The door was still swinging shut behind me when my gran pulled me close, hugging me as tight as she could. “Oh, Celie, thank God! When I saw it was a woman judge I was so scared! But my prayers were answered. It turned out all right.” She squeezed me tight enough to cut off my breath. For such a tiny woman, she’s strong, in every way. My eyes stung, but I promised myself I wouldn’t cry. I held her close.
“They caught the shooter from the Will reading,” Gran said.
My eyes widened. “No! Who was it?”
“They don’t know yet, but he’s in custody and they’re bringing in mages to interrogate him.”
It was great news. Warren and Emma both hugged me, then Warren excused himself explaining that he’d promised to let Kevin know how things turned out. Since no cell phone use was allowed in the courthouse, Warren wanted to immediately head outside and call his son.
It would have been nice if Kevin had come to the hearing, but I understood why he couldn’t.
I half-listened as Em and Gran started talking about taking me to dinner. I was looking for Bruno. He was here. I knew it—I could sense his magic. It slid over my skin like liquid silk, making all the little hairs stand up.
But where was he? Turning slowly, I began searching in earnest, finally finding him standing next to his brother Matteo, the priest. I smiled at them and started to hurry over, my steps faltering when I saw the expressions on their faces.
Matty came forward first. He pulled me into a fierce hug. I barely had time to hear his whispered, “I’m sorry, Celia. I really am,” before he let me go and strode toward the exit at a speed that was just short of a run.
“Matty?” I looked after him for an instant, then turned to Bruno, who had sat down on a bench in a shadowed alcove not too far away. He didn’t look up, just sat there, head in his hands. “Bruno . . . what’s wrong? We won.”
I stopped about eighteen inches away, afraid to come closer. Why didn’t he say anything? Why wasn’t he looking at me?
He looked up just then and my heart fell to my feet. His expression was so lost, pain etched deep in his features.
“What’s wrong?” I came closer but didn’t touch him, knowing somehow that I shouldn’t.
There were voices behind me. The others were coming. I could hear them.
Bruno gently took my hand and led me into a small meeting room usually used by attorneys to meet with their clients. He pulled a ceramic disk the size of a quarter out of a pant pocket. Setting it on the floor at the doorway, he muttered a soft incantation under his breath. A wave of blue-white light spread out in a perfect circle with us at the center. I could feel the power of it like pressure in the air and I found myself working my jaw, trying to get my ears to pop. All of the ambient noise in the hall was just gone, as if I’d stepped into a soundproof booth.
Maybe I had.
“Bruno?”
He still wouldn’t meet my eyes. Instead he sank into a chair and gestured for me to sit opposite from him.
My throat was tight. I barely dared to breathe. I sat.
“I love you, Celie. I always have. I always will.” His voice cracked. Tears filled my eyes and the world grew blurry.
“You’re everything to me. You always have been . . . since the day we met.” He meant it. I could feel the intensity of it.
He looked at me then. There were tears rolling down his cheeks. Big, tough Jersey Italians aren’t supposed to cry, but he was crying and his voice was a hoarse croak.
“I went back to Jersey, to tell Irene it was over, that I was taking a new job and moving to L.A. to be with you.”
I couldn’t speak. I hadn’t known there was someone else, that he’d had to make a choice between me and anyone. My chest was heaving as if I couldn’t get enough air, my heart pounding as though it would explode. No. Not explode. Break. My heart was breaking. He’d never mentioned another woman. You’d think she would have come up in conversation.
“She’s pregnant.”
I didn’t hear much after that. He kept talking, explaining. He loved me. But he’d grown up without a dad. He couldn’t do that to a child of his. He had to be there. And it wasn’t fair to her to have to raise a kid alone. From the first sentence, it was a foregone conclusion. It was over. He was leaving me. The reason why didn’t really matter.
I couldn’t believe it. Couldn’t bear it.
We sat there, crying and not touching, for long minutes. Eventually he stood. “I’m sorry. The shield will stay in place as long as you want it to. You can leave whenever you’re ready.” His voice was hollow, as if crying had emptied him of everything. He walked away. I didn’t watch him go. I was too angry, too hurt. I sat there alone for a long time and cried tears that were tinged red.
I didn’t want to face anyone. I wanted to be alone. But Gran was out there and Emma. They were probably worried. And hiding wouldn’t change anything. He was gone. Again. It felt like my soul had been ripped from my body, but life went on. I needed to face that, sooner rather than later. But right now, oh, God, it hurt.
I felt the magic of the shield disintegrate as I stepped across the barrier and found Emma standing outside the room, waiting.
“Your gran saw you go off with Bruno, so she figured it was okay to go tell your mom the good news. I ran into Bruno’s brother outside. He told me what happened. So I came back to wait for you.”
She stared at me in silence for a long moment, taking in the pile of used tissues I was stuffing back in my purse. Though I’d cried myself out, my nose wasn’t chapped. Nor were my eyes red. Vampire metabolism strikes again. So other than the fact that most of my makeup was gone, I probably didn’t look too bad. Emma asked, “Are you all right?”
I gave her the look that question deserved, then shook my head with a shrug.
“All right. Stupid question.” She sat together on the same little bench Bruno had sat on just minutes earlier. “Breaking up sucks, and I’m sorry.” She took a deep breath. “I know we’ve never been as close as you were with Vicki and are with Dawna—”
I started to say something, but she cut me off with a gesture. “It’s all right, Celia. I’m pretty sure it was the siren thing.”
“Was?”
She rolled her eyes, knowing that I was trying to change the subject. I was. But I was also curious. So she indulged me and explained, “I don’t want kids. I had a voluntary tubal last week. No longer fertile. No more siren problem.”
“Oh.” I wasn’t sure what to say. “Um . . . congratulations?” I wanted to ask why she hadn’t told me, but the answers seemed obvious—I was stuck at Birchwoods, prepping for my hearing, and, oh yes, the “siren problem.”
She gave a weak chuckle. “Whatever. We can talk about everything over dinner. You’ve been here quite a while and you’ve got to eat something soon, before your hunger gets out of hand.”
I had never felt less hungry in my life. But wandering the streets filled with bloodlust wasn’t appealing, either. The cops would be watching me. I absolutely believed that. I might feel like hell, but I was free. It would be a shame to get locked up again the same day.
I stood. Taking a deep, shuddering breath, I struggled to pull myself together. “Right, food. Preferably something quick.”
“New China’s only a couple of blocks from here. They’ve got a buffet. You can probably handle egg drop soup.”
“Do they have a bar?” My voice sounded as lifeless as I felt. I’m not a big fan of Chinese food, but I probably wouldn’t taste it anyway.
“I think so.”
“Good. I need a drink. Maybe several.”
“Celia—” She started to say something but stopped, thinking better of it after seeing my expression. “Never mind. Let’s get some food before things get ugly.”