I blink and find myself back in the bathroom clutching a strip of lace. Finally, we have a break in this case. The water is cold. I turn off the water as my teeth chatter. Warmth spreads through me. Cristobal’s home. I dry off quickly and dress in black slacks, and a black button down blouse with sheer lace overlays on the shoulders and a bow tie front. I’m running low on my usual casual wear. Between work and investigations, I’ve had little time to laundry. Opening the door, I find Cristobal standing with his arms behind his back as he talks to Fel.
“Louella.”
I rush to him and jump in his arms. He’s solid, safe, and strong. I need his steadiness to rinse the vision of him dead out of my mind. He cups the back of my head. I pull back, take his face in my hand, and attack his soft lips, drowning myself in the feel and flavor of him. His tongue matches mine stroke for stroke. I moan as I sag against him. My body lights from the inside out, and only the need for oxygen pulls me away. Breathing heavily, I study his face. He’s here whole and alive.
He lifts his eyebrows. “What happened?
“We finally got that break we’ve been looking for.”
“Then why do you look like you’ve been through hell and back.” His accent peeks through.
“Because I was.” A life where this man no longer exists is my worst fears realized. Denying that is useless and petty. I cup his face with my hand and run my thumb over his thick eyebrow. Lying to one’s self is a weakness. I can’t afford to have those right now.
“Why don’t I give you a minute? I think I can handle the boys downstairs until you get there,” Fel says, slipping out of the room.
“I can’t lose you.”
His eyes widen. “Dove?”
I close my eyes and continue to force words around the lump in my throat.
“I ran away and stopped using magic, and it couldn’t kill what’s between us. I denied it, examined it, questioned it, and my heart still beats in time with yours. Your arms are the place I feel safest, and yours is the name I call out when I need help because I know you’re going to come for me every time. I’m done running. I want this, us, and I’m willing to fight for it.”
“You don’t have to fight for what’s rightfully yours, Louella.” He places my hand over his heart. “You had this long silent organ the moment you walked into that graveyard and spoke to me with the voice of an angel. The minute you cast your first spell I felt it down to my soul. I left that night and broke off my dalliances with other women, and had Percival, Miles, and Gil coach me on how to treat a woman. Even then, I knew I wasn’t worthy of you.” He smiles. “You became my obsession. The one thing I needed to actually work to have. Because of you, I’m a better man. You are the reason I reconnected with my humanity. Everything you see now, you helped build. You were gone physically, but you’ve been haunting me like a ghost for years.” He nuzzles my neck, and I feel something tighten low in my belly. “I can’t say or do everything I want to do to you tonight. We have people counting on us, and responsibilities to fulfill. But when this is over …” He nips his way down my neck, pausing to trace my collarbone with his tongue. I tug his hair, and he growls. His fangs graze my skin. I hold my breath. Anticipation has me shaky-kneed, and short of breath.
He straightens, turns me around, and pulls my body flush to his, placing his large hand on my stomach. “We’re going to take a trip. No phones, distractions, excuses, or clothing.”
“Yes.”
He kisses my temple. “Soon.”
I bite my bottom lip and groan. How the hell am I supposed to concentrate after that?
> Wrapping an arm around my waist, he pulls me to his side. “Are you ready to tell me what happened now?”
“I have something that belongs to the witch.” I grin as I step away from him and grab the scrap of lace. “I’ll explain everything once we’re downstairs. Tonight we’ll be the ones tracking her.”
Ten minutes later, we’re all in the library around a large table surrounded by chairs, like a library in an ivy league college
“I don’t understand. How could you bring something back from a dream?” Ruby asks.
“Not a dream, an in-between place,” Ada corrects.
“Exactly.” I narrow my gaze once more. Questions tingle on my tongue.
“How can we use this against her?” Cristobal asks from where he sits in the gold-colored wingback chair.
“We can track it. We don’t know who she is, but this will tell us where she is or was last. She must know we’ll be after her,” Fel adds. It does not escape my attention that Rene is next to her … and Percival is on the other side of her.
She’s really workin’ that dress.
“Then we should get started. We’ll need four candles, a bowl, salt, and a map.”
Ten minutes later, we’re in the study with a map of Louisiana rolled out onto the table, and four candles placed at north, east, south, and west.
“Are you ready?” I ask Fel.
“I am.” We hold hands over the map, clutching the piece of material. I share my image from the in-between place and we focus everything we have on locating her. The smell of sulfur fills the air. I can feel the heat of the fire. We glance down and watch as fire eats away at the map until only one small portion remains. It burns out, and we lower our arms.