Page 71 of Discovered Magic
“Will you find Nate, Evie?” he asked as she examined his back. “And Damian. We need their firepower.”
“I will if you remain here and don’t do anything foolish.” She pressed her fingers to the wound and grunted her satisfaction. “This is healing neatly. How is your pain level?”
“Manageable. And I’m regaining sensation in my legs.”
“Good. Two or three more magical infusions and you should be fully recovered.”
“I can’t thank you enough for all you’ve done,” he said as she helped him to roll over.
“It’s no bother. I’d have done it for any of my great-great-grandchildren,” she replied with a cheeky smile.
He laughed. Her humor was as expected, considering the story of the “big dill” socks his cousin Mackenzie told at a family get-together. The idea of this lovely lady posing as Sebastian Drake’s dotty old aunt was hilarious.
Wilder touched her arm as she straightened his coverlet.
Her brows shot up as she sank onto the mattress. “What is it, my dear?”
“You are better than I ever could’ve imagined. I’m honored to have gotten to know you during my stay here.”
When she smiled, it lit the room. “And I you, Wilder. I’m glad Abbie has you to care for her.”
“What was she like before the bank robbery?”
“Fun. Refreshingly happy, despite the memory loss.” Evie glanced down at their joined hands. “But underneath, she had a longing Nate felt and I saw. When she woke the first time, she called your name.”
“She did?” His heart hammered, pounding so hard it felt as if it were trying to escape his chest. “She actually said Wilder?”
“Indeed, she did. My heart was broken for the poor thing.”
“I only wish I’d have known she was alive earlier. If I suspected for one minute?—”
Evie pressed her index finger over his lips. “Shelve the regrets. The Fates had a plan for her, though it’s unclear what that is right now.”
“Actually, I know,” he confessed.
Her expression arrested, and her mouth dropped open.
Wilder chuckled, getting the impression she wasn’t easily shocked.
“Well, out with it,” she ordered.
He wasn’t sure why he felt the sudden urge for privacy since there were only the two of them. But he couldn’t shake the feeling they should be discreet when discussing the Fates.
“Can you ward the room against eavesdroppers?”
Although she narrowed her eyes, she nodded, then used an effective incantation the Thornes would eventually call “Granny Thorne’s cloaking spell.”
“Please, continue, my dear,” she urged.
“Okay, so Isis possessed Cookie’s body at the restaurant and gave me the scoop. It seems Abbie was brought here to spark Draven’s instincts and trigger his Guardian powers.”
“I don’t quite understand. Why her?”
“He is in love with a woman named Céleste Duval, but she was married off to another, and on the night he would’ve saved her, the Fates stripped him of his memories.”
“Dear lord!”
“Yes, it gets worse. Apparently, she’s married to an abusive bastard like Bart Mercer,” he said grimly.
