Chapter 4 - Pick Your Poison
Leaning against the windowsill, I clanged on the metal pipe with the hilt of my pocket dagger. With the brass pipework wound all throughout the innards of the building, the banging echoed like a bell, ringing throughout the entire structure of the clock tower. There was no way she could have missed hearing it.
Even as hurried footsteps shuffling from beneath the floor indicated that Allie was coming up, I didn’t stop. Even as I noted the top of her head gradually emerging from the winding staircase, I didn’t stop.
When her eyes met mine, they were already wide with mock incredulity and expectation, and as if an unspoken act of protest, her walking slowed. The damn girl took her sweet, bloody time coming up, finally stopping to stand at the top of the staircase.
I stopped clanging on the pipe, sheathing the dagger back in its hilt at my hip.
Allie paused for another beat. Stuffing her hands in her lab coat pockets, her eyes dull, her tone as deadpan as ever, she finally spoke, “Oh. My. God. What?”
Resisting the urge to roll my eyes again, I gave the table by the window a careless wave.
“Supper.”
Allie’s eyes slid over and ever so slightly widened upon noticing the little round table draped in a rich, deep velvet cloth. A copper contraption sitting upon it emitted a soft whirring to keep the tea kettle steaming hot. Edison-bulb candles on golden candlesticks matched the polished brass cutlery and delicate clockwork-themed China. A pyramid of profiteroles and caramel-glazed cream puffs was surrounded by a delectable selection of cured meats, cheeses, dried and fresh fruit, and flowers. Long-stemmed crystal glasses gleamed underneath the glowing ball of witchlight hovering above the table, lending the corner a bit of cozy elegance.
She blinked a few times, half in astonishment, half still in suspicion. “What’s all this?” Her eyebrow quirked up. “Is this…you apologizing to me?”
I retched in my head. “Don’t be ridiculous. I just thought it might be…beneficial for us to…” I chose my words carefully, “share this meal tonight.”
Down by my hip where Allie couldn’t possibly see or notice, I curled my fingers ever so subtly, and the air thickened with the faintest yellow haze.
My spell was giving off enough pheromones to seduce any living being across my entire desert. A mole rat five miles away would have been tickled pink.
Allie tilted her head ever so slightly to regard me with a look.
Clenching my jaw, I watched for the telltale signs of her succumbing to my spell.
Her eyes didn’t dilate. She didn’t throw herself at my feet. She didn’t move closer. She didn’t do anything.
Those big hazel eyes merely narrowed. “What are you looking at me like that for?”
Perfectly frustrated, I released the breath I’d been holding.
Dammit. That was usually all it took. One look. One smile.
A corner of her mouth turned down in displeasure. “Look, I can take my meals downstairs on my little tray like the unwilling prisoner I clearly am.” Allie whirled around to head back downstairs.
I called out, “Wait.”
She paused in mid-turn, her eyes expectant. “What?”
I dropped my gaze. I was going to have to try a different tack.
Adopting a hesitant, diffident manner, I started again. “Hey. Look. You’re right.” I ran one hand through my hair. “The reason I asked you to dinner was to apologize to you. I am…sorry about what I said,” I conceded, whilst crossing my fingers in my head.
Allie seemed to consider my words for a moment. “Well, I appreciate that.” She cast the food another glance. “I suppose this does look lovely and you did go through all that trouble…”
I didn’t comment. It only took a snap of my fingers but she could think whatever she wanted.
I sat down and gestured my arm for her to take the other seat.
Allie crossed the floor and sat down. Her eyes roved over the food, widening slightly again at the chocolate-covered pastries in particular. “I…this is all so…” Her eyes glowed when she looked up at me again. “This looks wonderful.”
I’ll bet. I sniffed inwardly.
The evening’s spread was certainly a far cry from her daily rations of food that I’d been sending down.
I rarely ate this well myself. I certainly didn’t need it fancy.
Leaning forward, I held her gaze solemnly. “I’m glad you like it,” I said, using the deepest, most sultry voice I could muster through my annoyance.
Allie’s smile remained reasonably pleasant. Her demeanor didn’t change whatsoever.
For god’s sake, wasn’t I having any effect on her at all?
I had the sudden urge to flip the table over.
Instead, I clenched my jaw and reached for the liquor.
“Oh, here, let me.” She jumped to offer, reaching over to pour two goblets of wine. Shifting in the padded, wrought-iron chair, she pursed her lips, remorse lacing her features. “I suppose I haven’t really thanked you yet for rescuing me from the frozen wasteland, saving me from an icy death.”
“I didn’t rescue you,” I corrected.
She flinched a little at my abruptness. “Alright. Then again I suppose you didn’t strike me as the type.”
Huffing, I reached for my wine to take a sip.
“I think I’ve hardly even seen you leave this tower in the last three weeks,” she mused, almost to herself. “Lounging about and drinking at your desk or cavorting with what I’m assuming is the local color. I guess you like to lead a dull, quiet, bachelor’s life.”
I turned a steely-eyed glare her way. She had no idea what the hell she was talking about. “For your information, I am the Queen of Hearts’s most notorious assassin.”
Her eyebrows rose, the look she gave me in response was nothing short of mocking. As if she was trying not to laugh.
I couldn’t help narrowing my eyes. “I’m not making a joke. I am the most powerful sorcerer in Wünder.”
She took a nonchalant bite of her food. “Sure.”
I checked my urge to seethe in frustration. It didn’t really matter what she believed. Why was I letting myself be bothered by it so much?
I took another big gulp of my wine.
Allie peered at the flaky pastry in her hand as if it piqued her interest more than I did.
Dammit.
The spell still wasn’t working.
I had to up the ante a bit more.
“Would you like some more wine?” I grabbed her half-filled goblet in a hurried manner, and sure enough, I spilled some on my white shirt. “Oh.”
Glancing up at me, Allie blinked in surprise, the spoonful of custard halfway up to her mouth.
“Sorry.” Feigning displeasure, I stood up and began to unbutton my shirt.
Catching sight of myself in the reflection of the glassed-in exposed clockwork mechanism that made up the wall panel across the way, I almost smirked in triumph.
As to be expected, the nature of my work kept me in shape. The toned, taut muscles on my arms rippled as I shrugged off my shirt altogether. The dim lighting in my loft cast shadows across the contours of my well-defined chest and abdomen. One of my regular companions often gushed over what she called my ‘sculpted physique’. I had a few scars here and there but certainly, the ladies had had no complaints.
Allie loaded a forkful of salad greens like absolutely nothing out of the ordinary was going on.
Was she totally blind?
Oh, for the love of—
Glaring at her, I sat back down, still shirtless.
I couldn’t believe this was even happening.
This girl should be so incredibly, uncomfortably aroused by now. She should be wrapped around my pinky finger and begging to do me favors, begging to climb me.
With another brief look up at me and her mouth full of food, Allie mumbled, “Aren’t you going to put another shirt on?”
My entire face suffused with heat. Though I wasn’t sure if it was from embarrassment or insult. This was absolutely unprecedented.
Outside, a cacophony of faint howling echoed across the landscape of my desert. Every other living creature in the vicinity was no doubt having a time of it, having been triggered in serious heat from my spell.
Allie pushed a piece of tomato off to the side of her plate and began to pick out more of the mushy fruit from her meal as though it was a wretched thing.
Suddenly feeling drained, I swallowed hard.
For some reason, I couldn’t catch my breath. My throat was itchy. My skin clammy and hot. What in the actual hell was going on?
My head spun. I almost lost my balance, tipping to one side in my seat.
Allie watched me with wary, wide eyes. “Whoa. What’s going on with you, big guy?”
Something was definitely, seriously wrong… But I couldn’t quite pin it down. What was it?
Was I more fatigued than I realized from the lack of sleep and the strain of the rescue earlier today? Perhaps traveling all the way back from Tulgey Woods without teleporting expended a lot of my magic.
I felt weak. Feverish.
Allie tilted her head to regard me with a look. “Oh, hey, are you sick?”
I dropped my gaze in concern.
Could it be that because of the looming countdown, my mystical core was draining easier and I had become more susceptible to mortal nuisances such as being sick?
I rebelled at the thought. “I have never been sick before in my entire life.”
She pursed her lips. “Maybe you caught a cold. I told you to put a shirt on. It’s freezing in here,” she noted with a gesture around us.
I stood again but I couldn’t stay standing upright. I had an incredible undeniable urge to shut my eyes. I swayed on my feet.
“Oh, shoot.” Allie stood to catch me before I toppled over. With a roll of her eyes, she groaned in seeming resignation. “Fine, jeez, come on. Let’s get you to bed. Looks like you need to have a little nap.”
“I do not need a ‘little nap’. I am—,” I halted, almost slurring, “the most powerful sorcerer in Wünder.”
Her tone was wan. “Yes, of course. Sure, you are. Now, give me your arm so I can help you walk.”
I frowned. She was so exasperating. I wanted to muffle that smart mouth, possibly with a pillow. But no, I wouldn’t just kill her. I would disassemble her piece by piece, feed her to the desert wolves, burn the leftover scraps…
“Ugh. God! How heavy are you?” Whining, she slung my arm around her shoulders.
Her bare neck was cool against my hot skin and I hissed under my breath.
“Whoa, hey, you’re—you’re actually burning up. It feels like—like you’ve got a real fever.” Glancing to one side, she mumbled, “That’s not supposed to happen.”
“What?” I jerked to straighten up, the inklings of suspicion settling in. “What the hell is that supposed to mean? What have you done to me?”
Allie’s gaze strayed over to my goblet of wine.
Oh, what the actual crap—
My eyes widened in fury. “Just what in the hell did you put in my drink?”
She threw her hands up awkwardly while at the same time trying to keep me upright. “I—I found some belladonna in the woods. I just wanted to put you to sleep so I can get the hell out of here. How was I supposed to know the herb would react badly with whatever you are?”
I clutched at my stomach. “Belladonna? Do you mean deadly nightshade?”
Her face fell. “Oh my god, are you dying?”
Before I could turn another exasperated glare onto her, the front door creaking open grabbed my attention.
Chez sauntered through with a confident pronouncement in the lilt of his tone. “The wildlings in the desert finally quieted down. I thought perhaps you were done seducing the girl—” The cat stopped short upon spotting us. “Oh, oops.”
Allie hadn’t noticed the door. More confused than startled, her eyebrows rose, her gaze darting around the loft in a puzzle even as she half-dragged me across the floor. “Who’s seducing what now? Who said that?”
Chez pounced across the floor to settle upon the side table beside my bed. His big, yellow eyes stared up at the two of us as we got closer. “Hey, what the hell is going on here? Is Rabb hurt?”
Allie’s eyes popped wider than the cat’s. “Did that—? That cat just talked— Hey, did you just—?” Pausing, she shook her head briskly. “You know what, never mind. You, talking cat, can you help me with him?”
Licking one paw, Chez mewled. “Not really, since I seem to be a little bit cat-sized.”
Lazy bastard.Rolling my eyes, I grunted as I was unceremoniously plopped onto my bed.
Allie grabbed a blanket and threw it over me. The surprise on her face morphed into derision. “Goodness, I have been petting you all week and you never mentioned that you could talk?”
“Who did you think I was talking to up here this whole time?” I prompted her in mocking.
“How the hell should I know?” Allie threw up her hands. “Nothing makes sense in this world. Well, I mean, I thought the weird forest of talking flowers and trees and caterpillars was just that.” She cast a glance around the room. “What else talks in here? The furniture? The couch? The clock?”
“Just the cat,” Chez replied coolly as he shifted to lounge on his back.
Allie blew out a breath as if to gain her bearings. “Then I suppose we haven’t been formally introduced either.” She read the name on his collar tag. “Chey?”
“No, no. Not Shay.” Chez shook his head. “Chez, like Chezzzz, emphasize the Z. With a Zzz.”
“Do you live here too?” Allie asked Chez.
“Absolutely not!” I managed to wheeze out first.
Allie was watching the stripes on Chez’s fur coat change, the way his eyes occasionally spiraled purple. “He has such a weird grin.”
Chez’s grin widened. “That’s because I’m a Cheshire cat.”
“What does that mean?”
“It means…I’m a Cheshire cat. That’s what it means.”
Allie sighed. “Whatever. This world is odd. I can’t even—” Hands on her hips, she shook her head at Chez. “So, are all animals in this world as eloquent as yourself?”
“Not as eloquent as myself, I should say.” Chez’s reply was a tad haughty. “But I do suppose it’s more common than one might think. Even Rabb’s animal form could speak.”
Blinking in an indignant startle, I had to pointedly cut in, “Hey, that’s none of her business—”
Allie’s eyes were eagerly wide. “Rabb’s got an animal form? What is it?”
Chez replied before I could stop him. “A little white rabbit.”
“Ooh!” Allie cooed—she actually cooed.
I let out another exasperated groan of protest. “That was a long—I mean, I didn’t—” I stopped short and slumped back in bed.
Allie was trying hard to bite back her laughter.
I glared at her yet again. “Oh, shut up.”
Allie and Chez met each other’s gazes and both of them burst out laughing.
I blinked hard. Seriously? What the hell were they doing making jokes when I could be dying?
“Oh, you know what—you two deserve each other.” Grumbling, I tried to sit up in an attempt to get away from them but Allie shoved me back down.
“For god’s sake, lie down.” She put a hand on my forehead. “You’re burning up.”
I shrugged her hand off and turned away so my back was to her. “No, I’m not.”
“Didn’t you say you were the Queen of Hearts’s most notorious assassin? How can you be such a big baby?”
“I’m not a—” I stopped short to cough, then I glanced back over my shoulder in incredulity. “Is nobody else alarmed that this girl just tried to poison me?”
Allie rolled her eyes. “Relax, if that herb was really going to kill you, you would be dead by now.”
I shot her a suffering look. “Oh, I’m so relieved.”
“Well, hey, you’re the most powerful sorcerer in Wünder. Granting that condition is true, the conclusion must be that you’re going to be fine. You probably just need some rest.”
Chez gave her a curious look. “You say that with such conviction.”
Allie shrugged. “It’s only logical.”
“What does logic have to do with it?” I snapped in annoyance. “You’re a strange girl who doesn’t belong here. You don’t know anything. You don’t even know anything about yourself.”
“Tsk.” Allie clicked her tongue. “I don’t know if the cranky is him getting better or worse.”
“His mystical core is sapped,” Chez noted, looking me over. “Rabb just needs a moment to restore himself.”
“Does he need any medicine? Is there any medicine in here?” Allie cast a glance around the loft.
“He’s a sorcerer. The overnight mystic tides should restore his magic.”
The rest of their conversation was hazy in my reverie as I slumped back against my pillow. My vision blurred. “Chez. Don’t let her escape…”