Page 79 of All's Fair in Love and Magic

I’d figure something out, though. I would have to.

Liam and I spent the rest of the morning in the water. He was trying to teach me to surf, and though I was absolutely shitty at it, we had a good time. We both ended up laughing far too much.

The worry about my mom lingered, but I pushed it aside.

She was going to be fine.

I had to believe that.

I still hadn’t gotten a message back when we made it home that night.

“Any word from the security team?” I asked, curling up on the couch. My hair hung over my shoulders, damp from our shower. Though it was slowly soaking my tank top, I couldn’t have cared less.

“They still haven’t seen any sign of the witches.” Liam pulled me onto his lap, holding me close. There was nothing sexual about the contact, and I appreciated it more because of that.

He just didn’t want me to feel alone.

“If they have her, we’ll hear from them soon,” I said quietly.

“We’ll wait up as long as we need to.”

“Thank you.”

“Don’t thank me for being your mate, Clove. I didn’t exactly give you much choice in the matter.”

My lips curved upward just a tiny bit. “I’m glad you didn’t.”

“So am I.”

Liam and I waited on the couch, talking quietly about the possibilities until exhaustion won out around 3 AM.

The ringingof my phone woke us up.

My eyes were blurry as I grabbed it, taking in the unknown number on the screen.

I looked at Liam, meeting his hazel eyes in the room’s darkness. He gently took the phone, putting it on speaker as he pressed the button to answer.

He didn’t say hello.

We both knew that wasn’t necessary.

“We have Tess,” Hattie said into the phone.

My stomach clenched. I’d been almost positive that was the case, but it was still awful to hear.

“What do you want?” I asked.

We all knew the answer.

Me.

They wanted me.

“Destroy the resort’s wards, and we’ll let her live. You have thirty minutes,” Hattie said, before the line went dead.

My throat swelled.

“They know I won’t be able to rebuild them,” I whispered. “If I take the wards down, they win. They’ll kill me.”