The Book of Love by Kelly Link

Author:Kelly Link [Link, Kelly]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781804548431
Publisher: Head of Zeus

THE BOOK OF MO

BEFORE IT WAS quite noon, Thomas again began to talk about leaving, despite Mo’s best efforts at distraction. “Fine,” Mo said. “I’m supposed to meet some friends. You could come if you want?”

Thomas shook his head.

“Okay,” Mo said. “But what about later? I have to get Mr. Anabin a present and I could use some help. It’s apparently part of our magical education. Finding something for his birthday. Any idea what he’s into?”

“I know Anabin no better than you,” Thomas said, “though it is true I have known him longer. But he has been your teacher where Malo Mogge has been mine.”

“You must know something,” Mo said.

Thomas thought. He said, “Once he loved Bogomil. And he uses magic sparingly. Bogomil is appetite, but Anabin is an empty cupboard shelf.”

“They do say opposites attract,” Mo said. “He wears T-shirts with corny slogans on them. But that’s super obvious. Maybe an audiobook? Self-help?”

Thomas said nothing, only looked out the window at the snow that was still falling.

“If you were Mr. Anabin, what would you want?” Mo asked, poking his toes into Thomas’s calf.

Thomas didn’t answer. Look at him, and he looked like any moody boy staring out a big window at some pretty snow. But he was unbelievably old. Like, Declaration of Independence old give or take a century. Mo had always been a little fuzzy on historical dates.

Mo went on. “Come on. Pretend it’s your birthday. What do you want? New headphones? A ferret raised since birth by a man named Sylvester? A—”

Thomas kissed him. It was a kiss that said what Thomas wanted was to kiss Mo and keep on kissing him.

“Hey,” Mo said at last. “I get it. You’re really old. You don’t like talking about birthdays. Lots of old people feel the same way.”

“Give me your phone,” Thomas said. When Mo handed it to him, Thomas typed in a number and handed it back. “Should you need me.”

“Couldn’t I summon you magically?” Mo said. “More fun.”

“Harder to share memes and cat GIFs that way,” Thomas said. “Not to mention the whole point of emojis is you may use them to cover up the way you’re feeling. Whereas, if you use magic to summon me, I’m going to know how you’re actually feeling.”

“What was I feeling when I summoned you last night?” Mo said. He had felt powerful. He’d felt like magic.

Thomas was closest to the window and he turned his head away from Mo and looked out again. Every time he did that, Mo wondered if he was expecting something more interesting than snow. Tigers, maybe.

“Desolate,” Thomas said finally. “Alone.”

Mo did not recoil. He remained composed. He smoothed out a small wrinkle in his T-shirt. He said, “My two most attractive qualities. So before that. Why were you spying on me? Why did you stand outside my window?”

Thomas said, “Because Malo Mogge wanted to know about you. You and the others. I do her bidding.”

“Oh, man. Maybe we should be having this conversation via text,” Mo said.

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