A Lesson in Magic (by Kit Bryan) novel Chapter 78

A Lesson in Magic

Lesson 78- Knowing who to call for help is just as good as knowing how to fix something yourself.

I stand and watch as Torin apologises to a confused and mildly horrified Laura. I don’t think I have ever seen her look so uncomfortable, She of course assures him multiple times that he doesn’t need to apologise. Not to mention that she has already called in someone to fix the doors who should be by soon. Damn she’s good. Footsteps sound in the hallway which has Torin stalking out to check who is out there, with me trailing along behind him, still holding his hand. We find Kyle stumbling down the hallway with his arms piled high with plastic containers.

“Hey Kyle, what are you doing here?” I ask. He turns sideways so he can see me properly over the containers and gives me a look that is very clearly questioning my intelligence.

“Laura texted that guys broke in and attacked you again. I brought food. It just took me a while because I had to wait for a damn taxi.” He responds. Kyle doesn’t get cleared to drive again for a few more days and he is HATING it. Although I think he’s secretly enjoying having Laura drive him to and from work all the time. But the poor guy is too shy to admit it to her. Torin is staring, clearly confused.

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“Why did you-” He starts but I cut him off.

“Thank you Kyle, that is really thoughtful of you.” I tell him gratefully, squeezing Torin’s hand. Kyle really is sweet, even if he does try to hide it. We head into the kitchen to lay out all the food.

When the hell did he find time to make all this stuff? It’s only been a couple hours max since the guys broke in. Does he just wake up stupidly early in the morning and start cooking? Or maybe he keeps entire feasts just stashed in his refrigerator… Either way, he’s laying out pretty much every breakfast food I can imagine. I’m suddenly very aware of how completely empty my stomach is. I DO still feel a little bit nauseous, but there are pancakes! Not to mention the bacon. Oooh, and muffins! We all stand around in the kitchen eating. Between mouthfuls, Laura explains the arrangements that she’s made and her general plan for the day.

“So, the guy to fix or replace the doors will be here any time now, I’m hoping to maybe head home and get a few hours sleep while he sorts that out. Then if someone can call me when they’re done I’ll come back, preferably all refreshed and ready to cast the most complicated wards I’ve ever attempted.” She sounds exhausted just talking about it. Or maybe she’s just exhausted because she worked a night shift, went home, experienced some kind of painful magical backlash then drove straight back here. She’s running on just as little sleep as I am. Torin is probably exhausted too.

“Right. So the bar will stay closed tonight until I’m SURE it’s safe.” Torin confirms. I let out a huge yawn.

“I still really need to get some sleep too. Maybe I should go to bed…” I trail off at the pained look on Torin’s face and I remember my promise to stick close to him. No way he’s going to let whoever is coming to fix the doors work unsupervised, so I guess we’re both going to be supervising. Maybe I can bring a pillow or something and find a corner to just sort of close my eyes…

There’s a firm knock on the doorframe of the broken back door.