Maybe Levi was in the bathroom.
Maybe he’d already gone to bed. Maybe Cath could climb into his bed like Goldilocks, and if he woke up, she’d just say “later” and run away. Goldilocks plus Cinderella.
Reagan had finished half a beer before she asked somebody, “Where’s Levi?”
The person, a guy with a beard and black Ray-Ban frames, looked around the living room. “Kitchen, maybe?”
Reagan nodded like she didn’t care. Because she doesn’t really, Cath thought.
“Come on,” she said to Cath. “Let’s go find him.” And then, when they’d walked away from everyone else: “Be cool.”
The house had three big front rooms that were all connected—living room, dining room, and sunroom—and the kitchen was in the back, through a narrow doorway. Cath stuck close behind Reagan, so Reagan saw Levi before Cath was even through the door. “Shit,” Cath heard her whisper.
Cath stepped into the kitchen.
Levi was leaning back against the sink. (Levi. Always leaning.) He had a bottle of beer in one hand, the same hand he was pressing into a girl’s back.
The girl looked older than Cath. Even with her eyes closed. Levi’s other hand was tangled in her long, blond hair, and he was kissing her with his mouth smiling and open. He made it look so easy.
Cath looked down immediately and walked out of the kitchen, walked straight through the house to the front door. She knew Reagan was right behind her because she could hear her muttering. “Shit, shit, shit.”
“But I don’t understand,” Simon stammered, “what is the Insidious Humdrum? Is he a man?”
“Perhaps.” The Mage wiped the grit from his eyes and swept his wand out in front of them. “Olly olly oxen free,” he whispered. Simon braced himself, but nothing happened.
“Perhaps he’s a man,” the Mage said, recovering his wry smile. “Perhaps he’s something else, something less, I should think.”
“Is he a magician? Like us?”
“No,” the Mage said severely. “Of that we can be certain. He—if indeed he is a he—is the enemy of magic. He destroys magic; some think he eats it. He wipes the world clean of magic, wherever he can.…
“You’re too young to hear this, Simon. Eleven is too young. But it isn’t fair to keep it from you any longer. The Insidious Humdrum is the greatest threat the World of Mages has ever faced. He’s powerful, he’s pervasive. Fighting him is like fighting off sleep when you’re long past the edge of exhaustion.
“But fight him we must. You were recruited to Watford because we believe the Humdrum has taken a special interest in you. We want to protect you; I vow to do so with my life. But you must learn, Simon, as soon as possible, how best to protect yourself.”
—from chapter 23, Simon Snow and the Mage’s Heir, copyright ? 2001 by Gemma T. Leslie
SEVENTEEN
They didn’t talk in the car. And Cath didn’t cry. She was grateful for that. She already felt like such a fool.…
Because she was one.
What had she been thinking—that Levi really liked her? How could she have believed that, especially after she’d spent the last two days explaining to herself all the reasons he never would.
Maybe she’d thought it was possible because Reagan thought it was possible, and Reagan wasn’t anybody’s fool.…
When they got back to the dorms, Reagan stopped Cath from getting out of the car. “Wait.”
Cath sat, holding the passenger door open.
“I’m sorry,” Reagan said. “I really didn’t expect that to happen.”
“I just want to pretend that it didn’t,” Cath said, feeling tears burning again in her eyes. “I don’t want to talk about this—and, I mean, I know he’s your best friend, but I really don’t want you to talk to him about tonight.… Or about me. Ever. I already feel like such an ass.”
“Sure,” Reagan said, “whatever you want.”
“I want to pretend this didn’t happen.”
“Okay.”
*
Reagan was good at not talking about things.
She didn’t mention Levi for the rest of the weekend. He called Cath Saturday morning, but she didn’t pick up. A few seconds later, Reagan’s phone rang.
“Don’t ignore him on my account,” Cath said. “It never happened.”
“Hey…,” Reagan said into the phone. “Yeah … All right … Just call me when you’re downstairs. Cath is trying to study.”
A half hour later, Reagan’s phone rang again, and she got up to leave. “See ya,” she said.
Cath nodded. “Later.”
Levi tried calling Cath again that weekend. Twice. And once he sent her a text that said, “so they found the 5th hare, now what? will trade gingerbread lattes and pumkin bread for this information.”
The fact that he misspelled “pumpkin” made Cath wince.
If she hadn’t gone to the party—if she hadn’t seen Levi in action—she would have thought this text was him asking her out on a date.