Read Mage Catalyst for Free Online Page B

watched her turn to leave.
“See you, Twitch,” she called back, and then she was gone.
    I returned to the table with a look of pure ecstasy mixed with stunned shock on my face to apologise to my friends. Sarah and Tony glanced nervously as I approached the table. It had been obvious that I was limping slightly. I sat down on the table with a noticeable exclamation. Sarah’s face immediately crinkled in concern.
“Are you okay?” Sarah asked gently.
“What? Oh? Yeah, I just fell down earlier,” I replied quickly.
“Oh.”
Tony and Sarah exchanged glances again. I didn’t take much notice though, I was too lost in my own thoughts of Renee. I wondered if it would be too soon to call her tomorrow morning or if I had to wait the whole three days after the date thing?
     
    * * * *
    “Ullo, is Giuseppe’s Pizza! Can I take your order?” A fake Italian accent boomed down the line with startling volume.
“Uhh… hello... is Renee there?“ I hesitantly asked, already knowing that the answer would be no.
“No, is no Renee here, only pizza!” the voice returned. “You order now, no?”
I switched off my phone in disgust. She had given me a fake number. Who does that? And a pizza place? If I wasn’t so invested in this woman I’d have been howling with laughter.
I had woken up about twenty minutes before and tentatively inspected myself in the mirror. I hadn’t had time to do it properly last night when we had returned home. I’d definitely sprained my wrist. It was horribly swollen and was starting to throb uncomfortably. Complete with the wrist I also had bruising all down my left side – deep purple bruises that started on my chest and spread around my lower back.
It hadn’t looked like it was this bad last night. On the upside it didn’t appear that I had actually cracked any ribs – they were just bruised. Painfully bruised, but not broken. That was lucky at least. It was no longer painful to breathe, only slightly uncomfortable.
The smell of cooking bacon slowly wafted into my room and brought me staggering out into the living room. I hurriedly threw on a T-shirt to cover the bruising. I was greeted by the sight of my dad standing over the stove with Tony sitting on the table next to him, chatting amicably. Tony and Dad had always gotten along famously.
“Morning Dad.” I groaned as I limped over to a chair and tentatively sat down.
“Rough night?” he inquired, looking me in the eyes.
“Yeah, I fell down a flight of stairs,” I lied quickly, nodding to Tony to collaborate in the lie.
“Stupid bugger, he saw some chick he fancied,” he said.
I gave him a sharp warning look.
My dad smiled as he began dishing up. “I always had a soft spot for ladies I shouldn’t have.”
I said nothing in response. I wondered if he was referring to Mum.
“So what do you boys have planned for the day?” Dad asked.
    “I’ve got to be home relatively early in the afternoon,” Tony stated in between mouthfuls. “Got this family thing this evening, I’ve got to look my best.”
“That’ll take some doing,” I muttered under my breath, although of course everyone heard.
“What about you, Devon?” Dad turned to me.
“Nothing much, Dad, just thought I’d hang out,” I replied.
“I’d like you to come to dinner tonight. There’s someone I’d like you to meet.”
Great, this meant one of two things: either Dad had another date he wanted me to meet, or he was career hunting for me again. Either way, it meant a painful night. Dad must have picked up on my lack of enthusiasm because he didn’t press the issue further.
“Well, boys, on that note, I think I’ll see you later. I just need to pop into the office for an hour or so.”
That meant Dad would be gone for the rest of the morning and probably most of the afternoon too. Tony left shortly afterwards. I offered to walk him down, but changed my mind after considering how much trouble I had getting to the door. I’d only slow him