Page 74 of Captured in Love
“She’s gone,” he says, his voice hollow. “No trace of her.”
His words are a confirmation of my fear. She’d done something similar in Paris, but then she’d only been running scared. Now she’s pissed off, hurt, and betrayed. I’m not sure I’ll be able to find her this time.
“I figured.” I pause, then add, “Will you wait for me?”
I wouldn’t blame Raphaël if he took the rental car and left me here. It’s my fault Nora is mad at him, too, my fault she blasted him with the same spell.
A long silence, then Raphaël says, “Yes. Get here as fast as you can.”
I pick up my pace, still unsure of whether he’ll be in the hospital parking lot by the time I get there. On the next street over, a small group of townspeople stand gathered by a police squad car. A woman clutches her parka at her throat and points in the direction of the farm I just came from. One police officer takes notes while the other returns to the car and starts the engine again.
Fuck. I draw my hood over my head and hurry on. Gods only know what I did to scare these people into calling the cops.
Another minute, and I’m at the hospital. Raphaël leans against the car, his arms crossed on his chest, his expression deceptively calm.
“Hey.” I stop several feet from him, wary and sick to my stomach. “I’m—”
“I warned you,” he says, interrupting me. “You should have told her before she found out on her own.”
I rub my palm over my face. “I know. And before you say it, I also know I had every opportunity to talk to her, but I was a coward. I didn’t want to lose her, and I ended up doing just that.”
He studies me silently. Then he heaves out a great sigh and takes the car keys from his pocket. “Come on, let’s get in the car.”
I start for the passenger side, but something snags my attention. A large dent mars the hood of the rental car, a round divot that looks exactly like…
I glance at Raphaël, my eyes wide. “Did you…?”
He presses his lips together but doesn’t say anything, which is answer enough.
He smashed the fucking hood with his fist.
I run my fingers over the dent. “How did you get through her spell?”
Raphaël scowls. “I had a moment of clarity and smashed your protection charm.”
“Yeah, I figured.” I take Nora’s amethyst crystal from my pocket and heft it in my hand. “This is what she used to hide the spell.”
He stares at his own amulet. “But why?”
I pause to think about every conversation we had with Nora leading up to this task. She had to have prepared these before we started on the second task, when she didn’t have a clue about what I was keeping from her. She’d wanted to protect us, yes, and urged us to stay behind.
Then it suddenly clicks.
“Oh, man, sothiswas her solution?” I groan, then let out a half-amused laugh.
Raphaël glowers at me. “What are you talking about?”
“She suspected we might get in some real trouble down there,” I explain. “And we wouldn’t want to leave her behind to save ourselves, right?”
“Of course not.” Raphaël seems insulted at the very thought of it.
“There you go,” I say. “With these, she could havemadeus leave.”
The vampire stares at the crystal for a long moment. Then he whips his arm through the air, so fast I can barely see it, and the next second, a great smash reverberates through the forest as the amethyst shatters somewhere out of sight. A flock of birds rises from the trees, cawing loudly.
I stare at the forest for a moment, then shake my head and take out my phone again. He’s got every right to be angry, and if this helps him, I won’t judge. I’m just glad he didn’t aim that thing at me.
“Let me just try Nora again,” I say. “Maybe she’s changed her mind…”
