The wyvern’s tone was entirely uncalled for… but clearly it had an idea. Calvin knew better than to actually ask it outright what the idea was – even if it deigned to give him the answer, it would make him pay for it via snide remarks for at least the next three weeks.
Okay, he thought.What is it that a wyvern would think to do in these circumstances that a human would not?
… And then it hit him.
One of his powers as a wyvern was the ability to generate cold. In his wyvern form, it extended as far as being able to breathe ice if he so chose.
As a human, his powers were less impressive. He could turn his breath cold, but that probably wasn’t incredibly useful in this scenario… unless he wanted to stand in the corner with his mouth open like one of those laughing clown games at carnivals where you put the balls in their mouth, and slowly turn his head back and forth to more evenly distribute the cool air. Probably Diana would start to question his sanity after a few minutes of that.
However, there was one other thing he could do – and it might just work.
“I’m sorry to ask,” he said, with an awkwardness that wasn’t entirely feigned. “But would you mind if I used your bathroom before I go?”
“Oh, of course! Sorry, I should’ve told you where it was.” Diana indicated the entrance to a hallway at the back of the room. “Just down the hall, second door on the right.”
“Thanks,” Calvin said. “I’ll be right back.”
He walked down the hall, trying to look natural about it. Or as natural as someone could look, anyway, when they were surreptitiously cooling another person’s house with their supernatural powers.
He turned his head, making sure that he was out of view of the others, and then gently brushed his fingers against the sides of the hallway, summoning the coolness and letting it spread out from his fingertips and through the walls, willing it to run all the way around the house.
Nothingtoostrong – he didn’t want to freeze her pipes or damage anything, after all – but hopefully a couple of minutes of gentle cooling would be enough to make the house pleasant for the rest of the evening.
He could already feel it spreading throughout the house – it was a cool relief, after the humid warmth of the day. And it would linger for hours. Itwasmagical, after all, and it would take a little more than the warmth of the day to dissipate it.
He quickly gave the toilet a flush and ran some water from the faucet for a few seconds, just to keep up the ruse, and then went back out to the living room, resting his hand back on the A/C unit for good measure. Now that he didn’t have to worry about breaking it anymore, he could at least continue to cool the house while he was here.
He peered at the unit, pretending to inspect it.
“I don’t know what the problem is, but I can come back tomorrow and have a look at it, if you like,” he said. “I can be pretty handy with mechanical things.”
When I’m not breaking them, at least.
Not that he actually knew much of anything about fixing air conditioners, but the last thing he wanted was for her to spend money calling out someone to get it repaired, especially since it was possible he’d broken it for good. If he could buy some time until tomorrow so he could get his head on straight, then he could talk to Diana in private, let her know that he was a shifter and they were mates, and also inform her that he was apparently cursed.
What could possibly be so difficult about any of that?
He internally grimaced a little.
And… if Iamcursed… how am I going to get it lifted? Assuming that it’s the kind of curse thatcanbe lifted….
Diana looked surprised, but also pleased – though she quickly schooled her features. “Are you sure? No, I couldn’t possibly ask you to come back.”
“It would be my pleasure,” he said, smiling – though he knew that before he did anything with Diana, he’d need to figure out what was going on. Maybe if he went back to the spring where he’d first seen the mystery glowing woman and got down on his hands and knees and begged her, she’d lift the curse?
Calvin didn’t like his chances. But he had to try.
“Oh well, then, who am I to deny you your pleasure!” Diana said quickly, and Calvin tried – and probably failed – to hide a smile.
Diana shivered suddenly, running her hands up and down her arms. “Brr! I can’t believe how quickly it’s cooling down, even with the sun still out – I might have to get a sweater. Are yousurethe A/C isn’t working?”
“Pretty sure, yeah,” Calvin said, taking his hand off the unit and stopping the flow of coolness from his fingers. “It’s not making even the slightest sound.”
As if on cue, the house itself seemed to groan, a series of pops and creaks running through the walls and along the ceiling.
Whoops, I may have overdone it a little,he thought guiltily.Though at least hopefully this means that they’ll stay cool for the evening.
What do you mean, ‘overdone’?the wyvern demanded.We should give our mate all the frigid air she could desire!
