Page 84 of Captured in Love
Isak only looks at me with that serious expression and asks, “Why?”
I could lie and tell him that I wanted to keep my eye on the competition, but I don’t think anything but the truth will work right now.
“I was hoping to see you again,” I admit. “Maybe in Greece, maybe after the Games?” I shrug helplessly. “We didn’t really exchange phone numbers, so…”
His eyes grow warm, a glint of gold shining through the blue for just a second. And there he is, the man who draws me to him with some irresistible force. The weight on my chest lightens just a fraction.
Isak’s sister clicks her tongue impatiently. “Surely you don’t believe her? She’s awitch!”
The sting of Tinna’s judgment would hurt much more if I wasn’t already so numb. I shiver—from the cold, from the tension running through the room, I have no idea anymore.
Isak is at my side in a blink. “That’s it,” he says. “We have to get you out of these clothes.”
He takes my arm again and guides me into the main area of the house, an open space with a corner kitchen and a small dining table that extends into the living room with a plush couch and a couple of armchairs. It’s furnished in a simple, minimal style with lots of white and gray, and Isak somehow fits perfectly into his home. And it ishishome, not his sister’s—there is no clutter lying around that would indicate the girls live here permanently. There’s also an intangible aura around the place that radiates with his energy.
I blink, and the feeling dissipates, like it did when I first laid eyes on Isak from across the hall in Scotland. My connection to him goes deeper than our short exchanges would suggest, but I’m too tired to try to decipher it right now.
Isak gently pries the backpack straps from my cold fingers and helps me set it on the floor. Then he steps behind me, takes off my wet jacket, and hangs it by the woodstove with a glass front. A fire crackles inside, filling the house with delicious heat. I want to stand there and warm my hands. It feels so nice after all that wind and the rain.
Tinna follows us into the kitchen and says something to Isak in Icelandic.
He shoots her an annoyed glare and pointedly replies in English. “She can’t leave tonight.”
Tinna stubbornly clings to Icelandic as she throws her hands up in a gesture that screams exasperation.
“It’s fine,” I interrupt, “I can go. Maybe you could just give me a lift to that town?”
Isak turns away from us both and busies himself with preparing a cup of tea. It seems like a weird thing to do at the moment, but when he jerks a drawer open, and the wooden handle comes off in his hand, I realize he’s giving himself time to cool off.
“I don’t want to cause trouble, Isak,” I say. “I’m sorry I came. You don’t have to—”
He faces us again, his expression hard and serious.
“Tinna,” he addresses his sister. “Nora is staying the night. She and I will be leaving for Greece in the morning.”
“But the girls,” Tinna says, clearly surprised at his tone.
“They can stay as well,” Isak replies. “You can either trust me and my judgment when I say Nora will not hurt them, or you can take them away and ask Kiran for help. Your call.”
I have no idea who Kiran is, or what the underlying issue is here, but there’s clearly some information I’m missing. Tinna’s face gets red—with anger or embarrassment, I have no idea—and she lets out what I’m pretty sure is an Icelandic curse.
Isak waits her out, his tense posture betraying that her answer is important to him. I must have waded straight into some argument, and I want to ask so badly what it’s about. I want to get to know Isak better, and if I’m honest, their drama has the added effect of pushing my own trouble from my mind for the moment.
And I’d do just about anything to forget aboutthat.
“Fine,” Tinna bursts out in the end. “Okay. I hate you.”
But the words don’t hold enough venom to be true. She sends Isak an exasperated look, and he cracks his first real smile since I got here. It’s beautiful to see after the torture he’s gone through and the tension of this moment.
He offers me the cup of tea. “Here. This will warm you up. Do you want to take a shower?”
“I— Yeah. Sure.” I tuck my wet hair behind my ears and look down at myself. Idoneed to clean up, and I really want to give these two some privacy to sort out their argument.
“I’ll get you a change of clothes,” Isak adds. “Come on.”
I allow him to steer me away from his sister, past the living room area where the girls are engrossed in some colorful cartoon, to the small but neat bathroom. He hands me a couple of towels, winks, and leaves, closing the door behind him.
I stand in place for a long moment, still stunned by tonight’s events. When I set my course to find Isak, I didn’t even know where he was. I only had the pull of the beacon spell to guide me, and I performed a sloppy locator spell with a map I stole from a couple of French tourists in Höfn. Then I hitchhiked part of the way here and hiked the rest, all while looking over my shoulder, afraid that Levi and Raphaël would track me down.
