Page 64 of A Touch Enchanted

“Rafe will let us use the phones at the credit union,” I said.

I almost told Donovan we could ask Rafe to help us too, but how would I present that to him? As far as I knew, no one had talked to him about his magic, and they definitely hadn’t told him he was partnered with Jocelyn. He was my landlord and we were friendly, but not friends. That was not the kind of news that should come from an acquaintance.

We walked the short distance to the credit union below my apartment. When we stepped inside, everyone went dead silent and stared at us. Both employees and patrons looked at us as if we’d just walked in wearing ski masks and carrying chainsaws.

Donovan leaned over and whispered to me, “Is there something on my face?”

We looked a little rough after what we’d been through today, no denying that, but the reaction was a little extreme. “I’m not sure what’s gotten into everyone.”

“I have my suspicions.” Donovan narrowed his eyes at people we’d known our whole lives, who now looked at us like we were intruders who didn’t belong.

Rafe stepped out of his glass-enclosed office and took one look at us before letting out a resigned sigh. “I don’t even want to know.”

We followed him into his office and he closed the door behind us. Donovan and I flopped down on the chairs in front of his desk, and Donovan let out a groan at being able to sit. I really needed to get him out swimming more.

Rafe sat at his desk with his elegant hands laced together in front of him. With his dark hair, piercing blue eyes, and refined, almost aristocratic features, he was handsome in a restrained kind of way. But there was something wild and uninhibited about him. Something that lurked just below the surface, kept on a tight leash.

“I said I didn’t want to know, but humor me.” He leaned back in his chair. Polished and professional, with just a hint of amusement in his eyes. “You both look like you got dragged through the ocean on a fish hook. Please don’t tell me you went swimming with the eels.”

“There are crocodiles now, too,” I said.

Rafe pushed his fingers into his temples. “Of course there are.”

“We didn’t swim with them by choice.” Donovan eyed the street from the wide window on his right, his leg twitching with impatience. “Can we use your phone? I don’t mean to rush this along, but we’re kind of on a time crunch here.”

“Go ahead.” Rafe stood. “Don’t let me disturb you. I’m only the manager of this place.”

He walked out and left us alone in the office.

I nudged Donovan with my elbow. “What did you see out there?”

He must’ve seen something or he wouldn’t have been so short with Rafe.

“The smoke.” He pointed across the street to the woods. “It’s rolling into the trees.”

I looked closer at the direction of the swirling smoke. At first, I thought it was just curling over the sidewalks and tangling with anyone who walked by, like it had been for the past day, but he was right. It was flowing from the beach, spilling into town, and gathering in the forest. There was no way we could go in there without offensive magic on our side.

“Call Galen and Cole.” I nodded to the phone. “I’ll ask Rafe if I can use one of the phones out front to call Brooke.”

I didn’t even know if Brooke and Cole had offensive magic. No one knew what kind of magic they had, including the two of them, but anything would help at this point. The animals helped warn us of what was ahead on the trails, and could even attack in large numbers, but only long enough to offer us an escape. If we wanted to get to the center of the island in one piece, we’d need more than an escape. We’d need to fight for it.

Rafe let me use a second office to call Brooke. She picked up on the first ring. “Can you come down to Leo’s? It’s an emergency.”

“On my way.” She didn’t even ask why, or what I needed. I just had to ask and she’d be there. Reason number eighty million why Brooke was the best. Cole didn’t deserve her.

Donovan came out of the office with a grim expression. “Cole’s phone is off, but I didn’t really expect him to answer when he’s working, anyway. I told him to meet us down at Leo’s. He’ll come, but who knows how long it’ll be before he checks his voice mails.”

“I told Brooke to meet us there, just in case.”

“Great. If Cole shows up and we find out one of them can fly, they can airlift us to the cave.” Donovan took my hand and nodded to Rafe. The two of us swept out of there without further explanation. Not that anyone would’ve understood us even if we had bothered to tell them what was going on. “I told Galen to wait for us outside. He seemed reluctant to come.”

“Gee, I wonder why.”

“I have no tolerance for their bullshit today.” A muscle in Donovan’s jaw ticked. “They’re coming with us, whether they want to or not.”

I didn’t disagree with him. Even if I’d go about it in a nicer way.

After going up to my apartment to change and throw our phones in a bag of rice, we headed over to Leo’s. Galen and Brooke met us on the street right before we hit the parking lot. Brooke had been showing him some of her plant grafts when they got the calls from us, so they ended up coming together.

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