Completely Smitten by Kristine Grayson Page B

straight gray hair made her way to the side of the plane. She slid a tiny stepladder to the door and then pulled it open.
    “You Ariel?” she asked.
    Ariel nodded.
    The woman held out her hand. “Evelyn. I got a car waiting. Let’s get you to the hospital.”
    Ariel tried to protest, but it had no effect. Within minutes, she’d been bundled out of the plane and into the tiniest car she’d ever seen.
    She managed to say goodbye to Duke and to thank him, but in the confusion, she wasn’t able to ask him any more questions. And she wanted to know why he thought this Andrew Vari was paying for her plane flight, not Darius.
    She wanted a lot of answers, and she hadn’t gotten them. In fact, the flight left her with more questions than she’d had before.
    Darius couldn’t take the silence anymore. One night without her—after only one night with her—and he was going out of his mind, questioning his decisions, worrying that he had made the wrong choice.
    Being alone in the wilderness had lost its appeal. He needed some reassurance, but he wasn’t going to get it here.
    Not that he had anyone to confide in. All these years, all this time, and he hadn’t talked to anyone about his sentence, his predicament. No one at all.
    In the middle of the night, he had thought he might just see the Fates, challenge them, find out why they had sent Cupid to him, why they were still testing him, but in the clear light of morning, he decided that was a bad idea. What if he angered them all over again? Then they might add extra time on to his sentence. He couldn’t have that.
    He thought of going to see Cupid, to find out what the little bugger had done this time. That idea seemed even better than visiting the Fates—until he really examined it. What if Cupid had done nothing, had really come to see an old friend just as he had said? Or what if he had just come to mess with Dar’s mind?
    If Darius visited him, then Cupid would know he had won.
    Visiting Cupid would have to be his last resort.
    But by morning, Darius was pacing. He had to do something. He couldn’t stay here, alone with his thoughts, his worries. If he remained here much longer, he would probably lose control. He’d go to the hospital and see if he could find out what happened to Ariel. And then all his resolve would be for nothing.
    He took a long walk and whistled all the music he could remember from Camelot , but even that shameful episode in his past wasn’t helping his resolve.
    No. He had to do something else—and quickly.
    After a moment’s consideration, he finally had a good idea. He had to remind himself what he was working for. Besides himself, of course. If he were only thinking of himself, he would go see Ariel. He would have no choice.
    Instead, he snapped his fingers and found himself sitting on a concrete bench on a university campus. Behind him was a square Greek revival building, across the street was some odd concoction of styles, all of which meshed into what was obviously a student union, and across from him was a concrete library that looked like it doubled as a bomb shelter.

The air was hot and humid, and sweat trickled down his back. Not too far from him, children played in a shallow fountain. Students, wearing as little as possible, lay on the grass, reading books and talking softly to each other.
    Darius frowned. He’d wanted to see the last couple he’d united—Michael and Emma Found—but he’d thought he was going to their home. His magic had to be malfunctioning. He didn’t see them anywhere.
    Then he heard Emma’s laugh, loud and feminine at the same time. She was standing a few yards from him, her long black hair wrapped around the top of her head. She wore a sundress that revealed most of her back, and she was barefoot. Around her wrist, she’d wrapped a leash.
    Darius followed its length and saw a fat and sassy black cat at the end of it, studiously eating a piece of grass.
    Michael Found stood beside Emma. He was dressed