A tsunami-like need to protect burst upward from my gut and into my throat. It moved outward into my limbs and pulled Ellie even closer.
“Chihiro said that I need to acclimate the enchantments to my presence. I have a list on my phone.” I’d get Ellie through the concealments—or I’d find a way in.
She pulled back. “You talked to Chihiro?” A spark flickered across her face.
She was surprised.
“Yes,” I said. “She remembers you. I made a deal with two kitsune while in Las Vegas. They found her and added her number to my phone.” I pulled my phone out of my pocket.
“You shouldn’t have made a deal with kitsune, Frank,” she said.
I shrugged. “I ended up making a lot of deals in Las Vegas I probably shouldn’t have.” I held out my phone so she could see. “It was worth it.”
Her finger floated over the screen for a split second, until she gently touched Chihiro’s phone number. “Is she okay?” Her lip quivered more now than it had before. “When my cottage moved, it hurt her.” She pulled back her hand. “It hurt me, too.”
Her concealment moved her cottage? How was that possible? And when it moved, it harmed Chihiro, and it harmed Ellie.
She touched my cheek. “My home doesn’t mean to hurt anyone. It gives plenty of warning before a move, so I can take precautions.” She touched my phone again. “Chihiro is stubborn.”
For a split second, I was sure she thought the magicks that moved her cottage were about to reach out and do to me what they did to Chihiro.
“She hasn’t said anything about injuries,” I said.
Ellie sniffed and rubbed at her eyes. “I don’t have any way to call her,” Ellie whispered.
“I’ll get you a phone.” I pointed at the parking lot. “We can go right now. I’ll put you on my plan.”
A small, pinched grin moved across Ellie’s lips. She chuckled once, and shook her head.
“We’ve done this before,” I said.
Ellie gently touched my forearm. Her fingers, separated from my skin by the fabric of my dress shirt, moved downward toward my wrist.
She was an inch from taking my hand. Inches from accepting what I offered. An inch from returning to my embrace and admitting she didn’t have to face her enchantments alone.
I was caught in that inch. Me, the “giant” of Alfheim, was trapped in that miniscule space between her walking away and me giving her all I had.
I needed her to let me help. I needed to show her win after win, even if they were small and incremental. I needed her to acknowledge that tiny little space, to roll up her sleeves, and get to work building it out with me.
Her concealments might make my mind forget, but right now, with her almost taking my hand, I was pretty sure they couldn’t stop my body’s memory. Every individual cobbled-together piece of me knew the truth of my emotions.
Her fingers stopped at the cuff of my dress shirt. “I lost the last phone you gave me when we were dealing with the vampires.”
What was I forgetting? Was her reluctance to take my hand because of something that happened with vampires? Was it something I did?
She chuckled. “Do you still have my bike?” She lifted her hand off my arm. Just like that, she broke the connection. She severed our tether and now I drowned in the bottom of the deep, small space between us.
“Ellie.” I reached for her again.
She clasped my hands, but did not return to my arms. She clasped them to hold the space between us. “My green bike.”
Please don’t hold me away, I thought. I almost spoke those five words. I probably should have. But frightening her would have slashed much deeper than her requesting space.
“The bike I found,” I said. “It’s yours? It’s in my garage. I haven’t had time to fix it.” I didn’t know why I wanted to fix it, either. Now I did.
“I need some way to get around.”
“I’ll get your bike fixed,” I said. “It’s going to snow soon.” I pointed at the sky. “A bike won’t do. You’ll need a vehicle.”
She looked away and didn’t answer.
“Ellie,” I said. “I’ll get you whatever you need. I’ll buy a car and leave the keys for you. All you have to do is ask.”
She frowned and the space between us grew wider. She stepped back, and that space became a gulf.
So I changed the subject. “The wolves say we have a blizzard coming in on the evening of Samhain,” I said, hoping to pull her attention back to building our space instead of allowing it to crush us.
“That’s terrible timing,” she said.
“It is.” I’d distracted her from leaving. “Especially since we have an interloper. The wolves sensed some sort of dark magic at the park today when the guy showed up the first time.” I pointed back at the walk. “The elves didn’t sense anything, but I saw a shadow.”
She spun around and pointed at the small fence separating the walk from the brambles. She squeezed my fingers. “When your brother kidnapped you, we used my ability to hide from other magicals to save Benta.”
Her hand twitched. She let go and looked away again.
Benta had stayed the night after we returned from Vampland.
My stomach soured. And once again I realized that even if my mind forgot, my body did not.
I’d unintentionally hurt Ellie by allowing Benta to stay.
“I’m sorry.” I reached for her again. “I didn’t know. It won’t happen again.”
No surprise registered on her face, just resignation. “Frank…”
I stepped to her and pulled her into my arms. I kissed her hair. Such intimacy was presumptuous, especially now, with a Benta-shaped wraith between us. But I wasn’t going to give up without a fight. “I promise.”
She pulled
