Page 77 of Captured in Love
“And neither did the mystery woman in the hospital or her husband,” Raphaël adds.
Nora’s father clicks his tongue. “Right, the woman who needs help. Now that we’re all on the same page, do you want to add anything to your earlier report?”
My face flushes with heat. “Uh, yeah. Her husband was sucked into an underground volcano by a spell, and Nora said this was enough to break the woman’s mind somehow. She’s grieving, and her entire being is lashing out at the world.”
I don’t mention that the volcano was situated in the old sea dragon kingdom. That’s a secret we agreed to keep for Isak, and even though he fucked us over with the boat, I don’t hold a grudge against him, not really. I don’t want to be the person who causes the extinction of his race through blabbing about it at the earliest opportunity. I trust Nora’s father, but the fewer people who know about this, the better.
“All right,” Mr. Moss says, somehow taking all this in stride. “I’ll contact a friend of mine who lives in Wales. She’ll be able to help the woman, get her out of Iceland. Now tell me, how are you going to find Nora?”
“We’re not sure yet, sir,” Raphaël says. “I tried to follow her scent trail, but she walked right into the most crowded part of the town, so I couldn’t track her.”
I didn’t know he’d already tried to go after her. But it makes sense—if he waited, the scent would only have gotten fainter.
“You followed herscent trail?” Mr. Moss says, his voice growing sharp. “Young man, who exactly are you?”
Raphaël’s eyes go wide at the realization that he just blew his cover. I snort despite myself—I don’t know what’s more amusing, the fact that he basically blurted out his secret or that Nora’s Dad calledhima young man, when Raphaël is old enough to be his great-great-grandfather.
If looks could kill, I’d be dead, though.
Raphaël tugs at the collar of his button-down shirt. “I, ah… My name is Raphaël Aubert, sir. I’m Nora’s boyfriend.”
“I thought Levi was her boyfriend.”
How Mr. Moss can switch from friendly and helpful to stern and forbidding, I have no clue. But he does an admirable job.
I decide to save Raphaël from his misery. “I am. We both are. It’s a new thing, and with all due respect, sir, I don’t really think Nora would want us discussing this with you.”
Mr. Moss clears his throat. “No, I don’t suppose so. Well. I’ll take care of the woman in the hospital, then. Where are you going next?”
I haven’t had a lot of time to think about our options, but there’s one place I know Nora will be sooner or later. I open my hand and stare down at the last set of coordinates burned into my skin.
“We’re going to Greece.”
Thirty
Raphaël
We waitat the Reykjavik International Airport for a full day. It’s the most direct route from Iceland to Greece, and we’re hoping Nora will return here sooner or later.
Levi does a locator spell that does nothing but prove that she is somehow cloaking herself, keeping him from finding her. He tries until he’s spent all his energy and burned through his entire stash of magical herbs, until we’re both soaked through and chilled to the bone. I stop him from trying a blood spell he’s never performed before, because I’m sure Nora has thought all of this through, and Levi is better at breaking spells than creating them.
After an uncomfortable night spent guarding the terminal and drinking horrible airport coffee, we’re forced to admit that she must have slipped by us somehow—either she’d flown out during the time we spent in Höfn, making sure that the humans hadn’t already figured out that the patient in the padded room was a witch, or she’d left by some other means that didn’t involve this exact airfield.
We’ve been in contact with a Welsh witch called Ariana, who promised us she would get here as soon as possible. She mentioned another woman, Nia, who might get here even faster as she was in Norway, but at that point, our connection broke off, so I can only hope that the poor woman in the hospital gets the help she needs.
I buy our tickets at the counter for a flight to Crete with layovers in Zurich and Athens. Unsurprisingly, there is no direct flight from Iceland to the largest of the Greek islands. I check in my bag, Levi’s duffle, and the bag Nora left in the rental car when she fled.
The thought of her somewhere out there with just her backpack and the clothes she had on when we parted twists my insides. But I have to trust that she’s more than capable of looking after herself, even in the inhospitable, cold Icelandic landscape. With no way of contacting her, believing that she’s safe and healthy, if heartbroken, is the only way I can keep moving forward.
I return to where Levi is sitting on one of the uncomfortable steel chairs, his face buried in his palms. I sit next to him and quietly set down my bag, not wanting to intrude on his moment.
Some part of me still thinks he deserves what he got, a little, but mostly I’m just sad for him, for Nora, for this entire situation.
“Think she’ll ever forgive me?” he mutters, his voice muffled.
I sigh and lean back. “Yes? Eventually, she’ll realize your only sin was trying to protect her from the horrible news.” I don’t go into specifics, not with so many humans milling around. “The question is, how long will it take her to get to that point?”
I don’t add that she might decide she doesn’t trust Levi after all. Even if she forgives him for this transgression, she might not want to put her trust in him ever again. Or me for that matter.
