“I meant precisely that. He always seems to check with you before saying or doing anything.” I walked a littlefaster. In the distance, the crash of waves breaking against the shore was extra loud with the incoming storm.
“Not always.”
“Okay, well, frequently enough that it stands out.” The sky ahead was a patchwork of dark clouds, and I shivered as the temperature dropped. Unlike us, no one else was crazy enough to be out with the storm blowing in. “And what was with him drinking your pumpkin brew at the festival before you did?”
Darcy rolled his eyes. “It’s something he’s done since we were kids.”
We passed a shop with pumpkins sitting by the front door, and I did a double take at the sight of Caroline and Louisa inside. They were checking out at a register. My gaze met Caroline’s through the glass, but before Darcy could notice the sisters and say some other easily misconstrued statement, I pulled him past.
We turned at the next intersection toward where the car should have been waiting, and I picked up my pace as lightning flashed even closer. It lit the growing gloom with a blue glow.
Why was Darcy so confusing? First, it felt like he was flirting with me in the elevator, even letting me know he was single, then he shut me down.
The hair on the back of my neck stood on end, and the air filled with a crackle and hiss.
I rubbed at my nose, trying to relieve the sudden itching, but it only grew stronger. Someone was using magic, strong enough that I could sense it.
Something flashed overhead, and I gaped as a streak of lightning headed right for me.
“Lizzy!” Darcy tackled me to the ground, his arms coming around my waist as he tucked me against him.
Blue flared around his body, arcing over him like a shield. The lightning crashed against it, and he grimaced above me. A scorched scent filled the air, and for a long moment it was just the cold ground at my back, the warmth of Darcy’s breath on my face, and the lightning trying to sear through his magic.
After the longest second of my life, it disappeared.
Darcy slumped down, resting his head against my shoulder. I stiffened but was in too much shock to do much else.
“I… you… you saved me,” I mumbled.
“That was no ordinary lightning, Lizzy.” Darcy lifted himself onto his forearms so our faces were only inches away. His green gaze bore into mine, and his body pressed against me, a steadying pressure and warmth.
“I know. It went right for us.” I blinked back tears. “Are you okay?”
He blew out a breath. “It didn't come forus.It was targetingyou.”
“What do you mean?” Trembles racked my body, and the words barely made it out through my numb lips.
“I mean that someone just tried to kill you.”
Chapter 12
Thunderrumbledagain,andthe clouds chose that moment to break. In seconds, a torrent of rain soaked our clothes and plastered our hair to our faces.
Darcy’s revelation was hard to believe, but unsurprising. My nose had warned me of the magic before it appeared, but the attack still made no sense.
“Why would someone try to kill you?” Darcy smoothed some of my wet hair away from my face with trembling fingers.
I met his intense green gaze, my breath stuttering in my lungs. “I have no idea.”
“This makes no sense.” He shook his head, and droplets of rain fell from his hair onto my already cold cheek.
I shivered despite the heat emanating from him, and his gaze snapped to my face. He rolled off me and pulled me to my feet alongside him.
“Come on. We need to get back to the house. We’re too exposed here.” Darcy’s grip on my hand was tight as he pulled me along, but for once, I didn’t fight him.
My legs were shaky, and my breathing was too erratic. What had just happened? Had someone really tried to kill me? “Are you okay?” I asked Darcy again.
“I’m fine.” Darcy waved off two men who seemed to come out of nowhere, then his free hand curled into a fist, the move matching his clenched jaw and rigid shoulders. He looked so tense that I was surprised the rain didn’t turn into steam when it hit him. His gaze flicked from side to side, though the storm blurred the world into smudges.
