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"Indeed. I'll do so right away."

3

FENELLA

As Fenella's phone rang, she glanced at the screen, and when she saw Din's name, her heart did that annoying little flip.

"Speak of the devil," she murmured, then answered the call. "Din? Are you okay?"

"Yes, I'm fine, and hello to you too, Fenella." There was a hint of weariness in his tone, but also amusement.

"You sound okay, which is a great relief given your bad luck lately."

"About that." He let out a sigh. "It seems your premonitions were on target."

Fenella's stomach dropped. "What happened?"

"We've just made an emergency landing. There was a landing gear malfunction, and the pilot decided that the river was the best option, and he was right. I don't want to think what would have happened if he had tried to land on the ground with no wheels."

"Is everyone alright?" she asked.

"People are obviously shaken, but no one is seriously hurt. I just wanted to warn you before you see it on the news and imagine much worse than it actually was. All the passengers are fine, and they are putting us all up in hotels for the night. We'll fly out tomorrow afternoon."

Fenella closed her eyes, a chill running through her. "That's the fourth delay."

"I know what you're thinking, but sometimes a cigar is just a cigar, lass. These things happen."

He didn't sound at all sure of that, and Fenella had a feeling he didn't believe it himself at this point. "Four times is not a coincidence. The universe is clearly trying to tell us something."

Din chuckled. "And what would that be? That I should stay away from you?"

"Yes." Fenella didn't sound convincing even to her own ears. "Not that I want you to stay away. It's just that I don't want you to die trying to get to me. Perhaps I should fly out to meet you?"

That was actually a brilliant plan. She could get out of the village without offending anyone.

There was a pause. "I'm coming to you, love. I don't want you leaving the safety of the village for me. Maybe it's the devil who is putting all those obstacles in my way because it wants to lure you out of safety."

Her first response was to laugh, but Din hadn't sounded like he was making a joke or teasing. "Do you really believe that?"

He snorted. "At this point, I don't know what to believe. Evil is real. We've all seen it. So why not the devil?"

"Aye." She nodded. "I've seen it plenty of times wearing human and immortal skin." She glanced at Jasmine, who wasn't laughing at the exchange either. "Go to the hotel, Din, and after you shower and eat something, call me again."

"I will," Din promised, and she could hear the smile in his voice. "I'll text you my updated arrival time once I have it."

"Please do."

"Talk to you soon, Fenella."

Ending the call, she found Kyra and Jasmine watching her with identical concerned expressions.

"Is he okay?" Jasmine asked.

Fenella nodded. "I hope that this was what my premonition warned me about, and nothing worse is going to happen, but I would really like for you to do that spread for me."

"Maybe the universe is just testing his commitment," Kyra offered without much conviction.

"Or maybe it's warning me away from disaster," Fenella countered.