Page 31 of Exes, Hexes, and Strategy
Relief went through each of them, quickly turning to a giddy excitement as they rode back to the facility with Cam and Jeremiah. They were practically finishing each other’s sentences as they eagerly shared the story of how they’d come to find their target.
“You can’t share your strategy with the others,” Jeremiah cautioned them. “Not, at least, until everyone has made it through this round. After that, you can share the details to your heart’s content but until Morgan calls it, keep it zipped.”
It was tough. Nina was so happy about their accomplishment tonight, she immediately wanted to go find Mel and tell her everything, but upon returning to the facility, she discovered that while two other teams had also successfully located their targets, Mel’s team was not one of them.
“I’m not going to make it,” her friend said forlornly. “I’m useless.”
Nina wrapped her arms around Mel and hugged her tight. “You arenotuseless,” she firmly stated.
“You’re not,” Rafe added, joining them. “And you’re also not the only person on that team,” he wisely pointed out, chucking Mel under her chin. “So don’t take all the blame.”
He then suggested, “Anyone up for some ice cream?”
Mel’s face instantly brightened.
As they headed for the kitchens, and the walk-in freezer that held the ice cream, Nina’s chest felt like it was going to burst with the love she felt for this man. Mel wasn’t the easiest person to take some times, her personality was so huge, especially for someone as circumspect as Rafe, yet he’d quickly stepped up when he saw that Mel needed support. They had planned to go off and find a quiet spot where they could be together and have a private celebration of their victory, but he’d willingly put that on hold knowing that Mel needed them. Every time Nina thought she couldn’t possibly love him more, he did something like this. Was it any wonder she wanted to keep him?
∞∞∞
The following evening, Nina was sitting on her bed, watching Mel don her clothes for that night’s hunt, ready to offer encouragement at least since she couldn’t disclose the strategy that had led them to their target. Not that all the hunts required the same tactics, she was sure, but still, it felt wrong not to at least be able to drop a hint.
“I realize the need for black,” she stated instead, eyeing her friend’s outfit of black T-shirt tucked into a pair of black jeans. “I even understand that leather and denim are durable, and therefore, the go-to for Hunters, but I wish the style wasn’t so plain.”
Mel looked down at herself and grimaced. “I know. It’s not exactly the most flattering, is it?”
“Maybe I can design something,” Nina said with a grin. “Since you’ll be out hunting and Rafe is off meeting with Kane Fletcher, it’s not like I won’t have the time.”
Her friend immediately warmed to the idea. “Oh, yes!” Letting her hands shimmy down the front of herself, Mel suggested, “I’m thinking a bustier style top, maybe some thigh-high boots.”
Nina laughed. “Are we talking full dominatrix?”
“We can leave out the riding crop,” Mel deadpanned just as someone knocked on the door.
Chuckling as she rose from the bed, she was still smiling when she opened the door to see the flushed and grinning face of Skylar who was also dressed for the hunt.
“You have a delivery,” the light-bending witch excitedly informed her. “Flowers! How romantic is that! You need to tell me who sent them!”
Nina bit her lip, glancing quickly over her shoulder at Mel who just shrugged as if to say she had no idea, while Skylar latched onto Nina’s hand and pulled her out of the room.
“The delivery guy is at the door,” Skylar continued, “And, oh my God the flowers aregorgeous. They had to have been so expensive.”
Skylar continued speaking as she tugged Nina down the stairs to the foyer. “Please tell me they’re not from your parents and you have a secret admirer. I desperately need a good love story.”
“I don’t have a secret admirer,” Nina told the woman, though perhaps Rafe might qualify since their relationship was a secret to everyone but a select few. It was possible her parents had sent them, she supposed, though unlikely. She had called them to fill them in on how things were going, and they were happy for her, but she didn’t think they would have sent flowers. That belief was confirmed once she got a look at the massive bouquet the delivery guy was holding. Skylar had been right. It was gorgeous. And by the look of it, incredibly expensive – no way her financially cautious parents would have dropped that kind of money on something that would wilt and die. They had to be from Rafe.
Signing for the flowers with what surely had to be a bemused look on her face, Nina took the arrangement from the delivery man. The flowers were in a square, ruby-colored vase with a huge satin bow tied around it. There were roses, and lilies, interspersed with little flowers and greenery that Nina had no idea what they were called, and the whole thing smelled amazing.
“Who are they from?” Skylar asked excitedly. By this point, Mel, as well as several others had joined them, all looking on curiously.
Nina cleared her throat. “Probably my parents,” she offered, jumping on the story Skylar herself had provided. “To congratulate me.”
“Read the card!”
She should have known she wouldn’t get away that easily.
Carefully setting the arrangement down on a table, she extricated the envelope. Quickly making sure no one might be reading over her shoulder, she then glanced at the card inside. It wasn’t signed, probably because Rafe was adhering to her preference to keep their relationship a secret while still attempting to do something romantic for her, but he wanted to meet, and he’d included an address. Her heart fluttered excitedly in her chest. His meeting with Fletcher must have been postponed, so he’d decided to take advantage of their time off for a romantic evening out.
Looking up, she was grinning at the others as she lied and told them, “Yup. They’re from my parents, congratulating me.”
