problem,” Ruby said, continuing to rub her hands across her jeans. She began rearranging her bottles again. But the happy mood had been broken.
Celia glanced out the window again as an uncomfortable skittering raced once more along her nerves.
Something was definitely coming. Something or someone.
* * *
Malcolm Daniels sped along the winding desert road through mountains unlike any he’d seen before. And completely unlike the towering ragged granite peaks he’d left behind at the Colony. The deep red of the rocks of the Arizona desert were stunning against the backdrop of blue sky, but the sparse trees and wide-openness of the land left little room for cover against prying eyes. Here there was nowhere to run without being seen. No way to hide.
How could Celia stand it?
He was getting closer to her now. He could feel her—a wave of warmth in the pit of his stomach that spread out to encompass him. Their connection was strong. She might think she could run away from him, but there was no running from the bond they shared. He would find her and he’d make her come back to the Colony. She had to return to rejuvenate the boundary stones. If she didn’t, if he couldn’t bring her back to the Colony in time, the shifters would die.
He would find her.
Even if she hated him for it.
He touched the string of stones on his wrist, running his finger over the black-and-red crystals that offered protection for three days. Day three was here, and if he didn’t find Celia soon, his presence would become known to every demon out there. In physical form and in shadow.
He slowed his truck as he turned the bend on 89A and the town came into view. Small eclectic shops and restaurants lined either side of the highway displaying woodcarvings, paintings, crystals, beads and palm readings in this metaphysical mecca.
He crawled past several stores, each quaint and unique with outdoor tables and pots overflowing with bright flowers. His gaze shot to a storefront displaying an abundance of beauty products. Copper vortexes spun outside the large picture window, but his eyes fixated on the large red crystal sitting on the sill.
A crystal from the Colony.
This was it. Finally!
A quarter mile down the street, he found a parking place and pulled into it. His heart was pounding. He rubbed his damp palm on his jeans. He’d wanted to see her. Had thought of nothing else during his three-day journey, but now that he’d found her... How was he going to tell her what had happened to Jaya?
He walked slowly toward the shop, trying to think of words that should never have to be said or heard. What was the best way to break someone’s heart?
“I’m sorry...I don’t know where to start,” he said, practicing, not paying attention when a large man stepped out of a restaurant directly in front of him. Almost plowing into him, Malcolm sidestepped the man, stiffening, his eyes widening. Malevolence, thick and rancid, rolled off the man. An Abatu.
Dammit! Malcolm kept his head down and kept going, adrenaline surging through him, kicking up his heartbeat. The Abatu hesitated on the curb. Malcolm continued forward, hoping there was still enough energy in the stones on his wrist to keep him shielded.
Through the reflection in the restaurant’s large picture window, Malcolm saw the Abatu turn toward him, confusion tightening his face for a long moment before he finally spun around and walked away. Malcolm let out a relieved breath. He got by him. This time.
If he was going to find Celia and get his crystals regenerated, he’d better do it soon.
The pressure in Celia’s chest was unbearable. Malcolm was here. She could feel him. Close. The shop’s walls closed in on her as she circled the room. She couldn’t face him. Not yet. Damn, why was he here?
Concern widened Jade’s all-seeing blue eyes as she watched her pacing from behind the counter. “What is it?” she asked.
“I—” Celia didn’t know what to say. How she could explain? The man who broke my heart into a million pieces is here, and I’m too much of a coward to face him? Yep, that would sit well. Hell, she wasn’t a baby; it was high time she stopped acting like one.
And then she saw him through the window, and her heart leaped into her throat and strangled her.
Jade followed her gaze, then turned back to her, a smile twisting her lips. “Is that Malcolm?”
Malcolm. The one Celia could barely think about, let alone talk about. The man who had carelessly ripped out her heart and fed it to the buzzards. How could he still affect her so deeply? She backed away from the window. “Tell him I’m not here.”
“What?” Jade blurted, astonished.
“I know, I’m the biggest kind of coward. And I will deal with him. Just...not...yet. Tell him I’m gone. Anywhere. The store. The moon. Please.”
“But, Celia, he came all this way. Don’t you at least want to know why?”
“No. Not really.” Whatever it was, it couldn’t be good. Not for her. She shook her head as she backed through the door at the rear of the shop that led into a storage room.
“You can’t keep running,” Jade said, her voice annoyingly maternal. “One of these days you’re going to have to face—” Her words broke off as the bells chimed above the door.
Maybe, but not today. Celia shrank back into the darkness behind the door.
“Hi,” Malcolm said to Jade, the warm timbre of his voice reaching inside Celia, twisting and turning, and slicing her heart to shreds.
What was wrong with her? Why was she hiding in the closet like a coward after everything he’d done to her? She’d given him her heart, given him everything she’d had, and he’d tossed it away to marry another woman in his pursuit of power and greed. An arranged marriage in name only, he’d said. As if she’d be okay with that? As if she’d be his “plaything” on the side after all their years together? Anger fueled her once more, reminding her why she fled, why it had been so important to rebuild her life in Sedona. So she could discover who she was, alone, without him, without the influence of the other shifters.
She should go out there. Face him.
“She’s hiking,” Jade said to him. “In the canyon. She goes there to collect wild herbs for our products. Would you like to try—”
“Are you sure?” he asked. “I could have sworn—”
Celia took a step forward, her hand on the knob ready to pull it open.
“Positive! Really. Here—” Jade picked up the notepad and quickly wrote something down. “Here’s a map to where she likes to hike, but I’ll be happy to tell her you stopped by. Are you sure you wouldn’t like to try—”
“Yes, I’m sure.” Impatience rang thick in his voice. “Tell her it’s Malcolm and tell her it’s important. Critical, in fact. Now, if you could give me directions to this canyon...?”
Celia opened the door enough to peer through and sucked in her breath. How could just the sight of him, his thick dark hair, his muscular frame, that tight butt, still do things to her? It wasn’t fair. The universe was testing her, that was all. Jade pointed out the window toward the canyons in the distance and Celia pushed out a relieved breath. He was leaving.
The canyons should keep him busy for at least a few hours. She leaned her head against the doorjamb. She had only a few hours to pull herself together before he came back. And he would come back. The crystals’ dark energy in his bracelet was no longer forming a protective field around him.
* * *
Heat seeped into Malcolm’s