Damsel Under Stress (Enchanted, Inc. 3)

“I wasn’t really mad. Just disappointed. I wish you’d trusted me enough to tell me what was going on. I thought I’d shown you before, the first time you lost your immunity, that I can deal with a lot.”

“And you’re going to have to get used to the fact that I’m stubbornly independent. If I think I can deal with it myself, I will. I don’t like always having to run to others for help.” I allowed myself a smile. “But I will admit that when it comes to magical things I don’t know much about, I should probably try to get over that. And don’t I get credit for going to you the moment I realized I was doing magic, even though I thought you were angry with me at the time?”

“We’ll call it even,” he said with a smile that lit up his eyes and warmed my heart. We were going to be okay, I was sure, in spite of a few little misgivings in the back of my mind that refused to give up.

“That’s good, because it’s entirely possible you’ll be stuck with me for a while. When my ‘business trip’ ends we’ll see if my roommates let me back in.”

“I don’t think you’ll have any problems. Marcia should understand.”

“If she doesn’t hate me for getting her mixed up in all this.” I hesitated, then added, “I am going to tell my roommates the truth, all of it. Will you back me up?”

He nodded. “Yes, especially after what happened tonight. They need to know, for their own safety as well as their acceptance of you.”

“Okay, then. Tomorrow evening when they’re home from work. You can take me home, and then we’ll tell them the whole story.” I drained my cup, then said, “But for now, I’m going to take a shower, then sleep until I can’t sleep anymore.”

I trudged up the stairs, took a long, hot shower, then put on my pajamas. Loony was waiting for me on the bed, and I was grateful for her presence. I didn’t want to be alone, but I wasn’t sure I wanted to be with Owen. It was dawning on me that I really must have meant something to him. He hadn’t thought twice about letting his enemies escape because his sole priority had been saving me. It’s the kind of thing it’s fun to dream about when you put yourself in the place of a heroine in a book or movie, but in reality, it was unsettling.

While it was nice to know that Owen would do anything to keep me safe, I wasn’t crazy about the feeling that I was in his way. He had to beat Idris and whoever was running this show. There was no doubt about it. I’d read enough magical history lately to know that when someone tried to use magic to gain real earthly power, things got really bad. They had to be stopped, and could Owen do that if his first concern was for me? In this case, being cherished that much was nicer in theory than reality. If anyone was harmed by their activities from now on, I wouldn’t be able to help but feel responsible.

As tired as I was, it took me a good hour to fall into a deep sleep. I was sure I had nightmares, but they were too vague to recall when I woke. When I finally dragged myself out of bed, I felt weary. I sat on the side of the bed for a while before I could summon the energy to get up and get dressed. I found Owen lying sprawled on the sofa, a book in his hand and Loony draped across his chest.

“What time is it?” I asked.

He looked up from his book. “A little after two. I haven’t been up long, myself, and I’d have probably slept longer, but a certain cat couldn’t stand me being in bed one minute more.” He put aside his book, then shifted Loony from his chest to his lap as he sat up. “Are you hungry for breakfast or lunch?”

My impulse was to say I wasn’t hungry at all, but then my stomach growled. “Breakfast food would be good right now.”

“Breakfast food I can do. That’s my specialty.” He moved Loony from his lap to the sofa, then stood up. “I’ve already made coffee if you want some.”

I wasn’t sure coffee would clear my head, but I was willing to give it a shot, so I went back to the kitchen with him. He poured the coffee for me and doctored it up with milk and sugar the way I liked it. “Are you okay?” he asked as he handed me the mug. “You don’t look so good.”

“Gee, thanks a lot,” I muttered, then when he flushed bright red I hurried to add, “I’m sorry. I know what you meant. And I’m not feeling great.”

“You’ve been through a lot.”

I sat at the kitchen table. “Yeah, that week in a hammock or on the front porch is sounding better and better. But we have work to do, what with the bad guys on the loose and all.”

He expertly cracked eggs, then beat them with more vigor than was probably necessary. “I’ll take care of that. Idris and I are due for a good showdown one of these days.”

“Is that something you’ve seen or just something you’d like to happen?”

“A little of both.”

It was a showdown that I couldn’t help but think would go more smoothly without me in the picture.

That evening I repacked my bag, and then Owen walked me over to my apartment. It was still a little early to expect Gemma and Marcia to be home, which was fine with me. I thought things might go better if I were already there instead of walking in on them. I was relieved and a bit surprised not to find my belongings sitting in the hallway. My keys still fit in the locks, and when I opened the front door the place looked pretty much the same way it always had.

“They haven’t kicked you out,” Owen said.

“Not yet.”

“They won’t.”

“You’ve seen that, too, I suppose?”

“No. But you and your friends have been through a lot together. I don’t think they’ll give up on you so easily. Look at Rod and me. We’re still speaking after all these years and some worse stuff than you know about.”

“Really?”