“God, Maria. You scared me.”
He felt tears prickling at the backs of his eyes. Confusion, terror, and regret all warred in his chest. Most of all, regret. What had he done to lovely, sweet Maria?
“My supper,” she said primly, then bashed the fish on the nearest rock. “It will be delicious.” She blinked at him a few times and then nodded. “Oh yes, I followed you here. At least until I passed you. You were extremely slow.”
“You didn’t think to offer me a ride?” he asked, trying feebly to joke.
“You were full of pride. You didn’t accept help from anyone else so I had no reason to expect you to accept help from me.”
“So you did talk to my parents,” he said, relaxing a little.
“No.”
“But then—”
“I could tell by looking at you when you came to my window.”
He was so stunned he scooted away from her. Goosebumps covered his entire body. He stared at her sitting there so calmly, as if she weren’t dripping wet and didn’t have a dead fish she’d killed with her bare hands laying beside her.
She had seen him looking up at her window the night he left London. He had been awfully angry and full of pride that night. And she’d been able to sense it. He pulled his arms close to his body to ward off the chill of the coming night. Was it fear that made him so cold? Why wasn’t she shivering, soaking wet as she was with icy creek water? He pulled together all his courage.
“Maria?” he asked. Once again she showed her teeth in a semblance of a smile. Her eyes were both dull and glittering at the same time. No, not glittering. Something flashed deep within them. “Please answer me,” he begged.
She stroked the scales of her supper and turned away, gazing at the creek. She didn’t answer and he had a bad feeling it was because Agathe was right. She was no longer Maria. He heard footsteps coming toward them, crackling through the leaves and twigs. She didn’t so much as flinch or turn around. She simply didn’t care. He saw it was Sorin thundering toward them and he knew he only had a second or two left to ask again.
“If you’re not Maria, wh-who are you?”
She slid her eyes over him and he swore he could feel it. Like a feathery trail everywhere she looked. “I’m the one who brought her back.”
His heart pounded in his chest so that he could barely breathe. But could he dare to hope? “Is she still in there, then?” he asked, reaching for her arm but unable to touch her. Not unwilling. His hand stopped just short of her sodden sleeve and would go no further. “Tell me. Hurry. Please.”
Her lips curled back and the flicker behind her eyes went dark. Sorin stopped just behind them, panting. He looked anxiously at Owen, who stood up and turned away to hide his confusion and fear. If he let on he was afraid of the Maria thing, who knew what they would do to her. And she hadn’t answered him either way. Which meant Maria might still be there, waiting to be found. Rescued.
If it was possible, he would do it. And then she might love him again.
Chapter 4
Ariana leaned back in the plush armchair and dully inspected the ruby on her hand. The red stone was deep and dark if she moved her hand away from the sunlight glinting through the window. If she flashed her hand toward the sun, the flawless stone shone a bright, cheery pink.
It was the third such bauble Nick had given her. First the bracelet, which had rubies set around a deer engraved on the wide gold band. She’d thought it was sweet of him to remember that she loved forest creatures. Next came the necklace, its ruby cut in the shape of a heart. The note attached had said she already owned his heart and the necklace was a symbol of it. Embarrassingly sentimental but cute. Now this ring. It was gorgeous. The most stunning of the three gifts with its massive stone and intricate scrollwork. But there wasn’t anything personal attached to it. And she was getting sick of rubies. Red wasn’t even her favorite color.
Still, it was sweet of him to buy them for her. Well, pick them out and have them delivered to her, despite the fact it was her money he was using to get them. She tried not to feel a bit irked about paying for jewelry she didn’t actually like all that much. He could have been spending it left and right on himself instead of her.
“Which he also is,” she muttered.
A glance at the ornate ivory and enamel clock on the marble fireplace mantel showed it was barely past noon. Much too early for wine. She could visit the hospital she had just donated a huge sum to. They’d be more than happy to see her and give her another tour to show off how much good they’d been able to do with the donation. She could also pop into the orphanage and play with the little children. It hurt her heart that they didn’t have families, but it was only a matter of time with her handcrafted spell she’d cast over the place. It was always a thrill for her when she was there spending time with the orphans and a young couple would come in, eager to give a home to one of them, all thanks to her spell.
She didn’t want to make the long ride into the heart of London, though. And the quick transport spell didn’t work at all on her, no matter who cast it. She simply didn’t budge.
