“Whatever you need to know to protect a friend.” She turned to look into his eyes. The turquoise color took away her breath. Her mind became a blank slate. “I—I, ah,” She stammered, realizing how close he was to her. “I would do the same for you.” Seth raised his brow. Realizing what she said, all her thoughts rushed back into her brain, stumbling over each other. “I mean, if you ever swallow anything . . . ah . . . I would do anything . . . to, ah . . . I would do anything for—”
Seth snorted a short laugh. “Don’t dig yourself in too deep, Natara. You might not see the surface again.”
Natti blushed, her heart raced, and her stomach knotted up with butterflies. His gaze focused on her for a moment; his eyes full of want as they drifted to her lips. To her disappointment, he drew away, turning his attention back to the water bottle clutched in his hand.
“Why would anyone want to do this to her?” Seth asked.
Still a bit dizzy, Natti focused on Wanda’s current situation. “That’s just it. She wasn’t the target. She must have accidently grabbed the wrong bottle.” She sat up and wrapped her jacket over Wanda’s shoulders. Wanda heaved again.
“How do you know that?”
Natti jerked her chin toward the bottle in his hand. “Because that’s my water bottle.”
For a second time, she was meant to be the victim. She knew she was being paranoid, yet a part of her wondered if it had to do with the secret of the locket. It seemed that ever since she found it, one thing after another happened. First Ashley’s death and Mandy’s disappearance, then the men chasing after her from the Haunted Pyramid, and now this! She knew they could all have been random acts—hell, it could have easily been Q or Ky who drugged her water bottle—but she couldn’t know that for sure. She was beginning to feel like she had been cursed.
Seth glanced at the bottle again, rotating it until her name came into view. He fell silent. Natti glanced at Wanda panting over the bowl. She retrieved her cell phone and flipped it open. The sound must have drawn Seth from his thoughts because the next thing Natti knew she had her phone snatched from her hand.
“What are you doing?” Seth snapped.
“Calling nine-one-one!”
“Are you kidding? You’re calling the cops!”
Oh, here we go . . . “An ambulance! She needs to get to a hospital!”
“If you tell the operator what happened, they’ll send the police for sure!”
She raised a brow, not understanding the problem. “So!”
“Trust me, Natti! The last thing you want is the local cops knocking at the door!”
Natti shook her head in disbelief. “If this is about your friend’s party, frankly, I don’t give a damn! She needs medical attention!”
“It’s not the party that concerns me!”
Natti was taken aback. Remembering how he was against telling anyone about what happened at the festival, she began to suspect he knew something she didn’t. “Then what is it? What are you scared of?”
Seth looked into Natti’s eyes, pleading. “If they come, they will open an investigation—”
“So you’re trying to protect the bastards who did this?” Natti shrieked.
Seth’s face turned red, and his anger heated every word he spoke next. “Hell no! What they did! What they were going to do to you! They’re bastards!” He took a deep breath. “But if the cops investigate, it will only make things worse. Especially for you.” He ran his fingers through his copper hair. “Just let me handle this.”
“Seth—”
Seth laid a hand on Natti’s wrist, and that comforting sensation she felt at the festival drowned her concerns and sparked butterflies in her stomach. She looked into his eyes, several questions running through her head all at once. She didn’t know where to start.
“This will be resolved, Natti,” Seth told her. “I promise.”
It took all of Natti’s strength to stay focused. She had to be here, consciously in the present, to help Wanda. Not lose herself in Seth’s touch. “It doesn’t change the fact that she still needs a hospital,” she hissed.
Seth stroked her cheek. “And we’ll get her there. We’re just going to do it my way.”
“Your way?” Natti groused. “And what exactly might that be?”
“I’ll drive.” Seth handed her the bottle and phone. He then stepped over, leaned Wanda back into his arms, and scooped her up. Natti felt a small pang of jealousy pull at her heart. She suddenly wished she was in Wanda’s place, wrapped in Seth’s arms. Pushing the feeling aside, she stood up, rushed to the door, and unlocked it.
“Stay close,” Seth told her as she held the door open. “I don’t want to lose you in this crowd.”
Seth carried Wanda into the wave of bodies. Natti rested her hand on his back just so she wouldn’t lose him and followed closely. Seth glanced over his shoulder, a sly smile pulling at his lips. Natti’s hand twitched, ready to fall away, but she didn’t want to withdraw. She was enjoying the feel of his muscles gently moving under her palm.