Recover: Book 2 of the Magic Mutations Series | ✓

27: Last Day

With our studies out of the way and a game plan sorted with my friends, I spent my final week with Olivia, helping her prepare her life without me. But part of that involved allowing her to flesh out a lot of the details on her own without my input... so that she could show me she could do it without me.

"Job?" I asked, looking at the list Ollie prepared to demonstrate how busy her life was going to be. And to help me understand how to fabricate her memories to fit her new lifestyle.

"Check. During the holidays I will work at the bookstore in Highgate on Thursday and Friday afternoons, then all day on Saturdays and Sundays. The store closes at six, so I will definitely be home before sundown. Then during term, it will just be weekends."

Nodding, I moved to the next item on her list. "Summer holiday activity?"

"Check. Some of our peers from our gothic literature put out on a noticeboard that there's a writing community they've organised for the break. We will be practising fantasy world building."

"Fantasy?" I responded, cocking an eyebrow at her.

"I figured it would be helpful. While I'm supposed to write my own story, I will have to do a lot of research. I was thinking that, whenever you stop by to ensure the bond invitation is alive, you could also check my notes to see if I found anything."

"Where are the meetings?" I asked hesitantly.

"A library."

"Which one?"

Her brows furrowed. "The classes take place at the British Library. So I was going to go there every morning for my research too. Why?"

Sighing, I pulled out my notebook with the list of libraries, perusing who was supposed to go there. "Ivan will be visiting in August," I then said, looking up at her.

"So? He won't know any—"

"Ivan is part bat, meaning his sense of smell is even keener than many of us. He will know for sure that you smell different. And because your smell alone will fascinate him, he will try to figure out what you are and then you'll just be roped back in."

She pressed her lips together and looked back down. "I already signed up though," she mumbled, but then she picked up her pencil and began to draw a line through the activity. "Guess I can find something else."

Leaning across the table, I pulled the pencil and paper from her hand and wrote it back out. "You can do it, Ollie. I'll change who is going," I said to her, barely glancing her way.

"Who will you send instead?" she asked. "Will you come every day?" Her eyes began to gleam with excitement.

"You know I wont be able to keep my distance," I whispered, looking back down to my library list. Heaving a sigh, I mulled over my options before saying, "Ben is probably the best bet."

"Why?"

"He barely talks to the people we live with. Even if he does smell something different about you, there's no way he'd approach you. He will definitely leave you alone so..."

"How are you going to explain switching them around?"

Shrugging, I said, "I'll just say that I thought Ivan would be better off at a different one. Don't you worry about that, my love." I reached across the table, gently squeezing her hand before nodding at her list to continue.

"Okay," she said. "On Sunday nights I will have calls with my mum..."

· · ───── ∘☽༓☾∘ ───── · ·