Mad About You

by Alyssa Dean

  His entire body shuddered. "Oh, babe," he groaned. "I sure hope you're right." He turned to Dan, and quickly explained what he had in mind. "Faye says you have a better chance of survival if you stay on the ground. Will you take her and—"

  "I'm not going!" Faye insisted. "I am staying here with you. An Ayaldwode stays with her Wizard, remember? Besides, it won't make any…"

  Kent turned back to her. "Please," he begged. "Please. I can't concentrate when you're around."

  "Kent…"

  He captured her chin in his palm. "Listen to me, babe. I will not perform my trick unless you go with Dan. Please, just this once, do as I ask. Maybe I can slow it down, or maybe… something will happen. Let me believe I'm getting you out of this alive. Please?"

  Faye read the determination in his face and regretfully nodded. "If that's what you want."

  "It is." He held out his hand toward Dan. "Drive like hell, okay?" Dan took his hand, and Kent took an abrupt step forward, giving his counselor a brief man-to-man hug. "I'd better see you later," he said as he stepped out of the embrace.

  "You'll see me, kid," Dan growled. "You've never let me down before and this is a hell of a time to start." They exchanged a long, meaningful look, then Kent turned to Faye and folded her into him. She felt his body trembling, felt the outpouring of his emotion, even though he was silent. He gave her a too-brief kiss and moved away.

  "You are a Wizard, Kent," she assured him. "You can do this."

  "We're about to find out." He turned, striding with long, determined steps toward the pond.

  Faye turned to Dan. "Mr. Stuart, I—"

  "We'll just go a little ways up the road to give the kid some space," Dan interrupted kindly. "I don't want to miss it, either."

  The clouds in the sky were reflected in the still, opaque water, their bright pink-and-orange glow an ominous warning that time was running out. He had maybe five minutes, Kent calculated. Five minutes before the top of the sun crept over the horizon. Five minutes before ultraviolet rays hit this pond. Five minutes before he, and two people very dear to him were destroyed—not to mention an entire town, and maybe a lot more. Lord, he wished he'd tried something like this before so he had some idea about the outcome.

  He transmitted one last, fond thought to his sister, and felt her comforting support settle into his mind. She wasn't quite sure what was going on, but she had every confidence in his ability to survive. He kicked off his boots, almost grinning. He took a breath, then another, and turned his attention to the water.

  He couldn't picture Mozelle, or the chemicals he was attempting to extract, but perhaps touching it would be just as useful. He took a tentative step into the murky pond, ignored the coldness of the water; and took another step, wading toward the center, pushing his hands down into it. Then he focused on the surface, on the rippling circles that signaled the presence of Mozelle.

  The forest around him hushed to perfect stillness, as if every being there were holding a collective breath, waiting, hoping…

  He pushed every other thought away, took a strong, mental photograph of the water in front of him, and the circles on top. Then he closed his eyelids and pictured those circles coming toward him, floating toward him, until he was surrounded by them, until the rest of the water was as clear and uninteresting as it must have been before.

  "You are a Wizard," Faye had assured him. "You can do this."

  He could feel the energy leaving him, the cold, clear tingling it left behind, and even the faint headache that accompanied it. Yet, when he opened his eyes, nothing seemed to be happening. The circles of water that signaled Mozelle remained.

  Then, very, very faintly, almost as if he were imagining it, the pattern on the surface of the water began to change, forming a second figure, an almost skinlike parabola. It formed and reformed, and reformed again, swelling before him. The forest whispered a breath, the sun heaved itself over the horizon, Kent threw up his arms and a milky smog rose around him, an almost-living sphere. "Wow!" he muttered. He let out the breath he had been holding, and carefully arranged for the bubble to float away from him, over the weeds and grasses of the shore, and finally to the ground. He took a gasp of air, glanced up at the sky, and froze.

  The sun was above the horizon now, its full spectrum striking the pond and reflecting brightly into his eyes. He'd be the first to know, Kent realized. If Faye had been wrong about Mozelle, if his little trick hadn't worked, he'd be the first victim of Mozelle. For Faye's sake, as well as his own, he hoped that wasn't what was going to happen. He remained there, his dark figure a shadow in the water, waiting for the verdict.

  It was actually quite spectacular, and, under other circumstances, he might have been more appreciative of it. As the sun touched the water, each individual molecule seemed to ignite, moving upward, joining with others, forming a perfect mirror image of the pond, an image interrupted only by his presence. It hovered in the air and swayed gently with the slight breeze. One blink of an eye later, it was everywhere, blanketing the forest, the sky, all the world he could see, with a thick milky coating, leaving Kent standing in the murky pond, cold, wet, and very much alive.

  Then it vanished. A car roared down the road. A lithe pixie figure leapt out of it and danced toward him, clapping her hands, while the forest around her chattered with relief. "I knew you could," she called as he waded back to shore. "I knew it! You see! You really are a Wizard, Kent! You really are!"

  Chapter Twelve

  "That's… very kind of you," Faye murmured. She tried to swallow away the threatening tears as she blinked at the two short, rather plump gentlemen gathered around her.

  One patted her shoulder consolingly. "I know it isn't going to be easy, Miss Merline, but it really is the best thing for you to do."

  "I—I know," Faye stuttered. "I knew when I broke into the Sharade labs that it would come to this." She wiped her eyes with a finger, and glanced over her shoulder. There was quite a crowd gathered at the bottom of the path leading to her place. There were two or three officials from the government, the two WEA men, several people from Neverdale who'd come out to see what was going on, and Kent and Dan. Two of the officials were in the process of loading the Alchemist and his companions into cars.

  "It does work," Collingswood was insisting. "I know it does. I don't know what happened. I…"

  His blond henchman turned his back without speaking, led away by one of the officials. Collingswood went right on talking, repeating the same thing over and over. "It must work. It must."

  Faye turned away. Things had happened as she'd anticipated—her Wizard had defeated the Alchemist, and now, it was time…

  She spoke to her companions. "The break-in at Sharade. I did do it. Will there be…"

  Both WEA men shook their heads. "Sharade has agreed to drop all charges," explained one. They glanced at their watches in perfect unison. "We can help you get a few of your things if you like."

  Faye swallowed again. "No. No, that's… uh… not necessary." She gestured toward Kent. "Mr. MacIntyre…"

  The men exchanged a look. "Of course."

  Faye lifted her chin and wandered slowly toward Dan and Kent. They were leaning against Dan's car, watching the officials drive away. Kent was munching macadamia nuts and looking at her. He caught her eye, grinned, then slowly straightened as his smile faded with concern. Faye drew in a sigh. His jeans were wet and filthy, his brown shirt covered by an overlarge gray jacket. His darkly stubbled chin and bruised face added to his bedraggled appearance, but his eyes glittered with power and satisfaction. He was so tremendously attractive, her entire body quivered with longing. This was going to be very, very difficult.

  He put a possessive arm around her. "Hey, babe. Those guys aren't giving you trouble, are they?"

  "No," she whispered. "No, no. I… uh…" She circled his waist with her arm. "Would you come part-way up to my place with me? My forest would like to thank you."

  He eyed the trees warily. "It would, would it? That rea
lly isn't necessary, but I'll certainly come with you. You look about done in."

  Faye swallowed again, and looked up at Dan. "Mr. Stuart, I don't know how to thank…"

  He bowed his head gravely, his gray-eyed gaze meeting hers with wise knowing. "It was an honor," he said, and she knew he meant it.

  "Thank you," Faye whispered. She stood on tiptoe to kiss his cheek, then took Kent's hand and led him into her forest.

  Her forest did indeed want to thank him. The slight breeze pushed aside the canopy of leaves, allowing the sun to stream down and warm him. From around trees, from under bushes, from inside logs, the animals crept out to express their gratitude. A mother deer, her fawn tucked beside her, darted in front of them and stopped to stare. "It really wasn't that big a deal," Kent muttered as she led him along the path.

  "It was so," Faye insisted. "It was their lives, Kent. You saved all this. They will never, ever forget. None of us will."

  "That's… uh… swell," he grunted, but she could tell he was touched. He cleared his throat a couple of times. "Maybe next time I'm walking through this place, they will be kind enough to show me the way, instead of trying to get me lost."

  Faye's heart gave a beat of warning. The moment had arrived. "I won't be here."

  He gave her a puzzled look. "Where will you be?"

  She stopped walking and faced him. "I don't know."

  "What do you mean, you don't know?" His frown deepened. "Where are you…"

  "I don't know, Kent." She took a shudder of a breath. "Those men from WEA… they are going to find me a place."

  "Why?" He motioned up the hill. "You already have a place."

  "Not anymore." She cupped her top teeth over her bottom lip and rubbed her hands together. "I can't stay here," she said softly. "Mozelle is a dangerous thing to know about."

  "Yeah, but…" He thrust his fingers into his hair. "Collingswood is convinced that it's flawed. Besides, he's under arrest. They've got enough charges to hold him for a billion years."

  Faye peered over his shoulder. Not far in front of them, a slight mist was beginning to form, a swirling, beckoning white cloud. "He knows I'm alive."

  "So what?" Kent glanced down the hill. "That blond idiot works for his backer, and his backer will be very, very annoyed when he finds out his investment is not going to pay off. I wouldn't give Collingswood a whole lot of chances of remaining in one piece."

  "I realize that." She put a hand on one of the arms he'd folded across his chest. "There will be others, Kent. Others who would do anything to get their hands on Mozelle, and on the woman who knows its secret." She shook her head. "I don't want to go through this again. It is too dangerous for the world."

  "Not to mention for you," he muttered. "Of course, you wouldn't worry about something like that, would you?"

  She lifted her shoulders.

  Kent took a breath. "So… uh… when are you going?"

  Faye gestured behind him. "Now."

  Kent swiveled his head to look over his shoulder. His shoulders tensed, and when he looked back at her, his dark eyes were wide with alarm. "Just a minute. What the hell is going on here?"

  "I'm going away, Kent. I told you. When our mission is over, I…"

  "Disappear," he completed. "But—" he shook his head "—no. This is ridiculous. You are not going to disappear. The WEA people are taking you someplace. Someplace… real."

  "That's right," she admitted.

  He stroked a shaking hand around his chin. "They can't arrange something like that on the spur of the moment. They'll take you to a safe house or a hotel or something. I can come—"

  "You can not come with me, Kent."

  "Sure, I can. I'll talk to them. They'll…"

  She shook her head and pressed her lips together. "I don't want you to come."

  His mouth dropped open, his hand coining up, a finger held out in schoolmarmish fashion. "That is not true, Faye." He took a step toward her, the heat from his body reaching hers. "You're in love with me. You said so. I heard you, and I was not dreaming!"

  "That's right." A tear slid down her cheek. "I am in love with you, Kent. That's why I don't want you to come with me."

  "This makes zero sense, babe." His arm came up to surround her, to try to pull her to him, but she resisted. "What's wrong?" he demanded. "I don't get it. You don't want it to be over. I don't want it to be over. Why… ?"

  She moved out of his embrace. "I'm an Ayaldwode. You are a Wizard."

  "Of course. I should have known. Another one of these Wizard…"

  "I don't like it, either!" Faye interjected. "And you are right. I don't want it to be over. But sooner or later, it will be over. You're a Wizard. You'll get restless."

  "That doesn't just work one way," he argued. "You could…"

  "No, I couldn't. When an Ayaldwode loves, it is forever. I know that is almost impossible for a Wizard. It isn't your fault. It is just part of a Wizard's nature." She wiped her eyes with a finger. "We both know what will happen. You will get restless and…" She trembled with a sigh. "I couldn't bear to see that happen. I couldn't."

  Kent shifted his weight from foot to foot. "It might not," he muttered, but he didn't sound any more convinced than she was.

  "It will," Faye said sadly. "That is why a Wizard and an Ayaldwode only have a short time together, and why the Ayaldwode must disappear. If she doesn't, she might fall in love with the Wizard, and that will only break her heart."

  He stared at her for a long moment. Then his shoulders dropped into acceptance. "What about this? Isn't this parting breaking your heart? It sure isn't doing mine any good."

  "I can live with this." She touched her tongue to her lips. "You don't want it to end—right now, anyway. And I can… I can take comfort in that."

  He rubbed a palm over his face. "I don't feel all that comforted."

  "It will pass," she assured him. "You'll stop feeling like this in a very little while." She smiled at him, loving him so much she ached with it. "You are a wonderful Wizard, Kent. Thank you so much for coming." She touched his cheek for one last time, feeling a tingling from the contact. "I'll never forget you. Ever."

  She brushed her lips against his, then turned and walked away from him, into the drifting, floating, smoky fog, leaving her Wizard behind.

  One minute she was there, and the next, she was gone, swallowed by the dense mist, leaving him all alone in her forest. Kent stared after her for a long time, stunned by what had just happened. The inevitability of it settled around him like a shroud. He should have known it would come to this. Every single thing she'd said had come to pass. Their time together had been short, she was going to disappear… everything. He couldn't stop it from happening. If he hung around, he'd break her heart. He was lousy at commitment and terrible at "forever." Look what he'd done last time. He didn't want to do that to her.

  He shoved his hands in his pockets and stumbled toward the road, nodding absently at the animals that came to watch. He hadn't expected it to turn out this way. He'd thought he'd have some time, make love to her on a real bed instead of in a cold, dark hut of some sort, listen to her stories, watch her, just… enjoy being with her.

  He pushed aside a bush, and there it was—the place he'd seen her the first time he'd come up here. He sat down in the exact spot he'd sat then, and rested his back against the very same tree. Two brown-and-gray bunnies hopped out to stare at him with sympathetic eyes. They reminded him of her. Everything reminded him of her. He sat there, torturing himself with his memories, feeling worse and worse with each passing second. Avril intruded into his musings and he pushed her impatiently aside. He didn't need Avril right now; he needed Faye. Damn, but he was going to miss her. Already he missed her. Already he felt as if a wound had been opened that would never, ever heal. His chest constricted with a tight, terrible painfulness, and his head started to throb, warning that more pain was imminent. Damn!

  A few minutes later, he heard the sound of heavy footfalls rustling through the underbrush
, a bush waved slightly, and Dan pushed his way into view. "You okay, kid?" he asked.

  Kent squinted up at him. "Been better." Lord, he'd never been worse. His heart was slamming so hard he couldn't breathe, and he could hardly speak around the horrible lump in his throat. He gestured toward the road. "She's… uh… going to be leaving with them."

  "I know," Dan said gently.

  Kent let his head fall back, grateful for the support of the tree. How long was he going to feel like this? If it was more than ten minutes, he wouldn't live through it.

  Dan stood in front of him, hands shoved deep in his pants pockets, jiggling his change. "I sort of thought you two had something going."

  "We did." Kent raised his hands and wiped his face, unsurprised to find it was damp. Man, he was in bad shape. "I'd only break her heart."

  "Now why would you do something like that?"

  "It wouldn't be intentional. It's just… my nature, and she…" He struggled to control his emotion. "She wouldn't be able to handle it."

  "Probably not," Dan agreed. "So don't do it."

  Kent clenched his back teeth. "Some things can't be changed, Dan. You know what I'm like."

  "Thought I did. What do you think you're like?"

  "Restless, easily bored, and difficult to understand," Kent answered promptly. Faye's words. Typical Wizard stuff. "Not good at commitment," he added.

  Dan snorted. "Where did you get a damn fool idea like that? You've got a master's degree. That takes commitment."

  "Not the right kind," Kent grumbled. Faye would be safe with those WEA people, he thought. He hoped they'd find her someplace nice, with her ferns and birds around to keep her happy. Would she find someone else—someone to share her life? He hated that idea; hated it a whole bunch.

  "You've never let me down," Dan went on. "You've been a loyal brother to Avril." He lifted a shoulder. "Sounds like commitment to me."

  "I was also married," Kent reminded him. "Look how that turned out."