Page 1 of Captured in Love
One
Nora
What doyou mean you woke a god?
The message appears in the chat app on my tablet just as the plane shudders and dips. We’re slowly descending into Reykjavik airport, and the thunderstorm raging outside couldn’t be more different from the sunny blue skies we left behind in Cairo.
I pick up the tablet and write back to Princess, my mysterious tech witch friend who’s the genius creator behind our magical open-source online portal.
One of the contestants had a human assistant who disturbed another team’s token. The statue of the god, Set, woke up and chomped him in half.
I pause, my fingers hovering over the screen. The terrifying scene plays out in my mind, complete with the memory of how the idiot man’s bones crunched and how his scream died off…
I shake myself and finish the message.
Then it tried to kill the rest of us, and when it couldn’t, it collapsed the tunnel on top of us. We barely made it out alive. I don’t know if this was such a hot idea.
I hit send, then wince. The story told in retrospect sounds super dramatic, even to me. I don’t want to put Princess off by having her think I’m lying or exaggerating.
Oh my gods, are you okay? Do you need help? I don’t know if you should keep up with this shit. It’s too dangerous!
The quick, worried reply is strangely soothing. I couldn’t tell my dad or siblings about any of this, and I just badly want to vent to someone who would listen to me, then hug me and pat my head for making it out of that fucking tomb.
As if I’d voiced my thoughts out loud, Levi reaches over the armrest and takes my hand in his. He intertwines our fingers and gives them a squeeze.
“You okay, Moss?” he asks quietly.
On my other side, Raphaël tugs at the collar of his button-down shirt and clears his throat. “If you’re worried because of the turbulence, planes today are much safer than they used to be. If I told you about the deathtraps they used to fly in the Great War, you’d—” He stops himself and squints at me. “You’re not worried about the turbulence, are you?”
I give him a small smile and shake my head. From what he’s told me about his experience of being turned into a vampire, I think he’s more than a little claustrophobic, so planes probably make him nervous. I’m not worried about the plane, though.
“I’m just having a hard time coming to terms with what happened in Egypt,” I murmur, unwilling to let the rest of the passengers in the first-class section know what we’ve been up to.
Levi leans in close. “Do you mean the stuff that happened in the tomb or the things that we, uh, did before and after?”
At the mention of that, a different kind of tension grips my body, and I quickly tuck the tablet into the backpack stashed under my seat. “No, I’m totally okay with that.”
There’s no hiding the heat that creeps into my cheeks under the harsh plane lighting. Raphaël’s gaze darts to my lips, then lower, to my neck. I bite my lip and press my knees together. Another flood of memories threatens to overwhelm me—in a very good way. Last night, when we all should have rested after our ordeal in the desert, we…celebrated life instead. Several times, in various positions, with incredible, explosive results.
All three of us.
Levi opens my palm and draws slow circles on it with his thumb. “I’m glad to hear that.”
“Hmm?” It takes me a second to remember what he’s talking about. “Oh. Yeah. I mean, we haven’t really taken the time to talk aboutthat. Should we?”
I glance from him to Raphaël and back. Sharing my bed with both men is new and exciting—and incredibly confusing. Especially since Raphaël and Levi have started to develop a relationship of their own, enjoying each other’s bodies almost as much as they do mine. It’s not that I’m jealous. I’m not. But I’m increasingly becoming aware of the magnitude of our involvement. It won’t be just me getting hurt if this implodes. And the last thing I want to do is hurt the two guys who have put everything on the line for me.
The two guys I love.
I close my eyes, too aware of their close scrutiny. I can’t tell what they see in my face, but my guess would be: a lot. I’ve always been shit at hiding emotions.
A cool hand touches my chin, and I open my eyes to find Raphaël leaning in close.
“We don’t have to talk if you don’t want to,” he says.
He cups my cheek with his palm. I close my eyes as his lips touch mine. His tongue brushes against my lower lip, and he slants his head to the side, giving me a deep, searing kiss. On my other side, Levi trails his fingers up the inside of my arm, teasing the soft skin, and goosebumps explode over my body. I shiver and break the kiss, staring up at Raphaël, stunned.
Not talking sounds fine. Until we’ve collected all the tokens and finished this competition, any real conversation about the future is moot anyway. I have no idea what the future holds for us. I still owe Raphaël a spell for his help in Egypt. Our relationship can’t really be obligation free if that remains unresolved.
