Nothing seemed real as I left The Shop and headed back to my apartment in Brooklyn. People walked past me but I regarded them as emptily as the world did me while under Pendragon's enchantments. The train ride was inconsequential, while in thought I was no different.
After having experienced magic for the first time, my body was sort of numb to the original five senses I had been dealing with. I was a rock in a river who had no choice but to simply sink to the bottom and allow everything to go rushing by.
Cayce, my Jack Russell, greeted me at the door as she normally did. Her cropped nub of a tail wriggling back and forth wildly with a need to be let outside. So I did. She walks herself to the bushes down the sidewalk, which is nice. She took her time but returned through the open door to find me readying for bed. I locked up behind her, and we both caved in for the night.
I slept a dreamless sleep. Whoever was out their telling people to kill the magical members of my family took a night off. Considerate of them, particularly because Mr. Pendragon was going to kick my ass tomorrow in ways I could never have anticipated.
It started like any other day at work. I arrived at the Shop to find Aine dusting with her pink feathers. She smiled sweetly at me in that way that made me forget I had no idea what was in store for the rest of my life, and pointed her duster at the counter.
"Croissants!" I said obviously once I spotted her offering. I snatched one of them out of the box, which was still warm to the touch, and paired it with sips of my coffee.
Aine finished what she was doing and hopped behind the counter like a child into puddles. Her elbows rested on the glass countertop and her chin upon her palms. She looked upwards at me, almond eyes blinking furiously.
I tilted my head back that way I do when I'm feeling suspicious. She caught it.
"Dude. The stone. You're going to do, like, magic with it..." She seemed mildly impressed. I wondered what it would take for her to be really excited.
"I don't know it sounded like I would just be protecting it," I deflected. Not that I would ever have admitted it to her but I was doing what I could to keep my hopes down about this brave new world. Yes, it was enchanting to believe that some parts of my childhood imagination would become reality.
But only because people I never knew, people who were my family, were killed. To enjoy this felt irresponsible.
"Duh," said Aine unceremoniously, "You protect magic with magic. Even I know that."
Finishing the croissant I wiped my hands on my shirt and folded my arms defensively. "I didn't even know any of this existed until yesterday, I guess."
"But you work in the Shop.." Aine rolled her eyes and shook her head. "I swear, boys are seriously oblivious. The second I walked in here, I was like, okay Harry Potter."
I laughed. I honestly never drew the comparison between this shop in Manhattan and anything in a story book. I think I just expected there to be a market for rusted over antiques and outdated medical equipment, with cobwebs. If you told me then that they were magical items I would have scoffed anyway.
"I never read the books," I lied. My girlfriend made me.
The bells jingled and the front door slammed shut forcefully. Hobbled on his cane with a wretched look on his face, Mr. Pendragon had joined us. He grumbled incoherently as he removed hat and coat to place them on the rack by the door. "Mikey, backroom."
"He's no Dumbledore," I joked softly, but reality was starting to set in.
Aine and I shared a look of brief concern, which she turned into an opportunity to be supportive. She put her hand on mine and patted it while gently offering, "Don't blow yourself up."
Headed to the backroom, I called over my shoulder in response: "If I do I'm taking the whole shop with me."
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