-thirsty instincts. Now, I was too nauseous to even think about blood. I hadn't found a casual way to bring up iron-fever herbs with Kyton, so I was just trying to tough it out until tomorrow night.

"Lilly, did you hear me?"

"Huh?" I tried to drag his last question out of my memory, but it was like grabbing at silly string.

"Are you going to be okay in the cafe?" He poked my shoulder. "None of us will be wearing glamour. If you're going to be uncomfortable, we can turn around right now."

'Uncomfortable' didn't begin to describe how I felt right then. My stomach was twisting itself in knots and dissolving itself all at once, and my skin itched like a nasty sunburn. Not to mention my pounding headache. A cafe full of Otherworlders would be the least of my discomfort.

"I'll be fine." A thought hit me, and I pulled away from the window. "Just curious, will there be changelings or vampires there?"

He squinted at me. "What kind of cafe do you think I'm taking you to? Sheesh, a little trust would be nice. I've kept you alive this long." His lips twitched into a smile. "No, Lilly, there won't be any monsters there."

"G-good." I swallowed. Even knowing how he felt about changelings, it still stung when he said it out loud. It was a slap to the face of any semi-romantic fantasies I might have. Not that I ever seriously thought we could be together, but it was hard to accept that the biggest reason a guy might not like me was something I couldn't control. Something that I wished so badly that I could control.

A few minutes later, Kyton pulled into a parking lot. The lot was strangely large compared to the small restaurant at the end of it. There were two larger buildings on either side of the lot, but they were boarded up. The restaurant was like one of those walk-through pizza places with just two single-person tables. Its front windows were dark. And cracked. And boarded up?

I straightened in my seat. "Are you sure this is the right place?"

"Yep. It's better on the inside, I promise." He hopped out of the car.