Page 62 of Rebel Spell
“Hey.” I sauntered up to him. “You’re not leaving already, are you?”
He lowered his hand and raked a bold gaze over me with a slow perusal. I resisted the urge to cross my arms over my breasts.
“I was planning on it,” he said. “But now that I see you again, Nova, that’s changed. I’d love to talk some more.”
“Sure, I’d like that,” I said. Motioning back toward the club, I suggested, “How about we go back inside for a drink?”
He wrinkled his nose. “It’s too stuffy in there.” He tipped his head in the opposite direction. “Let’s walk along the shore.”
Oh, hell. I didn’t want to go anywhere alone with him, but also didn’t want him to leave. As long as Diego covered me, he could text our whereabouts to Zoe. All I had to do was walk and talk. I’d try to keep the pace slow.
I forced a smile. “I’d like that.”
Chapter 14
Diego
Why the hell did I agree to this? Not that Nova had given me much of a choice before she took off to carry out this insane plan.
As I followed, holding back in the shadows so as not to be detected, one thought repeated in my head like a drumbeat—this was a bad idea.
We’d gone completely off plan. And where the hell was Zoe?
It was too dangerous for her to go anywhere with this guy. Witches had been killed. Nova was a witch. We didn’t know if he had anything to do with Gianna’s disappearance, but this route was too risky.
As they approached the waterfront, a sense of dread rose as thick as the salty scent of ocean and seaweed. I had to stop this.
Jogging up to her, I interrupted their conversation. “Hey Nova.”
She turned and blinked at me. “Diego?”
“Yeah. I was looking for you at the club. Someone mentioned you’d headed this way.”
She stared at me as if trying to read a secret language on my forehead. “Here I am.”
“I see that.” With a nod back toward the club, I said, “We need to talk.”
The dark-haired, too handsome guy stepped up. “We were busy. She’ll talk to you later.”
Nova bristled.
“She is quite capable of deciding for herself.” I stepped up to the guy. Who the hell did he think he was to try and intimidate me? His scent reached my nose. I couldn’t identify it, but didn’t think it was human.
“Actually, I better go and talk to my brother.” Nova slipped between us and gently pushed me back.
Brother? Whatever. As long as I got her away from him.
We walked away in silence. As we approached the club, Nova turned to me. “Did something come up?”
I clenched my jaw. “Yes. I couldn’t let you go off with him. What if he’s responsible for what’s been going on?”
Nova groaned. “That’s what I was trying to find out—and I was making progress by getting him to talk.” She placed her hands on her hips. “So you’re saying the only reason you pulled me away was because you were worried?”
I shifted my stance. “Technically, yes,” I admitted.
She tipped her head back and exhaled with frustration. “Diego, you shouldn’t have done that.”
“Why not?” I countered. “You going off with him wasn’t part of the plan.”
