11. Falling for the Hot Guy
11
Falling for the Hot Guy
You
Of course you’re not just going to stand there while Mr. Hot Book Guy fights. You’re going to help him!
…Whether he wants that help or not.
Hot Book Guy holds his palms out facing each other and a gust of sudden wind rises from his hands, rushing around the room.
“It’s time to teach you a lesson,” he growls, advancing on Vincentius, holding his palms out and thrusting a blast of wind at him, knocking him back.
Woah . Cool! Hot book dude has wind skills!?
The cuff on your wrist glows in response, growing warmer with each passing second, like his magic use affects it. You rub the warm metal, wondering what will happen if he uses too much.
Is it going to burn you?
Hopefully not.
Big Blue stumbles backward through the dark doorway as restaurant-goers scream behind him, running for the stairs.
“Stay here,” Hot Guy commands, shooting you a look over his shoulder as he ducks out of the room.
The door swings shut with an underwhelming whoosh as he disappears after Big Blue.
Suddenly the bathroom is both pitch black and completely silent. Well—silent aside from the muffled screams coming from beyond.
“ Stay here ,” you repeat to yourself. “He wants me to stay here in the dark bathroom alone? Ha!”
The only light comes from your left wrist where the cuff is glowing brighter by the second.
“No way.” You carefully push open the door, peering around the corner as you whisper to no one in particular, “Don’t worry, Mr. Hot Dude. I’m gonna help you!”
Although…it doesn’t look like Mysterious Hot Guy needs any help.
Actually, he seems to be on top of the situation already.
Literally.
“That all you got?” He calls from where he stands on a table, plates and overturned glasses scattered around his boots as he wields golden whips of wind, dodging bolts of blue energy one after another. “Come at me, you big blue brute!”
Vincentius lets out a monstrous roar, rearing up taller like the taunts are only angering him.
Maybe angering the big blue lightning monster isn’t really the best idea, but you can’t exactly tell Hot Book Guy that without making yourself a target, so you slink silently between the tables, trying to get somewhere safe that you might be able to help if need be.
Or… you know . Get away. Hey, no shame in trying to stay alive!
Speaking of.
A bolt of blue light cracks as it flashes out inches from your face, leaving a smoking crater in the glossy floor right beside you.
Holy crap. That was close.
“And just where do you think you’re going, little human?” Big Blue snarls, taking two strides toward you before Hot Book Guy throws him back with another gust of wind.
Vincentius turns, advancing on him.
“What’s the matter?” He asks with a sinister grin breaking across his pointed, monstrous jaw. “Don’t like seeing your woman in danger?”
His woman!? What the heck?
“Hey!” You shout before you can remember you’re supposed to be trying not to die, “I don’t belong to anyone.”
So much for survival instinct.
Vincentius snarls a vicious, barking sort of laugh, launching himself across the room to land beside you.
Uh, oh .
You’re supposed to be helping Hot Guy fight, but somehow you seem to have got yourself into danger.
And you have no weapons. Nothing to throw—
Looking around the mess of nearby tables, you grab a half-eaten breadstick, chucking at Big Blue.
It…bounces off.
And drops to the floor with a rather dull plop .
For a moment, both Hot Book Dude and Vincentius stand there frozen, like neither of them believes what you’ve just done.
But only for a moment.
Vincentius shoves off the wall, advancing toward you.
“Say his name!” Hot Book Guy calls, “Say a binding spell! You know his true name, so you have power over him!”
“What!? But I’m not actually a sorceress!” You shout back, “I don’t know how to do that!”
Hot Book Guy lets out an exasperated sigh, blasting Vincentius back with another gust of wind.
But just before it hits, Vincentius grabs your right arm, and you yelp as he drags you back.
“Aha!” Vincentius snarls as he yanks you against him. “What do you say I take your little sorceress outside ?”
Outside!?
You glance over your shoulder as he flings you backward, glass shattering all around. You land, panting, against the rail.
Miraculously, only a few shards of glass sting your skin.
But you’ve got bigger things to worry about.
Higher things.
Because over the edge of the balcony, the parked cars look like toys way down below.
Ohhhhh , holy crapola!
You’re waaaaay up in the sky.
Your head spins, and your breath catches in your throat. It feels like the ground is going to come up to meet you. You sink to your knees despite the mess of shattered glass, crawling back along the edge of the balcony toward a set of yet-unbroken doors.
Glass cuts your knees, but yet again you’ve got bigger things to worry about—bigger, bluer things.
Vincentius slams through the shattered glass, more of it crunching under his boots as he strides up to you. He grabs your neck in one enormous hand and hauls you to your feet.
“Listen up,” Vincentius demands as Hot Book Guy steps through the doorway, golden light swirling around him. “If you want your precious sorceress to stay alive, you have one choice: Forfeit your life!”
You choke as he tightens his grip. A hazy thought slips through your mind as you splutter, trying to stay conscious, grappling in the air behind you for anything you can use as a weapon. But there’s nothing.
He isn’t calling Hot Book Guy by name, you realize. That must mean he doesn’t know his name.
Is Hot Book Guy’s name a secret? Has he told no one?
That would make it kinda romantic if he told you .
Wait—that must just be the lack of oxygen getting to your head.
“Forfeit my life?” Hot Book Guy just laughs. “You clearly think I’m much more attached to this weak little human than I really am.”
Yeah. So much for your little romantic fantasy.
That settles it.
You’re surely about to die.
The world darkens at the edges, but the cuff at your left wrist grows warmer still as whipping wind buffets the balcony, threatening to throw you over the edge.
Just whose side is Hot Guy on!?
For a second there, you’d hoped maybe he was bluffing. Maybe he was trying to trick Vincentius into letting you go.
But, nope.
He really doesn’t seem to care.
“That settles it, then,” Vincentius says, squeezing your neck harder as he lifts you into the air, dangling you over the edge of the railing. “Pity. I had hoped to use this little sorceress for myself. But if you won’t give in, I’ll just destroy the source of your power!”
The source of his power? He’s got it all wrong!
Black spots appear at the edges of your vision.
You stare at Hot Book Guy, hoping maybe he’ll change his mind. Maybe he’ll come to your rescue.
But—to your shock and utter horror—he lets out a low growl, unleashing the torrent of wind gathered around him.
Horror, because although the shock causes Big Blue to loosen his grip, it also sends you plummeting toward the ground.
Now you’re really in trouble!
You can barely catch your breath enough to scream. Your stomach lurches, rising into your throat as you plunge into freefall.
How many seconds before you hit the ground?
But before your early end can come up to meet you, a dark figure leaps from somewhere above, golden light streaming behind him as he dives after you.
Hot Book Guy .
He’s come to save you, after all!
Maybe this was all just part of his plan.
His definitely very stupid plan!!!! Aaaaaaaah!
You scream as you plummet, but he catches you in his arms, leaping off the side of a nearby building as effortlessly as if he’s done this loads of times.
And maybe he has.
But when he glances down at you, he’s not smirking. There’s a look of pure determination narrowing his eyes. And something else there, too.
Something—that looks a lot like concern.
From up above, a blue flash of lightning blasts down at you. Hot Guy dodges, leaping between the adjacent buildings as Vincentius steps up onto the balcony rail high above.
“Hang on tight, human,” Hot Guy says, and before you can figure out what’s happening, he lets go.
You gasp, wrapping your legs around him and clinging on for dear life as he gathers glowing, golden light all around you, flinging a gust of wind up at Vincentius.
It can’t possibly connect, but somehow it does, and Big Blue goes tumbling, letting out an angry yell as he falls. He grabs the bottom of the balcony ledge with his fingertips, but another gust knocks him off and he plummets, crashing into a second balcony several-dozen floors below. The entire building shakes, and a cloud of dust rises as he lands.
You cringe. A victim of his own tricks.
He may be a bad guy, but you didn’t expect to see anyone actually die today.
Then again. He might not actually be dead.
He doesn’t seem like the type to let a multi-story fall take him out.
“ Bastard ,” Hot Book Guy mutters under his breath as he leaps through the air, your head still spinning from the height as he jumps from window ledge to window ledge until at last he lands on the lovely, amazing, beautiful, very solid concrete sidewalk that you will never, ever take for granted again.
“Better be more careful from now on,” Hot Book Guy mutters, glancing up at the empty, foggy sky. And you’re not sure if he’s talking to himself, or to you. “I’m sure that’s not the last we’ll be seeing of him.”
So maybe Vincentius really isn’t dead, then.
“Can you stand?” Hot Guy asks, glancing down at you in his arms.
“Yes,” you say, but your voice shakes as you gasp, “You’re a wind mage!”
Mage . That word comes out, but the truth is, you don’t know what to call it.
He only laughs. “You could call me that, I suppose.”
Slowly, he sets you on your feet. You smooth the skirt of your little black dress, wobbling in your strappy high heels.
In the distance, sirens wail from all sides, screeching around the corner toward the crowd of terrified civilians streaming into the street, many with phones out like they’re filming.
Uh, oh.
“Hey.” You glance at Hot Book Guy. “We’d better get out of here, unless you’re prepared to answer a lot of uncomfortable questions!”
You grab his hand, dragging him behind you as you break into a sprint. But you barely make it to the end of the block before a gust of wind rushes around you and he scoops you back into his arms.