“I’ve never heard of such a thing, being supercharged with magic as you are,” he remarked casually.
“It’s rare.” Leaves crunched under my feet as I followed a dancing blue orb that flitted like a firefly over the long grasses. “Very few people have that magical gift. My power builds and I can release it slowly…”
“Or all at once, like you did to me,” he said with a pointed look. Though his expression was serious, humor danced in his eyes. “It’s a good way to protect yourself. Being a woman, I’m sure you need lots of protection.”
“I don’t need anything from you,” I snapped.
“No, you don’t, do you? I’m the one who needs things from you. Like your help, tonight, for instance.” The words flowed quietly from him, full of sorrow and regret. “But I thank you for your assistance, even if you were incredibly difficult and unwilling to help at first.”
I bristled. “You were the one being rude.”
“Of course I was being rude, I’ve lost my memory and you were asking all sorts of pedantic questions—things I had no time for. All I want to know is who I am.” He sighed, exhaled and slumped on his knees to the ground. “I apologize. Apparently I don’t take to amnesia quite so well.”
“I don’t suppose many people do.” I stared at Rufus, who looked defeated. The evil villain that I had once met was gone, disappeared into the recesses of himself. Something in my chest stirred. Was that sympathy?
No, of course it wasn’t sympathy. There was no way in Hades that I would ever feel sympathy for him.
“How rare is it to find a memory spell?” I asked.
He stared at the few dancing orbs that were left. “I suppose one in a million—like searching for a rare fish in the ocean.” He pointed to the spells. “None of these are what I’m looking for.”
I shrugged. “Guess you’ll just have to keep looking, huh?”
“Yes,” he said, deflated.
The last of the spells fizzled away, disappearing into the night.
“What will you do now?” I asked.
He shrugged. “I’m resourceful. I’ll find the right spell; I know I will. Like you said, since no one in your town is magical, I suppose I’ll have to be moving on to the next one.”
Wait. Moving on to the next town? Rufus Mayes would leave, taking his evil self away to harm someone else?
Okay, so the harming part I wasn’t completely convinced of, but how could I, in good conscience, let him leave, to go out into the night? What if his memory returned and he came back for me? Worse, what if I released him and he harmed someone the way he had me?
I would be directly responsible for his reign of terror continuing.
My gut clenched and dryness filled my mouth. I was as parched as Rufus’s soul.
Against all good judgment, I exhaled a relenting sigh. “Come on. I know a place you can stay, at least for tonight.”
Until I figured out what to do with him, that was.
He straightened. “You know a place?”
“Yes, and before you go thanking me, there’s not much to it. In fact, it isn’t any better than this, really.”
He stared at the constellated sky. “To sleep under the stars would be welcome.”
Who the heck was he?
“You might get cold, and I don’t have a blanket.”
“I’ll be fine.”
We stared at each other, and his lip curled slightly, as if amused that I had to help him even when I didn’t want to.
“I owe you,” he said.
