Free Salvaged Soul (The Ignited Series Book 3) by Desni Dantone

mission?”
    “I don’t know. It’s top secret. They won’t tell us until we meet at our rendezvous location.”
    I scoffed. “What’s the point of that?”
    “To ensure that no lovesick sap tells his girlfriend everything before he leaves.” He looked at me pointedly before releasing me and turning to his closet.
    I watched as he tossed an assortment of clothes on the bed. As he dashed into the bathroom to grab the necessary toiletries, I picked up a shirt and started to fold it for him. If anything, to keep my mind off of the obvious.
    They didn’t even know what they were going to be doing? Top secret? To me, that meant dangerous . . . life-threatening dangerous. My worst nightmare was unfolding right in front of me, and I was powerless to stop it.
    It took me a moment to notice Nathan crouched in front of me, holding the shirt I had intended to fold. His eyes were lined with worry. For me. Always for me.
    “Kris? Are you okay?”
    I snapped out of my daze, and shook my head in a moment of absolute honesty.
    He cupped my face in his hands, forcing my eyes to meet his as he offered me a reassuring smile. “Everything is going to be alright. I’ll be back before you know it.”
    I huffed. “I’d rather you not leave in the first place. Why did they have to pick you?”
    He shrugged. “Everybody who is going has a lot of experience. I’m one of the most experienced guys that they have.”
    Nathan stood, rolled the shirt up hastily and tossed it into the large duffel bag laid open on the bed. Apparently, he didn’t concern himself with wrinkles. The rest of his clothes quickly followed until the bag was stuffed and zipped shut.
    He looked at me triumphantly. Packing had taken all of five minutes. Only Nathan could pull that off, and still look incredible in whatever he took with him. Wrinkles and all.
    “Now it’s you and me time,” he said.
    The moment I had been waiting for. No sooner than I stood with a smile on my face, a knock at the door wiped it off.
    Now what?
    Nathan hesitated as if debating whether or not to answer it. Ultimately, he decided to risk it. I heard his heavy sigh when he saw the wide-eyed errand boy standing in the hallway.
    “What does he want now?” Nathan demanded harshly.
    “Jared wants to see you in his office.”
    “Again?”
    The boy shrugged, glancing at me. For help? Perhaps for me to remind Nathan of the golden rule to not shoot the messenger? He wouldn’t get any help from me. He was lucky I hadn’t already tackled him to the floor.
    “He wanted to make sure I enforced you to come.” The kid visibly gulped, and I knew he was wondering how in the hell he would manage to force Nathan to do anything.
    I started to feel a little bad for him.
    “Fine,” Nathan gritted out, waving a hand at the boy as if to dismiss him. “I’ll be there in a minute.”
    The boy scampered away, and Nathan shut the door. He turned to me, a silent apology written all over his face.
    I forced a small smile. “Go get it over with.”
    Nathan nodded solemnly as he closed the distance between us. He took my face in his hands, stilling me for a quick kiss. “I won’t let this take long,” he promised. “Meet me at the rocks in thirty minutes?”
    I put on the bravest face I could muster. That would leave us with a little less than an hour. Not nearly enough time as far as I was concerned but, at this point, I would take what I could get.
    Fear that it might be the last little bit we ever got gnawed at my gut.
     
     
     
    One good thing came from separating from Nathan for a few minutes. Back in my room with nothing else to do, I enchanted a stone with a protection spell that I found in the big spell book. It was nothing more than a cheap souvenir shop stone set in a golden chain necklace, but that didn’t matter. It would hold a spell.
    I just hoped it worked. Though my abilities were getting better—some days anyway—my spell casting was inconsistent. It seemed to depend on my mood,