"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."
