Chapter 14
Dante ended his call with Braxton and immediately called Prim.
No answer.
Dante was gutted for her. He knew just how much it bothered her that she was the subject of town gossip, but more importantly, that her magic sometimes flared out of control and there wasn’t anything she could do to stop it.
More than anything he just wanted to be there to hold her and assure her that everything would be all right. He was about to head over to her house when his phone pinged with a text.
Prim’s name popped up. Sorry I missed your call. Was busy making cookies.
He smiled as he read the message. Cookies? Since when do you bake?
Since I heard that you’re a shortbread connoisseur.
How had she heard that? Dante hadn’t had homemade shortbread cookies since before he’d left Salem.
Not since Shari had last baked them for him.
The thought of his ex instantly put him into a weird mood.
A strong urge to lie and tell her that he wasn’t really a fan hit him squarely in the chest. They reminded him of Shari, not someone he wanted to think about when he was with Prim.
Instead, because he wasn’t a jerk and she’d gone out of her way to learn something about him that she thought he’d like, he typed, Can’t wait to try them.
She sent back a heart and replied, Would you consider a change of plans for tonight?
What did you have in mind?
It took a few moments for Prim to respond. Can we meet up at Orca Point at six p.m. instead of dinner at your house? I really need a little bit of nature tonight.
That sounded better than being cooped up in Dante’s apartment anyway.
At least for part of the evening since he’d barely had time to replace only the most basic furniture.
Later, Dante would show her just how much he’d missed her over the past two days in his brand-new bed. Sure. I’ll bring a picnic.
Perfect. See you then. Prim ended the message with a blowing kisses emoji.
Dante matched her energy with an emoji of his own and then got to work packing up the food for their date at Orca Point.
Orca Point was a short hike to a bluff that overlooked the Hood Canal.
Dante arrived a few minutes early, eager to set up their picnic so that it would be ready when Prim arrived.
He’d been planning sundried tomato and chicken pasta, but had switched gears to burrata salad and a charcuterie board for their outing.
Luckily the spot wasn’t very busy on Sundays, so it appeared they’d have the bluff to themselves. He figured it would be the perfect place for Prim to reset her energy after the awful day she’d had.
He carefully placed the food in the center of the blanket, portioned out the salad into two plastic bowls, and then went to work opening the wine.
Before he could fill the glasses, he heard footsteps on the path and felt a pleasant happiness wash over him with the anticipation of seeing Prim again. There was just something about her that clicked deep in his soul.
“Hi,” an all-too-familiar and unwelcomed voice said.
Dante jerked so hard he spilled the wine. “Shari?! What the hell are you doing here?”
She held her hands up as she took a small step back. “Whoa. Calm down. I just want to talk a little bit.”
“Here?” He glanced around at the spread he’d made for Prim and then back at her. “How did you even know I’d be here? Did you follow me?”
“Of course not.” Her pale green eyes flashed a dark emerald color as they were prone to do when she was angry or irritated.
Dante wondered which one it was today. Probably both. “Then how did you know I was here?”
Shari walked over to the blanket. “Nice spread you’ve got here. I don’t recall you ever doing anything like this for us.”
“Maybe that’s because you were too busy ripping off the neighbors,” he snapped, hating that he was having the same fight all over again, only this time three thousand miles across the country.
“I’ll admit that I made some mistakes, but you could admit that you made some, too,” she said, looking as if she were going to cry.
Dante rolled his eyes as he got to his feet. “I’m not interested in litigating our relationship again.” He looked at the time on his phone. “You need to go. I have plans, and I won’t let you spoil my night with Prim with whatever you came to say.”
“I can’t leave,” Shari said, moving tentatively toward him. “Don’t you understand, Dante? I care about you too much to let you make the same mistakes over and over again.”
He glared at her, wishing he could physically remove her from the bluff, but it was public property.
So as much as he hated it, she had as much right to be there as he did.
Instead of answering, he crouched down and started packing up the food.
As soon as Prim arrived, they’d just go somewhere else.
He’d leave immediately, but he didn’t want to risk missing Prim and her having to deal with his ex.
He stood and picked up the blanket and bag of food as he stared her down. “You don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“Don’t I, though?” She moved to stand right next to him and placed her hand on his chest.
Dante instantly took a step back. “Don’t touch me.”
“Sorry.” Tears filled those expressive eyes before she said, “I made mistakes, Dante. I know that. But I’ve been getting help. I’m seeing a therapist.”
“That’s probably good,” he said, surprised. When he’d suggested it before, she’d screamed at him that he didn’t know what he was talking about.
“It is. She’s really helping. And I realize now that you were right all along.
My magic use… It was an addiction. I didn’t really care about that stuff I stole.
I just liked the way I felt when I was casting those spells.
I literally couldn’t stop. But I’m free of magic now.
I haven’t cast anything in over four months. ”
Dante took a good look at her. During their entire relationship, he’d never really known when she was lying.
She’d been too good at it. Today she seemed sincere and remorseful, but he still didn’t trust her.
He didn’t trust his instincts enough to tell the difference. “I hope that’s true for your sake.”
“And yours.” She gave him a pleading look. “I came here to ask you to give me a chance to prove to you that I’m different. And that I know now what I lost when you left. I want that family we always talked about. Can’t we just—”
“No,” he said flatly. “I don’t owe you anything. Please, Shari, just go before my girlfriend gets here. She doesn’t need this drama. Not today of all days.”
“Prim isn’t coming,” Shari said.
A chill crawled up Dante’s spine. In a low, menacing voice, he asked, “What did you do?”
Shari’s eyes widened, and she took a few steps back.
“N-nothing, Dante. I swear. I… um… I was there in the yarn store when Prim was texting you. She was going on and on about meeting her boyfriend at Orca Bluff and how excited she was to get outside for a bit, so I knew you were supposed to be here. And then when I heard she was arrested—”
“Arrested!” Dante bellowed. “For what?”
“Dante,” she said softly. “Look at me.”
“Why?” He poured out the wine he’d opened and tossed the empty bottle into the canvas bag he’d brought.
“Because I’m worried about you.”
He growled as he looked at her. “I am not yours to worry about. Understand? We are over.”
“But you’re making the same mistake you did before!
” she cried. “Prim is exactly like me. Don’t you see it?
Using magic to punish people is no different from using it for personal gain.
It’s selfish behavior that hurts the people around you.
Prim might not be stealing personal property, but she’s certainly causing harm.
A lot of it. And it got her arrested today. ”
“Prim is nothing like you,” he snarled, knowing deep in his soul that his words were true.
“You had zero remorse for the people you were stealing from. For you, it was all about image. Prim… Well, it’s none of your business what’s going on with her, but I know who she is, and she’d never purposely hurt anyone. ”
Shari’s eyes narrowed into slits. “You really believe that, don’t you?
” She shook her head. Then she let out a humorless bark of laughter.
“You always did want to be a savior. Now I guess you’ve got your chance.
Good luck dating someone who is incarcerated.
” She spun on her heel and started stalking off.
Dante stared at her for a long moment, trying to process her words. Hadn’t she said she was at the shop when he’d been texting Prim about meeting at the bluff? “Shari?”
She stopped suddenly and then turned around, looking at him expectantly.
“What time were you at the yarn store today?”
“Uhhh, I’m not sure, why?”
He pressed his lips together into a tight line. “No reason.”
Shari blinked at him a few times, and when it was clear he didn’t have anything else to say, she sighed and continued down the bluff.
Dante pulled out his phone and hit Prim’s number. Her ringtone sounded from Shari’s pocket.
Shari froze.
The phone ring filled the silence between them.
When the ringing ended, Dante said, “Liars never stop, do they? Did you really think that stealing Prim’s phone and pretending to be her to get me here was going to work?”
She turned around, glared at him, and said, “I did it for you. That woman is going to kill you with her magic if you’re not careful.
Look at her now. Behind bars for reckless endangerment.
It could have been you under that light fixture today.
But I guess my warnings don’t matter, do they?
You’d rather stay with a freak who can’t control her magic than with me, a woman who just made a mistake.
How long are you going to punish me, Dante?
How long are you going to punish yourself? ”
“You don’t ever do anything for anyone but yourself. Go home, Shari. I don’t want you here,” he said, practically vibrating with anger.
“You’ll regret you said that.” Then she pulled Prim’s phone out of her pocket and threw it at him. “See, I told you I don’t steal anymore.”
Dante didn’t even answer. What was there to say?
It wasn’t like he could report her for stealing the phone when she’d just given it back to him to give to Prim.
Besides, if Prim really had been arrested, they had bigger issues to deal with.
He hastily made sure he’d gathered all the supplies and hightailed it back to his SUV.
Once he was on the road, he laid into the gas, desperate to get back to town to get some answers. But the closer he got, the more wary he became.
Dante knew that he couldn’t listen to anything that Shari had to say.
Once he’d found out that she had been stealing from their neighbors, she’d tried every lie, every story, every rationale to get him to stay with her.
The truth just hadn’t been a priority for her.
And whether she was telling the truth about going to therapy or not, he had no reason to believe anything had changed.
But what if Prim had attacked McKenna? What if it hadn’t been a mistake? What if everything she’d told him had been a lie, too?
What if he’d let his savior complex get in the way of his common sense?
He just didn’t believe he could be so wrong about her. He’d always been one to trust his instincts; it was when he didn’t that things went sideways.
When he got to town, instead of turning toward the police station, he took the turn that led back to his apartment. Before he did anything, he needed to think.
Then he’d go visit Prim.
His phone rang, startling him out of his thoughts. Mateo’s name flashed up on his dashboard, and he hit the icon to answer the call.
“Dante? Where are you?” Mateo asked.
“I’m on my way home. Why?”
“It’s Gwen. She’s been attacked and is in the hospital. You need to come right away.”
“Our mother is in the hospital? Is she going to be okay?” he asked as he quickly turned on one of the side streets so he could turn around.
There was a pause before Mateo said, “I don’t know. Hurry.”