Magical Midlife Love (Leveling Up 4)

No point in letting a stranger know how precious my visitor was. I wasn’t important enough for someone to hunt Jimmy down all the way in New York, where he went to school, but if my son was on hand, and things went pear-shaped with this powerful visitor…

“He’s a day early,” Mr. Tom said, stepping farther out to see the car as it pulled into the drive. “Hopefully he didn’t bring a cooler full of food and cheap beer like your parents did.”

“Okay, see ye in a while.” Niamh motioned Sebastian ahead of her.

“Are we allowed to come out now?” Ulric called from inside the house. “Also, are we in trouble? I promise I wasn’t spying on you, Jess—miss. I did like feeling the spice, but I didn’t want to feel your wrath, so figured I’d better close it down.”

“Shh!” I batted at the air even though he couldn’t see me. “Mr. Tom, tell him and Jasper to head into town to watch Sebastian. Tell Austin about him, too. He’ll want to keep an eye on things. Don’t tell Austin I’m going to ring his bell the next time I see him. I don’t want to ruin the surprise. Hey, bud!”

I practically ran around the car to grab hold of Jimmy as he climbed out.

“Hi, Mom.” He groaned within my squeeze. “This house is huge! Is it really yours?”

I reached up to put my palms on both of my son’s cheeks, his scruff almost a messy beard, completely unkempt, and his sandy-brown hair falling past his eyes and over his ears. His hazel eyes matched mine, as did his thin nose, but he had his father’s wide smile and height, over six feet tall.

I frowned at the hoodie draped across his bony shoulders and the jeans sagging around his hips. “Did you stop eating? What happened to you?”

“It’s fine.” He twisted out of my grip. “Cooking sucks. But seriously, is this really your new house? I got the pictures, but…”

“Yeah, this is it. Come on.” I led him toward the front door as Sebastian and Niamh reached her house. She ran in to get something, and he turned to look at us, his gaze tracking me and Jimmy. I waved my hand, throwing up a magical one-way mirror, making it so nothing impeded my view of Sebastian, but he saw his own reflection instead of us.

“Well, hello, Master Evans.” Mr. Tom bowed, his wings fluttering.

Magic sparkled along my spell, and it took me a moment to realize Sebastian’s fingers had lifted from his sides, his spell work hardly noticeable. His magic and power filled in little spots and crevices in my spell that I hadn’t even realized were there, strengthening it but also changing it. Enhancing it.

I paused as Jimmy reached out to fist-bump Mr. Tom, turning back to see Sebastian’s handiwork.

The image of Sebastian crystalized, like I was looking at a computer screen, the shadows of early evening now tinged lime green. He’d added a nighttime effect in addition to cleaning up the haze from my spell.

“Just a sec,” I murmured, jogging out to the street. I couldn’t pass up the chance to look at it from the other side.

I punched a hole through the spell so I could cross the threshold, the world snapping back to its normal appearance. Once I crossed through, the hole winked out, the spell weaving itself back together.

“Wow.” Sebastian narrowed his eyes at the spot I’d jogged through. “That’s incredibly advanced, being able to walk through a spell like this without tearing it down. Not many in the world would be able to do it. I didn’t expect it with the rudimentary spell you’d erected.”

“Let’s just quiet things down.” I made a sign like pushing down the air. “Not everyone knows I’m magical around here.”

He frowned. “That’s your son, though, right? He looks like you.”

I didn’t comment.

Apparently I didn’t need to.

“How can you have this much magic without him knowing about it? Without him having some too?” he asked.

“Niamh will explain my situation. Keep your voice down, if you would.” I marveled at the way he’d changed the spell. His side was no longer a mirror: I could see Ivy House, only Jimmy’s car wasn’t parked in the driveway and there was no sign of anyone in the doorway of the house. It looked as though Jimmy hadn’t come at all and we’d all gone inside. “The work you did on that spell is amazing. How can you fix someone else’s spell?”

He scratched his head, making another patch of hair stand on end. “I have a lot of power, and figuring out spells and duplicating them is kind of a hobby of mine. Patching up or fixing spells that have already been realized is in my wheelhouse.”

“Can a lot of mages do that?”

“No. That’s why I get paid so well. And why…whatever this is probably won’t work out. I mean, from the summons I got the sense I’m supposed to train you or something, but…” He shrugged. “Like I said, I have a job.”