Mad About You

by Alyssa Dean

  On the other hand, he could be working for the Alchemist. He did have a rather sinister-looking face, and he had been knocked out by her potions. Then again, the long-sleep powder had only worked on him once. Did that mean the Alchemist had an antidote for it, or did it mean Kent now had the special immunity of a Wizard?

  It would be wonderful if he was the one. She already liked him, and she already thought he was terribly attractive. He was a slightly built man, not heavily muscled, but lean and light on his feet. She liked the way he traveled through her forest, choosing his steps with care, not crushing flowers, not stomping; acting like the visitor he was, instead of an invader.

  She watched him for some time, uncertain how to proceed; too nervous to get close, too frightened to let him far out of her sight. Finally he sat down, leaned against a tree, and closed his eyes. Faye decided she was simply going to have to knock him out. He was much too close to her place, and there was too much at stake for her to take a chance on him. Maybe he was on her side—if so, he'd find some other way of contacting her.

  She crept close, spray in hand, and knelt before him, forcing herself to do this. She didn't want to—she hated the idea of leaving him asleep out here in the cold dampness of early evening. It would be dark when he woke up, too dark for him to locate her place. He'd be forced to go back to wherever he came from. She might never see him again.

  As she hesitated, his eyes popped open. The unexpectedness of it made her pause. He lunged forward, gripping her wrists, squeezing until the pressure of his fingers forced her to drop the atomizer. She stared down at it, then back up at him.

  "Let's not do that again," he told her, his voice hinting at a smile. "Our dates are becoming so predictable."

  Faye took a trembling breath. "Wh-what are you doing here?"

  "Looking for you." Kent held her wrists firmly, while his gaze flitted up and down her body.

  Faye shivered under his scrutiny, wishing she knew whose side he was on. "Wh-what do you want?"

  "What do I want?" His voice rose slightly. "I want to take you back to Denver, and get me off the hook for breaking and entering, attempted burglary, and Lord knows what else." He took a breath and his tone softened. "I also want a few answers."

  "A-answers?" Faye stuttered. It was damp out here, she was getting cold kneeling on the ground, and the pressure of his fingers was uncomfortably hard. Her physical discomforts were nothing compared to the agony in her mind as it raced in circles, searching for a way of escape. She didn't dare tell him anything—not while she didn't know whether or not he was the one.

  "We won't talk about it out here," he decided. "We must be close to your place. We'll go there. You can change into something a bit more suitable for traveling." He tilted his head to one side, his slight smile showing his dimple. "I'm not going to molest you, if that's what you're so frightened about."

  "It—it's not," she murmured. She hadn't even considered that possibility.

  "Good." He transferred her wrists so they were held by one hand. "Don't try anything stupid, okay?"

  She nodded mutely.

  He pursed his lips, blowing out a sigh. "Okay, then, Tinker Bell, let's make tracks for Never-Never Land." As he went to stand up, his grip loosened. Faye gave a wrenching pull, freeing a hand. Before he could react, she snatched up the atomizer and sprayed it into his face.

  He let out a yell when the vapor hit him, then he launched his entire body at her, catching her off guard, knocking her backward. He tore the atomizer from her grasp and straddled her, clenching her waist between his hard thighs and holding her hands above her head with one of his.

  Although his actions startled her, she was too excited to be worried. She stared up at him, delighted. There was no reason for her potion not to work—he must have some magic of his own.

  Kent didn't appear to be at all pleased. His entire face contorted, his eyes becoming thin cold slats of darkness, eyebrows huddled around them, and his mouth turned down at the corners. "You are never, ever going to pull that trick on me again!" he snarled.

  "I won't." Faye smiled a huge, happy smile, not at all concerned about the precariousness of her position. He wouldn't hurt her; he was on her side.

  "You sure as hell won't!" He glared at the atomizer, now resting among a pile of leaves beside his knee. It made an unusual popping sound, then collapsed into millions of fragments, the vapor escaping harmlessly into the atmosphere.

  Faye stared down at it, then up at him. "You should have told me who you were," she admonished. "Of course, I probably wouldn't have believed you, so I would have had to—" She stopped talking as his right hand began to touch her body, first checking her necklace, then traveling along her arms, and back down her torso, causing a myriad of pleasant, unfamiliar sensations. "Wh-what are you doing," she stammered around her suddenly dry mouth.

  "Making sure you don't have any more of that stuff on you."

  "I don't," she assured him.

  "I don't believe you." He twisted sideways, checking every inch of her.

  By the time he'd finished, Faye was totally enamored with the responses his exploring had created. She made no effort to get away, and instead lay passively on the ground, her eyes closed, smiling to herself.

  "Stop it!" he growled. "It won't work on me, and it looks bloody ridiculous on you!"

  Faye opened her eyes. "What do you mean?"

  "I mean there's no point in trying to look… alluring."

  "Alluring." Faye rolled the word around on her tongue. "I'm not trying—Oh, oh!" As she spoke he slid to one side and rolled her onto her stomach, wrenching her arms behind her back. Her dress bunched up to her waist. He gave a furious exclamation and yanked it down. "If your lack of underwear was for my benefit, it was a wasted effort!"

  Faye's euphoria dissipated as she felt his anger surround her, chilling her, frightening her. She gasped in a breath. "What are you doing?"

  His voice wasn't at all friendly. "Taping your hands together."

  "Wh-why?"

  "Because I don't want to be knocked out cold and left in these woods overnight. Wasn't that your plan?"

  Faye's eyes filled with tears as his grip became painful. Her face was pressed down into the dirt and leaves, and her light dress gave no protection from the dampness of the ground. She was wrong! He wasn't the Wizard, after all! Her entire body began to tremble at the implications.

  "I'd probably die of exposure if I spent the night out here in this weather!" He picked up his backpack, stood and hauled her unsteadily to her feet. "Was that the idea?"

  "N-no." Faye leaned against him for a moment to get her balance. He mustn't have liked it. He took a quick step sideways, and she half fell against the tree. It resisted her weight, and she staggered back.

  "I bet!" Kent grabbed her arm. "Let's go." He turned in the direction he'd come from, practically dragging her with him.

  "Where are we going?" she whispered.

  "Denver."

  "D-Denver? But I can't go like this. I—"

  "You should have thought of that before you attacked me. Now you can bloody well freeze!"

  "I—I'm sorry. I had to. You see—"

  "You had to, did you?" His top lip curled up. "Well, I have to take you back to Denver." He paused, his snarl widening. "Where I will personally hand you over to Mr. Joseph Collingswood."

  Faye stopped dead, certain all the blood in her body was draining to her feet. Her heart jumped around in her chest, and breathing hurt. "You can't do that," she gasped. "H-he'll…"

  "Cut out the frightened, helpless act!" Kent commanded. "I'm not falling for it again." He put a hand on her back and shoved. "You lead the way. I want to keep both eyes on you!"

  Faye stumbled along on shaky legs, ashamed of her easy capitulation. She should put up a fight of some sort, she should do something. If only she wasn't such a coward! That's what she was—a total coward. She'd vowed to be brave this time, but she hadn't been. Maybe if she'd known he was the enemy, she would have b
een better prepared. Unwanted tears slid out of her eyes, blurring her vision. She blinked them away as best she could. It was difficult enough to be forced along like this, her arms bent behind her, while he breathed in short angry pants that increased her fright with each sound.

  Now the forest was silent and the wispy fog billowed up around their ankles, almost to their knees. They walked for another five minutes before Faye risked a glance over her shoulder. Kent stared straight ahead, his face faintly flushed, his eyes malevolent blackness in his dark, Satanic face.

  Faye shuddered and whisked her head around, too late to see where her feet were going. A tree root snatched at her ankles. Before she smashed onto the ground, his arm was around her waist, holding her upright. "We'll never get out of here at this rate!" he snapped.

  Faye turned to face him, her eyes widening as he pulled a knife from his pocket. She took one glance at the flash of steel, gave a terrorized whimper, and backed away, her retreat halted by a huge lodgepole pine.

  Kent followed her gaze down to the knife, then looked up at her, appearing even more enraged. "What the hell do you think I'm going to do?" he shouted.

  He moved one step toward her, then another. Her legs stopped providing support and she sank to the ground, bowing her head so her chin touched her chest, then completely fell apart. This was all so terrible. He wasn't the one she'd expected. He worked for the others. He'd drag her back to Denver, and turn her over to Collingswood. She knew exactly what would happen there. They'd demand the formula, and, when she refused to give it to them, they'd hurt her ever so badly. A vision rose in her mind of a similar scene, played out years ago. In spite of herself, she got caught up in it, her mouth opening and closing, her body trembling in silent, total terror.

  "Oh, for Pete's sake!" He attempted to pull her up, but, although she didn't resist, she didn't make any effort to help. He let her sink back down to the ground, then knelt beside her. She cowered away from him, trying to make herself as small as possible. He put a hand on her shoulder and she jerked as if he'd burned her, twisting away, attempting to avoid looking at him as well as escape the horrific images flitting in and out of her consciousness. It didn't work. Scenes of another time returned with such intensity, they almost blocked him out. His hand cupped her chin, forcing her to face him. When she did, his features faded into the landscape of her mind, intermingling with the shadows there.

  He swore quietly to himself. "Whatever you're expecting isn't going to happen." His voice softened. "Don't look at me like that, damn it. I'm not going to use this thing on you."

  She released little murmurs of fright, wrenching her chin from his grasp. "It—it won't work," she told him, her words punctuated with frantic gasps for air. "I—I won't tell you. No matter what you do to me I won't tell you. You might as well kill me here, because I'll never, ever, tell."

  His face paled to off-gray. "Kill you? I'm not going to kill you." He heaved a huge sigh, and lifted the knife. Faye attempted to crawl away from him into the cover of the bushes. He caught her arm, and his voice softened to soothing. "It's okay. I'm not going to hurt you. I swear I'm not. I just want to undo your hands."

  She peeked at him from under her lashes, shuddered, and squeezed her eyelids tight, convinced he was tricking her; he was going to do something terrible to her, right out here in her forest.

  "Keep still!" he ordered.

  She couldn't; she was trembling too hard. He bent her forward against his chest, and leaned over her shoulder. A second later she felt the cold blade against the inside of her wrist. She bit her lip, tensing, trying to prepare herself. She wouldn't tell… She wouldn't tell… She…

  The tape loosened and ripped, freeing her wrists. Faye released an astonished whimper, dragged her cramped arms around, and buried her face in her hands, weeping helplessly into them.

  "Damn!" Kent grumbled. He sat, resting his back against the tree beside them. "I didn't hurt you," he said in an aggravated tone. "At least, I didn't intend to. On the other hand, you've knocked me out—twice, in fact—and were quite prepared to do it again. You've also managed to frame me for grand larceny and convince the police I'm out of my mind. How come I'm the one who feels like Captain Hook?"

  "I don't know," Faye said, weeping. "He—he was so much nicer."

  "You flatter me," Kent replied with a sneer.

  Faye risked a peek over her fingers. Kent's face had relaxed somewhat, although traces of that cold fury remained. She covered her eyes, quivering. There was a rustling sound, then something warm over her shoulders—his leather jacket, traces of his body heat captured inside, lingerings of his faintly exotic scent. She tried to shrug it off.

  Kent groaned. "You'd rather freeze, wouldn't you?" He shifted closer, dragged her stiffly resisting body onto his lap, and wrapped his arms around her. "It's okay," he soothed. "It's okay. Calm down, now. No one's going to hurt you. It's okay." One of his hands began gently stroking her back as if she were a kitten, while he repeated the same words, over and over. "It's okay. Calm down, now. It's okay." After a few minutes, she gave up and relaxed into him, fighting to control herself. "You can stop crying now," he said tiredly. "If this is an act, you've sure convinced me."

  She lifted her head from the nest of his shoulder to gasp a faint, "I'm… trying," before nestling back down. For about fifteen minutes they sat quietly, while Kent methodically stroked her until her terror abated.

  He finally broke the silence. "I shouldn't have lost my temper," he admitted. "I'm usually a pretty calm person. I'm sure you find that hard to believe, but it's true. I certainly don't go around brutalizing pixies, or at least, I haven't before."

  She felt his breath against her hair, while her ear, pressed against his chest, recorded steady, even heartbeats.

  "You're still shaking," he said remorsefully. "You poor little thing, you're cold and wet and scared out of your mind." He patted her shoulder. "I'm not going to turn you over to Collingswood. I don't like him either. I wouldn't give him a dead cat, much less Tinker Bell."

  She sighed with relief, gave one last shudder of a sob, and wiped her eyes with her fingers.

  "That's better," he encouraged. He caught her hand, fingering the tape's red imprint on the pale skin of her wrists, his light touch sending tingles of awareness up her arm. "Will it bruise?"

  She shook her head.

  He dropped her hand. "Good. I didn't mean to frighten you like this. I just didn't want you to knock me out again."

  She took a quick look at his face. Without the rage he was quite sweet looking, his dark eyes wide with anguished apology, his frown one of puzzlement. "I had to," she whispered. "I didn't know who you were."

  "I'm Kent MacIntyre. I thought you might remember me."

  She shook her head. "That's not what I mean. I didn't know you were the Wizard."

  "Who's the Wizard?"

  "A powerful magician," she explained. "He and I are going to fight the Alchemist."

  "Ah." He shrugged a shoulder. "Sorry, I'm no Wizard, and I don't know any Alchemists."

  She eyed him uncertainly. "You must be," she insisted. "The atomizer—"

  "A stupid parlor trick," he interrupted. His cheekbones, under his tan, reddened.

  "And my sleep spray didn't work on you."

  "Not this time." He winced. "It did manage to give me a dreadful headache, though."

  "Oh," said Faye. "I-I'm sorry."

  "So am I," he agreed. "That's part of the reason I lost my temper, I guess, although I don't consider it a particularly good excuse." He sighed and shifted her off him onto the ground, wiping the last trace of moisture from her face with his thumb. "Are you okay now? Hmm?"

  "Y-yes." She'd stopped trembling, although her breathing quivered the tiniest bit.

  "If it's any consolation, I feel absolutely terrible. I've never seen anyone so terrified before." He shivered and rubbed his arms. "I hope I never do again."

  The anguish on his face and in his voice persuaded her more than his words. She s
tudied him, considering all the evidence. "Are you sure you aren't the Wizard?"

  "I'm positive."

  "Maybe you just don't want to tell me," she suggested. "Wizards like secrets."

  "Wizards like secrets, do they? What are you, some sort of Wizard expert?"

  "Sort of, I guess."

  "I see." He buried his smile in the palm of a hand. "Exactly how many Wizards have you met?"

  It was such a silly question, she had to laugh. The sound tinkled through the forest, somehow dispelling the gloom of the early evening. "None!" she gurgled. "There's not a whole bunch of them, you know."

  "But one's going to show up soon?"

  "That's right," she said, nodding. "I've been waiting for him."

  "I'm afraid you'll have to keep on waiting, babe." He shook his head. "You don't live in the same world as the rest of us, do you? You'd probably get off the burglary charge by claiming temporary reality confusion." He sighed regretfully. "It's academic, anyway. I'm not capable of turning you over to the police."

  "You aren't?"

  "Unfortunately for me, no. Ah, well, the evidence against me is only circumstantial. Besides, I can always hot-foot it across to Canada and hope they don't extradite me. If worse comes to worst, perhaps prison is more fun than they let on." He passed a hand across his forehead. "I'll tell you what. You satisfy my curiosity about all this, and I'll forget I ever saw you."

  "Really? You'd really do that?"

  "Yes, I would." He turned his head from side to side and massaged a temple. "I'm probably being an idiot, but it won't be the first time I've been a sucker for a pretty face." His smile was forced and painful.

  "Have you ever tried eating nuts?" Faye asked.

  His jaw dropped. "Pardon me?"

  "Nuts," she repeated. "Some Wizards have a problem with headaches. They have to eat nuts to counteract them. Peanuts work, but I believe macadamia nuts are best."

  "Oh," said Kent faintly. He drew in a gasp as, for no particular reason, Faye slid her fingers into the pocket of his jacket, still resting on her shoulders.