Half-Blood Curse

5 - Resist

Lucas got Sonia to his house by three in the morning. They needed to stop by her apartment first and get her valuables, spell books, clothes, and any personal items she wanted to keep protected from snooping wizards should they get into her place. Lucas helped her lug it down her apartment stairs, but he felt like he was less help than he could have been. The large working had taken a lot out of him, and he was yawning and half-asleep the entire time. Sonia didn't complain, though, and took her time packing.

Luckily, his driveway was just as protected as his house and fit both cars, so they tiredly agreed to leave most of the stuff there for the morning. Sonia trudged in behind him, just as exhausted, and Lucas activated some of the older, sleeping wards that he hadn't used in a long time.

"I can sleep on the couch if you want the bed," Lucas offered.

"No, I'm smaller than you are, I should get the couch." Sonia dropped her suitcase by the ratty furniture in question and looked around, bleary-eyed. "What happened to your house?"

"Nothing," Lucas said, ignoring the piles of dirty dishes, take-out boxes, and trash that had piled up in the kitchen. Dirty clothes were on the floor in the hallway, and he had shoes haphazardly tossed on the floor by the doorway. Maestro's litter box was full and needed to be changed, and there was spilled cat food on the floor he hadn't cleaned. It was a disaster.

"No," Sonia disagreed. "Something happened. Your house is never dirty. You are practically obsessed with taking care of it."

"I'm not obsessed," Lucas grumbled, going into the kitchen to make himself some coffee. He still needed to stay awake a few more hours if he wanted to avoid dream-sharing, although his heart ached at the thought of another night alone. He shook his head. Since when did he mind being alone? He had been alone his entire life, it was nothing to be sad about.

"Your visit with your friend must have been really bad," Sonia said. She paused, watching Lucas make coffee. "I actually wanted to ask you something about Chicago."

Her tone was serious, so Lucas turned his back on the coffee maker and propped a hip on the counter, inviting her to talk with a wave of his hand.

"I was just wondering..." She sat down on the couch, but the house was small enough that they could see and hear each other just fine. "I heard some crazy stuff happened in Chicago the day you were there."

Lucas waited, too tired to understand without her spelling it out.

"And there was some stuff in the news about rogue wizards," Sonia said pointedly. She gave him a meaningful look. "You know you're my friend. If you got yourself tangled in any trouble, you can tell me, alright?"

Lucas realized what she was asking him with a flash of clarity. "You think I attacked the Chicago alpha?"

"I don't think that!" Sonia said defensively. "But... the timing is a little weird. And you've been acting strange since you got back. Sleeping all day long, staying up all night, not cleaning your house."

"I haven't missed any charm quotas for your coven's website. I've made you a couple thousand dollars in the past few days alone." Lucas said stubbornly, filling one of the last clean mugs in the house with coffee. "I've been getting work done. I'm fine, just a night owl now, I guess."

"Lucas, we are closer than this." She stood up suddenly, hurt on her tear-stained face. "I've known you for almost ten years, and all along I knew you were a rogue," she said, confirming a suspicion he had. "I would never turn you in. You're my best friend. You're like family to me. If you joined my coven-"

"I can't!" Lucas snapped, and Sonia flinched.

"Why? It can't just be because you're unregistered. Something is wrong, and you're hurting. Why won't you tell me? The council just killed my friends! Why would I ever run and tell them anything about you? What is it you've been hiding? Why can't you trust me? You're like a brother to me. You're the only family I have outside my coven. Why are you turning your back on that?"