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With a small nod, she climbed over the console and dropped into the passenger seat as Thierry settled behind the wheel. He closed the door and turned up the heat, adjusted the seat and mirrors, and pulled back onto the road.

“How did you know?” Rihanna asked.

“How did I know what? Where you were?” He reached over and tapped the ring on her finger. A transportation ring Horano had created for her due to her weakened power reserves after Mikhail’s death. “’Tis imbued with a tracking spell so you can be located by Shaye or myself.”

She shook her head, sucking in a deep, calming breath. It shuddered as she released it. “Nay. How did you know he would be there?”

Thierry opened his mouth to respond, but quickly closed it as he turned onto the highway. After merging into the sparse traffic, he said, “Shaye traced him a few months agoand asked that I keep tabs on him. I’ve watched him on occasion, but ’twasn’t until recently that I paid much attention, and then only because of your decline.”

She narrowed her gritty eyes on Thierry. “Decline?”

“Aye, Rihanna. Your health has been steadily declining since the eve at the club. Since you crossed his path again. None of us wished to admit it, but we can’t deny the energy around you is weakening. ’Tis the bond. Fate brought you two together in this lifetime, and your magic, your power is eternally entwined with his. It recognized youranam cara, latched on, and the only way to regain your strength is to renew the promise you made at the turn of the last century. Mayhap had you not bound yourself by blood to Mikhail, your strength would not decline. Alas, I suspect for a good outcome, you’ll have to forego that hesitation you’ve battled in your conscience and submit to what cannot be denied.”

Rihanna sank into her seat as Thierry drove them toward her brother’s house. His words resonated with truth, a truth she hadn’t paid attention to over the last few months, despite a newfound fatigue and lack of energy to perform even the most simple spells. She’d failed to realizewhy.

“You sent me to that store knowing he’d be there,” she surmised.

“Aye, I did, because I know you, Rihanna, and I know you’d never face him on your own if not for a gentle push.” He reached over, grasped her hand, and squeezed lightly. “I want naught more than for you to be happy again. To be complete. Don’t suffer undue pain where pain is unnecessary.”

“What of the woman—”

“You’ve not listened to a word I’ve said, have you?” Thierry laughed and shook his head. “Trust in me. And if not me, trust in your brother. All will be well, if you will allowyour heart to lead the way and your soul to be healed.” He glanced at her. “Understood?”

Rihanna turned her hand over and folded her fingers tightly around his. For the first time in decades, she found herself smiling in acceptance because, for the first time in decades, she finally felt hope.

7

The air in the room hummed with energy.

Fury.

Michelle didn’t move a muscle, smart woman.

Tessa played nervously with her fingers, her doe eyes moving at a dizzying pace inside her head, looking everywherebutat Kate.

“You’re mistaken,” Kate finally said, her voice as brittle as the barriers keeping her from completely losing her shit. Her fingers curled into the arm of the plush chair, nails biting into the upholstery. The edges of her vision pulsed. Her stomach tilted to a sickening angle as she recapped the last few months in her head. “Must be mistaken.”

“Kate, I wouldn’t come here and spew rumors if I didn’t see it with my own eyes. I had to pick up a prescription for my mom. I watched him run up to that woman in the parking lot while I waited in the drive-thru. It’s hard to mistake a man like Bryce,” Tessa said. She pinched her brow and shook her head. “I couldn’t believe it at first. I didn’t want to believe it, but hestoppedher from leaving. And the way they stood together, it wasn’t the way two friends would stand. Therewas an intimacy about it. Not to mention, I’ve never seen the woman in my life.”

Though Tessa was a friend, her social standing wasn’t on the same level as Kate’s. It came in handy when Kate wanted a broader picture. Tessa’s friend circle reached large and wide. She knew more people than Kate cared to invest her time into knowing. If Tessa didn’t recognize the woman she claimed Kate’s fiancé chased after, chances were the woman was not from around these parts.

Her teeth clenched tight until her jaw ached and a dull thud started in her temples.

Bastard. You cheating bastard.

If she were to be honest with herself, she had been suspicious for weeks now.

“Kate?”

Kate blinked and cut her cold gaze to Michelle. Her friend’s eyes widened and she chewed her lower lip uneasily, looking away.

“I don’t care who he is. Bryce willnotmake a fool of me.” She fisted her hand and slammed it on the arm of the chair. Both of her friends jerked. “He ismyfiancé. Mine! No stranger will take him away, do you hear me? I will not let him ruin me!”

Michelle raised her hands. “Kate, calm down. Please. We’ll figure this out.”

“Yes,” she growled. “We will.” Turning her attention back to Tessa, she raised a brow. “You’re certain you didn’t recognize the woman?”

Tessa shook her head and sighed. “No. Never seen her before, and I would’ve remembered.”