“But at least we’ve had some unforgettable memories,” she adds. Her eyes twinkle as she says it and I smile. “You need to get far away from here, Saskia. But remember, whatever happens, I promise this won’t be the last you see of me.”
I pull her face to mine, her warm lips scorching my mouth. We stay like that for a long time, her hands moving from my face and down my thin dress, my nipples hard against her touch and the biting wind. We’re hidden from view from the entire world, but slowly the snow fades from a flurry to a light dusting, and the square starts to fill with people again. This time they are all wrapped up warm.
“What the fuck?” Luisa says through her laughter.
One kid is sitting in a paella pan, the handle attached to the leash of his dog. He’s whizzing down the road like a tiny Santa on speed. A group of teenagers is on skis, pushing their way along what is normally a pavement, and a giant snowball fight has erupted from the doorway of one house to another on the other side of the square.
I join in with Luisa’s laughter as the center of Barcelona erupts into one joyous magical snow globe. I squint over at the cathedral, looking for Rafi, but he’s not on the steps where we left him. Luisa must sense my concern.
“Where do you think he got to?” she asks.
Her cheeks are tinted red and her short hair wet and sticking up like a cockatoo. I flatten it and she grabs my hand, kissing my palm.
“He could be any one of these crazies,” I say, grinning and pointing at the hundreds of people quickly filling the streets and square. “I bet he’s itching to use his magic and show off his mad snow tricks.”
“I’ll call him.” Luisa holds her phone up to her ear and after a minute shrugs. “No answer. I guess it’s just you and me, maca.”
I squeal as she pulls me behind her, and we head for her apartment.
We stumble into Luisa’s apartment, kissing wildly against the wall. My face and neck are numb from the cold, each one of her kisses like a scorching brand on my skin.
Maybe I can stay in the city a little bit longer and make my escape tomorrow. My mother won’t find me here. Right now I need this, I need Luisa and her hands on my body and every one of her kisses.
“Don’t mind me.”
Beatriz edges past us in the hallway and I pull back from Luisa. Shit. We’d completely forgotten about Beatriz and all she’s been through.
“Is Rafi here?” Luisa asks.
Beatriz, still wearing her dramatic black outfit with its crisscrossed sleeves and stockings, looks so sad and small. “No, I thought he was with you.”
“Have you spoken to Xavi’s fam…”
“The funeral was this afternoon, but I had to go to the Ascension.” She interrupts me, giving me a sharp look. “It doesn’t matter, his send-off was Shifter-only. I wouldn’t have been invited anyway.” She looks down at her hands, picking at the skin around her fingernails. “I said my goodbyes already as he lay dying in my arms.”
The three of us sit in the living room, watching the snow falling outside. Beatriz opens the window and holds out her hand, marveling at the snowflakes landing on her palm.
“I don’t know how you did it, Saskia,” she says quietly. “But congratulations, you achieved the impossible. You outsmarted your mother.”
The expanse of white outside is suddenly interrupted by a dark flurry of wings. Beatriz yelps and staggers backward as a crow lands on the windowsill. She pulls the window open wider and snow blows into the apartment in the bird’s wake.
Beatriz looks stricken, her eyes filling with tears and her mouth ajar as she stares at the black bird.
“Bea. It’s not him,” Luisa says softly, rushing to her side. “It’s just a normal crow.”
She helps a sobbing Beatriz to the armchair and covers her with a blanket before returning to the window. I watch on as Luisa gently places a palm on the crow’s silken wing. Her eyes are widening with fear — she’s detected something. This is no normal bird.
“It’s a messenger,” she says. “Sent by your mother.”
My stomach coils and Luisa makes a sympathetic face.
“Would you like to know what she says?” Luisa asks. “Only the recipient can sense it.”
I nod my approval and Luisa holds my face in her icy palms. The message floods into my mind, down my spine, and into every inch of my body. I glance from her to Beatriz in horror as the message sinks in.
“Well?” they both ask.
“Solina has Rafi in the Nox basement. If we don’t come, she’s going to kill him.”
Chapter Twenty-Eight
The three of us run through the thick snow as fast as we can.
“Your fucking mother better not hurt him!” Luisa is screaming as we turn the corner and stop a few meters from the Palau Güell. There are groups of tourists wandering around taking shots of the famous Gaudí building in the snow, completely unaware that behind the spindly gates, an Elemental has been taken hostage.
This is all about revenge. This is all my fault. How could I think I had time to escape? That my mother wouldn’t find a way to lure me back?
Luisa’s hand snakes in mine as we march into the building, then stop suddenly. It’s empty. The MA HQ is never empty. I was expecting to see a few older Witches networking, Juniors chatting excitedly about the snow. Beatriz pauses beside us, as surprised as we are.
The three of us run to the concealed wall and head for the basement. An invisible fist squeezes my guts as I remember the last time we all descended these steps, except this time one of the two guys we were with is dead, and the other is being held ransom.
The basement door is ajar. Has Solina done something to the
