Cover Spell (11 page)

I felt the girl’s resolve strengthen as she faced the painting of her father.

“Au revoir, Papa,” she whispered.

The crumpled magazine clipping of Acapulco peeped through her clenched fist. She held her chin up, pulled the suitcase to her side, and walked with her heels raised all the way down the hallway. I watched as she peeked around the corner of the next room.

I had one eye ahead on Josette and one on the hall behind me. I heard the click, click of a turning doorknob. Nervously, I turned to see a tall man with gray hair, dressed in a dark pressed suit, observing Josette’s escape. A slow-rising uneasiness coiled around my stomach. I wanted to shout ahead to Josette to run, but I covered my mouth and waited for the man to pounce as the teenager fled through the kitchen. Expressionless eyes closed in on the suitcase as it bounced around the corner. Was he going to stop her? Surely, he could hear my heart beating faster as my panic level rose. Mrs. Betts said they didn’t know for certain what happened to the girl. Maybe I wasn’t witnessing an elopement; maybe it was a kidnapping, or something far worse. I couldn’t hold my breath much longer. The coil slackened when I saw the man bow his head and close the door. The coast was clear and I exhaled.

I scurried around the corner in time to see Josette reach for the door’s handle, and look over her shoulder at the shadowy kitchen. Except for a tabby cat, lapping milk in a shallow saucer, the room was quiet. Josette pulled the door open, and a warm gust of wind swirled through the kitchen, kicking up the doormat and startling the cat. The sky flashed a few times with the ominous warning a storm was brewing in New Orleans. She held her hat to her head, and stepped into the night as rain pellets started to bombard the carefully pruned courtyard and kitchen herb garden. Josette wasn’t going to turn around now. Rain, lightning, and wind wouldn’t stop her. Luke and a ticket to freedom were waiting for her.

New Orleans, Present Day

The sound of cowboy boots crossed the marble floor and brought me back to the present. With each approaching step, the memory of Josette and that stormy night seemed farther away. I jumped up to greet Evan as he walked through the lobby from the hotel’s side entrance. His eyes focused on the tips of his boots. He didn’t look up.

“Hey, are you ok? How did everything go?” I asked.

I approached him with concern. He seemed on edge. He didn’t smile. He looked tired and worried. In the short time I had known him, this was a side of him I didn’t think could possibly exist. He was one of the most fun and easygoing people I had met.

“Hey, Ivy.” He ran his hands through his hair. “Yeah, I’m good. They had a lot of questions. Long day.”

“Do you want to get some coffee or something? I could order food for you. You look like you could use something to eat.” All I wanted to do was give him a hug. Help him.

I waited for Evan to smile or laugh in his carefree way. He reached forward and took my hand in his. He twined his fingers through mine and raised our hands in the air, almost how they were when we danced two nights ago. His warm gray eyes stayed locked on mine, but he looked lost. I wanted to do something to help him get some of the carefree, easiness back. I hated seeing him like this.

“Ivy,” he barely whispered, and shook his head in what looked like defeat.

I didn’t know what to do. It was as if he was sinking in quicksand right in front of me, and there was no branch to use to pull him free.

“There you are. You ready for dinner?” Finn traipsed into the lobby and called across the blockade of couches and palms. Evan dropped my hand and looked at me quizzically.

“Detective Delano, nice to see you again.”

Evan reached across me to shake Finn’s hand as he walked up to join us. The mounting awkwardness was enough to make me want to run into the rain and away from both Finn and Evan.

“Mr. Carlson.” Finn shook the Texan’s hand and coolly looked us over. “Ready, Ivy?”

As much as I wanted to run, my feet were like cement blocks anchored to the Hotel François floor. Finn had one hand open, palm up, waiting. Evan’s eyes searched mine for some kind of explanation. How could I explain any of this?

If I left with Finn now, any chance I had to move forward with Evan would shrivel into nothing, and if I stayed here with Evan, Finn might slip away for good.

The once lighthearted actor looked so pitiful and helpless. I should stay to reassure him this whole situation would be over, and Emmy would be found safe and sound. However, my witchy tingle told me something else was at play with Emmy’s disappearance, and the pull toward Finn was strong. He was here to find her and maybe find us again too.

In that moment, I made the only decision I could. It was the only choice I could live with tomorrow.

“Finn, can you give me a minute?”

He nodded and backed away a few paces before retrieving his phone. I had a feeling it was only a decoy distraction. He would be listening to every word.

I smiled at Evan and resisted the urge to run my hand along his face. His perfect movie star face.

“Sounds like a tough day. I’m sorry you had to go down to the station—that couldn’t have been easy—but I’m glad you’re ok. All of this is going to be ok.”

“Really? I might have believed that five minutes ago.” He looked hurt.

I deserved that, especially after I said I was available and now I didn’t look so available. It was complicated, and there was more at stake here than male ego. Emmy was most likely in danger.

“Well, I hope you get some rest or something. I’m headed to dinner.” It was harder to smile at him now that he looked disappointed.

I turned to Finn and enclosed my hand in his. “I’m ready.”

Finn slid his arm around my waist and guided me away from the hunky movie star. I felt like I was in a trance as we walked across the lobby. Knowing Finn, there was a good chance I was actually in one. I glanced back at Evan over my shoulder and tried to smile. He was standing with his hands in his front pockets, watching me walk hand in hand with Finn, and walk away from the fun and easy time we had.

F
INN RETRIEVED
an umbrella from inside his fitted jacket, and held it over my head as we walked down the sidewalk. He looked polished and sexy in his detective suit. I glanced around us to see if anyone other than me saw his cocky use of magic, but the sidewalk was clear.

Part of me felt a little numb, part felt a little rage. I was having fun with Evan. He was easy to be with, and he was nice and cute, oh and a
movie star
. I’m sure eventually the paparazzi and constant fan attention would drive me crazy, but I had tiptoed into the infant stages of thinking about someone else. It was fun and flirty. It wasn’t complicated—
yet
. Didn’t all relationships become complicated? Nothing was easy with Finn or Jack. I sighed with regret, thinking about the number of steps I had just put between me and uncomplicated.

“Was I interrupting something back there?” Finn stopped in the middle of the sidewalk a few blocks from the hotel. The rain ran off the back of the umbrella behind his head. “Because it looked like something.”

I ignored his jealous prodding. I didn’t want to talk to him about Evan and I certainly didn’t want to stand in the rain. “I still don’t know why you’re here, Finn.” I huffed.

“I told you. For you. I came because I want to be with you, babe.” His head tilted slightly, and his crystal eyes were chipping away at the barrier I had formed around my heart. A barrier he had forced me to build. “And I might have heard about your YouTube video.” He looked a little less playful and his voice sounded remorseful.

“Are you serious? You orchestrated this entire trip because you saw me dancing with Evan Carlson? You’re jealous of him?” I didn’t want to admit it, but secretly I knew I had scored a personal victory by making my ex squirm with jealousy. He deserved it.

Finn maneuvered us into a garden courtyard next to a quaint bistro whose brick walls were covered in a tangled mass of ivy. The rain continued to pool in puddles around our feet, but I didn’t care that my shoes were drenched and my hair was soaked. For once, I had his full attention and he wanted to talk. This was happening. However, I knew I couldn’t look into his eyes anymore and think properly, so I moved my gaze to the bubbling water splashing in the fountain next to us. Glimmering lights danced around the statues in the fountain as if they couldn’t decide on just one figure to illuminate. There was no doubt we were in New Orleans. Somewhere in the distance, a lone saxophone player launched haunting notes in the air only for them to fall in the space around us.

“I can’t stand seeing you with someone else. The way you were laughing with him and dancing together. It wasn’t right. You’re mine,” he argued.

I exhaled and corrected him. “
Was
yours. You had me.
All
of me. You’re the reason we’re over. Not me.” I kept my eyes cast toward the fountain and waited for Finn to respond.

“I know. I ruined it. I ruined everything.” He put a hand under my chin and turned my gaze to meet his. “I want you to trust me again, Ivy. I want a chance. I still love you.”

He had let the umbrella tip back enough so that rain fell between us. The air was so balmy I couldn’t tell which were tears and which were raindrops as I wiped my cheek.

“You know it was like this that day?” I raised my eyes to the sky and the falling rain. “I woke up on a rainy day in Savannah, and you were gone and so was my ring. You took my ring. How do you expect me to get past that? How do I ever trust you?” I fought to force the rest of the words out. “Telling me it was a part of your Shadow Quest wasn’t enough. I deserved more from you than that. I don’t think I can even believe what you’re telling me right now.”

Just saying it hurt, and my heart ached at the memory of that moment. The pain of losing Finn was always a loosely locked-away memory I tried to shield myself from. I remembered how it felt when he was gone or how I really couldn’t feel anything at all. I couldn’t breathe, I couldn’t think, I couldn’t eat or sleep. It was like the other half of me was missing, and without him, I wasn’t me anymore. And in un-Ivy-like fashion, I didn’t fight for him. I just let him go. Part of me knew I could never hold on to Finn no matter how deeply every breath of me wanted him.

In a way, once he was gone, I was relieved. I didn’t have to wait anymore for the moment he would walk out the door, and I’d finally have to face saying good-bye to him. Trying to hold on to a guy like Finn was like trying to keep running water in my hand. He was never going to stay for long.