Page 22 of Perfectly Matched

Chapter Seven

Hannah sat slouched on a bench outside the south entrance parking lot, waiting for Piper. It had taken her five attempts to locate the correct parking area, and by that time, there was no sign of Payson. Now, all she could do was wait for the inevitable. Oriana and Piper would both be pleased to have her home, but as she shuffled her feet and became more fidgety, she knew that she would never be able to get the beautiful sparkling emerald eyes of Payson out of her mind.

She let out a frustrated breath. Damn the night sky and damn the universe for dangling the perfect woman in front of her while knowing she could never have her. No matter what her heart had whispered to her, she had to accept the fact that Payson’s love might have truly been meant for another.

After an hour passed with no sign of Piper, then two, Hannah began to worry. Surely, Madison and Payson had kissed by now. How could they not? No, the delay must have been on Piper’s end. Hannah knew how scattered she could be at times, so she waited…and waited. And when the same security guard drove his golfcart past a third time, asking her if he could assist her in any way, she decided it was time to head inside.

She reentered the casino and followed the now familiar signs to the front desk where she exchanged her name for a room key.

“Take the elevators around the corner. Your room’s on the sixth floor, end of the hallway on your right,” the clerk informed her with a smile.

“Thanks.” Hannah nodded, rounded the corner, and as the doors to the elevator closed, she slumped as the weight of the day pressed on her. It was true that she missed the beauty of the island, the quiet of the night, the distant sound of the waterfall, and evening rides with Bella. But the heaviness that gripped her was more than that. She pondered it as the doors opened, and she meandered down the hallway. It unnerved her to know that there was a part of this place that she was going to miss. That through all of her grumbles and resistance about being here, there were actually moments where she felt like the city held a charm all its own.

She let out a sigh as she stood outside room 623. Who was she kidding? It wasn’t this place that she was going to miss; it was Payson. She snorted at the irony of spending a day with the only woman who had ever truly caught her eye and then encouraging her to be with another. “You’re such a wreck,” she whispered to herself as she let her forehead fall against the door. As she was about to place the keycard in the slot, the door swung open, and Hannah lost her balance as she fell into Piper’s arms.

“Piper.” Hannah squeezed her tight as a lump rose in her throat, and a hollowness spread throughout her stomach. Piper’s appearance was proof that the two would-be lovers had united, and Hannah’s conviction that the stars were wrong was nothing more than her own fantasy getting the best of her. As she pulled out of the embrace, she did a double take as she glanced at Piper’s outfit. “What are you wearing?”

“You like it?” Piper twirled in a pair of black leather biker boots as she displayed a yellow floral sundress that hung a little loose on her slim frame. “It’s my mortal costume.”

“I don’t understand. Why would you wear a costume to come pick me up?”

“Pick you up? I can’t pick you up yet. You know I’m under strict orders from Oriana not to bring you home until I get confirmation that the marks have kissed.”

“But the marks left together hours ago. I’ve been waiting since then for you to bring me home.”

“Really? The marks have been together for hours? Huh, that’s interesting…” Piper trailed off as she grabbed the teardrop-shaped black obsidian stone necklace dangling halfway down her chest on a leather cord. “I placed a spell on my necklace so the stone would glow when their star lit.” She gave the stone two taps and a shake. “Yep, still no glow, which kinda surprises me. There should have been enough of a spell on the one arrow for the attraction to have turned into action by now. Hmm.” Piper shrugged and released her necklace. “Oh, well, there’s probably a delay in the confirmation, it’s happened before.” She waved a hand. “Anyway, that’s not why I’m here.”

“Wait…back up. Are you saying they haven’t kissed?” she said with hope.

Piper shook her head. “No, I’m saying their star hasn’t been lit,yet. But give it a moment, the night’s still young. It’ll happen, I’m sure.” Piper smiled. “Meanwhile, I figured that, while we wait for confirmation that their destiny is truly sealed, and before I take you home, we can do a little gambling. I’ve never been to this city that sins, and I want to see what it has to offer. I did some checking after I sent you here, and I understand they have some great card games, so I’m curious to see how challenging Vegas’s mortal opponents can be.”

Card games had been played on the island for hundreds of years, first introduced by the mortals and continued to be played by the islanders. Poker and twenty-one being the island’sfavorite. Both Hannah and Piper were skilled at the rules, and each considered themselves an excellent player. But of the two, Piper seemed to have an uncanny sense for the games. She could outplay almost anyone on the island, and Hannah wondered a time or two if the wind wasn’t whispering its own lyrics in her ears.

“Do you still have enough currency?” Piper asked.

Hannah dug into her front pocket and displayed the wad Piper had given her as her mind raced with the latest news. Could there really be a delay in the star? Yes, of course there could. Piper was right, it has happened before. Madison was sure to have kissed Payson by now, and any other scenario just didn’t make sense.

“Well, then, what are we waiting for? Let’s go play.” Piper smiled.

“I don’t know, Piper, can’t you just sneak me home, and we can wait for confirmation there?”

“Seriously? Wow, when did you turn so boring? Come on…” She hooked her arm around Hannah. “It’ll be just like when we were younger and sneaking off to all the places around the world and hanging out with the mortals.”

“I’ve hung out with them all day.” Hannah groaned as Piper led her out of the room.

“Well, I haven’t. Come on,” she whined, “a few games. By then, the stone will surely be glowing, and I’ll take you back.”

“Oh, that reminds me. The spell you used to send me here needs tweaking. The landing was too hard, and it sent me into a wall.” Hannah rubbed on her shoulder for emphasis.

“Really? Huh, I probably mixed in too much willow bark. Good to know.”

As they stepped into the elevator, Hannah shoved her hands deep in her pockets, leaned back against the wall, and exhaled a long sigh. She gazed at Piper’s necklace and willed it to glowbecause she knew each agonizing minute that ticked by while she waited for final confirmation of the inevitable was going to feel like slow torture.

“Oh, don’t look so gloomy. The marks are probably getting it on right now. The star will light soon enough, and you’ll be home, and back to your cupid duties by tomorrow morning. If you got them to leave together, then you did good, Hannah. You accomplished what you came here to do. Oriana will be proud,” Piper said as she slapped her on the back.

Hannah forced a smile and nodded as Piper started filling her in on the latest island gossip. She wondered what Piper would think of her if she shared the news that she almost intervened with the universe’s plan, and that she was convinced in her heart that she and Payson were the ones destined to be together. She glanced at her, then slightly shook her head. No, better to keep those feelings to herself. Piper wouldn’t understand why she would want to deliberately sabotage the mission. To Piper, there would never be a question where her loyalty lay. And up until this afternoon, Hannah could have claimed the same.

As they walked out of the elevator, she focused again on the necklace as Piper continued jabbering on about Isabella wanting her to teach a class at the academy on arrow making. Hannah nodded and said all the appropriate things when prompted while never taking her eyes off the stone. Although it had yet to glow, she knew her time here with Payson was done, and that was a hard pill to swallow. Eventually, she hoped there would be another who made her body feel so alive, but for now, she knew it would take time to get the woman with the enchanted eyes out of her mind.

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