Page 100 of Bitten By the Basilisk

Before getting into bed, Alice drank some more water and, despite herself, checked her phone for any messages from Silas. He had sent one.

Good night, kitten.

She stared at those three words as she tucked herself into bed and imagined his big body spooned behind her. Shortly after her display timed out and turned off, she fell into a deep sleep.

After waking up a bit late the next morning, she and her mom went out for brunch, took a walk through Lakeside Park, then headed back to the shopping district for some retail therapy.

They happened to pass a high-end clothing store that was in the middle of getting fresh decals on its front window. With a quick scan, Alice spotted a couple of stray chips of glass that hadn’t been swept up. The reminder that Silas had been here yesterday hit her with a pang of longing.

He had continued to send her the occasional text. The first wished her a good morning and hoped that she had slept well.

While she was in a changing room trying on a cute top, he sent her a photo of what she presumed was the one area of his apartment she hadn’t poked her head into, the one off the living room.

He had turned the spare room into an entire art studio. Light from the large windows shone upon not one but two easels, each containing a blank canvas, with more blank canvases stacked against the wall. A fresh artist’s palette sat upon a solid wood stool.

Opposite the two easels was a long table choked with art supplies—numerous sets of paint, dozens of brushes, art books, clear stacked drawers full of markers and colored pencils in every color available, and several types of paper. Even more supplies were neatly stored underneath the table.

Against the far wall was a tall cabinet that was half drawers on the bottom, half shelves on top, including vertical ones for storing canvases. Spiral notebooks and a few dozen skeins of yarn filled the shelves. She imagined there were more art supplies in the drawers.

The text he sent along with the photo read, This was a spare bedroom that I’ve been converting into a studio for you. If you want, I’ll procure you the supplies to do flamework. If there’s anything I missed, or you ever run out of something, I’ll get it to you in a day.

At some point while reading his text and staring in awe at the photo, she had taken a seat on the small stool in the changing room, so astonished that she could feel her heart thudding against her ribs.

If he thought he could tempt her with her own art studio and an endless budget for supplies…he was absolutely right. In fact, she had no doubt he would pay off her student loans if she asked him, with zero hesitation.

After shopping a little longer, she and her mom returned to the spa, where her mom treated her to another facial and sat with her in one of the steam baths.

All too soon, it was time for Mom to head to the community center. Alice went with her, intending to visit the boardwalk after they parted ways, and pick up the glass pieces she had made.

“Have you decided, sweetie?” Mom asked, holding Alice’s hands, her brow tensed with sympathy.

Alice nodded. “I want to follow my heart. If I don’t, I’ll regret it forever.”

Mom let out a deep, relieved sigh. “That’s all I’ve ever wanted for you.”

She squeezed Alice’s hands one last time, then let go to pluck a pristine leaf out of thin air. After a brief moment of concentration, she laid it in Alice’s palm.

“For when you’re ready to head to the gala.”

Alice smiled, curled her fingers around the bespelled leaf, and gave her mom a tight hug. “Thanks, Mom. Good luck tonight.”

“You, too.”

Alice took the same route to the boardwalk that she and Silas had walked two days ago. The kite vendor was in the same spot as then.

When she arrived at the glassworks, entering from the retail side, the young woman behind the counter recognized her. “Oh! Welcome back! You have some creations to pick up, right?”

The employee, Becky, went into the studio and came back with a light-green shopping bag. Inside were half a dozen small cardboard boxes.

Alice couldn’t wait to see and hold the items she’d made, particularly the snake. She opened up the little boxes one by one, the employee marveling along with her, until finding the box containing the snake.

“Oh, wow,” Becky whispered as Alice lifted the amber glass snake from a bed of tissue paper, its tangled body still as consistently formed and symmetrical as she remembered. “You really made that? After one class?”

Alice nodded proudly, hoping to get a similar reaction from Silas when she presented it to him.

She carried the shopping bag and its delicate contents in her arms as she strolled along the boardwalk, heading in the direction that would eventually take her back to the spa, passing now-familiar businesses.

The sky once again neared its golden hour, too early for the ghost with his stein of beer to appear in front of the pizzeria.