Page 59 of Eclipsed Heart

Stevie watched me, her hands gripping the arms of the chair. “What’s wrong?”

“The queen messaged us.” I didn’t want to ignore her, but at the same time, this was a pressing matter. “I’m sorry, but I need to go inside.”

She nodded as I got up and entered the house. Bodey linked with Samuel, Lucas, Miles, Jack, Zeke, and the dads.

I went into our bedroom, where he was sitting on the edge of the bed. He caught the others up and continued,She wants to meet in three days in McDermitt, Nevada, at four in the afternoon. We will agree on an exact location an hour before we arrive.

Even though this should’ve felt like a win, my heartbeat pounded in my ears.

This is great news,Samuel replied.She gave in to our request.

I snorted, causing Bodey to look up from the phone and into my eyes. “What’s wrong?”

“Isthis good news?” I tugged at the ends of my hair. “I don’t know anymore.”

Bodey’s face softened. “Of course it is. This is what we needed to give us time to regroup, and now we have it.”

Right, but…I wasn’t so sure.

* * *

The next twodays passed in a whirlwind. The first two coven leaders who came to meet me were from Montana and Washington. Their covens supported Lucas’s and Jack’s packs, along with the other covens in their states, but neither was very helpful. They didn’t recognize the essence of the spell that had locked away my memories.

I packed a bag for the two nights we’d be away staying in McDermitt. It was about a seven-hour drive there from our place in Grangeville, and we wanted to ensure that we had time to scout out the area in case the queen tried to pull something on us.

What did your clothes ever do to you?Bodey teased, but his mood wasn’t much better than mine.

Turning from the dresser, I glanced at the black duffel bag that he’d already packed. I should’ve tried to joke with him, but I didn’t have the energy. “They didn’t give me answers.” I shut the dresser drawer and finished packing my own stuff, then went to the bed and flopped on my back. “I wanted to have more information before meeting the queen. Something I could use to get a reaction from her.”

Bodey dropped his bag off the bed and lay down beside me, taking my hand. He murmured, “We’ll figure it out.”

I rolled to my side, staring at him. “How do you know that?” He radiated confidence, and I wished I just had a smidgen of it myself.

However, when he turned his head toward me, his expression might have been more strained than mine. His confident demeanor faltered. “Because there’s no other option.”

“That’snotreassuring.” I sighed and stared at the ceiling again.

“Well, I don’t want to lie.” He squeezed my hand. “Besides, it’s better if I don’t because then you’d know I lied to you, and we’d have to smell the horrible stench.”

Laughter slipped out, surprising me.

“There we go.” He beamed. “My favorite sound in the world.”

“Speaking of favorite sounds…” I stood and grabbed his guitar from the corner of the room. He’d played for me the past two nights, but I doubted we’d be bringing the instrument to Nevada. “Wanna play a song before we have to leave?”

“One song; then we have to go.” He took it and strummed a chord. “The others will be ready to leave soon.”

My heart hurt. I wanted to sit here and listen to him play all day, but we had a job to do…one that would protect so many others. So I nodded.

After a few chords, I recognized the song immediately—“I’ll Stand By You” by The Pretenders. He launched into the lyrics, speaking right to my soul. His eyes locked with mine as he hit each note and sang in perfect rhythm as if he was vowing once again to remain by my side no matter what decision I made.

I hadn’t even realized it was exactly what I needed. Every time we met someone new or had to deal with a situation, crushing fear strangled me because I didn’t know therightdecision. I felt so lost, like I was drowning, but hearing Bodey tell me he’d be there for me via song and words was the oxygen I’d desperately needed.

When he stopped playing, he laid the guitar on the bed and walked over to me, brushing his fingers under my eyes. His face twisted in concern. “Baby, why are you crying?”

I sniffled, unaware that I had been, so transfixed by the message he’d delivered to me. “I just love you so much. It hurts sometimes.”

He smiled tenderly. “The good kind of hurt, right?”

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