She Blinded Me With Science (5 page)

"Taste?"

Who the heck cared if he was drunk and didn't know what he was saying? She liked the
way his words made her feel. Now, if she could just manage to keep him in this fuzzy,
semi-conscious state all the time, they would be perfectly happy together. And anyway, it wasn't like
she'd go broke keeping him sloshed on diet cherry cola. Two six-packs a day wasn't going to
drain her bank account.

"Taste," Kevyn whispered, and leaned so close she could feel his breath on her parted
lips. "Like, kissing. Really good kissing. Magic kissing." He sighed and sank back against his
side of the booth.

Sophie muffled a whimper.

"Is magic real, Kevyn?" she whispered, in a desperate bid to steer the conversation
elsewhere before she melted into an embarrassing puddle right there in public.

"Really real. And a pain in the keister." A sound that could have been a giggle bubbled
out of him. How could something so deep and melodious be a giggle? "But you're the kind of
magic a guy could get addicted to."

"Yeah, right," she muttered, voicing the sour ache from years of being chosen last in
gym class, and never even considered for date night at college.

"Right. Really." Kevyn nodded, his head wobbling up and down like a bobble-head toy.
"You're so magic, you make my ears tingle."

"That's original." She laughed.

"No, honest." He tugged his thick, glossy black curls behind his ears and grabbed hold
of her hand. "Feel. You can feel the magic buzzing in my skin. Honest."

He guided her fingertips over the elegant curve and up to the point and then down the
front of his ear. Sophie forgot how to breathe.

He was right. Something vibrated, a warm tingling like carbonation under the skin of his
ear. It transferred into her fingertips and into her bloodstream and sent a giddy, breathless
sensation through her body.

She felt suddenly exposed, as if they had been caught petting in the front seat by the
campus police, with their underwear strung on the rearview mirror for the whole world to see.
Not that she had ever been in that sort of position, and she loathed girls who were so horny they
didn't have the sense to find some place private. Who wanted to make out in a goldfish bowl,
anyway?

That was beside the point.

What was the point? She couldn't quite be sure. Because Kevyn held her hand against
his ear and looked into her eyes and she felt as if something deep and warm and intimate linked
them together. Sophie was afraid to move, afraid almost to breathe, that she might destroy this
fragile thing she couldn't fully comprehend, but sensed she needed as desperately as air and
light.

"Nice, huh?" Kevyn whispered. He grinned when she could only nod. It took all her
concentration just to blink. "Let me?"

"Huh?" Her face burned. That fragile connection between them gave her a feeling that
he had asked for something intimate and maybe even naughty. If only she could break through
the hormonal overdose that flooded her mind, she might understand.

"I showed you mine." He waggled his eyebrows, like an old-style movie villain. "Now
you show me yours."

Sophie laughed, her face red, startled and delighted and flattered--and yes, a little
afraid.

"Sir, I'll have you know I'm not that kind of girl." She waved her hand in front of her
face, like a fan.

"You could be." He let her tug her hand free, away from his ear.

The moment didn't shatter so much as it faded. Before Sophie could even consider
taking up the dare or answering the hungry light in his eyes, the waiter came to take away their
dishes and inquire if they wanted dessert.

"Chocolate," Kevyn answered. "What do you have that's chocolate? Preferably dark
chocolate?"

Something deep inside Sophie wailed that she had lost her chance. She should have
gotten him out of the restaurant while he was still wobbly and woozy and willing to do whatever
she suggested. Just like chocolate made her feel better, more alert, healthier, she feared the triple
chocolate mousse cake would do the same for Kevyn.

Well, at least she knew how to get to him. She would just have to spike whatever he was
drinking with diet cherry cola until he passed out. Next time, she would be better prepared.

Kevyn wandered down the hallway toward the dressing room, still slightly buzzed from
all the chocolate he had eaten. Still giddy from the euphoria that came from the feel of Sophie's
soft little fingers touching his ear. More intimate, yet more innocent than a kiss, her touch had
the power to tear his soul loose from his body.

He craved her touch. He wanted more. He would do whatever it took to keep in contact
with Sophie. He would offer her the chance to be a Changeling and take her home to the
Enclaves for training. He would willingly risk being trapped as an Advocate, as long as Sophie
filled his life with the wholeness and energy that he felt when her fingertips just stroked his
ear.

Kevyn suspected he had just discovered the male version of Need.

And women complained when they went into Need? What was their problem? He liked
feeling this way, itchy and hungry, deliriously craving more of Sophie.

"Hey, man, I was starting to get worried," Dougie said as he stepped out into the
hallway. "One more performance."

"Oh. Yeah." Kevyn shook his head to get his mind back on track.

"Yeah, then we're free to party for the rest of the convention. Hey, do you mind finding
some other place to crash tonight? There's this goblin chick--"

"No problem." He shuddered at the mental image of Dougie making out with a real
goblin, rather than a girl in goblin makeup and costume.

Real goblins were pretty much as fable painted them, with one detail missing. The
goblins encountered by Humans were usually immature males out on an adventure or running
away from home, which put them in a bad mood. That was because female goblins were like
preying mantises. When they were done mating, the females ate the males.

Which actually made the world a safer place. But Kevyn knew better than to tell his
friend that particular detail.

"No problem. In fact, I might head home with Sophie once this gig is done."

"Sophie?" Dougie gave him a blank look. "What's she dressed as?"

"Herself." Kevyn took pity on his friend as they headed backstage to get into their
costumes for their final performance. "She's the one you met in the bar, doing her doctoral
research."

"Oh, yeah. Her." Dougie's eyes lit up. "Good for you, man. She seems really nice. Kind
of quiet. But I bet she'll be a lot of fun once you get her to loosen up."

"Yeah, probably." Kevyn wondered what kind of "fun" Sophie had in mind when she
attempted to get him drunk just an hour ago. What did she want from him?

Whatever it was, he hoped it included hooking up with her long-term. Or at least until
the Enclave Hunters gave up. Kevyn had to find a way to get her to invite him home with her,
even if it meant affecting her mind. Kevyn didn't like mind control. It was like messing with the
delicate mechanisms of an antique clock. They were never the same again once their smooth
operation was interfered with. He didn't want to hurt Sophie.

He suspected the magic in her blood would resist any influence on her mind. The normal
level to suborn a Human, say on the order of a firecracker, would bounce right off her. The
equivalent of a stick of dynamite would be hard to hide from the Enclave Hunters.

Kevyn wanted to avoid such extreme tactics at all costs.

He liked Sophie, but was something wrong with him to care this much, after such a short
time?

Sitting down to put on his makeup, Kevyn shrugged the question aside. He had a job to
do. He could deal with his conscience and libido later.

* * * *

Sophie remembered Great-aunt Serena saying that before cherry cola came back onto
the market, she and her friends had settled for Dr. Pepper as the next best thing. Sophie thought
there was a vast difference between the two. Not so much the taste, but the effect it had on her
physically and emotionally. Kind of like the difference between sparkling grape juice and a nice
chardonnay.

But suddenly that crazy old woman seemed far wiser than Sophie had ever guessed.
When Kevyn came to the con suite after the play, she was prepared. She sat on a sofa with a
bottle of Dr. Pepper between her feet, and a bottle of diet cherry cola hidden around the side of
the sofa. She had spiked the Dr. Pepper by replacing approximately one-third of it with the diet
cherry cola.

When Kevyn joined her, she poured him a glass, he drank it and didn't even blink. Every
time Kevyn stepped away to talk to someone, Sophie poured a little more diet cherry into the Dr.
Pepper bottle, and poured Kevyn another glass of the mixture. He never reacted when the taste
changed.

Just after 1:00 a.m., Sophie wrapped Kevyn's arm around her shoulder and led him,
singing under his breath in a language she didn't understand, out of the hotel, to the van she had
rented when she cashed in her plane ticket. Once she had Kevyn safely in the van, she persuaded
him to guzzle two more cans of diet cherry, until he burped loudly and passed out. Then she
pulled out lengths of sterling silver chain purchased at a local jewelry supply store, and bound
his wrists and ankles. Great-aunt Serena never said silver would negate Fae magic, but Sophie
had read it in enough fantasy novels, she thought it worth a try.

Just to be on the safe side, she also put an iron chain on Kevyn's ankle.

Then she left him snoring softly, covered with a thick blanket, and went in search of
Dougie. She found him in the hotel room the two shared and told him Kevyn was coming home
with her.

"Hey, sure, no problem." Dougie waggled his eyebrows at Sophie. "Thanks for coming
by before I got too busy, y'know? Just a second." He closed the door of the room, leaving Sophie
standing in the hallway.

What the heck was going on? How could Dougie just accept her word that Kevyn was
busy and sent her to get his gear? Why didn't Dougie at least ask how to get hold of Kevyn?

All right, the possibility of a man of Kevyn's strength and size being kidnapped was
remote, but what kind of friend was Dougie that he acted like it was the greatest thing in the
world, unconcerned that Kevyn didn't even say good-bye?

"Here you go. Hope the two of you have a great time. Tell Kev, the boss just called and
we have a new gig in about two weeks, okay?" Dougie opened the door just wide enough to hand
out a soft-side case and duffle bag.

"A new gig in two weeks," Sophie repeated back to him. "Sure. No problem." She
thanked him and got out of there.

Halfway to the elevator, she considered going back and telling him Kevyn might not get
back in time for the next job. She had the feeling Dougie was busy entertaining, which explained
his inability to think right now. The last thing she wanted was to make him think and question
the oddness of the situation. The cleaner her getaway, the better for them all.

Except Kevyn.

She was going to have to find some way to make this up to him. But how?

* * * *

Kevyn woke up with that tickling tingle in his wrists that came from high quality silver
on his bare skin. He had a slight allergy to silver. Nothing debilitating, no rashes or those
ridiculous sneezing fits that cancelled all magical powers for an hour after each attack. Just
enough allergy to be irritating, because for everyone else, silver was a cure-all, a blood and
magic purifier. Another case of the cure being as bad as the illness. Thank goodness Humans had
invented dark chocolate.

Experimenting, he rotated his ankles and wrists, still keeping his eyes closed, trying to
test the limits of the bonds. He heard a soft clank and a heavy weight shifted, sliding off his
rolled-down sock to land on his bare skin.

The fire that wrapped a piercing hand around his ankle negated the slight irritation of the
silver. Swearing, he sat up and yanked at the burning touch of cold iron, and swore more when
he burned his fingers.

Then he realized he lay on a thick mattress, chained inside a windowless van that
smelled almost new, with rain beating down on the roof and sides. Someone had chained him to
the reinforcement bars down the sides of the van with an iron chain and silver chains.

This was a direct result of the misinformation spread by the Ministry of Propaganda.
After all, if Fae were ever discovered in the Human world, it was better to be chained with flimsy
silver that only caused a slight allergic reaction in a rare few. Silver could be torn, even while
suffering sneezing fits strong enough to blind.

Other Human inventions that negated magic energy had to be avoided at all costs.

Iron was strangely impervious to most magic, and it took a debilitating amount of magic
strength to blast open iron links, but it could be done. Until he did it, the weight and the burning
touch of iron would make him sick.

Sighing, Kevyn shifted his ankle around until the iron chain slid back onto his sock,
which provided insulation. Gingerly, he reached down and yanked his sock up higher on his
ankle. Then he scooted up to the full length of the chain, until he could look out the front
window of the van.

It sat at a highway rest stop, parked far away from the service building. From the watery
gray light, Kevyn guessed it was early morning, just before dawn on a stormy day.

Enclave Hunters wouldn't resort to Human forms of transportation to get him back to the
Enclave. They certainly wouldn't waste time on silver chains, and they would avoid iron chains
except as a last resort.

The only explanation for his current situation was Sophie. By balancing on one knee and
stretching his chained leg out behind himself, he could see over the front seats. He saw Sophie's
purse sitting on two small pieces of matching luggage, so it was a good bet it was indeed Sophie
driving the van, and presumably inside the service center right now.