Chapter 19
Prim sipped her coffee and took a long look at Dante as he stared out her back window.
There were dark smudges under his tired eyes, and his hair was mussed, sticking up all over, but she was certain she’d never seen a man so gorgeous.
She loved that he was there in her kitchen, that he’d spent the night in her bed, and that he’d already declared he wasn’t letting her out of his sight that day.
Was he being a little possessive with that line? Maybe. But she didn’t care. It was nice to feel taken care of.
“My mother is in a magical coma,” he said, his voice gruff with sleep.
“What?” Prim asked, startled by his blunt announcement.
He turned and put his mug on the table. “Yesterday after Shari ambushed me at Orca Point, I got a call from Mateo that our mother was unconscious and had been rushed to the hospital. That’s where I was and why it took me so long to get here.”
“You left your mother to come see me?” Prim asked, astonished. Sure, she knew that they didn’t have the healthiest relationship, but she was his mother.
“Mateo asked me to leave,” he said with a sigh as he took a seat at the kitchen table.
“She was knocked unconscious by a spell. It turns out that it was her own spell that took her down, and now we suspect she did it on purpose. Mateo blames me for not giving her another chance when she asked for it. He says she really wants to reconnect with us both and clean up her life but was devastated that I wasn’t interested. ”
Prim immediately rose from her seat and went over to Dante.
He pulled her onto his lap and closed his eyes as he rested his head against her temple.
“You know that’s not your fault, right?” Prim said gently.
“Yes, but it doesn’t mean it’s not weighing on me.”
Prim ran her hands through his hair, wanting him to know that he was cared for. That he had someone in his corner when the world felt like it was closing in on him. “What did the healer say?”
He filled her in on what he knew and then said, “I know Healer Von said she should wake up, but if she doesn’t, I’ll lose both my mother and Mateo. That won’t be something he’ll get past.”
“You don’t know that,” Prim said. “People say all kinds of stuff they don’t mean when they are hurting. You and Mateo have always been so close. Surely you’ll work through whatever life throws at you.”
But Dante shook his head. “You don’t understand. Mateo has a deep abandonment wound, and Gwen was the one parental figure who always stayed with him. And despite the trauma she inflicted on us both, if it turns out she took her own life, I’m not sure he’ll ever recover.”
“And you’re the easiest target to blame for that loss?” she asked.
“Yes.”
There was nothing Prim could say to make the situation better for Dante.
She wished there was, but she knew all too well that same abandonment wound.
She’d lost both her mother and her father when she was young.
If her grandmother had willingly taken her own life, she had no idea how she’d have handled it.
Likely, she’d still be in therapy over it.
“All you can do is love him, Dante, just like you have ever since he came into your life. He might be able to get you to stay away from the hospital for the moment, but he can never stop you from caring about him.”
He hugged her tighter, holding on until they heard a knock on the door.
“I’ll go,” Prim said, sensing that Dante needed a moment to get himself collected.
“Good morning,” Niko said when she opened the door.
“That remains to be seen,” Prim said with a tiny smile. “Come on in. Want some coffee?”
“Sure.”
They walked back to the kitchen, where Dante was already filling a third mug. He handed it to his friend and said, “Did you get a read on the tree?”
Niko pressed his lips into a thin line, looking slightly irritated. “I did, but because Prim had to use her magic to neutralize the fire, the other signature is all but obliterated.”
Prim winced. “No one ever accused me of wielding magic with finesse.”
Niko nodded. “It’s like that for some people.
The problem is, in this case, if you hadn’t told me that Shari set that tree on fire, I wouldn’t even have known there was a second witch involved.
I’d have just felt Prim’s signature and attributed it to her.
It wasn’t until I tested the grounds that I found traces of Shari’s magic. ”
“What does that mean, exactly?” Prim asked, a trickle of unease crawling over her skin. “Was she trying to curse my house as well?”
“Maybe,” Niko said. “But your magic wiped it out, so now I can’t tell for sure.”
“But you can tell that she was here and that her magic is buried beneath mine, right?”
“Yes,” Niko said. “But that’s not as helpful as you might think. The evidence is tainted, so we can’t use it for our case.”
“But you have Dante’s statement and mine that I had to put out her fire. That’s something!” Prim cried, more than a little frustrated.
“It is,” Niko agreed. “But for now, there’s no solid evidence that I can use to bring her in for the attack on your property. I can use this to help establish patterns though in case she tries again.”
“She will,” Dante muttered. “As soon as she comes to the conclusion that she can keep attacking us and get away with it.”
“She won’t get away with it,” Niko said and then took a sip of his coffee.
“Give me some credit. I’m just reporting back to you about my investigation of last night’s incident.
Rest assured, I’m going to find the evidence I need to bring her in.
Witches like her always make mistakes, and when they do, I’m there. ”
Prim wanted to believe him, but it was hard to feel optimistic when the woman had tried to burn her property down the night before. “Is there anything I can do that will help?”
Niko shook his head. “Just try to stay away from her. The less interaction, the better.”
“No argument here,” Prim said. “The last thing I want to do is tangle with an unhinged witch.”
“You’ll never be an agent at the MTF with an attitude like that,” Niko teased.
Prim laughed. “No, I guess not.”
“Now, let’s talk about the yarn store. I need you to give me all the details about what happened yesterday.”
Prim spent the next thirty minutes recounting everything she’d told the sheriff to Niko, adding that she now knew the customer she’d assumed was ‘Lynn’ had actually been Shari.
To his credit, he seemed to take everything she’d said at face value, and when she was done, he thanked her and said he was heading there next to do some magical tracing.
“Will you tell me what you find?” she asked.
“If I can, I will,” he said.
“That’s all I can ask for.”
Niko gave her a hug and then walked over to Dante. They did their version of a bro hug where they patted each other on the back a few times and then quickly separated. “Call me if Shari shows up again.”
“We will,” Prim said and then flopped back down on the chair in the kitchen. “Now what?” she asked when Dante returned from walking Niko out.
“I need to call the hospital,” Dante said.
Prim sat quietly as Dante made the call. First he tried the healer’s office, and when he couldn’t get through, he tried Mateo.
“How is she?” he asked and then closed his eyes as he listened. “Are you okay with us coming by today?” Dante looked up at Prim, but she could tell he wasn’t really seeing her. “Prim.”
Mateo spoke for a bit, and then Dante said, “Yeah, I can do that.”
When he ended the call, he tossed the phone on the table and hung his head.
Prim walked over to him and started to massage his neck.
“Damn, that feels good,” he said.
The tension in his muscles started to ease after a few minutes, but he was hardly relaxed when he finally lifted his head and said, “Thank you. That was amazing.”
Amazing was a strong word, but she wasn’t going to complain. “You’re welcome. Now, what did Mateo say?”
“He doesn’t think it’s a good idea to come by today. Gwen is still the same. No progress. He’s going to stay there but asked if I could open the bookstore. I said I would.”
“Great,” Prim said, jumping to her feet. “I’ll go with you.”
“You will? You don’t have any work to catch up on?” he asked.
“My shop is closed on Mondays. Besides, I can’t go into work until Niko clears it from being a crime scene, so there’s nothing I can do other than help you at the bookstore. Unless you don’t want me to…”
“I do.” Dante slipped his fingers through hers and stood. After giving her a soft kiss, he whispered, “Thank you.”
She smiled at him, ruffled his mussed hair, and said, “Go shower.”
“Only if you join me,” he said, eyeing her hungrily.
“Oh, no! Not again. If I get in that shower, we’ll never get out of here,” she said with a laugh. “I’m going to make us something for breakfast. Now go.”
“Yes, ma’am.” He gave her a salute and headed back to her bedroom.
As Prim made them egg sandwiches, she hummed quietly to herself and was surprised to realize that she felt peaceful. With her professional life crumbling around her and an open investigation into her use of magic, she should have been panicking.
But she wasn’t. Instead, she was just happy in the moment.
And Dante Silva was the reason why.