Carve My Pumpkin (The Night Realm: Halloween Marked #3)

Chapter 18

EIGHTEEN

COLETTE

‘ Where should I meet you?’ I texted Mateo.

It was ten minutes until midnight and I hadn’t yet heard from him. I knew the haunted house had just closed a few minutes ago so I wasn’t worried. Okay, maybe I’m a little worried. But it was ridiculous to think he’d text me the moment he got out of the haunted house. He wasn’t my boyfriend. Hell, he wasn’t even technically my friend. He was my boss. And up until today, we’d barely gotten along. I was just nervous we were going to go back to that.

Something happened between us today.

I couldn’t put my finger on it.

It was like whatever had been making him lash out at me had just vanished. I hadn’t done anything different from the moment I met him yet he changed. Which confused me but also suggested that I wasn’t the problem. I wanted to ask him about it but it was too soon. Our new friendship was too fragile.

And I desperately wanted to be his friend.

Sure, I might’ve been harboring much more than platonic feelings for the man but that was my burden to bear. He had a soulmate that wasn’t me. Once we found her and I saw them fall madly in love with each other - the way all soulmates did - then I’d get over my little crush for my boss. I wasn’t sure I still wanted to be his assistant but after what I’d heard in our talk today I realized I had other good options. I could get over this crush, it wouldn’t have been the first time I developed a thing for a guy then moved on without that after taste. I’d even become good friends with several of my former crushes. I could do that with Mateo. I would do that with Mateo. I’d move to work for Kallahan or Orson then I’d still get to work in Mateo’s department and stay friends. Maybe even once my crush had the decency to disappear, I’d be able to be his assistant again.

Or maybe I could be my own boss in the ambassador department. Surely there was room for some girl power. He said Liza was now in the department but she was so young and now married. My gut told me there was a hole I could fill. A need from the female supernaturals of First Realm.

My phone vibrated in my hand. I looked down to find a text from Mateo. ‘ What, don’t want to let yourself in the building? Afraid I might…jump out and scare you?’

I grinned and shook my head. ‘ My fear of deportation would vanish outside of a haunted house. I would fear for your face if you scared me in the real world.’

‘You DID swing at me several times tonight.’

‘A CHAINSAW, MATEO?’

He sent a long line of laughing emojis. ‘ It didn’t have the chain part on It, Colette.’

‘Well I didn’t get that memo.’

‘You did get a baseball bat. That was an unexpected turn of events in a haunted house.’ he sent more laughing emojis.

I cringed. At some point in that last trip through the haunted house, because I’d made three, I’d gotten so scared that I fell down and then when I stood up I happened to have a baseball bat in my hand. ‘ I have no explanation for how I got there.’

‘I’m just glad you did. The look on my father’s face. Priceless.’

I bit my lip and tried not to smile too hard but my cheeks were burning from it. ‘ It’s Bash’s fault.’

‘I agree. I’m going to get him a really great birthday present.’

‘His birthday was the Fifth.’

‘ EDITED: I’m going to get him a really great belated birthday present.’

I snort laughed. ‘ You didn’t answer my question.’

‘Maybe I’m right behind you.’

I gasped and spun around, my arms swinging with me like my life depended on it. But there was no one there, just air and a lot of strange looks from the people at the festival around me.

My phone vibrated. I opened Mateo’s text and it was four lines of the cry laughing emoji. ‘ I said it was ME why would you turn around swinging?’

My face burned. ‘ Look, I may have lied when I said I didn’t scare easily.’

I could have sworn I heard him cackle.

Then I re-read his last text.

‘ WAIT A SECOND, ARE YOU WATCHING ME?’

‘That took you too long, Colette.’

‘That isn’t answering my question, Mateo.’

‘I happened to look out the window and see you standing in the middle of the festival by yourself. I had no idea you’d launch into an attack.’ More laughing emojis. ‘ Tonight is the gift that keeps on giving.’

I glanced at the time at the top of my screen. It was eight minutes until midnight. ‘ Well, Cinderella, it better be giving punctuality because this festival is thinning out too fast for a girl who went through that haunted house five times.’

The truth was, which I hadn’t admitted out loud to anyone, Mateo’s costume in this year’s serial killer theme had him shirtless. I’d subjected myself to being scared shitless just to get a look at him in the red overhead lighting with all that body paint and fake blood splattered across his ab muscles. It wasn’t my proudest moment. Or my happiest. I was going to have nightmares for sure. My mother didn’t even know yet that I was going to climb into her bed and sleep there. Somehow, it was worth it. I wasn’t quite ready to deal with the therapy I for sure needed for tonight.

‘What an adorable little masochist you are. Don’t fret, Prince Charming will be there momentarily.’

My heart was still pounding. ‘He better. Because I swear to the Angel’s tacos if you show up here in the dark in that creepy ass makeup I will get deported.’

When my phone vibrated again, I expected to find cry laughing emojis and a smart ass response. Instead, I found a picture. Not just any picture. It was a selfie of Mateo, still shirtless, but cleaned up without all the makeup and fake blood. The lighting was a soft golden color, not the creepy red from the haunted house. He held one thumb up in the pic and was smiling into the camera. It could’ve been a professional model’s photoshoot with how flawlessly gorgeous he was. It wasn’t fair. If he’d have just sent me a shirtless pic a few hours ago I wouldn’t have tortured myself in the haunted house so many times. My chest was hot and tight as I stared at the abs and jawline and back again.

A text popped up across the top of my screen, covering the top portion of his face. ‘ I cleaned up for you, see.’

I saw all right. That sexy little smirk with his fangs in perfect view. I’d never seen his fangs. Seeing them did weird things to me. Things that would make getting over this crush much slower and harder. I licked my lips. Good God this is not fair.

My phone vibrated again, bringing my gaze back up to land on his fang before I focused on the text notification. With a frustrated huff, I clicked the text and forced myself to stop looking at the picture. ‘ Meet me at the front doors, it’s well lit and you’ll be in plain sight the whole time. Not that anyone is going to hurt you on the Island. I’m coming down now.’

I took a deep breath and nodded.

Another text popped up. ‘ The girls are approaching on your right. Try not to swing, those Vegas girls are feisty.’ A winky face followed.

I glanced to my right and sure enough, my new friends were headed back in my direction. They’d gone to grab hot chocolate before it closed. While the festival technically closed at midnight on Friday nights, we were really the only people still out here. I was grateful the girls had stuck around with me. Like Mateo said, I knew I was safe on the Island but logic didn’t always win once fear got involved.

Wait a second. He said they were approaching on my right. My heart skipped a beat. He’d still been watching me. That meant he sent me that shirtless selfie then watched me receive it. My eyes widened. My pulse quickened into hyper-speed. Oh God. Did he see me ogling him? Oh no, that would be bad. Bad, bad, bad. I was turned away from the castle, he couldn’t have seen, right? My stomach turned. I just stared down at my screen praying I hadn’t just been caught drooling and swooning over my boss.

“It’s really a damn shame he keeps it in his pants now.”

I jumped at the sound of Gemma’s voice on my left side. I hadn’t expected her to come from that angle. Gemma reached out and lifted my phone higher then tapped on the screen to make the picture of Mateo larger.

Halley slid up to my right side and peered over my shoulder. “Reformed rake is such a bummer.”

“ Girls, ” Cameron hissed. She rolled her lavender eyes at her friends then went back to untangling all that long blue hair from the buttons on her jacket. “Inappropriate.”

“What?” Gemma tossed her pink hair over her shoulder. “I’m just saying I should’ve had him when I had the chance.”

Halley zoomed in on his abs and sighed. “Same.”

Brittany stopped in front of me, holding a cup of hot chocolate out for me. “Who are we talking about?”

“Mateo,” Gemma and Halley said in perfect unison.

I frowned and looked up at their swoony, lustful expressions and I wanted to hide my phone. The urge to hiss and shove them away was strong. Heat rushed through my body. I didn’t like the way they were looking at his picture. It felt wrong and dirty, even though I hadn’t been any better a second ago. But they didn’t even know Mateo.

Kate rested her chin on Brittany’s shoulder. “What do you mean? When would you have had the chance to hook up with him?”

Gem shrugged. “He’s been to Vegas a few times. I’ve seen him. Could’ve had him.”

“If only we’d have known he was going to be reformed we could’ve gotten our fill of the rake first.” Halley sighed wistfully.

“Stop it,” Cameron hissed.

I groaned. “I could’ve had him in high school. Or in college. Before he was full blown rake.”

Halley gasped and gripped my shoulder. “Why didn’t you?”

“I don’t know, he’s a prince and my mom didn’t have electricity in her house? I was not on his level.” I glanced over my shoulder to make sure he hadn’t snuck up on me. “Besides, I was low-key obsessed with Archer Bow. And then Willem Bow, too.”

Halley nodded in approval. “Hot.”

“They traveled a lot and I just wanted to listen to all their travels stories.”

Gemma scowled. “Less hot.”

“What’s less hot?” Ivy asked as she landed right behind Cameron.

“Colette had a crush on your soulmate in high school because he traveled.”

I gasped. “ Gemma .”

“Well Archer is hot, but I may be bias.” Ivy giggled and winked at me. Then she held up two cups of hot chocolate and shivered. I kept forgetting Ivy still wasn’t used to the cold weather. “Also, his and Will’s travel stories are addictive.”

Gemma shook her head. “You’re both so strange.”

“All right, wild things, let’s go.” Cameron grabbed Halley and Gemma’s arms and dragged them away from me. “Colette has work to do. We hung around to keep her company not make her feel weird right before she sees him. Shoo fly. Shoo.”

Gemma cackled. “I do bite. Night, Colette!”

“So do vampires.” Halley winked suggestively. “Night, Colette, hope you get bit!”

“HALLEY!” Cameron groaned. “Sorry, Colette. I can’t take them anywhere. But thanks for hanging with us tonight, we had fun.”

My cheeks warmed. “I had fun, too. Thanks for sticking around.”

“That’s what we do. Night ladies!” She flicked her long blue hair over her shoulder and took off after the wild ones.

“How does she not get her hair stuck in her wings?” I asked before I could stop myself.

“Oh, she does.” Brittany snort laughed. “And she’s got the stories to go with it.”

“I’ll have to ask her.” I glanced at the time. Two minutes until midnight and still no Mateo in sight.

Kate looked down at her watch then smiled at me. “Don’t worry, he’ll be here. When I was dating Lark last year, I learned that while he was a rake he was a very punctual rake.”

Me, Brittany, and Ivy laughed.

“Just saying. If he says he’ll be there, he will.”

Brittany cursed, her dark eyes locked on something in the sky. “Those two need leashes and a shock collar. I better go help Cameron. Night, Colette, let’s hang soon!”

“They’re entertaining until it’s babysitting.” Kate watched her soulmate shoot into the sky with a grimace. She lifted off her feet but hovered in the air on her wings and I was insanely jealous. “Ivy, you good?”

“Oh yeah, it’s way too damn cold for me to fly home. Archer’s here already.”

I frowned. “He is?”

Ivy smiled and pointed up ahead of me to a pickup truck parked on the curb directly across from the front doors of Prescott Tech. “What can I say, I caught a good one.”

“Yea, you did. Right, I’m going to help Britt and Cam. But let’s all get lunch soon or something!”

“Safe flight, don’t freeze!” Ivy yelled as Kate took off. Then she shivered really dramatically. “I’m afraid my second winter might be harder for me to handle than my first.”

I snickered. “I’ve actually heard that before.”

“Oh, well that’s comforting. I’m not crazy.” She grinned and bumped me with her elbow. “C’mon, I’ll walk with you to the front door.”

“When did Archer get here with his truck?”

“Oh right when we got hot chocolate, that’s why I came back after them.”

“Is one of those for him?”

She scoffed. “Please, I have two hands that are freezing out here.”

I snort laughed. “It’s only like fifty-five degrees out right now, we’re gonna have to keep an eye on all your fingers and toes this winter.”

She giggled. Her teeth rattled together. “You’re not kidding.”

“I’m glad you came out tonight. Did you have fun?”

“Yes, I did. And I’m glad I did, too. I…uh…don’t have many friends. Any actually, at least none that I made on my own without the Bow family’s help-”

“Hey, that’s not true. You have me.” I waved to Archer who had his head perched on the open window. “We met through Prescott Tech not your in-laws.”

“You’re right. We did. I get dibs on you not them.”

“That’s the spirit.” I laughed but then I lowered my voice. “For what it’s worth, before this month my only real friends were four senior citizens and my nine-hundred-year-old mother. So making a friend in you - and the others - has been really special.”

Ivy’s cheeks blushed. Then she turned and gave me a hug. “Well, then it’s settled. You’re my new best friend and I shall take no further comments on the matter.”

“Sold.” I cleared my throat as we stopped beside Archer’s truck. “Hey, glad you came to get her. She might need to be set out on the counter to defrost for a bit.”

Archer chuckled. “I have the fireplace on and heated blankets ready for our return home. C’mon, love.” He pushed the driver’s door opened and she climbed right into his lap which couldn’t have been safe for driving.

“Thanks for sticking around but I’m sure he’ll be here any second-”

Archer pointed behind me. “We wouldn’t have left if he wasn’t here. Night you two.”

I frowned and spun around. My breath left me in a rush. Mateo was leaning against the open front door of Prescott Tech wearing a shit-eating grin and ripped black jeans with a black sweater that looked even cozier than the one I had on.

“Hey look, we match.” He grinned.

“I was dressed first.”

“You’re right. I could put the costume back on-”

“Shut up.” I giggled and pushed by him to go inside, flicking on the light switch as I walked. “You cut that one close.”

He shrugged and locked the door behind us. I must’ve made a face because he smirked. “You look about ready to jump out of your own skin so I figured making sure no one came in behind us would be appreciated.”

“Oh.” I wrapped my arms around my waist. “Thanks - wait, where’d my hot chocolate go?”

“You handed it to me as you entered.” He held his hand up, showing my cup in his grip. Then he cocked his head to the side. “Are you okay? For real.”

“I thought so?”

He chuckled. “Fair enough. Okay, so where should we do this?”

“Ernald’s conference room will be best. Have you heard from Ria?”

He nodded and led the way up the stairs. “Yeah, she said to let her know when we were in position and ready.”

My stomach tightened into knots. “Perfect.”

It didn’t feel perfect. It felt nauseating. It felt like I was marching to my own doom. Ria was about to oversee a spell that would show us a visual representation of every woman Mateo came in contact with the day his mark arrived. Women who could’ve been his soulmate. My mouth watered like I was going to be sick. In a few short minutes it was going to be possible that I discovered who his soulmate was and that made me want to crawl under a mountain of blankets and not come back out.

“You’re quiet tonight.”

“Well, I did use most of my voice screaming all night long.”

Mateo chuckled softly. “ I’ve heard that before ,” he whispered so softly I wasn’t sure I’d heard him right.

“What was that?”

“Nothing.” He stopped at the top of the stairs and flicked more lights on, then he half turned to look at me. “Are you going to survive the night alone?”

I stopped short. “Are you leaving me here to do this myself?”

He scowled. “No, I meant at home. All night. Sleeping. Nightmares-”

“ OH. ” I laughed nervously. “Right. Logical. Sorry.”

He narrowed his eyes. “So, I’ll ask again-”

“I’m going to my mom’s.” I said with a hot lump of emotion in my throat.

He nodded in approval and started walking again. “So I see you’ve made friends with the Vegas girls now.”

“I’ve made quite a few friends this month, I almost don’t know what to do with myself. “ I laughed. “What’s it say about me that I’ve only managed to make friends with the women who aren’t from here?”

“That you strive for something more in life.” I must’ve made a face because he shrugged. “Island girls don’t dream big, for the most part. Not just women, but most people from here don’t dream about leaving. They make happy, comfortable lives here and enjoy them. While city folks, they have the drive and passion to go after some crazy plans. Carter, Ria, and Ivy? Those are three boss babes-”

“ Boss babes?” I grimaced.

He cringed. “Yea I regret those word selections. I wanted to say bad bitches but then I was unsure if I’m allowed to say bitches in front of you.”

“Because of the bitches? ”

He smirked and nodded.

I sighed. “Bitches do get in the way.”

He snort laughed. “Weirdo.”

“The truth always comes out.” I stretched my arms out. “So, you ready for this?”

“Yes. No.” He grimaced. “I’m trying not to get my hopes up, honestly. I’ve been looking for a long time now.”

I reached out and touched his arm. The heat of his skin burned through his sweater. “Hey, don’t give up hope yet. Let’s just see what happens here plus we’re seeing Peggy tomorrow.”

“You’re right, I need to stay positive.” He nodded and opened the door to the conference room. “After you.”

I flicked the lights on and the all-white conference room filled with light. “Right. I’ll set up the cameras.”

My nerves were suddenly tingling and tense so I ignored them by diving into the task at hand. I’d worked for Ernald for a long time so I knew all about his gadgets in this room. It was basically muscle memory at this point. Once I clicked all the necessary buttons, I stepped back and looked up at him.

His eyes were wide. “Done already?”

“Yeah. Have her call and we’ll take it on the projection screen so we can watch.” I pointed behind his head. “The camera up there is already filming so we won’t miss anything.”

“No wonder Ernald threatened to steal you back.” He chuckled and started typing on his phone. “Just brilliant.”

I reached over to the laptop and connected Mateo’s phone to the bluetooth just as Ria’s name appeared on the wall. “Okay, answer it.”

Suddenly Ria’s face filled the wall. She smiled and waved. “Hey!”

Mateo and I waved back.

“They ready?” A woman yelled from off camera.

“ MA, gimme a sec to ask ‘em!” Ria shook her head and mumbled in another language. “Right, so Mateo and Colette, we ready to go?”

I jumped to my feet. “You’re projected on a wall and the camera is recording this whole thing. We’re onto to your part now.”

“Yo, ma! They’re ready,” Ria yelled off screen. Then she leaned forward and whispered, “ she’s a little sassy tonight so brace yourselves.”

A woman who had the same black hair and black eyes as Ria stepped into view of the camera. She wore a fuzzy, flower printed robe and not an ounce of makeup. “Okay, let’s go. I’m in the middle of binging Schitt’s Creek -”

“Ma, you’ve seen Schitt’s Creek like a dozen times-”

“Yeah, because season six is out and I gotta refresh my memory.” She slid a big glass bowl into the middle of her table to be in view of Ria’s camera set-up. “And that Eugene Levy just does something for me.”

“It’s the eyebrows,” Mateo said with a chuckle. “We say the same think to Kallahan all the time.”

Ria’s mother gasped and finally looked to the screen. Her eyes widened. “You’re a Vauntero.”

“Mateo Vauntero, nice to meet you-”

“Ria, he’s pretty you should marry this one-”

“Ma, I’m gay. You know this.” Ria put her head in her hands. “And Mateo has a soulmate, that’s why we’re doing this.”

She leaned close to the camera. “Mateo, how many single sisters do you have?”

“Uh.” He scowled then held his hands up like he was counting with his fingers. “Only two that are adults right now? Ida and Lark-”

“Lark’s single?” Ria’s eyes sparkled. “Since when?”

Mateo scratched the back of his head. “I thought she hadn’t dated since Kate last year?”

Ria rolled her eyes. “I shouldn’t have more tea on your own family than you, pretty boy.”

“Blame the coma?”

“Blame The Torren.” Ria chuckled. “All right, ma, you ready?”

“Mateo, when are we starting this looking glass?” She rolled her wand between her fingers. “Do we know when the mark appeared?”

“Christmas parade last year. When I left the castle I did not have a soulmate mark. Apparently by the time my family all got to the hospital to see me I had one.”

“So we’ll start from when you left home that day and see where it takes us.”

She rubbed her hands together with the wand between them. Her lips moved but I didn’t hear any words. She took her hand in hand and moved it in swirling motions like she was drawing an elaborate shape over the water while she recited words that were definitely not English.

“ What language is that ?” I whispered.

“Albanian. We’re from Albania.” Ria pointed to her mother. “Well she is. I was born here.”

“It’s a pretty. Language”

Mateo chuckled. “Still no idea what the spell says.”

Ria shrugged. “The translation makes less sense so I don’t bother. But I promise it works.”

When her mother was done, the water rippled in waves from the center outwards as if raindrops were hitting it and splashing. The crystal clear water turned sapphire blue like the color of his eyes. The ripples smoothed out flat for a split second before a whirlpool started. I leaned forward to watch, captivated like always by the magic mages could perform. And jealous, crazy jealous.

We need more mages employed by Prescott Tech.

I should probably mention that to one of the Vauntero executives. Or Mr. Prescott.

The sapphire water turned midnight black. I cursed and refocused on the spell. Like the snap of a finger, the whirlpool stopped and the water went flat. The image of his soulmate mark appeared in glowing red lines on the surface. Mateo rubbed his hands together and bounced from foot to foot. He was nervous. I understood why.

Wait a second. That’s Mateo on the wall not the one next to me. I flinched and looked to my left to see the real-life version of him standing beside me with sharp eyes. I glanced back and forth between the two versions of him. The Mateo in the spell had perfectly trimmed hair that was carefully styled and definitely had products in it. There were no glasses so I had to assume he had his contacts in. He wore a dark sweater with the sleeves pushed up to his elbows, showing exactly how much he hadn’t had his mark yet. He walked down the sidewalk towards Main Street with long, steady strides and his head held high. A few women stopped to say hi and touch him. He smiled and kissed the backs of their hands.

I gagged dramatically.

Real-life Mateo cackled next to me. “Hey, people don’t pay so much attention when you’re charming them.”

“He’s not wrong.” Ria chuckled. “But no marks yet.”

I eyed Mateo beside me and was shocked to see a visible difference in the man on the screen. They were the same person, separated by ten months. But the one next to me hadn’t had a haircut in a hot minute. There was some stubble growing in along his jaw. Under his glasses there was evidence of some laugh lines that I realized I hadn’t ever seen in the flawless old school Mateo. The Mateo on the screen had kind of detached eyes. The smile did not reach them. He wore a mask that matched his face. While the Mateo now had sparkles in his eyes and a flush to his cheeks.

“I know, I need a haircut,” he said softly.

“No, you don’t,” I answered just as softly. “You look so much happier now, with your flawless imperfections.”

Those eyes bore into me. “That’s a contradiction.”

“Not on that face.” I gave him a small smile then peeled my gaze away because I knew I had to be bright red. “Oh, more women!”

He stopped to chat with five young women, shaking their hands and dazzling them with his grin. But when they left, he still was mark-less.

“Ma, can we speed it up a bit?”

She tipped her wand and it fast-forwarded. Mateo was so beautiful that even in faster speed he still looked like a model for one of those magazines. I almost laughed. The guy hadn’t even made it to Main Street and he’d probably shook hands with two dozen women already. I’d inspected their faces while considering the spreadsheet in my head. A couple of them looked familiar but the others hadn’t. I opened my mouth to make a joke when I saw me flying up the sidewalk from behind him on my hoverboard.

I gasped. “Slow it down!”

She lifted her wand and the video slowed just as I came up behind him on the sidewalk. Video-me kept glancing over her shoulder and grinning. I frowned, trying to remember what was happening and then a banana soared through the air and then crashed into my hoverboard. Video-me went airborne and screamed.

“ MOVE YOUR FEET, LOSE YOUR SEAT! ” I heard Gertie scream from behind video-me.

The memory was replaying in my mind in real-time so it was surreal to be seeing this viewpoint now. Video-me slammed right into video-Mateo’s chest. I gasped. Wait. Video-Mateo laughed as we crashed to the grass. He didn’t hesitate to climb back to his feet and take my hands to lift me up to my feet.

Video-me shouted, “GERTIE!”

Sylvie zoomed by Video-me and Mateo then did circles around us. She cackled and raced out of sight.

“CHEATS!” Video-me shouted as I climbed back onto my hoverboard.

“Ms, are you all right?” Video-Mateo asked softly, his hand still holding mine. “Are you hurt?”

Mateo laughed next to me. “I remember thinking you were the first beautiful woman who hadn’t given a shit about me. It’s funny to watch it back and see I was right.”

My pulse did weird skips as my heart burrowed under covers inside my chest. First beautiful woman. He thinks I’m beautiful.

Video-me snarled. “Dirty old bats, they cheat.”

Susan slowed down beside me only to steal the banana Gertie had thrown and take off again. “Snooze you lose, kiddo!”

Video-Mateo snickered but still looked worried about me. His fingers still held mine as I stood on my hoverboard. “Miss?”

“I’m throwing away their hoverboards. Donating them to kids or some shit when they go to bed.” Video-me looked right at Video-Mateo. “Maybe I’ll reprogram them instead, it’ll be nice to hear them scream in panic.”

Both versions of Mateo cackled and shook his head.

“I remember this now.”

“I remember losing that race.” Video-me nodded thanks to Mateo then took off after the golden girls. “I still need my vengeance for that.”

Mateo chuckled. “How ironic that we meet on the day I evidently met my soulmate then flash forward you’re the one helping me find said soulmate now.”

Ironic. Might not be the right word choice. But it was wild to me that my fate came so, so close to being tied to Mateo’s. I’d just watched with my own eyes as my bare hand touched his bare hand. For a long minute. Somewhere after this he will touch some woman’s hand and a mark will appear - and yet it won’t be mine.

A hot lump of emotions formed in my throat. I licked my lips and swallowed through it, wringing my hands together. The video kept rolling yet my mind was stuck. It could’ve been me. I was right there, right in place for it, and yet fate chose someone else for him. I was taken aback by how much this rocked me. It was a good thing I was videotaping this because my eyes had blurred until they saw nothing.

“THERE IT IS!” Ria shouted and pointed.

We all jumped.

But then I saw it. Right there on Mateo’s forearm was the black and red image of a moth and some swirls. Video-Mateo was lying on a hospital bed with nurses standing beside him and nearly the entire Vauntero family huddled in the room.

And then the video just faded away.

“No, no!” I shouted and smacked the table with my fingers. “We didn’t find anyone?—”

“There had to be thirty, if not more, women who touched you in that short time, my dude.” Ria shook her head. “I didn’t see a mark on any girl but it was cold out so they may have been wearing a sweater.”

“She was there.” Mateo sighed. “Somewhere between our castle and Main Street I met her. And yet I am still no closer to figuring it out.”

“I filmed it, so you can watch it religiously if you’d like.” I cleared my throat and glanced at my mark-less arm. It could have been me. I’d been standing right there. Yet fate chose someone else. For some reason this had me in a chokehold. It wasn’t me, I knew it couldn’t possibly be me . . . but that just crushed my soul into tinier pieces.

“Thank you, Ria and ma. I appreciate your help.”

Her mother shrugged. “You’re very welcome. Now set her on blind date with your lesbian sisters.”

“MA!” Ria groaned and dragged her mother off the screen, then Ria reappeared. “She’s something tonight. You good? Get what you needed?”

“I’m not sure. But I think so.” Mateo looked to me. “Did we get it all?”

I nodded. We got visual proof of fate deciding I wasn’t worthy of him. And that broke something In my heart that was so, so much worse than just a little crush.

“Thanks, Ria,” Mateo said softly.

She waved and then the line went dead and we were alone again.

“The video . . . uh . . . I’ve sent it to both of us.” I pulled my hair back and tied it behind my head as a wild heat flash rolled through my body. “In case you want to re-watch and check for faces we missed.”

“I’ll do that.” He cleared his throat then scrubbed his face with his hands. “This is why I don’t get my hopes up, but dammit, I think I did more than I realized.”

I nodded. “Well, we see Peggy tomorrow so that maybe will go better?”

“Maybe. I hope.” He turned to look at me with a strange expression in his eyes. “C’mon, let me drive you home so I know you got there safely?”

“Thanks, Mateo.” I smiled and felt my face warm. And I’m sorry that didn’t find her for you.”

His smile faltered. “It’s okay. I’ll find her, I know I will. I must.”