Page 74 of Unmarked Magic

A beat of silence.

“The nails,” Colt murmured, like he didn’t want me to hear it.

Fingertips painted as dark as midnight stood out.

Scar.

“Fuck.” Despair hit me hard. “Why would she do this?” My head hung low. She didn’t know the gravity of the situation she had caused.

“I don’t understand,” said Colt, staring at the screen as if it were blank. “This affects both of our businesses. I don’t get it.”

Silence compounded between us. She could have ripped the botanical out, but, instead, she had staged an electrical failure, making it look like the storm was to blame.

But why?

Finally, Colt motioned to the footage again. “Unless she had the same theory I did.”

His words filled the greenhouse. The cool dampness of the space clung to me like the questions that hung in the air.

Zane rose from his seat, nodding toward the door. “Going to leave you guys to it. Got somewhere I need to be.”

Colt shook his hand. “Thanks. Appreciate your help.”

I nodded in silence.

When he was gone, I turned to Colt. “Is there any chance we can salvage the roots of that botanical?”

Devastation filled his features, his lips pressing into a thin line. “I tried. It failed.”

Lacing my hands at the nape of my neck, I stared up at the ceiling. “Fuck!” Dropping my knees on the floor, I gripped the desk, my fingers shaking. I rested my head on my hands. “What the fuck do I do?”

Colt’s silence said enough.

In that moment, it became very clear this was going to happen and there was not a damn thing I could do to stop it. I had to break this to Scar, knowing it would irrevocably break her heart. Gods, we had only just found each other.

How could fate let this happen?

The ache in my heart grew with every second. This would tear her to pieces.

There was only one thing I could do to save her. To keep her from this.

It killed me. But it was all for her. I couldn’t expose her to this, and death was not an option now the fated bond linked us.

If I stayed another second, I would break.

“I need to get to work,” I lied.

Truth was, I just needed space to breathe. To make sense of it all. I needed to feel.

Because I refused to believe every smile had been a lie. She had to have had her reasons.

Swiping my forearm over my brow, I whipped my head back to Colt. A final nod and I turned to the front door.

Scarlet

“Hey. Everything ok?” I stared at Colt, who looked unseasonally pale. Beneath his eyes swept dark lines, and stubble sanded his normally clean-shaven jaw. “You look like shit,” I said. There was no point sugarcoating it.

The tight smile he gave me didn’t reach his eyes. “Thanks. Got a minute?”