"No, it wasn't an ordinary mugging. We'll know more once we talk to your attacker, but we think tonight's adventure came courtesy of our friend Idris. He must have figured out the role you've been playing, and he wants you out of the picture."
I shuddered, then gulped down more of the tea. "What role? I'm not magical. There are hundreds of people in this city who could have done exactly what I did. If he's going after people who are a threat, he should be going after Owen."
"Who said he isn't, on a daily basis?" Rod's tone sent shivers up my spine. "But you're also a key player in this, like it or not, and it would be just like Phelan Idris to want to know exactly what role you do play. His people have been stalking you for a while, and we've been watching them while we keep an eye on you."
"So you and Ari and her gang being there wasn't just a happy coincidence tonight?"
"Not in the least. Ari was supposed to be watching you in the restaurant, but you must have managed to get out of there before she had a chance to follow you."
"Disastrous date," I explained. "So they've been following me? I still don't get it. I'm not that important, really. I just have a few good ideas and some down-home common sense."
"Do you realize how rare that is? But I imagine the issue to Idris is that you're an unknown quantity. He doesn't know the role you play, and he wants to find out. He also wants to scare you."
I finished my tea. "Well, it worked. I'm scared. I've never been mugged before, and let me tell you, it's not fun."
He leaned toward me, putting one hand on my arm. "We'd understand if you wanted to walk away from all this. It's not your fight, so there's no reason you should be putting yourself in danger. We have ways of giving references that won't look suspicious, and I know people in other industries, so we could help you get another job. Don't feel at all obligated to us. I know when we offered you the job, we never mentioned the possibility of danger, so it's entirely our fault if you've had an unpleasant surprise."
I pondered that. Did I want to go back to living an ordinary life, working at a company where you actually had to brew coffee, having coworkers who might throw hissy fits but didn't turn into monsters, not really mattering in the grand scheme of things? True, it would simplify my life considerably. I would be able to talk about work with my friends, and I wouldn't have to worry about my dates being jinxed—
literally.
But could I turn my back on what I knew was going on? If Idris thought I mattered enough that he wanted to stop me, then maybe I was more important than I thought.
This thing was far bigger than I was, and now that I knew what the stakes were, I couldn't just walk away. Whether or not I had any magic powers, this was my fight, too, and I wanted to see it through.
I shook my head. "Nothing doing. Now they've just pissed me off."
He grinned. "I was hoping you'd say that. Don't worry, we'll continue to protect you.
These days, we all need to look out for one another. "
A realization struck me. "Is that why Owen's been coming to work with me every morning?"
"Yeah, he's part of your security detail, with the added benefit that you can spot anyone in disguise who might be after him."
"Oh." I couldn't help but feel a sting of disappointment to have it verified that his attention wasn't personal.
"More tea?" he asked.
I studied my empty cup and assessed my condition. I still wasn't ready to go home.
I wasn't sure which would be worse, explaining why the perfect man Gemma had set me up with never wanted to see me again, or telling them that I'd been mugged.
"Sure," I said, handing him the cup.
When he returned to the living room with a fresh cup of tea, I said, "Maybe you can help me with something."
"Anything you need. Just ask." His tone reminded me of Owen, that first day of work on the bus.
"Do you know anything about magical pranks?"
"A little. Why?"
I told him about the Naked Frog Guy, ending with his unwelcome appearance at my date that night. When he finished laughing and wiping the tears of mirth out of his eyes, he said, "Owen's the one you want to talk to about that."
Owen was the last person I wanted to talk to about either dating or about being serenaded by men who used to be frogs. "Why's that?"
"It sounds like one of his spells. The layering's the clue. Most prank spells are one-dimensional, but the beauty of this one is that 'breaking' the enchantment actually only makes it worse by making the victim become obsessed with the woman who breaks the frog part of the spell."
"I don't know him that well, but fraternity prank spells don't seem to be Owen's style."
"When we were in college, he made extra money by doing custom spell work. I'm surprised to hear that one's still going around, and that it's made it to the city." He shook his head. "He should have asked for royalties. That was one of his better ones. It really brought out his sense of humor."
"You mean all the bad poetry?"
"He was taking a Shakespeare class that semester."
"Don't tell me he's a Barry Manilow fan."
"No, that was the customer's request—they were looking for something really humiliating. The opera is pure Owen, though."
"So, how do I break this spell?"
"It's supposed to break when the victim meets someone he'd like even without a spell. Around the university, that meant it was usually over within a day or so."
"And if he doesn't? Or if he really does like the woman?"
"Then you'd have problems." He studied me for a while, and his gaze gave me shivers. I wasn't used to being looked at that way by men. The sweater Gemma loaned me must have been especially good with my coloring. "And I can see where that's a distinct possibility. Yeah, you should definitely talk to Owen if this guy keeps bugging you. He's probably got a back door built into the spell, so he could break it for you."
I wondered what Jeff's type would be. Dealing with the situation that way was far preferable to confessing my predicament to Owen. Whether or not he had any interest in me, I still had at least a minor crush on him, and the last thing any girl wants to do is talk about her dating woes to a man she's attracted to, especially when her dating woes are so weird.
I drained the last of my tea and said, "I'd better get home soon. My roommates will be dying to get the postdate debriefing."
He took my mug and carried it into the kitchen, then came back to the living room and helped me to my feet. "You okay now?"
"The shakes are pretty much gone. Thanks." I slipped my shoes back on and tested my balance in the high heels.
"Then I'll walk you home. You'll be safe there. The place is warded pretty well.
Owen took care of that a while ago."
"Warded?"
"No one can magically attack you in your apartment."
"But no one can attack me magically at all."
"They can't attack you directly with a spell, but they can use magic to get access to you so they can attack you physically. That's what happened tonight. Your attacker transported himself magically to get to you so you wouldn't hear him approaching."
"But I did hear something."
"That was me."
"Why didn't you say something? You scared me to death."
"Sorry about that. Anyway, your building is secured so no one can use magic to damage it, open locks, or anything else like that. Someone can still get in using purely physical means, but if your locks are good enough to protect you from the usual criminal elements, you should be okay."
"That's nice to know."
We walked to my building in silence. I was too busy thinking of the story I would tell my roommates to make conversation. At my building, he waited for me to unlock the front door, then said, "Have a good weekend. And don't worry, we'll keep an eye out for you."
"Thanks for the help, and the tea. I'll have to thank Ari later for the lifesaving."
And now I had to make the transition from the magical to the mundane. The big news from my evening wasn't the date, but as usual, I couldn't talk about the really interesting stuff.