Frozen Desires (Asylums for Magical Threats) (27 page)

Marco?”

Her friend merely stared at her, assessing something. She didn’t think Marco would’ve abandoned her,

and she refused to think of the alternative. “Well, where is he?”

Zalika raised an eyebrow. “Impatient to see him, are you?”

Cam growled, noticed the IV in her arm, plucked it out, and sat up. “You don’t want to fuck with me

right now, Zalika. Tell me where he is.”

Her friend put her hands up in defense. “Geez Louise, calm down. He’s alive. It’s Wednesday evening—

you were knocked out for nearly a day—and he had to go and retrieve the clue from that Rosa Elena person

at the
Novia del Mar
statue.”

A sense of relief washed over her, but she was careful not to let it show on her face. Now that she knew

he was still alive, she focused on the other shitload of problems that needed to be handled. “What about the Collector’s crew? Did DEFEND or Enforcement capture them?”

“No, somehow they managed to escape. Probably by jumping out of one of the windows lower down.

Marco had only created an ice dome on the top part of the ship, to serve as a distraction to rescue you,

rather than contain the whole thing.”

Cam stopped breathing. “Marco created another ice dome, in front of everyone?”

Zalika gave her a look. “What do you mean by ‘another’ ice dome? Did you know he could do that?”

She gave a noncommittal shrug. It wasn’t her secret to share. “You’ll have to ask him.”

Zalika leaned close. “What is going on between the two of you, Cam? And don’t you dare say nothing.”

“I’m still trying to figure that out, so don’t push me.”

They stared at one another until Zalika let out a sigh. “Fine, I’ll accept that—for now. I’m more

concerned about your recovery. You need to eat something and get some more sleep. You’re no longer dehydrated, but food will give you strength.”

Speaking of strength, she wondered about her latent abilities. Were they back? She was about to try,

then hesitated. Despite her earlier convincing and acceptance, she was nervous. If her abilities were gone for good, she might be pulled from her mission to continue looking for any of the Talents. Marco might be

sent to complete it on his own, and she might not see him for a long time. The thought made her sadder

than if her latent ability was gone for good.

What’s wrong with me?
She’d made out with the man once. Okay, almost twice. And despite sharing his secrets, despite his willingness to accept her, despite her attraction to him, in reality, she had no claim.

Besides, considering she’d poisoned him between then and now, he might have decided that she wasn’t

worth it.

Stop it.
She wasn’t that girl who worried about men and feelings. She was Camilla Melini, soldier and DEFEND commander.

It was time to start acting like it again.

She lifted her hand and tried to extend a claw. When she felt the slight stretching, and saw her claw

come out, she let out a sigh of relief. Her abilities were intact. Things could go back to normal.

But the question was—did she want them to?

She felt Zalika’s gaze on her, but she refused to look her in the eye, afraid of what her friend might see.

Instead, Cam tossed the blanket aside and scooted to the edge. “Food sounds good, but I’m going to take a

shower first.”

Her friend was quiet, probably trying to figure out what was wrong. Zalika was one of the few people

who knew that when Cam didn’t look at you straight away, it was because she was hiding something.

Much to her relief, she heard Zalika walk across the floor before she said, “I’ll be back within the hour.

There are a few protein bars in the duffel bag if you get hungry and a satellite phone next to your bed if you need either me or Jacek.”

She glanced at her friend, but her face was unreadable. “Sounds great.”

Zalika nodded and was gone. Cam grabbed one of the protein bars and forced herself to eat. She also

started humming to herself, hoping that music could help distract her like it had done so many times in her past, and she could avoid thinking about Marco Alvarez.

Marco approached the large statue of a woman sitting with her knees up to her chest, gazing out at the

ocean. The
Novia del Mar
was situated along the Campeche seaside walkway, which was currently filled with walkers, joggers, and bike riders. It was nearly 7 p.m., the weather had finally started to cool down, and he could see about twenty people with their yoga mats rolled out around the statue, waiting for the

instructor to begin.

While he knew it was important for him to be here, he wished he were back at the safe house, watching

over Cam. The memory of her cold, still body from yesterday still haunted him.

Cam had yet to wake up. The doctor in the area used by DEFEND had suggested keeping her

unconscious until she was hydrated again. The doctor had experience with stubborn DEFEND soldiers and

hadn’t trusted Cam to stay still long enough to recover on her own.

Marco had stayed as long as he’d been able, but he knew the importance of this mission to both Cam

and DEFEND. The coin collector in Merida had probably shared his details, including what he looked like,

with whoever was waiting for him here. He couldn’t risk someone else coming and not getting the

information.

Cam would want to see her mission through to the end, and he’d make sure it happened.

Right before coming here, he’d had a call from one of Aislinn’s second-in-commands. Apparently,

Cam’s sister Kiarra was the Fire Talent, meaning that if he and Cam succeeded in finding another Talent, that would give DEFEND two out of the four.

According to the legends, when all four of the Talents were assembled they would have to stop some

kind of catastrophe. Marco hadn’t heard of anything brewing yet, and that scared him a little.

But he would worry about that later. For now, finding even one more Talent took priority.

He arrived at the statue, and did a general sweep of the area. The space was wide-open with the ocean

on one side, and the walkway and wide-lane street on the other. Satisfied at his safety for now, he pretended to read the sandwich sign on the ground advertising the weekly outside yoga classes. A minute later, a

woman came up next to him and said in Spanish, “You look like you’re from out of town. Can I help you?”

Time to tread carefully. This woman could be the Rosa Elena he was looking for. “Yes, I’m on vacation

with my girlfriend. We’re trying to decide if we should stay in Campeche for another week, or if there is

somewhere else we should go.”

“Have you already been to Chichen Itza?”

“Yes.”

“And how about the beautiful city of Merida?”

He nodded. “We especially loved the Sunday Market.”

“Hmm, in that case, I have a well-kept local treasure you might want to visit if you’re interested in going somewhere without a lot of tourists.”

“That sounds lovely. The crowds in some of these places have really started to get to my girlfriend.”

“Give me a second, and I’ll write it down for you.” The woman took out a piece of paper and a pen

from her purse, wrote something down, and handed it to Marco. He glanced down and saw the message

was written in the old language:
If you need a guide to see the San Rafael Waterfall, go to D&D Tours in
Quito, and ask for Diego to take you via the scenic route.

When he looked up, the woman was gone.

He read it one more time to memorize it, and then tore the paper into little pieces and put it into the

pocket of his jeans. He’d burn it the first chance he got.

He’d heard of the San Rafael Waterfall somewhere before, but he couldn’t quite place it. All he knew

was that it wasn’t in Mexico.

Cam would need a day or two more to recover before they left anyway, which suited him fine because

they had much to discuss. It was going to take a combination of charm and stubbornness to prevent Camilla

from shutting him out again. It’d taken him days of being constantly around her, and a lot of arguing,

before she’d started to trust him. He just hoped that his delay to rescue her hadn’t broken what fragile trust still existed between them.

Marco picked up his pace, anxious to find out.

Chapter Thirty-Three

Cam finished drying her hair with a towel and tossed the long nightshirt she’d found inside the duffel

bag over her head. Normally, she’d arm herself with something before heading out of the bathroom, but

Richard had taken the gun and knife she’d loved. Her latent abilities would do until she acquired some new weapons. Hopefully, that would be soon, because she was anxious to not only get out of Mexico, but also to continue her mission.

Had Marco found the clue they needed? Judging by the dark sky she saw through the small window in

the bathroom, enough time had passed that he might have come back.

She put her hand on the doorknob, and her heart started to pound. What if he was on the other side of

the door? The last thing she wanted to do was open the door and see hatred in his eyes.

Cam straightened her shoulders. Standing here, wondering this or that was ridiculous. If Marco were on

the other side of the door, she’d buck up and talk to him. She might have poisoned him, but they were still both fighting on the same side.

She twisted the knob and opened the door, but the sight of the empty room filled her with

disappointment. She’d never voice it aloud, but after being alone and locked up for nearly two days, she’d missed the company of Marco and her team.

While she had no way to contact him, she could at least find out about Zalika. She moved over to her

bed and picked up the phone, but before she could dial, a key turned in the lock of her door. Her soldier

instincts kicked in.

Cam moved silently to the left side of the door and extended her claws.

The handle turned, and the door opened inch by inch until she could see a crouching Marco on the

ground. She sighed. “Couldn’t you have knocked?”

As she sheathed her claws, his eyes met hers and he smiled. “Trying to poison me again, Camilla?”

At his teasing tone, all of her apprehension seemed to disappear. She couldn’t resist extending a claw at

him. “If I were, you’d already be unconscious.”

He snorted. “So does that mean I can come in?” He raised a bag. “I brought dinner.”

She lowered her claw. “I thought Zalika was getting dinner.”

Marco stood and shrugged a shoulder. “I knew a great place, and it wasn’t that hard to convince her to

let me get you dinner and take over the next shift.”

She straightened her shoulders. “I don’t need anyone to watch over me. Now that I’m on dry land, I’m

strong as ever.”

He raised an eyebrow. “You might not be puking your guts out, but you’re weak. If I need to restrain

you and force feed you, I’ll do it.”

So this was what it felt like to have someone want to take care of you.

Cam wasn’t good at mushy feelings, so instead, she fell back on challenging him. “I’d like to see you

try.”

His gazed raked over her and back up to her face. “Are you sure about that, beauty?”

Her cheeks heated, and she cleared her throat. If she wasn’t careful, she might end up naked before

she’d learned about the latest clue. “Maybe later. Right now, I want to know if you met Rosa Elena or not.”

Marco walked past her, and she closed and locked the door. Since there wasn’t a table, he sat down on

the bed and patted the space beside him. “I’m not going to tell you anything until you eat something.”

A week ago, she would’ve barked some reply and dismissed him. Now, after everything he’d done to

help rescue her, she decided that she would stop fighting his common sense suggestions.

She moved to the bed and sat down. Marco handed her a container, and he shook his head. She took a

plastic fork and asked, “What?”

“I’m not sure if I should be scared that you didn’t fight me on this or not.” He placed a hand on the bed and leaned in close. “Did something happen to you on that boat that I need to know about?”

His face was only about six inches away, and it took everything she had not to stare at his lips. “While

being seasick is annoying, I’ll live.”

He raised a hand and tucked her still damp hair behind her ear. “That’s not what I’m asking. Did

Richard or any of the Collector’s henchmen hurt you?”

“Why do you care? Considering I poisoned you, I expected a lot more anger. Or yelling.”

He lowered the hand from her ear, and placed it near her hip. His arm might be a few inches away, but

she was keenly aware of Marco’s heat and scent surrounding her.

His gaze turned hot, with his eyes half-lidded, and her heart started to pound in her chest. Since he was

good at playing the charmer, she’d wondered about his true feelings. But as he moved even closer, Cam

started to believe that he didn’t hate her for poisoning him.

She cleared her throat. “Well? Why are you being so nice to me? It’s a little weird.”

“I’m not being nice. It’s taking everything I have not to toss you back on this bed and kiss you.

Knowing you were on that boat, and they could be doing who the hell knows what to you, scared the living

shit out of me.”

She stopped breathing. “Oh.”

The corner of his mouth rose. “I was expecting a little more than ‘oh,’ Camilla.” He moved his hand to

her hip and she nearly jumped at his touch. “Maybe something along the lines of, ‘I knew you’d come for

me. You’re so strong, and brave, and smart, there’s nothing you couldn’t do.’”

His high-pitched mocking tone broke the spell of his touch, and Cam snorted. “You must be thinking of