“Hello?”
Her heart soared, a rush of satisfaction she hadn’t experienced since being in his arms overcame her. “My beloved…”
“Delilah darlin’, is that you?”
It’s me, she thought,it will always be me.
“Darlin’, if you’re there let me know, I’ve been awful worried about you.”
She nodded and smiled.
He was worried about her; no person in existence had ever worried about her well-being, not even the ones who’d left her in the care of her father a lifetime ago. “I’m here, beloved, I’m here.”
“That’s good to know, sweetness, but I gotta say, I’m feeling some kind of way about not knowing where you are, especially after you took so many steps to know where I was at all times. That wasn’t real fair, I had to balance things out.”
“I understand, my love. I believe I saw your friends looking for me when I went to find you. I’m sure you can understand when I say I wasn’t feeling particularly social.”
“Understood. I don’t particularly like socializing with those pushy bastards either.”
“And what about the whore of deceit and illusions—do you like socializing with her?”
Delilah heard a movement on the other side of the line.
“Wouldn’t saylike,darlin’, more like forced to, now that you’ve gone and set fire to her house.”
Delilah shrugged. “It’s her destiny to burn in hell. I was only giving her a glimpse of what awaits her in the afterlife. Is she with you?”
“I’m sure she’s around, but I had to get away to speak to you in private, I miss hearing your voice, darlin’. Didn’t want any distractions, you know?”
“I know, my love, I know. Forces are working hard to keep us apart but trust me, the clarity I bring will destroy any spell that witch has bound you in.”
Movement proceeded her beloved’s voice again. When he spoke he sounded winded, pained.
She had to get to him; he was fighting for their love but wasn’t strong enough to break the whore’s hold on him. “Tell me where you are, beloved, I will come to you,” she said, attempting to compel him.
“No, I need you safe and out of harm’s way, darlin’, go to the place I left the tracker and my friends will find you. They’ll bring you up the mountain, protect you like they’re protecting your friend Cornelius. He was awful alone, you know, half-starved and scared when we found him.”
“He’s an idiot,” she snapped, reined in her temper and decided to take a gamble. “Besides, how can I be sure your friends Zeus and Sabrina won’t kill me in my sleep if I go up there?”
“Because Mama won’t let them. She’s real protective of those in her care. I’m sure she’d take real good care of a woman as devoted to me as you are.”
“Yes, well, I beg to differ, Almaya Hendricks is no better than the two murderers she’s harboring. You really do have to make much better choices in the company you keep, my love.”
“Don’t I know it,” he muttered.
She looked at her watch. “Fight, beloved, tell the whore she cannot have you and fight until we are able to see each other again.”
She disconnected the call, leaving the thumb and phone under the seat before sanitizing the car and abandoning it. She now had less than an hour to get to the airport terminal. She’d have to rush to catch her flight, but she knew God would ensure that she was on it, she had a man and a future to save. She would not fail at either, at any cost.
Hopefully, that idiot acolyte Cornelius wouldn’t fail either.
Lucas refused to board the connecting flight to Oklahoma, even after she’d promised the trip would be better if she had a couple of drinks or took a sleeping pill before takeoff. He didn’t budge but continued to silently side-eye her, acting as if she posed some kind of credible threat all the way to the car rental agency and out to the rental truck.
Even though Lucas hadn’t criticized her explicitly, she felt that old tension rise, the one that came from feeling as if she had failed in some way, had done something unforgivably wrong. She felt the need to push aside the elation she’d experienced and put him in a better mood.
She refused.
Lucas would come to his own conclusions, she thought, climbing into yet another oversized truck. He’d either continue to have an attitude and end their contract or embrace the spirit of adventure they’d developed. Either way, her journey would continue, with or without him.
