Nadia wiped her eyes and began listing out everything she and I had kept in our tiny hovel of a hideout, and Zafir listened patiently, asked her to move the mirror closer to a few things so he had a better look, then began to tell her what to add to the small cauldron I used to brew illegal potions.
“Add more essence of feverfew,” he told her, “and whatever you do, donotget it mixed up with scorchwing venom or you may go blind,” he told her. “Prop up the mirror so you can show me exactly what you’re doing.”
I couldn’t take my eyes off Zafir as he coached Nadia through making a substitute Chameleon’s Tonic. His eyes were riveted on the mirror, calmly walking her through each step without even looking at his notes.
No man had ever been so attractive to me in my entire life.
It took him more than an hour to teach Nadia, but he stayed patient the entire time, and his unruffled air seemed to calm her.
“I think you’ve finished it,” he finally told her. “You need to let it sit for three hours, but then it will be ready. Paint it on your clothes and skin and it will make you blend into your surroundings. You won’t be invisible, and it won’t last more than a few hours at best, but it should be enough to get you out of town or somewhere safe if people are looking for you. If you need, I can walk you through the same steps when you get to the next city and we can repeat the process until you are far enough away that no one is looking for you anymore.”
“Three hours?” she repeated, writing in the dirt next to the cauldron.
“Three hours,” he confirmed. “And Nadia?”
“What?”
He nodded solemnly. “Happy birthday.”
A bright smile broke out on her face. “Thanks.” She looked at me. “I’ll talk to you tomorrow, okay?”
“Okay. Happy birthday and stay safe,” I told her, then watched the mirror’s reflection until it went foggy and Nadia’s face faded.
For a long minute, neither Zafir nor I said anything.
“Thank you,” I whispered at last.
“For what?” Zafir asked. He was also watching the blank mirror, which now reflected our own faces.
I turned to him. “You helped my sister.”
He shrugged. “If I’d been able to save my sister, I would have. I knew how to help and she was scared. It isn’t a big deal.”
“It’s a big deal to me,” I told him. “So thank you.”
“You’re welcome.”
We locked eyes. I really should find a way to properly thank him for helping Nadia. What could I do that he would appreciate?
He swallowed and rose abruptly. “I made tea earlier and forgot to tell you. It’s probably cold by now, but I poured a cup for you.” He gestured at an abandoned cup sitting on a saucer.
I took it and drained it. “It’s good cold,” I lied. “A little bitter, though.”
“You seem more bitter than sweet most of the time,” he quipped. “I thought it would match your personality.”
I rolled my eyes and tried to go back to my experiment, but as Zafir sat next to me to do his own work, I kept getting distracted and couldn’t stop glancing his way. A thread was sticking up from his collar and I felt an overwhelming desire to fix it.
I forced myself to focus on what I was doing. My potion needed to simmer for twelve minutes, and I kept losing count as the minutes trickled by. I looked over again and saw the same loose thread sticking up from his collar.
“Hold still,” I finally told him, leaning over to tug at it. Instead of snapping off, it yanked more thread out of the surrounding fabric.
“Hey,” he protested, pulling back. “What are you doing?”
“Just wait.” Keeping a firm grasp on the thread, I reached across him for the small knife on his desk. Flames alive, I liked the feel of him being this close to me. Touching him sent tingling rushes all throughout my body, and my cheeks grew warm in the most pleasurable of ways.
“This’ll just take a second,” I assured him, but made no rush to snip the wayward thread and move away. I dawdled as long as I could before finally cutting the thread and holding it out for evidence, one hand still on his shoulder.
How had I ever imagined that Zafir was dull or uninteresting? He was brilliant and resourceful and devious in the best of ways. He was talented and handsome, and any woman would be lucky to be with him. He would be a loyal companion. There was no risk of him wandering off after other women; that was a benefit of his ceaseless working. My hand trailed along his shoulder then rose to graze his neck, and heat crept up to warm my cheeks.
