I stepped forward, just once. The floor creaked beneath my feet. The sound seemed to break Kizzi from whatever stupor she had fallen into, and she looked around frantically.
“Linc, what in the realms do you mean? You came to see me? It’s nighttime!”
“I couldn’t wait any longer,” he said, still holding his arms out.
“Do you need a potion or something? I’m not going to make anything else tonight?—”
“No, not a potion. I just need you.” He stepped forward, reaching his hands toward Kizzi’s shoulders. She hastily stepped back.
“Hey there, Linc. What’s going on?” I asked.
His glossy eyes fixed on me. “Oh, hey, Tandor. Were you just leaving?”
I crossed my arms. “Not anymore.”
Kizzi glanced at me strangely. “I can’t do this right now, Linc. You’re probably drunk. If you still need something tomorrow, you can ask me about it then, when you’ve sobered up.”
His eyes widened. “No! But?—”
The witch slammed the door in his face. She locked it, tested the knob, and then tested it again. It held.
Linc knocked on the door again, more gently this time. “Please, honey, let’s just talk.”
“Go home, Linc,” she gritted through clenched teeth.
“Not before we talk.”
“We can talk tomorrow.”
He paused for a long moment. “You promise?” he finally asked, quieter this time. He sounded forlorn. Sad.
Kizzi let out a heavy sigh. “I promise.”
It took a while, but eventually, the sound of light footfalls heading into the distance could be heard, breaking the weighted silence of the night.
I just stared at Kizzi. She stared back. I thought again about earlier, how close she had been to me, how every muscle in my body ached to lean in, to kiss her, to capture her lips with mine.I could have sworn she leaned in, too. That must have been my hopeful imagination.
Eventually, she broke the tense silence. “So, that was weird.”
Which part? The almost kiss or the interruption?I almost asked, but I stopped myself. Instead, I said, “It was. Does he do that often?”
She scoffed. “No! Never. Linc and I aren’t even really friends. He helped me hand out chili today, maybe I gave him the wrong idea? I hardly spoke two words to the guy!”
The knot in my stomach loosened slightly. Kizzi didn’t belong to Linc, after all. I still had a chance.
Deep down, I pitied the human. He was ensnared in Kizzi’s web just as I was.
“I think he was just drunk, and he’ll probably forget all about it come the rise of the suns,” I offered.
“One can only dream.”
I held my right hand out to her, where the final ties dangled loosely. “Would you mind fastening this last knot? Then I’ll get out of your hair and let you get to bed. You must be tired.”
“Oh! Right, of course,” she said hastily. She fumbled with the strips of fabric for a moment before she found a secure grip, and then she tied the knot with impressive speed. She retreated to the other side of the room. “You must be more tired than me, after slinging drinks all day. I saw how crowded your table was.”
I shrugged, admiring the neat, secure bandages on my hands. They really feltsomuch better. It was miraculous how much of a difference a little magical salve could make. “I have more energy at night, usually. The mornings are when I really struggle with being tired.”
“That’s backwards.”
