Page 139 of The Witch is Back

“Yes,” her friends chimed.

“Or I could go with you,” Sloane insisted. “How could he say no to this face?” She framed it with her hands, deliberately hamming it up.

But Emma wasn’t in the mood to laugh. “I can’t. I can’t see his face and hear that.”

“You might not,” said the human eternal optimist.

Tia leaned in. “Emma, you finally stood up to your mother. You can do this.”

Emma closed her eyes, said the weakest thing she’d ever said. “What if he says no?”

“Then at least you’ll know for sure.” Leah’s hand covered hers. When Emma opened her eyes, she smiled. “You’re a fighter, Em. Don’t surrender now.”

“And if that bastard doesn’t want you...” Tia slid a hex bag across the table, batting Sloane’s curious hand away. “That’s what this is for.”

CHAPTER 28

Egypt proved to be hot with gritty air that felt like sandpaper when she gulped it in.

Or maybe that was her screaming nerves as she navigated her way through the dig site Bastian’s friend had directed her to after she’d thrown herself on his mercy two hours ago. It had been mortifying to come clean to a total stranger, but she’d promised herself that she was going to fight this time. And at least if Bastian turned her away, Egypt was sufficient distance from Chicago that she wouldn’t have to worry about bumping into him getting groceries.

Scents rode the air peppered with exotic languages, but she couldn’t enjoy it, her eyes fixed on the row of white tents toward the back of the site. Or maybe it was the front.

That was where she’d find Bastian.

Her heart hammered twice for every step she took. It had been a bad idea to come here. She could have called him—except she knew her tongue would have been too tangled on the phone and she’d have massacred every sentence. Not that there wasn’t a real threat of her doing that now.

Her foot slid in the sand and she took a moment, reminding herself that this wasn’t life or death. She was just delivering on her promise to let him choose.

She might have made a mistake and chosen for both of them when she ended the contract, but now it was his turn.

Oh, Goddess.

Just as she was reaching a reasonable level of hysteria, a flap on one of the tents pulled back and a familiar golden head emerged.

Her foot glued to the spot it had just touched. Her heart tripled its beat even as it gave a painful leap in her chest like a dog that had spotted its owner.

He wasn’t smiling. His hair was a little longer, rumpled and streaked with highlights from the sun. His skin was browner, too, but it only made his blue eyes more breathtaking. In short, he didn’t look like he’d suffered from the same ice cream binges she had in the days since he’d left.

She was relieved when he spotted her before she had a chance to rabbit. His face froze, fierce emotion playing with his features like pinball.

She began to move again, hesitantly picking her way through the dig site, ignoring the shouts and noises of the work behind them. Her eyes drank in his movie-star looks until they were only a few yards from each other.

He didn’t speak.

“Hello.” A good opener.

He pushed his hands into his shorts. “Hi.”

Good. Then she panicked. Was she supposed to continue? How was she going to lead into it? Should she just blurt it out or should she have prepared a speech? She’d tried, but everything sounded so utterly lame that she’d finally just jumped into a portal, figuring she’d know what to say when she saw him.

Great plan.

The silence was charged as she searched for the right words.

“Lost your way?” he finally asked, the timbre of his voice striking the right note in her heart.

“You know how it is,” she said nervously. “You take the wrong turn and end up in Egypt.”

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