Read FoM02 Trammel for Free Online Page B

sleep.”

    Noah nodded and Lindsay couldn’t tell if there was real agreement there or just acquiescence. “Thank you.” Noah’s shoulders slumped, and Lindsay could feel his shame clearly—like a mirror, it was so familiar.
    “I’ll keep you safe.” That assurance had been one of the most important things Dane had given Lindsay, in the beginning. For Noah, the danger came not from people hunting him but from his own magic and, maybe, Cyrus had been right to give him to Lindsay. None of the others—none but Cyrus himself—
    could keep him safe from that.
    “As you will.” Noah exhaled slowly. “Was there anything more?” He looked at Lindsay from under his lashes. His eyes were an almost unearthly shade of blue.
    “Nothing.” Lindsay let his hand go to reach for the shirt hanging from the wall. “I think we should stop and buy you a lighter on the way home, though.”
    “And here I just threw all mine out.” Noah shrugged into his shirt, tugging it down as it resisted sliding over his damp skin.
    “You can’t go around lighting cigarettes with your fingertip in front of humans, anyway,” Lindsay pointed out. He passed over Noah’s jacket next, and headed for the door.
    “I know what humans are like.” Noah pulled the jacket on as he followed. “I used to be one. I just...wasn’t expecting to end up back here. Out in the world. Without my magic.”
    “Well, I’m sure you couldn’t have anticipated this. Not every mage gets their very own illusionist to cut them off from their magic.” Lindsay pushed through the double doors and out into the corridor. Maybe teasing would make this easier for Noah. Maybe.
    “I wondered if this was part of some fancy new charity program. Home for Wayward Fire Starters.
    Donate now, because every year, Fire Starters all over the world are left homeless.” Noah sighed and shook his head. “When I was twelve, I could hardly wait for this.”
    Noah had grown up knowing what magic was. Lindsay wondered what that would have been like.
    “When I was twelve, I had no idea any of this existed.”
    “Cyrus thinks he’s clever, I see.” Noah pulled out the flask and took a drink, a long one. Lindsay watched Noah as they stepped out into the night.
    “Is that going to be a problem?” Better to know now. Lindsay couldn’t change that he hadn’t been born to the magical world.
    “No. Maybe for some. Not me. I left and lived in the world. He’s avoiding having you learn only Dane’s terrible manners. Terrible by our standards. Fine for his kind.” Noah snorted and took another drink, draining the flask. “There’s a store up here.” He gestured ahead. “I guess I’ll pick up that lighter while I’m in there.”
    “I’ll wait outside.”

    Lindsay stopped at the corner and watched the people passing him by. None of them knew about the magical world either. They all lived on the surface, where magic was something found in fairy tales and fantasies. He’d lived there too, once. Not anymore. The depths of the magical world were home, now. He could hardly imagine leaving the way Noah said he had. But Noah’s magic was new, he’d grown up believing he was human in a magical world. Wrong, exactly the way Lindsay had always been.
    When Noah came out, he had a lit cigarette in his mouth, a brown paper bag under one arm, and a six-pack of beers dangling from his good hand. He looked, in the garish lights of the store and the shadows from the streets, disposable. Human.
    “Don’t want to keep you out past your bedtime,” he said, blowing smoke as he squinted up at the moon.
    “Despite all appearances, I am actually an adult,” Lindsay shot back. He pushed away from the wall and led Noah toward home. The sidewalks were less crowded now; everyone who’d been shopping earlier had returned to the bars and casinos.
    “I wasn’t assuming you’d be sleeping.” Noah’s grin was as wicked as it was unexpected, and his eyes flashed with hot amusement. “I can’t