“Arrest her,” I snarled, glaring at Lucia. “I don’t want her anywhere near Gabriella.”
Lucia’s eyes started to water. “It’s not what you think. I didn’t hurt her. I promise!”
“Who is that?” Asher asked, pointing his hands at a body a few feet ahead of us.
I looked over at it. The body looked like it had been electrocuted, its limbs falling randomly. But I could sense the darkness, and I knew it was a vampire hunter. I could then smell Gabriella’s magic. The space was filled with it.
“Why are you working with them?” I asked, looking back at Lucia. “What did they offer you? Did they offer you money? Land? What? What did they give you to do this?”
She shook her head, waving her hands. “I’m not! I swear! I don’t know what happened here.”
I didn’t believe her. How could I? Gabriella expressed concern, and here they were in the woods. “Stop lying.”
“She’s not,” Gabriella spoke up in a weak voice.
My head snapped down as I looked at her. Her eyes slowly opened, and I watched as pain crossed her face. She looked exhausted and pale, but she was alive.
I pulled her tighter. “Ella…” I cupped her face, pressing my forehead to hers. I inhaled her scent as I felt my shoulders relax.
“She’s telling the truth. She wasn’t involved.”
I rubbed my thumb over her cheek, staring deeply into her eyes. I wanted to believe her, but how could I? What happened here? Who was lying just a few feet away from us?
“Take care of Lucia. I need to get her looked over.” I said, hoisting Gabriella up into my arms. She tried to wiggle free, but I held onto her tightly.
“Westley, put me down. We don’t have time for this.”
“Stop fighting me. I need to make sue your not hurt.” I headed back into town, refusing to let her down. After a while, she finally stopped trying to free herself. I don’t remember driving her home, but that’s where I headed. I took her inside and settled her onto the couch.
She was still shaking, her eyes seeming unable to track. I leaned into her space and softened my voice. I needed to understand what happened. “Gabriella, tell me what happened? Did she hurt you?”
She shook her head. “No, Lucia didn’t hurt me.”
“Then what happened?”
I held her hands as she looked down at them. She licked her lips and swallowed. “It all happened so fast.”
I squeezed her hands, watching her eyes move as she tried to piece everything together. “I was looking for Hazel, and I found her. I followed her. She kept walking further into the woods, no matter how many times I called for her. She wouldn’t stop. She wouldn’t even turn around and look at me.”
She swallowed. “I finally caught up to her, and it wasn’t her. I mean, it was, but not really. It was a vampire hunter. She shifted… like magic. I couldn’t understand.”
She squeezed her eyes shut. “And she came at me. She planned it that way. I don’t know if I would be here if it weren’t for Lucia.”
I looked at her, confused now. “What do you mean?”
“We were arguing before I snuck out. I accused her of being a part of the problem and told her I wanted her out of the house. Asher told me to calm down, so I left. She followed me. She threw a rock and caught the hunter off guard, which gave me enough time to pull myself together.”
Her eyes widened, and her words sank in. “Hazel is out there somewhere, Westley. We have to find her. I went to the healing center, and they said they hadn’t seen her in days! I know she’s out there somewhere.”
I called up Brandon and told him everything that happened. We put together a search party within ten minutes, and I was driving Gabriella back to the woods.
We searched everywhere. We spread out, and everyone was looking everywhere they could to find her. Gabriella looked like she was at her wits’ end as we searched.
“We’re going to find her,” I expressed as she was looking in some bushes.
“Why haven’t we found her yet?” she asked, her voice pitching higher. I could see tears burning in her eyes now. I reached out, pulling her toward me. We had been searching for a couple of hours now, with no results. “We will,” I whispered as I wiped her tears away. “I promise.”
“Westley! Gabriella!” Asher’s voice pitched high as he yelled at us, waving his hand. “Over here.”
