“Well, I couldn’t tell them my mother had been hexed. I’d have ended up in the looney bin. They believe she has a rare cancer that isn’t responding to traditional treatments. My mother only agreed to the initial ones because we thought they may slow down the damage from the hex.”
“And did they?”
“Not even close.”
“Shit,” he muttered.
“My thoughts exactly. Niara and I have been tracking down old texts of spells with the hope that one of them will break whatever they put on my mother. So far, no luck.”
“Damn.”
“I know,” I mumbled with a burning in my eyes that I quickly blinked to prevent the tears from falling. “So how long do you think we’ll be here?” I asked, nervous because I didn’t know how long my mother had.
“Hopefully, just overnight. Two days, tops.”
“Okay, good.” Then I wondered if my mother would be safe at the hospital. It was usually frowned upon by the witches’ council to openly use magic in public, but somehow these witches weren’t playing by the rules. “Is there any way your friends can get my mother out of the hospital? I’m terrified they will get to her. Also, do you think we can go get the scrolls then? Or before we actually leave here?”
“How far away are these scrolls?”
“Honestly, not that far, but I’ll have to be careful to ensure we weren’t followed.” Nervous, I chewed on my lip. It didn’t seem to matter to the black witches that they wouldn’t be able to open the scrolls. Either that or they had no idea they wouldn’t be able to open them. Hell, at this point,wecouldn’t open them. Not believing what my mother had told me all my life, I had tried and failed.
“I’ll talk to Raptor and Voodoo and let you know,” he offered, and I nodded. Briefly, I closed my eyes and sent out a protection spell to my mother. Not that I hadn’t already done it in her presence, but another dose of white light around her couldn’t hurt.
“Okay, thank you. What about food and something to drink until then?” I questioned, trying to make sense of everything that had transpired. My stomach gave a little rumble as if it was putting in its two cents worth after the question.
He held up a finger in a hold-on motion, then sauntered to his bike. I’m not gonna lie, I couldn’t help but stare at his perfect ass in his worn jeans. The tip of my tongue swiped along my lower lip, and the lust that had been between us in Atlas reared its head. That’s all it took to leave my panties soaked.
When he bent over to get something from his saddlebags, I sucked in a hissed breath.
Damn. Never had a man affected me like he did. It made him both fascinating and confusing.
His head swiveled to face me, and those bright blue eyes locked with mine. Briefly, they dropped to my chest, and I knew he noticed my nipples that tightened under my thin sweater. Embarrassed at my body’s reaction to him, I wrapped my arms across my breasts. One hand nervously kneaded the side of my neck. His nostrils flared, and his jaw ticked before he refocused his attention on whatever he was doing with his bike.
Finally, after getting into both saddlebags, he approached the now clean bar with several bottles of water, a big bag of beef jerky, some pretzels, and a few energy bars.
“Your dinner is served,” he said with a flourish and a slight bow.
It was impossible not to smile at him.
“We should probably ration it, huh? In case we can’t get more for a while?” My worry resurfaced. The thought of being stuck in the abandoned building out in the country and unable to check on my mother had my anxiety spiking more than the thought of not having food and water. I prayed Voodoo and Raptor would be able to get her out of the hospital safely.
“Yeah. I’ll check to see if there’s anything left in the pantry. I meant to when I was doing my walk-through, but I got sidetracked.”
“Um, do you think there’s any way Voodoo or Raptor could check on my mother if they can’t get her out? Or take Niara to check on her? Maybe she should be watched over there. Do you think she’s safer there or with us?” I knew I was prattling, but the thought of my mother being more vulnerable than she already was, terrified me.
“I’ll send them a text.” He didn’t answer my questions, but he pulled out his phone, and his thumbs flew over the screen. When he was done, he shoved it back in his pocket. “They’re on it.”
“Thank you,” I replied in relief, though my unanswered questions still worried me.
I chose an energy bar, and he grabbed a couple of pieces of jerky—we split a bottle of water. Silence ensued as we ate, but it didn’t take long to eat the little we had. He looked at his watch.
“Well, it’s after midnight. We might as well get some rest. I’ll show you where you can sleep,” he murmured as he stood and stretched. His black T-shirt rose slightly and bared a sliver of his skin. My mouth literally salivated at the peek I got of that V, which so few men actually had.
After grabbing one of the candles and extinguishing the others, he weaved around the tables to his bike, where he grabbed a rolled-up item, then motioned for me to follow.
Following him down the hall that led to what seemed like a dark abyss, I forced my eyes to stay on his back and not stray to that perfectly grabbable ass. I smacked my forehead with my palm.
Stop! What the hell is wrong with you?