“So you couldn’t marry a non-magical person even if you were in love with them?” I wasn’t sure why the idea bothered me, but it did.
Callan whisked the vegetables that he had prepped in a ridiculously short period of time into a skillet then dumped some noodles into a pot of boiling water. “‘Couldn’t’ is a strong word. But it would be discouraged.”
I wanted to press, but something on Callan’s face told me not to. “So, you have all of the affinity powers—except mosses,” I added quickly when I could tell that he was about to say it. “No wonder you’re such a wiz in every class.”
Callan laughed. “That certainly makes it easier. That and the intensive tutoring I’ve had since I was a kid.”
“And lucky me gets to be tutored by you.” The words were out of my mouth before I could contemplate how he might interpret them.
“Depends on your definition of luck.”
“Be honest. Why are you tutoring me? Wouldn’t your skills be better used on someone who actually has powers?”
“Haven’t you heard that the rarest blooms are the most interesting?” His voice was as smooth as silk as he whisked the food in the skillet.
“What is that supposed to mean?” Was it another one of those magical botanist idioms that I wasn’t used to?
But Callan didn’t respond. Instead, he plated us each a delicious-smelling mix of noodles, vegetables, and spices that would have taken me an hour to prepare.
“Bon appétit, local.”
I bit into the mouthwatering meal, the atmosphere in the dimly lit kitchen a stark contrast to the pounding sounds of the Halloween house party.
“So, what was it like growing up here?” Callan asked.
We both reached for a shaker of pepper, and our hands bumped. I laughed and pulled my hand away quickly, trying not to notice the goose bumps that had pricked my arms when we’d touched.
“Oh, the usual. Friends you’ve known since kindergarten. Neighbors who watched you grow up. A whole town of people cheering for you to succeed. Nothing to do on the weekends except bowling, movies, or bonfires in the woods.”
“So you’re telling me it’s the stereotypical small town?”
“Some things are, in fact, just like how they’re portrayed in movies. But how about you? I take it you’re not from a small town.”
Callan waved a fork at me. “Nice try, but the conversation’s sticking on you tonight. Who was that guy you had to say goodbye to at the Halloween party?”
“A friend from SCC.” I briefly stuttered on the word “friend.” I’d thought Alex and I were headed toward more than friendship, but after the way our first time away from school had gone, I wasn’t so sure. But the change in conversation reminded me of something.
“Are you ready to tell me the real reason you were at that party? There’s no way you just happened to pop by.”
He seemed conflicted for a moment, but finally, he spoke. “I thought I sensed… Did you use your powers there?”
“What? No, of course not. I don’t have any.”
Something flickered across Callan’s face. “I must have imagined it.”
“Wait, you can sense powers? Can all magical botanists do that?” Admittedly, I wasn’t far into my Evergreen Academy schoolbooks, but I’d never come across mention of anything like that.
His eyes rested on me for a moment, something like curiosity lingering there. “It’s rare, but yes, I can.”
“How rare are we talking? Seeing-a-comet-shower rare or witnessing-a-total-solar-eclipse rare?”
Callan tilted his face and looked bemused at my analogy but said, “The latter.”
Holy cow. My friends hadn’t been kidding when they’d said Callan was powerful.
We continued to eat, with Callan steering the conversation away from himself and the academy. He asked me about working at the bakery and what it was like living with my aunt. He deflected the remainder of my questions about himself so seamlessly, turning the conversation back to me so smoothly, that I hadn’t noticed he’d been doing it until after we cleaned up from dinner and were driving back to Alex’s house.
Alex, who had completely left my mind over dinner with Callan. How had this night flipped on its head so completely?
