That stupid book was on my desk, staring back at me, daring me to open it. I still had a number of days before her spell was due, time during which I could continue to procrastinate.
I was beginning to accept, however, that this assignment wasn't going to go away. Considering how long some of the prep on these took, maybe it'd be best to bite the bullet and get it out of the way.
Resolved, I brought the book over to my bed and opened it to the table of contents, scanning some of the spells she'd gone over with me. My stomach twisted at most of them, every instinct telling me how wrong it was to even be attempting these. Magic is for vampires, not humans.
I still believed that to be true, but the analytical part of my mind couldn't help but apply some of the defensive spells to various situations. Much like my decision to give blood, recent events had made me look at the world differently. Was magic wrong? Yes. But that blindness spell would have certainly been useful in the alley. Another spell, one that temporarily immobilized people, could've been used if I'd wanted to flee from the hunters at the cafe. Sure, it only lasted thirty seconds, but that was more than enough time for me to have escaped.
On and on, I went down the list. They were all so wrong and yet... so useful. If I hadn't seen the fire charm I'd made ignite a Strigoi, I wouldn't have believed any of these were possible.
But by all accounts, they were.
So much power... the ability to protect myself...
Immediately, I rebuked myself for such a thought. I had no need for power. That kind of thinking was what led freaks like Liam to want to be Strigoi. Although... was it really the same? I didn't want immortality. I didn't want to hurt others. I just wanted to protect myself and those I cared about. Wolfe had a lot to teach me, but his preventative techniques wouldn't help if determined vampire hunters cornered Sonya and me again. As time went on, it was becoming clear that the hunters were very determined.
I returned to the table of contents, finding several that would be useful and well within my capabilities to make. According to Ms. Terwilliger, someone like me had excellent potential for magic because of inborn talent (which I didn't entirely believe) and the rigorous Alchemist training in measurement and attention to detail. It wasn't difficult to figure out how long it would take me to produce any of these likely candidates.
The question was which spell did I make? Which did I have time to make?
The answer was eerily simple.
I had time to make all of them.
Chapter 17
ADRIAN'S CAR DROVE LIKE A DREAM.
When I got behind the wheel, I nearly forgot to check for any pursuit. In fact, I nearly forgot that I was supposed to be taking us to Wolfe's and showing Adrian how to use a stick shift. Instead, I was caught up in the way the engine hummed around us and in the scent of the leather.
Leaving his neighborhood, I had to restrain myself from flooring it in the crowded streets of downtown Palm Springs. This was a car screaming to be let loose on the open road. I had admired Brayden's Mustang, but I worshipped this one.
"I feel like I've just crashed someone's date," Adrian remarked, once we were getting on the highway. No one had tailed us out of downtown, making me feel much safer. "Like I'm intruding on you two. If you want to drop me off somewhere, I'll understand."
"Huh?"
I'd been paying careful attention to the way the car built up to higher speeds, both through sound and feel. The Mustang was in stunning shape. People often have the idea that classic cars are expensive. They are - if they're in good condition. Most aren't. When something's sat around for years without care, it inevitably falls apart, which is why so many older cars are fixer-uppers. Not Adrian's. This had been maintained and restored throughout the years and had probably never left the state of California - meaning it hadn't faced harsh winters. That all added up to a high price tag, making it that much more ludicrous that Adrian had bought something he couldn't drive.
I groaned. "I'm sorry... I don't know what I was thinking." Well, I kind of knew. I'd been wondering what my odds of a ticket would be if I broke the speed limit to see how fast we could go. "I should've been walking you through this as soon as I started the car. I promise I will when we leave Wolfe's, all the steps. For now, I guess we can recap the basics. This is the clutch..."
Adrian didn't seem annoyed by my neglect. If anything, he looked amused and simply listened to my explanations with a small, quiet smile on his face.