Chapter 58
SIMON
We don't know anyone in Paris, and apart from our family and friends that came for Christmas we haven't had any other visitors. Baz's family is back in London, Penny and Micah are back working in America and Agatha is back in San Diego finishing her final semester at uni, so Baz and I give each other a wary look when the concierge buzzes up to tell us there are deux messieurs, carrying what appears to be overnight bags and a box, waiting downstairs.
"Ne veulent pas fournir leurs noms, Monsieur Pitch," the concierge tells Baz over the speaker. Baz replies in perfect French and even though I have no idea what he just said, I ask him to repeat it. I like it.
"They won't provide their names," Baz translates as he grabs his wand from the coffee table. I swear he could say "Every occupant in the building has been slaughtered by a rampaging band of flesh-eating zombies" in his perfect bloody French and it'd still sound sexy as hell. I follow his lead and quickly pull on my trainers, grab my wand and spell my wings and tail invisible before we leave the apartment.
We head to the lift, quiet and cautious and staying close to each other. Our wands are pointed out in front of us, ready to cast any manner of curse just in case. I run through a few of my old favourites in my head.
I'm in a pair of Baz's black trackies and his old Bowie tee shirt and Baz is wearing jeans and his blue cashmere jumper (Egyptian blue, Baz said) (eye roll, I replied). It's Friday, early evening, and we were milling around doing nothing much, thinking about what to make for dinner. We did the rounds yesterday; supermarket, fancy French butcher, fancy French pastry shop, incredibly fancy and well stocked wine shop and the fancy cheese shop so we're fully set for the weekend.
We weren't planning on going anywhere tonight and the concierge disturbed a rather nice snogging session when he called, so we're both looking a bit dishevelled. Well, I look a bit untidy, Baz looks as perfect as ever. He smooths down his hair absently as we ride the lift.
We're both a bit wary about whom (or what) it could be because no one apart from our families, the Bunces and the Wellbeloves know we're here. My tail is standing on alert and my wings are ready for flight or battle or both. I grab Baz's arm with my free hand just in case.
We exit the lift and round the corner into the foyer and stop dead in our tracks.
"Oh, for the love of magic," Baz mutters when he sees who it is.
"Merlin's beard, Baz!" Niall scoffs. "What's that crawling up your face?"
"And you've been infected too, Simon!" Dev snorts. "Is this what you two get up to when you're left alone too long?"
Dev and Niall are in the foyer, leaning casually against the concierge's desk. They straighten when they see us, and I let go of Baz's arm.
"Dev. Niall," I nod, scratching at my stubble as they swan up in front of us. "What are you doing here?"
"Nice to see you too," Niall answers. He's shaking Baz's hand vigorously and he grabs mine next.
"We thought we'd come to visit," Dev explains, patting Baz on the shoulder a lot like Baz's dad does. He pats mine next and shakes my hand as well. "Seeing as we never got a chance at Christmas, what with you being banished and all."
Baz rolls his eyes at them. "Why wouldn't you tell Victor here your names?" Baz says, pointing towards the front desk.
"What's the problem?" Niall chuckles, punching Baz lightly on the shoulder. "Thought we were a couple of goblins, did you? Come to settle an old score with Simon here."
"Yes exactly," Baz huffs, sounding more than a little exasperated by their stupidity.
Niall blinks at us and Dev scratches his head.
"Oh, yeah. Er, sorry. Didn't think of that." Dev mumbles, finally recalling the incident in in Soho. "Forgot you're still a wanted man around some darker parts of the realm."
I shuffle uncomfortably on the spot. "I'm not that wanted. Not really."
I spot Victor the concierge watching us suspiciously and he narrows his eyes at me when he catches my eye. Shit, that's all I need, now my new French neighbours are going to think I'm some sort of Normal criminal on the run from the cops.
"Perhaps we should move this conversation to a more private setting?" Baz suggests, thinking along the same lines.
"Thought you'd never invite us in, mate," Niall chortles as he slaps Baz on the shoulder. "Been a long flight."
Baz rolls his eyes as he leads everyone to the elevator. I know what he's thinking; it's an hour flight, can't hardly get much shorter.
Dev and Niall pick up their bags and Niall lifts the carton onto his shoulder, which I can now see is a carton of London Pale Ale, and follow us into the lift. By the time we get into the apartment they've told us how they saw Baz's dad at the club last weekend and he gave them our address. I'm not sure how I feel about that, but it is his place and I'm more banished than wanted, so I suppose he can give the address to anyone he fancies.
"Nice Basil," Dev says, nodding as he takes in the ground floor of the apartment.
They dump their bags by the entrance and Niall hands the carton to Baz, who heads off to unload the contents into the fridge. I follow Baz into the kitchen and Dev and Niall follow behind.
"This will do nicely," Niall agrees, with his hands on his hips. He looks around the apartment. "Which are our rooms?"
I raise my eyebrows at Baz, trying to stifle a smile, and he shrugs his shoulders back at me.
"Guest room is second on the right," Baz answers, tipping his chin towards the stairs as he unloads the beer into the fridge. "How long are you staying?"
Niall leans against the kitchen counter and crosses his arms across his chest. "Just the weekend unfortunately. Dev and I need to get back to work on Monday."
Dev nods in agreement.
"What is it you two do exactly?" I ask before I can help myself. I've never really understood what Dev or Niall do for a living, or even what they studied at uni. They're pretty evasive whenever the conversation turns to them.
"Import export," Dev says, puffing out his chest as he turns to face me. "You know, rare finds . . . relics . . . objet d'art."
"Unusual artefacts," Niall elaborates, stepping up next to Dev. "Collectables. Magickal mainly, although sometimes not."
"Rare pieces," Dev continues. "You know, hard to find."
"Buying mainly," Niall says this time. "And a fair bit of sales too."
"Foreign buyers usually. Sometimes local." Dev again.
"And dealers, foreign usually. Although not always."
"Matching hard to find pieces with hard to please buyers."
"Arranging finance, sorting out the logistics. Transport and the like."
"Dealing with that pesky lot at Customs."
"You know, that sort of thing. . ." Niall nods, waving his hand airily.
"Bit of everything, really. . . " Dev shrugs
"Always on the lookout for opportunities," Niall finishes, handing me his business card. "If you know of any."
My eyes have been flitting between them for the entire exchange, and when they finish Baz gives them a knowing nod but I still have no fucking clue. I look down at the card Niall handed me. The paper is silky smooth and looks expensive, but it only has his name and mobile number printed in gold, nothing more.
Niall leans towards me and elbows me in the ribs. I glance up to see his brown eyes twiinkling. "You wouldn't happen to have that Sword of Mages laying around by any chance, would you Simon?"
My eyes go wide and I splutter half a response before Dev cuts in, waving hs hands and chuckling apologetically. "Only joking Simon. Really Baz, he was only joking."
Baz looks half exasperated and half murderous at his two idiot friends and I shake my head at him before he goes off at them, or drains them dry. We're much better hosts than that. And they've only just arrived, I'd like to see what they get up to this weekend, their trips to the continent are almost legendary.
Their jobs, like their business cards, sound a tad strange and a little shady but I decide to let it go. I don't really give a shit what they do, I've enough on my plate these days.
Baz shows them to the guest room and leaves them upstairs to shower and change while I get dinner started. Baz doesn't usually eat in front of Dev and Niall so he's snacking as we cook. We're making lasagne tonight, so I dig out the lasagne sheets I made yesterday and get the ragù cooking while Baz starts on the béchamel sauce. By the time Dev and Niall wander downstairs the lasagne is already in the oven. I make up a salad.
"Ale boys?" Niall asks as he rummages around the fridge. He pulls out four bottles and places them on the kitchen bench.
"All right," Baz says, pulling out four chilled beer glasses from the fridge. He passes them over to Dev who puts them on the kitchen bench.
Niall points his wand at the bottles. "Cold as ice!" he says, and the bottles chill instantly. He ignores the glasses and hands the bottles out instead.
"So. . ." Dev says, raising his bottle towards the group.
"To . . ." Niall starts, but isn't sure what to toast.
"Cheers," I say, taking a drink without waiting for them to decide.
They knock back two bottles before dinner is ready. And by the time we sit down for dinner they're flushed from the alcohol and roaring with laughter over the time they de-shirted Reggie and Alfie at the club.
Niall's still chuckling at the memory. "I've been dying to use that spell on someone, ever since seventh year."
Baz opens a bottle of wine and pours out four glasses, smiling a little. I suppose it was funny, even if I was trying to sneak out of the club at the time. It feels like ages ago that we were at the club together, explaining to them that I was the Humdrum, everyone finding out, staring at me. Accusing me. It's nice to know these two don't blame me at least.
I turn to Dev. "Where did you even learn that spell?" I'd never heard of it, but then again I never discussed spells or anything else with Dev and Niall back at Watford or in the years since.
"Made it up at school, back in seventh year," Dev says. "Remember Baz? We were going to try it out on the Lacrosse team."
"You would have been expelled for that," I tell them. I think of Agatha and her teammates and silently thank magic they didn't ever use that spell on them, although Penny probably would have hexed them if they'd tried. That would have been worth seeing.
"Yeah probably," Dev agrees.
"And we couldn't even use it for our eighth year spell," Niall adds, despondent.
"Miss Possibelf wouldn't let us. She said it was juvenile and we wouldn't be able to test it without getting into trouble with the school board. Or the Coven," Dev chuckles. "Even though it was brilliant."
"And Baz was never really into the idea of using it on the Lacrosse team," Niall muses. "Couldn't figure it out then. Makes a hell of a lot of sense now though." He's looking between Baz and me with a stupid grin.
"Yeah, he was obsessed with making your life hell Simon," Dev joins in. "Wasn't really interested in anything else."
"More like obsessed with him," Niall says, tipping his head my way.
Baz shrugs and grins at me. "It's true," he agrees and I feel my face flush even though we've been together for years. Merlin, he can still do that to me with just a look.
We finish dinner and Dev and Niall want to hit the town, so Baz and I head upstairs to shower and change while we leave them with the beers in the kitchen. Baz wants to go clubbing and he proposes that place we went on New Year's Eve but I suggest a local bar instead. I reason that Dev and Niall will agree with me and Baz must know it to be true because he reluctantly puts his suit back in the wardrobe and pulls on a pair of jeans instead.
BAZ
We're at a very French bar not far from our apartment. Simon, Dev and Niall are knocking back the beers while I sip on a rather nice Pol Roger. Judging by the amount of alcohol they've consumed tonight, Dev and Niall are on a mission to get as smashed as possible while they're here, and Simon looks as if he's going to give it a fairly decent go as well. At least it will make for an interesting weekend.
Dev and Niall are entertaining us with tales about their last business trip abroad while Simon and I listen on, trying not to look too sceptical.
I still can't quite forgive these two imbeciles for scaring the shit out of us when they arrived. After that night in Soho, I'm always on the lookout for shifty goblins. They might be as fit as all fuck but they're evil creatures all the same. It's lucky for us they're completely daft as well.
Simon phoned me from the pub that night to tell me he'd cornered one in the men's room. (He cast the old faithful Stand your ground while the goblin took a piss.) At first I thought I hadn't heard him right but he assured me it was the case, so I rang Fiona and she dealt with the handsome devil nice and neat – hardly any mess left by the time I arrived.
No one noticed the goblin (who was posing as a Liberal Arts student) was in the bathroom for an inordinately long time. It wasn't such a stretch through, Liberal Arts students can't hold their liquor at the best of times. Thank Crowley Fiona was in town, Simon was threatening to slice the goblin's head off with the carving knife he'd liberated from the pub's kitchen. He would have done it too, the brave fuck.
Bunce and I warned him about going to pubs in Soho late at night. Uni party or not.
"Oh, forgot to tell you," Dev says after his fifth beer. His eyes are a little glassy and he's swaying ever so slightly. He's also grinning idiotically. "I'm engaged."
He flushes a bright pink and I turn to Niall for confirmation. He nods his head.
Well this is news. I knew Dev and Evangeline have been dating for a few years now but I had no idea they were this serious.
I shake his hand immediately. "Congratulations," I grin, happy that Simon and I can finally get him back for those terrible strippers on our stag night. "Well done Dev."
"Yeah, congratulations," Simon says, shaking his hand just as enthusiastically. He catches my eye and I know he's thinking the exact same thing.
"Yeah, thanks mate," Dev grins and flushes slightly. Niall pats him on his back in a rare show of affection, swaying and grinning just as idiotically. I propose a toast and order another round of drinks.
"Yeah, so Baz?" Dev says, flushing again. "Niall here has agreed to be my best man. But I was wondering if you'd be groomsman?"
I can't help grinning at the request, I definitely wasn't expecting that. "Of course," I answer immediately. I'm pleased he considers me a close enough friend, even if I am a distant cousin. "When is the wedding?"
"Um, well, we haven't set a date yet. . ." Dev trails off.
"They're waiting until Simon here is un-banished," Niall clarifies for him.
"What?" Simon almost chokes on his beer. "Why? What's this got to do with me?" he splutters. I rub his back absently.
"Everyone's doing it," Dev shrugs. He's a little unsteady and his shoulder bumps Niall, who sloshes his beer on the floor. "There hasn't been a magickal wedding since the Coven banished you."
I point my wand stealthily at the floor to clean up the mess. "Really?" I ask, unable to hide my surprise. My family is regularly invited to some magickal wedding or other, either for a distant relative of Father's or Daphne, or someone from the Old Families or even one of Father's business associates. I hadn't noticed the lull in magickal weddings recently, but then it hasn't been my top priority of late.
"Yep," Niall nods. "It's a sort of protest I suppose."
"It is a protest Niall," Dev confirms. "It all started with Huxley Greenhorn's daughter, Hazel. She disagreed with her father's decision to banish Simon here, and vowed she wouldn't get married until Simon was allowed back in the UK."
Simon looks at me and I shrug at him. I had no idea.
"We were at The Headless Goblin one night. That's where we heard it. Apparently Huxley was extremely pissed off about it – felt like a bit of a twit apparently," Niall explains. "Hazel's fiancé Wallace– you remember the Nutt's Baz? Anyway the whole Nutt family are on your side Simon, and Hazel's taken Wal's side so there's been a bit of a family quarrel going on there."
"Then it kind of just snowballed from there, 'scuse the pun Simon, and a whole load of other couples refuse to set a date. Driving their parents mental, they are," Dev says, still chuckling at his stupid pun. "I hear Miss Possibelf's chuffed as – says she hasn't had so many free weekends in years."
"Yeah?" Simon asks, disbelief spreading across his face.
"Yep." Dev nods. "So you need to get un-banished as soon as possible. So. Er. I can get married."
"You mean have the vote rescinded," I correct. I can't help myself. "Un-banished isn't even a word Dev."
"Fucking lawyers." Niall says, shaking his head. "We've decided we like un-banished better."
Dev nods enthusiastically and takes another unsteady guzzle from his beer.
"Well it shouldn't be long," I tell them, ignoring the jibe. "There's hope now with Trixie joining the Coven."
"Yeah, that was a bit of a surprise," Niall says, shaking his head in wonder. "Can't believe you lost to a pixie, Baz."
Simon and I briefly lock eyes before we both turn away; it's no surprise to us seeing as we orchestrated the entire result. I keep my eyes averted, admiring the natural beauty of the French oak bar while Simon stares intently at something just above Niall's left shoulder.
"Unless. . ." Niall says, looking slowly between us. His eyes shift from me to Simon, and I can actually see the moment when the penny drops – when his eyes widen and his mouth drops open, right before he remembers to close it. He shakes his head and grins like a fool. "You sly old dog you," he grins wider.
I feign indifference as I take another sip from my Champagne. Simon's face is completely blank. His tail wraps around my wrist.
Niall is hooting with laughter now, slapping me on my back with one hand while gripping his beer precariously in his other. It spills over his fingers. "I thought you were a bit too quiet after the pixie got in, Baz!"
My face is a mask of indifference. "I don't know what you're talking about," I tell him, keeping my voice flat.
"Always plotting, aren't you?" he chuckles, still shaking his head and smiling stupidly between Simon and me. He shakes out his wet fingers before taking another pull from his beer.
I shrug my shoulders in a Simon like way. I'm not admitting anything to these two imbeciles. Crowley knows who they'd spill the beans to once they've had a few, and I'm not about to waste months of hard work and scheming now, not when we're so close.
"What you on about Niall?" Dev asks drunkenly. He leans heavily onto the bar to steady himself.
"Nothing Dev," Niall chuckles again. He takes another long pull from his beer and then wipes the froth from his top lip with the back of his hand, smiling all the while. He looks between Simon and myself and shakes his head again, still smiling. "Looks like the wedding will be sooner than expected," he says so only I can hear.
I can only hope.
SIMON
I spell my wings and tail invisible before I head downstairs. Baz is whipping up a huge stack of French toast so I start on the eggs and bacon. I get the tea and coffee ready and by the time Dev and Niall finally stumble down the stairs, we have a fairly decent breakfast going, even though it's closer to lunch time.
They don't say much at first, and I suspect they're both hungover. They managed to put a fair amount away last night, we all did, but Baz cast that spell on me and himself before we fell asleep and the two of us woke up good as new.
We eat in comfortable silence, trading friendly insults about yesterday and last night, and it's not until we're on our second pot of tea that I realise, probably for the first time, that I don't actually mind their company. They're completely mental half the time, but they are Baz's friends and they've stuck by him throughout everything; when Baz and I started dating, when we got engaged, when we got married.
And they're sticking by us through all this shite, even knowing that I was the Humdrum and created all this mess. That's got to count for something.
Fuck, what would they think if they knew I had a pair of dragon wings and a tail? And that I can fly?
Yeah, probably best if we don't push the friendship that far.
And now Baz is going to be groomsman for Dev's wedding. I know Baz is chuffed about it – he hasn't stopped smiling since Dev asked him. We talked about it last night, and when I asked Baz what he's going to do if they decide to marry in a church, he said Dev will marry at his parents' house like we were. He said all of the Old Families do that. He said most magickal families in the UK don't get married in churches, because of, you know, the magic and all. Maybe it's just the American mages that do that. I'd have to ask Penny or Micah, or Penny's mum.
I think about the stag night that I'll finally be able to plan for Dev. I'm sure Penny will give me the name of those two stripper blokes . . .
All that's got me thinking about Niall next, so I turn to him. "What about you Niall. Are you seeing anyone?"
Baz puts down his tea and looks over at Niall, curious. Dev starts sniggering and Niall turns a bright shade of red.
I glance between the two of them when neither speak, figuring Baz and I are missing something. "What?"
Niall doesn't say anything but Dev grins at me. "It's a bit of a sore point, mate," He starts to explain but Niall elbows him in the ribs. "Ow."
I catch Baz's eye, his face breaks into a sly grin. I know that look, I've seen it often enough back at school when I'd fucked up some spell or said something particularly stupid. He crosses his arms over his chest and tips his chair back on two legs. "Interesting," he enunciates slowly. He watches Niall squirm. We all do.
"What?" I say again.
Niall looks between the three of us and squirms some more. He averts his eyes and huffs to himself, resigned. "Yeah, there is someone . . . sort of . . ."
"Who?" Baz and I say at the same time.
I catch Baz's eye again and grin at him. Niall shifts uncomfortably in his seat, swallows down some tea and shifts again.
"Well come on, out with it." Baz demands, impatient now. I grin even wider. I'm enjoying Niall's discomfort, probably a lot more than I should be, but who cares – it's bloody refreshing not to have the conversation pointed squarely at me for a change.
Niall avoids our eyes and plays with his napkin, twisting it between his fingers. He takes another sip of his tea and puts it down carefully on the table. He opens his mouth, closes it.
"Niall's got it bad for a Normal," Dev blurts out before Niall can stop him, and Niall stares at him for a moment, disbelieving, before he finally slumps back into his chair, defeated.
Baz is grinning wildly now, obviously pleased to have something new on Niall. I remember when Baz used to get stuck into him about Olivia for a while there – Niall not so secretly harboured a crush on her after meeting her one New Year's Eve. He spent the entire night trying to chat her up, and then at our stag night he tried to impress her with his expansive knowledge of gin. She thought he was an idiot, but mostly harmless. But Baz was relentless about it – poking and teasing until Niall couldn't take it anymore.
"Is that it?" I frown, feeling a little let down. "Why the big secret?"
They all look at me like I'm not getting it. And maybe I'm not because I honestly can't see what the big deal is, if he likes someone that's his business. I really don't give a toss. I was just trying to make conversation over breakfast because the two of them seemed too hung over to.
"She a Normal, Simon," Dev explains slowly, like I'm some kind of idiot.
I blink at him. "Yeah, so?"
Baz is still balancing on the two back legs of his chair, grinning like this is the best news ever, and I surprise myself by feeling a bit sorry for Niall.
"Mages don't date Normals," Baz explains this time.
"You did," I remind him. Have they all forgotten I was a Normal for two whole years? That didn't stop Baz from dating me.
"That's different," he dismisses with a flick of his wrist, "You were never really a Normal."
And I'm about to argue the point – that I didn't have any trace of magic for an entire two years so I was definitely a Normal, but Dev cuts me off.
"Yeah, and it's not like Niall can take her to the club, or The Headless Goblin for a pint any time soon." Dev says.
I still don't see the problem. I haven't even been to the Headless Goblin and I'm pretty sure neither has Penny or Agatha. And as for the Club, there are plenty of other places to play tennis.
"Or my wedding," Dev continues.
I'm about to argue that point as well, because we had a load of Normals at our wedding, but Niall cuts me off.
"Yeah, and mum and dad won't be too impressed if they ever get wind of it." he adds, staring morosely at the tabletop.
Oh. I always forget about the parents. And anyway, they might surprise him. Look at Baz's dad; he came around after a few years, and I was a Normal and a bloke and the son of his enemy and his own son's arch-nemeses. Surely it doesn't get any more complicated than that? I'm about to tell them this when Dev pipes up again.
"You've already met her Baz, she's the one you danced with that night at the club. That night when you got yourself good and lashed. You remember, Lana?"
Shit a fucking brick.
"What?" I choke out, wiping tea off of my chin, Dev's arm, the table. Nine million people live in London so of course it has to be her. I thought the world of mages was annoyingly small. I spit out half my tea before I manage to swallow the rest down.
Baz slams his chair forward with a thud. "Fucking fuck," he mutters to no one in particular, his face completely ashen.
BAZ
That bloody night is going to haunt me for ever. Is there no end to the humiliation?
SIMON
Dev's eyes shift between us, his brow furrows in confusion. "What?" he asks.
Thankfully Niall is still embarrassed and is steadfastly looking at the table to notice the change in our demeanour.
I look at Baz for help but he's white as a ghost and for once in his life is completely lost for words. Oh shit, I do not want to talk about this with these two. I really, really don't. Baz will never live it down if these two get wind of it.
Of course, I'm assuming Lana hasn't already told them. And even if she hasn't yet, there's nothing to say she won't in the future. Can Baz spell her innocent? Did he spell her innocent? Can mages just go around spelling Normals innocent whenever they feel like it? Why don't I know any of this stuff? Why didn't anyone teach us this stuff back at school? It seems like really important stuff for mages to know. I think I'll ask Penny later.
I decide to play dumb, I usually pretty good at it so it won't be such a stretch.
"Hmm?" I say, waving my wand to clear up my spilled tea and reheat the pot with You're getting warmer. "More tea?" I pour myself another cup and pour one for Baz for good measure. He looks like he needs it.
Dev frowns some more and I realise Baz hasn't answered his question so I whack him on the back of his head with my tail. It seems to wake him from his stupor and he narrows his eyes at me. I flick my eyes over to Dev and he remembers himself.
"I don't recall dancing with anyone specific," he says, as calm and collected as possible. As much as it used to infuriate me, I have to hand it to Baz, he's a bloody good performer. He's almost got me fooled. Merlin, I reckon he's going to be the best fucking barrister around.
Dev grunts out a laugh. "You must have been seriously wasted that night Baz. But c'mon, don't you remember Lana? Tall. Smart. Great dancer–"
"Beautiful," Niall mumbles. "Long brown hair–" He waves his hand around his head.
"Astrophysicist," Dev adds, as if this will help
"Er. No." Baz says, sipping his tea. I notice the cup tremor slightly.
"C'mon Baz. You danced with her for hours. Surely you remember?" Dev pushes. "I seem to recall you telling us to fuck off when we tried to drag you off the dance floor. . ."
It looks like they're not going to let this go so I reckon now is as good a time as any to tear into them for leaving Baz alone that night. It's the least I can do after everything Baz has done for me.
"That's the night you abandoned Baz isn't it?" I growl. "What the fuck where you two thinking? You were supposed to be looking after him. What kind of friends are you?"
They both wince at my words, looking positively mortified and I start to feel sorry for them again. I'm only trying to deflect attention away from Baz not crucify them, but it looks like I get to kill two birds today. I glare at them for good measure.
"Um," Dev starts.
"Er," Niall adds.
"Forget it." I grumble, getting up to clear the table. One of them lets out a loud sigh and I try to hold back a smile as I head to the sink with a few dishes. Baz steps up behind me and waves his wand to clear up. His cleaning spells are loads more effective than mine.
"So, what shall we do today?" Baz says, changing the subject as smooth as ever. "Whatever it is, we'd better get moving."
Niall looks up, relieved that we've moved on, and starts rattling off a list of things he wants to do. Baz throws in a few suggestions, the Tour Eiffel, a bistro we've been planning to try over on Canal St. Martin, and another bar we passed but didn't go into recently that had a huge selection of wines, and Dev and Niall get side-tracked on a long winded discussion on the merits of French Merlot over Spanish, which is stupid because even though I know shit about wine, even I know Merlot comes from right here in France.
I lean up against the counter and cross my arms and try to look interested, which is difficult because they're talking shit. Baz slides up next to me and presses his shoulder against mine in silent thanks. I press back.