WARLOCK?!

Private

Chapter 4—Private

I was cleaning the living room, working on vacuuming the floors. I tried to keep my mind off of that leather book, but my brain kept wandering back to the thought of it.

I paused for a moment, just standing near the coffee table.

Fallon strolled into the room and said, "You know, the dirt's not going to come to the vacuum. You have to move it around for it to work."

"I—I was just—"

"Thinking about something?" she guessed.

"Yeah..."

"Is it about Echo?"

"Sort of," I replied.

"Well, what is it?"

I whispered, "Echo has this leather book."

"So? Lots of people have leather books, and I'd definitely expect a warlock to have one."

I shrugged. "I know, but still. I'm just curious. He refused to tell me what it was."

"Ah, so you think that it's a forbidden book."

"I really want to know what it's for."

"What if it's dangerous? Aren't you scared?"

"But...what if it's harmless?"

"You're not going planning on taking the book, are you?"

"I don't want to take it. I'm just going to take a quick peek, and then I'll be done."

Fallon crossed her arms. "That's risky."

"You don't think I should do it?"

"If you are going to do it, be careful."

"I'll try," I replied.

"Okay. Well, I'm going to go back to cleaning the dining room."

I nodded, and she left.

I continued vacuuming and thought about my plan. My only motive was my want to know what's in the book. Was that enough reason to look through it?

While Fallon and I cooked dinner that night, she asked if I did what I wanted to do.

"No, not yet, anyway," I answered.

"Wait, so you're actually going to do it?" she asked.

"I want to do it."

"Do what?" Echo asked, walking into the room.

"Um, nothing," I answered.

Fallon walked away to set the table, leaving me to fend for myself.

"Your face shows guilt," Echo observed. "You weren't talking about me, were you? Maybe it's me you want."

"I—uh—" I stuttered.

He stepped closer. "Maybe that's why you chose to wear those shorts to training." He took another step closer.

"Remember that little talk we had about personal space, or do I need to remind you?"

"Maybe you just told me that in order to keep me away from you because you can't keep yourself away from me," he said, smirking. "It makes you feel uneasy when I'm really close to you, doesn't it? But I can sense that it's uneasy in a good way."

His dark eyes pierced into mine, searching for answers.

"It's not what you think," I blurted out.