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"Poppy—"

"No."

She slapped her hands against my chest. The gesture lacked force. The expression on her face did not. "I'm not staying here while you walk into those woods and maybe don't come back."

Something shifted behind my ribs. Not the strange warmth I had begun associating with her. Something deeper. Sharper. Dangerous in an entirely different way. I stared at her. She stared back. Impossible woman. I was ready to cast a spell to make her stay put when another thought hit me. Of her, unprotected, here, alone.

"Stay behind me." I sighed frustrated.

Her shoulders relaxed by a fraction. "That means I can come?"

"It means I have accepted that restraining you would waste valuable time." I lied.

"I'll take it."

I released her. She grabbed her boots from beside the door and shoved her feet into them without bothering with socks.

I had another idea. "I should take you to Mrs. Wilton."

"She's already being picked up to visit her sister at Maple Grove."

That woman was unbelievable. "You arranged that?"

"Earlier." Poppy pulled on her coat. "Because unlike some people, I prepare for things."

"You walked into a forest after drinking an unidentified potion." I pointed out referring to the Incident a year ago.

"That was one time."

"It was the reason we met."

"And look how well that turned out."

She was impossible. But for some reason… I felt… responsible for her. Yes, that was it. Responsible. Nothing else.

I had barely opened the door when a red blur shot between my legs. I instinctively stepped aside. Reggie launched himself through the still-open front door without so much as acknowledging my existence.

Poppy gasped. "Reggie!"

She darted after him.

"Poppy, stop!" I ordered. Not that I expected her to listen.

"He never runs." She called over her shoulder. Chasing after the red menace.

The red furred beast had already reached the edge of the tree line, where he stopped and turned. Looking directly at us.

He let out an indignant, earsplitting yowl. "Mrrrraaaow!"

He didn't wait for a response. He spun around and disappeared into Screaming Woods. Poppy right on his heel. "Reggie, stop!"

"Poppy, stop!" I ordered just as fruitlessly as her command.

Another mournful yowl echoed through the trees. Closer this time. Insistent. Finally Poppy stopped and looked at me. "I think..."

A daunting suspicion rose up in me. "So do I."

Resigned I took Poppy's hand and we followed. The forest swallowed us almost immediately. Frost glittered beneath our feet, untouched despite the recent tremors. Moonbells glowed softly beneath twisted roots, all of them bent in the same direction. Toward the oldest part of the woods. Reggie never hesitated.