The End of Magic (The Witches of Echo Park #3)(41)

"Enough."

Even under the best of circumstances, Arrabelle was a total news junkie. Now she was obsessed.

"I think we need to know-" Arrabelle said, grabbing for the remote as she protested.

"We know all we need to know, Bell. We're screwed."

Arrabelle shut her mouth. Evan was right. There was no amount of knowledge that was going to save them from the hatred being directed toward them and their sisters. 

"What do you think she meant when she said they would wait for 'the sign'?" Evan added when he was sure Arrabelle wasn't going to argue further.

"Your guess is as good as mine," she said, shrugging. It was cold in the waiting room, and Arrabelle shivered.

A young nurse passed by the doorway and nodded at them. Arrabelle inclined her head in return, grateful that the nurse didn't stop to chat. She was also grateful they were the only people there in the waiting room, so that she didn't have to make small talk with other restless families as they waited for their loved ones to get better.

"You haven't slept in days," Evan said as he guided Arrabelle back to the couch where they sat down together, their bodies so close Arrabelle could feel the heat of Evan's skin against her own.

"You haven't slept, either," Arrabelle said.

"Let me just take care of you for a minute, dammit," he said, as he took her by the shoulders and turned her around in her seat, so that her back faced him. She sighed as he began to rub her shoulders.

"God, that feels good," she said, closing her eyes.

"You're so tense. Just relax." She could hear the command in his voice and she tried to let the tension in her body flow out of her. "You've always run hot, Bell. Your skin is like a furnace."

Though Arrabelle had been in love with Evan since she was a teenager, this new evolution in their relationship-him actually reciprocating her interest-made her nervous. Which only made her more tense-and she could feel her shoulders hunching again.

She heard Evan laugh, and she turned her head to glare at him.

"What?" she demanded.

"You're the only woman I know who gets more tense when you give her a massage."

Arrabelle snorted.

"I'm not more tense," she protested.

"I'm touching you. I think I can feel when you tense up-like right now-"

Arrabelle pushed him away but kept her outrage playful.

"How dare you?! I can't believe-"

Evan silenced her with a kiss. She felt herself relax, the tension in her body replaced by longing. She tried to extend the kiss, her teeth nipping at his lips, but he pulled away.

"When this is all over," he said, grinning at her. "I promise."

She wished it were "all over" now. She felt impatience growing inside her.

"One more kiss?" she begged.

At first, Evan shook his head, but then he relented. He turned her back so she was facing him again and wrapped his arms around her, pulling her in close. She waited, anticipation building as she let him run the show.

"You're very beautiful," he said, staring deep into her eyes, and she felt like she was falling, tumbling head over heels toward him.

"Thank you," she murmured, her eyes dropping to his mouth.

"You're welcome," he said, softly.

She watched his lips form the words, felt the sound travel to her ears, slip into her brain. She loved the cadence of his voice, the low tremble of his words. She closed her eyes, letting the nearness of their bodies overwhelm her senses.




       
         
       
        
"Where'd you go?" he asked after a few moments of silence. She opened her eyes and smiled.

"Somewhere far away from here. Where it's okay to be what we are."

Evan's eyes dropped to his hands, where they rested in his lap.

"Yeah, I'd like to go to that world."

Arrabelle's grin faded. They'd moved away from a romantic moment to something . . . well, the subject didn't bring pleasant thoughts with it. The mood broken, Evan sighed and got to his feet. Arrabelle was annoyed with herself for wrecking the only nice thing that had happened in hours.

"I don't know why I brought that up," she said, her throat constricting. "I do want it to be okay. But I'm just so scared things will never be right again."

Evan pivoted on his heel, turning back to look at her.

"Things change, Bell," he said. "And there's nothing we can do to stop that. We can only hope that, eventually, these changes will bring about something good . . . an empathy and compassion in humanity that until now, I think, has been buried so deep inside that we forget we have it."