“But he didn’t because you stopped him, right?”
I bristled. “I didn’t say that.”
“Of course you did. If you’re so worried that some human will see me, you would make sure that they wouldn’t. Hence, you didn’t let him get a look.”
Heat flared on my cheeks. Oh my gosh, this wizard was so irritating. Why the devil couldn’t he just leave? And what was with his weird verbiage. Like, who used the wordhence?
Apparently he did.
“That doesn’t mean that someone else won’t see you and come down.”
His spine straightened and his head rose. Of course, he still faced the opposite direction, so I couldn’t make out his features. “Then I suppose you’ll have to help me, now won’t you?”
“I am not helping you.” I wasn’t about to offer my services to some cocky wizard in the middle of the night. There was no telling what spell he searched for. It could have been a spell to bind me.
He sighed dramatically. “If you help me, this will go faster. I assure you that I want out of your hair as quickly as you want me gone from your territory.”
“I doubt that,” I murmured.
“Now, I’m searching for a particular spell.”
“Why are you searching here?” I tapped my foot impatiently. “There are plenty of other actual magical towns where you can find what you’re looking for.”
“I don’t know any others. I found this place.”
I scoffed. “Unbelievable—a wizard who doesn’t know where there are other magical towns? What? Were you just born into being a wizard today?”
“Something like that,” he muttered.
“Well, you can un-wizard yourself from my town and leave.” I took a menacing step forward. “Now.”
He tutted, and it was very annoying because I had magic, a lot of magic that could seriously screw him up, but this guy didn’t care.
He said in a singsong voice. “The sooner you help me, the sooner I can go. Besides, I don’t buy your whole belief that your little town isn’t full of magic.” He palmed a blue orb. “This right here proves that there is magic nearby—and a lot of it.”
“Whatever.” I nearly cursed under my breath but managed to stop myself. Boy, I could really do with a chocolate bar right now or, better yet, a chunk of that Coca-Cola cake Malene had made me. Yes, I could absolutely sink my teeth into a square of that.
As soon as I got home, that’s what I would do. It would be my reward for helping this wizard before I blasted him into the sky.
Okay, so I wouldn’t blast him because that would cause much too much of a spectacle. Once again, someone would see.
Deciding that my only option was to help, I shoved up my sleeves and moved closer. “All right. I’ll help but as soon as you discover the spell you want, you leave. Got it?”
He nodded. “Trust me, I don’t want to be standing in the forest with you either. You’re not particularly pleasant.”
I cackled. “You don’t know the half of it. Now, what am I looking for?”
He touched a pink orb and shook his head. I still couldn’t get a good peek at his face, and I started to fantasize about what he looked like. Did a handsome face go with that husky yet refined voice of his?
Oh my gosh, what was wrong with me? I’d just gone on a date with Shane, and here I stood fantasizing about a faceless wizard. I must have hit my head somehow between my house and here, because surely I had lost my mind.
“I am looking for a memory spell,” he informed me.
I reached for a purple orb and paused. “A memory spell. What sort of memory spell?”
He sighed, annoyed with my question. “When one looks for a memory spell, I would think it would be fairly obvious that one needs to regain a memory.”
I scoffed. “Don’t be rude. I was only asking.”
