Francine’s mind raced. It wasn’t clear toherthat they belonged together.
“But I don’t even know you.” She tried logic, not expecting it to work, but found the need within her soul to give it a try anyway.
“You have the rest of your life to get to know me.” The look on his face was one of satisfaction. It occurred to her that her parents had used this very line when trying to convince her that an arranged marriage was best.You have the rest of your life to get to know the stranger we are forcing you to marry.
Reason and logic were obviously not going to work on him.
“What if I don’t want to get to know you?” The words were out of her mouth before she could stop them. She shook her head, as if that would help suck them back inside. It didn’t.
His maniacal smile of joy turned dark and menacing. He shifted back into the bounty hunter who’d interrupted her and Raphael when they spoke to each other over a sweet little black kitten. Poor Angel. Francine missed her little troublemaker ball of fluff.
“I’ve gone to a lot of trouble to get us to this point. You should be grateful.” The gun appeared. He shot the dart into her arm this time. “I’ve changed my mind. You will ride in the trunk.”
Francine stumbled as the woozy effects of the drug hit her system. She sent a mental wish out into the universe before surrendering to the power of the drugs rushing through her system.
Falling to her knees, her last vision was of the dirt road and the towering trees on either side of the narrow lane. Her last thought was repeated until she was out.
Raphael, I love only you.
Chapter Nineteen
Raphael, still on his knees, palms pressed to each side of his head as if he could squeeze away the excruciating vision before him, braced himself for the intrusion of the facts. Francine could not have survived the blast. No one could have, human or Alpha.
That hard truth aside, he couldn’t seem to wrap his mind around the horrid idea of her being gone forever.
Lucy had seen Francine inside, too. She was distraught, couldn’t stop screaming, crying or babbling nonsense, pointing at the blackened and flaming remnants of the cabin.
From somewhere in his head came the screaming phrase.No! Stop!
What if Raphael refused to believe she was dead? How could she be gone? Answer: She couldn’t be. She had to be alive somewhere.
A tiny particle of his soul sparked to life. He would not give up. Not now. Not ever.
Francine is alive.He continued to repeat the phrase in his head.Francine is alive.
Raphael grasped that notion hard, wrapping his optimism around it and squeezing with all his mental might. He stood up and turned to Lucy.
“I don’t believe it,” he told her calmly, much more serenely than he truly felt.
Her wail of anguish subsided. She looked confused and pointed at the ruin again. “But…I saw her in there. You did, too. Her hair was blond, but it was her. I know it was.” Tears streamed through the dust, ash and fine debris on her cheeks.
Wyatt sprinted from the tree line opposite where he’d entered before the cabin blew to smithereens. He went straight to Diesel, pulled the burning board off him and knelt to ensure he was still breathing.
Raphael and Lucy walked over to join them as Diesel coughed and sat up.
“You okay?” Wyatt asked him.
Diesel stared at the space where the cabin used to be. “It blew up.” He lifted his gaze to Raphael and Lucy, pain in his eyes. “I’m so sorry.”
“She wasn’t in there,” Raphael said, his voice unwavering. “She’s alive.”
“Are you sure? I thought you saw her,” Diesel said.
“It’s a trick. We are being led to believe something that isn’t true.”
Lucy, voice trembling, said, “What makes you think that? I need to know it’s not just wishful thinking.”
