(x) Irregular Magic

chapter 21 - call me Lucas, but only sometimes

"Who are you?" Mattie hissed, drawing back and reaching for the hat that would make her invisible again.

"Looking for this?" The man tapped his hand on the knit hat, which sat on her desk, out of her reach.

He seemed way too casual for a stranger who had just come into someone else's flat. Come to think of it, his face did seem sort of familiar . . .

"I took this because I thought you'd freak out," he began, arms raised in a gesture of surrender. "You met me earlier today."

"What?"

"You hid me from the mages even though I'm a stranger. And in thanks, I brought you here."

Mattie stared at him, openmouthed. Was she finally losing it? "You mean, you're Luke?"

A smile tugged at the corner of his lips. "Luke sounds like a kid's name. Lucas is better."

"You are a kid," she corrected without thinking. "Or, you were? What the hell is going on?"

Lucas set down the prism with steady fingers and turned his placid gray eyes onto her. "I wasn't planning on being around long enough for you to find out. The mages who were looking for me did this to me. They worked some sort of spell that makes me shift ages."

She had never even heard of such a thing. "So are you eleven or are you—uh, I guess—twenty-something?"

He shrugged his shoulders. "I have a memory problem, too. Unrelated to the age problem, I think. I told you this earlier."

"Right," she muttered. "You're either Luke or Lester or Lucas."

"Luke is an arrogant bastard, as all children are. As I am right now, you're probably the best off. I hope you never meet El."

"El?" she wondered, immediately regretting asking. It was probably better that she just run away from this strange person as fast as she could.

"As in the letter 'L'—teenage me thinks such things are cool."

"I don't understand."

"Don't worry about it."

"Why are you still here?" While in the back of her mind, Mattie wondered why she wasn't screaming and trying to get away. She figured if he hadn't come after her already, he probably won't. A boy (man?) who shifted ages wasn't the strangest thing she had come across yet.

The corner of his lips tilted upward. "I was wondering the same thing myself. But I think you'll find me quite useful."

"Can you just say whatever it is you want to say already?" Her patience was hanging on by a thin string.

He tossed the prism to her, which she snatched out of the air before it hit the ground. "I cleared out the noise in the background and enhanced it some." Lucas twiddled his fingers. "I'm good at tinkering."

Mattie clenched her fists and exhaled deeply. "Okay, play it, please."

The file began from the beginning. The amplification was accompanied by Tara's erratic heavy breaths. She was scared.

"We've been here long enough. It's time to go, she's not here."

The lower pitched voice was easier to discern, and the quality was no longer crackly and muffled. She didn't like to admit it but Lucas had done a good job.

A sigh of relief from Tara.

"Hold it, you're always so impatient. The girl is here. She's hiding—the magic tracer's picking her up."