“Or, I could teach you.” She knew she was babbling to center herself, but it felt like a necessary endeavor. “We could turn it into a game. Er, well, another sort of game.”
“Strip euchre?”
“You need partners to play it. Are you saying you want me to get naked in front of two other people?”
He shrugged. “It depends. Do I get to pick these people?”
She lightly slapped his arm and choked out a laugh. “No. We might be able to turn the tutorial into a private affair, though.” She rolled her neck and glanced toward the cave. “We really can’t put this off any longer.”
“I know.” He turned serious. “I’m going in first.”
“I didn’t forget.”
“Good.” He planted a firm kiss against her lips. “If you don’t run headlong into danger in here and make me lose my head, I’ll learn whatever card game you want me to.”
“Deal.”
COOPER’S HEART BEAT HARD AS HE plunged into the darkness. He wasn’t fearful by nature — his military service had drummed that out of him — but his desire to keep Hannah safe was overwhelming. It was one thing to risk himself, he figured it was part of his job description, but her life was worth more than his ... at least to him. He would die for multiple people. He would kill for her if it became necessary.
“Hold onto my belt, baby,” he whispered as they moved farther into the cave. “If you see anything ....”
“You’ll be the first to know,” she promised, her hand brushing over his butt as she grappled for his belt.
“Now now, Hannah. We’re in a cave.”
“Oh, geez.”
He chuckled, the lame joke lightening the mood, although only briefly. “Let’s do this.”
He took small steps and kept his light trained on the ground. Behind him, Hannah moved her light from wall to wall so they wouldn’t be caught unaware if something appeared out of the darkness. They’d been in this particular cave before, watched an evil child die at the hands of the demon he tormented, and even fled from possessed women being controlled by a monster. This time, though, the cave appeared to be empty.
When they reached the heart of the chamber, Cooper shifted his light to the ceiling so he could double-check they weren’t being stalked by a giant spider. He would never admit to having an aversion to bugs, but the mere idea of some huge creepy-crawly landing in his hair gave him the heebie-jeebies.
“There’s no one here,” Hannah said finally, disappointment evident in her voice. “It’s empty.”
“Yeah.” He reached around and squeezed her hand but continued searching. “The search teams retrieved Logan’s body weeks ago. They didn’t see anything out of the ordinary in here.”
“No, but we know that evil has found this place more than once.”
“We do know that,” he agreed. “I wonder what it is about this place that draws them in.”
“It’s dark and dank and we don’t like it.”
“That’s possible.”
“It’s also possible that a lot of evil happened on this land,” she added, her mind busy. “I’ve been thinking about it since last night, since we found the story with the missing pages. What if something really terrible happened up here and someone wants to make sure nobody ever finds out what it is?”
“I’m not sure how that would benefit anyone who wasn’t around during that time.”
“Maybe because it’s not about the witches but about the land.”
He stilled. “The nexus.”
She nodded. “One of the first things I learned about Casper Creek is that it was built on a magical nexus. What if it turned Bettina evil? Although, to be fair, we don’t technically know she was evil. We have a story that paints her as evil. People — monsters even — are rarely one thing.”
“That’s true. I’m not sure why it matters, though.”
“In the dreams, they were giving each other grief. They were both threatening one another. I didn’t see any overt acts, but they seemed fairly well-matched for battle.”
“I thought you didn’t remember the dream from last night.”
She turned sheepish. “I didn’t at first. I kind of remember now. Bits and pieces have been coming back to me. It’s like they’re memories from when I was really little and I can only remember fragments.”
“Well ... at least you remember something. Tell me about the dream.”
“Can we do it on the way back out of the cave?” She’d reached the limit of her bravery. “There’s nothing in here for us.”
“Absolutely.” He moved his hand to her hip and directed her in front of him. “This time you can lead.”
“Because you’ve ascertained that there’s no danger?”
“Because I want to be the one to grab your butt this time.”
“Ha, ha, ha. I didn’t grab your butt. I just ... accidentally touched it.”
He snorted. “Accidentally.”
“It was an accident. I wasn’t trying to get fresh.”
“That’s a shame. I really liked the idea of you picking the worst possible time ever to flirt.”
“I’ll keep it in mind for a future catastrophe.”
“That sounds fun.” Even though he was fairly certain the cave was empty, Cooper remained alert as he followed her out. “Tell me about the dream.” He wanted a distraction — for her as much as himself — as they left the dankness behind.
“Oh, they were playing a game I think,” she replied. “I have no idea what the rules were, or what the winner got. They were cursing each other, though. I’m fairly certain of that.”
“I thought using magic on other witches was a no-no.”
“It is ... at least mostly. I mean, if you’re being attacked by a witch you’re allowed to protect yourself.”
“Right. That means you can take out Astra and Stormy if it becomes necessary at some point.”
Hannah involuntarily shuddered. “Let’s hope that doesn’t become necessary.”
He pressed his hand to the small of her back. “I agree. It’s good to know you have it in your back pocket, though.” As if to prove that, he gave her bottom a light squeeze and caused her to jump. “Just checking.”
“You can’t squeeze my butt
