‘I guess it needs to be done.’
‘Of course it does,’ I looked at Jack. ‘How come you never told me you’re a level eight?’
‘You never asked.’
Giving Jack a reproachful look, I added, ‘I thought we told each other everything.’
Jack gave a snort of derision. ‘As if you tell me everything.’
‘I do,’ I said with raised eyebrows. ‘I tell you everything.’
Jack rolled his eyes and pulled off his boots and socks. ‘Of course you do.’
Taking off my own shoes I asked, ‘Why are you in such a bad mood?’
Jack fidgeted. ‘Your father threatened that if I ever touched you he would come after me and-’
I rolled my eyes. ‘He wasn’t serious.’
‘He was,’ Jack nodded gravely, pulling off his shirt and sliding into his own bed, which was rather charred. ‘He pointed his finger at me and said; ‘If you lay a finger on my daughter I will hunt you down and make you wish you had never been born’.’
I put my hands on my hips. ‘He is just being protective. He still thinks of me as his little girl.’
‘You’re not a little girl,’ Jack argued, ‘You’re a woman and you are free to do as you please.’
‘He is just being a typical, over-protective father. You shouldn’t take him seriously.’
Jack mumbled something indistinguishable.
‘So, what did you say to him after he made his little threat?’ I asked cheekily.
Jack pulled the covers up to his chin. ‘I said okay.’
‘What? You just agreed?’
‘Yeah. What else was I supposed to say? I thought he was going to break my neck-’
‘Would that kill you?’ I wondered aloud.
‘Maybe,’ Jack shrugged. ‘I’ve never tried it and I don’t fancy testing it out.’
‘Maybe you should try talking to him in the morning,’ I suggested.
Jack scoffed. ‘What am I supposed to say?’
‘Tell him that we are best-friends and he has nothing to worry about.’
‘So, you want me to lie?’
I inhaled deeply. ‘We are best-friends.’
‘I’d rather tell him my intentions,’ said Jack before rolling over and curling up in his blanket.
I sat there in silence for many minutes, contemplating what Jack had meant by ‘intentions’. I did not want to dwell on it. Jack had already proved that this romance was too much of a distraction. He could have my full attention once this whole ordeal was over – if it ever was.
Finally, I slid between my own sheets and lay awake for what felt like hours and judging by the lack of Jack’s snoring, I was not the only one. As my mind slowly drifted and I was almost asleep I felt Jack slide into the bed beside me and wrap an arm around me.
~
The following morning Jack got ready to go to Robert and Maria Scotland’s address to see if there was any way to heal their son Bobby. Jack was highly doubtful that he would be able to help; he was convinced that the damage was permanent. He told me over and over again that he could not heal anything that was permanent, including amnesia.
I tried arguing that the erasing of the memories might not be a form on amnesia, but he disagreed with everything that I said.
‘Regardless of whether I can help him or not,’ said Jack as he pulled on his coat, ‘it might be interesting to analyse him. I may be able to provide a diagnosis. That might help put Robert and Maria’s minds at ease.’
‘I wish I could come,’ I grumbled. ‘I have to loiter out the front of the Martinez manor.’
‘It will be handy to work out his schedule,’ Jack reasoned, but I could see the disapproval in his eyes.
‘Oh well,’ I sighed. ‘At least Hawthorne will be with me. It’s nice not hiding him.’
Hawthorne rested his head on my knee and looked up at me with his large blue eyes. Smiling, I scratched him behind the ears.
‘It would be interesting to meet the Mage who creates these animals,’ said Jack. ‘I wish I could afford one.’
‘Just steal one like I did,’ I joked.
Jack smirked. ‘I thought you rescued him.’
‘Same thing,’ I shrugged.
Jack left the lodge before me and I occupied myself by play wrestling with Hawthorne until my mother and father came knocking upon the door.
‘When do we leave?’ I asked them.
My father looked anxious, my mother on the other hand, looked annoyed. Usually it was the other way around.
‘Look, Avalon,’ He began with a pained expression, ‘I think it’s best you stay inside for now.’
‘What?’ I said blankly, ‘I thought you needed me to stake out the Martinez manor. Find out where he goes, at what time-’
He sighed, ‘I just said that to make you feel like part of the team. We already know Martinez’s schedule. We’ve been tailing him for the last two weeks.’
I became annoyed very quickly. Soon my expression matched that of my mothers.
‘So, I have to sit indoors like a good girl whilst everyone else gets to go out and contribute?’ I snapped.