I stared, unable to tell if he was telling the truth or not. "Uh..."
His crystal blue eyes sparkled. "Only joking, Ryan. I'm forty."
"Oh, wow. You look younger."
"My kind tends to wear our age slowly."
Okay, now he wasdefinitelyhinting at something. People didn't just say that for the hell of it.
"Wait here a second," I said.
"As you wish."
I went to go put Andrew to bed, since he was practically snoring, then returned to the living room. I sat across from Ulysses on the couch. I'd meant to have an entirely different conversation with him about my feelings, but now my curiosity pushed it aside and took over.
"Ulysses, is there..." No, that wasn't right. "Are you, um..." Ugh, that wasn't right either. How could I ask this question without sounding weird or awkward?
Across from me, his eyes glittered with amusement. "Go ahead, Ryan. Ask me anything. Nothing is off-limits."
"If you say so." Pushing my doubts aside, I gathered my courage and asked, "Are you human?"
"No. I am not."
I didn't know what kind of answer I was expecting but it certainly wasn't that.
"Oh," I said. "Well. That was... straightforward."
I re-examined the man in front of me. He radiated beauty and charisma. His hair, which was a pale shade of blond, almost looked pure white when I paid closer attention to it. His eyelashes were the same color. The blue of his eyes shined like sunlight on water, and his skin was creamy and smooth without a blemish on it.
And beneath his cool, calm exterior, there was something about him that was...wild.
I suddenly felt silly, like I'd walked into a stop sign. Of course Ulysses couldn't be human. He was way too perfect.
Suddenly remembering what Ms. Smith said earlier, I gasped. "Wait. Are you a vampire?"
Ulysses let out a long laugh. "Oh, that's rich. No. Absolutely not."
I didn't know whether to be relieved or disappointed. Being whisked off my feet by a sexy rich vampire didn't sound so bad, aside from the bloodsucking part. But if he wasn't a vampire, then whatwashe?
Entertained by this, Ulysses rested his chin in his hand. "Go on. Keep guessing."
"A werewolf?" I suggested.
He scoffed. "Do I smell like a dog to you?"
He smelled like cherry blossoms, but maybe that was because we'd visited them earlier.
"No. You smell really good, actually." I blushed when I realized what I'd said but it was too late to take it back.
"Let's go back to the vampire. Now try to think of the exactoppositeof that."
What was the opposite of a vampire? Something without fangs that walked around in sunlight and injected blood into people? A daylight creature with flat teeth that healed instead of injured?
Andrew's words came back to me. An image popped into my mind.
I went still.
Magic. Magic the Unicorn.
