He took a long, deep breath that he let out as a shaky sigh. "I think so. Eventually. I don't think I'll go to the gym tonight, though. I'll just go to bed early and sleep it off."
"If it makes you feel any better, I have a headache now," Jake said, rubbing his temples. I handed him a square of chocolate.
"This is unusual, isn't it? You don't normally get all woozy when someone does a spell on you, do you?" I asked.
"Not our spells," Owen said. "We work very had to ensure there are no ill effects."
"Yeah, by the time one of our spells gets out there, we've figured out everything that could go wrong," Jake added. "Now, this kind of thing isn't too uncommon for us in this department."
"Occupational hazard," Owen said dryly, then winced. He looked like he had a headache, too.
"What would happen to a nonmagical person if someone used this spell on them?" I asked, thinking of my friends.
"Probably the same, very likely worse effects."
"I didn't keep him under long at all," Jake said. "But I'm not sure how long anyone could keep someone under, if that short amount of time makes you feel like I do now. It's a big energy drain. We try to make our spells more efficient."
Still thinking of my friends, I asked, "Is there anything anyone could do to protect themselves?"
"That's what we're working on," Owen said. He sounded tired, both from what he'd just gone through and what he had ahead of him. "It would be safest to avoid dropping anything or loaning a personal object to anyone else. We don't know how substantial the object needs to be, but obviously, a pen is enough."
I tried to think of a credible-sounding story I could tell my friends to explain why it wouldn't be a good idea to loan a pen to the stranger in line behind them at the bank.
Maybe it was time for another good anthrax scare. Or was a new strain of Ebola going around?
Unfortunately, I doubted they'd believe me unless it showed up in the news. I hoped my friends didn't run into any evil magical people who wanted to use them for nefarious activity.
"Word will spread if the spell doesn't work as well as it's supposed to, and if it gives you a killer headache when you use it, right?" I asked, hoping they'd reassure me.
"We can only hope so," Owen said. He sounded not just tired, but defeated.
"You should go home and get some rest," I told him. "In the meantime, I'd better get back to my office before Gregor wonders where I am."
"If he's concerned about it, he could find out where you've been easily enough,"
Owen said. "Don't worry about him."
"I'm not worried about him. I just don't want to deal with him." I turned to Jake.
"Make sure he gets home okay."
"I'll take care of him. C'mon, boss. Let me get you home. I feel responsible."
"You are responsible." But Owen was grinning at his assistant, so I felt better about his condition. "And I can get home by myself."
"You shouldn't go on the subway in that condition," Jake insisted. "You're just asking to be mugged."
"Let them try." There was that edge to his voice again that sent a chill down my spine. I left him and Jake still arguing and headed to Verification.
The moment I stepped through the door into the office, the green color began to rise in Gregor's face. By the time I made it to my desk, he was in full monster mode.
"Where have you been?" he snarled. "That was a particularly long lunch."
"I've been with Mr. Mervyn the entire time," I said, draping my jacket over the back of my chair. "A situation came up where he needed my help. You can ask him about it, if you like." I almost surprised myself with my calm tone, but I hadn't survived a year with Mimi without learning how to deal with a boss in the midst of an outburst, and there I didn't have the CEO on my side.
Gregor changed back into his human form so rapidly he looked like someone had stuck a pin in him and let all the hot air out. Then just as rapidly, he swelled up again.
The change was so sudden that it was more funny than scary. "And what's this I hear about you making recommendations about my department to Personnel?"