Page 85 of Discovered Magic
“Was he your bestie? If he wasn’t, then I don’t see how it’s much of a loss,” she retorted.
“Le petit chaton has very sharp teeth!” Draven crowed with delight.
“Claws,” she and Royal corrected in unison.
“Meh. Claws, teeth… what does it matter if they are sharp, oui?”
Again, the bizarre desire to laugh struck, but she curbed it.
Silas watched her with eyes that saw to her soul, and she worried he’d tapped into her elation at Draven and Castor finding her.
“No. I suspect he’s merely watchful,” her father telegraphed, causing her to jump.
“My apologies, Silas,” she said in a more subdued tone. “Of course, I’ll stay here.”
His eyes narrowed as if he didn’t trust her, but after a minute, he nodded and led the way outside.
Castor paused in the doorway and shot her an undecipherable glance before making a point to look around the entire room. “Don’t relay fear if you can help it, but if Morcant comes near you, scream as loud as you can,” Castor warned through their link.
“Yeah, I already know what he is,” she replied in kind.
“Good. Have a care, daughter.”
27
Wilder breathed a sigh of relief at hearing Abbie well and back to her sassy self. He ducked into an alley in Globe.
“Abbie?”
“Wild Man? Oh, God! I was worried you were dead.”
There was a warmer quality to her speech that wasn’t there prior to her abduction, as if she knew or felt close to him.
“Your memories are back?” he asked, afraid to hope.
“Yes. Bart’s goons must’ve jarred something loose when they knocked me out.” She paused a second, then added, “I can’t believe you never gave up on me.”
“Part of me had,” he confessed. “Life without you was too hard, and I couldn’t imagine continuing down such a bleak path. I didn’t want to go on, Abbie. My soul was shredded. I was completely out of options when I stumbled upon your dad at Ebba’s.”
“New rule: we both survive, no matter what it takes.”
“That’s a fucking great rule,” he replied with feeling.
She paused for a long moment. “How’s your back? It looked bad.”
“Our friends patched me up. I’ll tell you all about it when I see you.”
“Your standard line when you don’t want to discuss anything deep,” she teased.
“Yeah, well, enough about me. Are you safe? Have they hurt you?”
“I’m fine.”
“Really? Because I was told they found Gus’s and Bart’s bodies in the canyon.”
“Yes. Bart’s demise was an altercation with my foot, and Jennings shot poor Gus in the back when he tried to help me.”
Wilder swore.
