Two Hearts: The Hunt [Slowly Editing]

Chapter Thirty-Three

Caleb's POV

"Shit," I cussed beneath my breath the moment the sound of my cell phone ringing occupied the silence of the truck.

I felt Cat's green eyes on me as I dug my hand into my jeans pocket and took my phone out while simultaneously thinking of what brilliant excuse I could give Esme over what happened to Cat and I last night. It wasn't like Cat could compel her to believe us if we lied; Esme had a spell on her that granted her immunity to the influence of Cat's compellations.

She had called Cat and I at least fifteen times the night before.

"Hello?" I spoke into the device, one hand on the wheel.

"So the wolf boy finally answers the phone!" a familiar voice replied.

"Nathan?" I asked, a tinge of surprise in my words.

"A.K.A. the dude who you were supposed to give a ride to yesterday," he said; his tone was light with a hint of reproach.

"Crap." I winced, the movement making my head throb thanks to my hangover. "Sorry, man. I got caught up with things and I completely forgot."

"I called you six times before I gave up and Esme hopped on her broomstick and flew me home."

I laughed distractedly as Cat snapped her fingers in from of my face to try and get my attention. I grimaced and looked at her.

She mouthed out a string of words by emphasizing them with slow movements, being sure to get her lips to form them in a manner that would make them decipherable despite the lacking presence of sound. My keen eyes had no problem understanding her.

Don't tell Nathan about last night

"I wasn't planning to," I whispered back.

"Caleb?" Nathan questioned. "You still there?"

"Yeah," I replied quickly. "Sorry- yeah, I'm here. So who did you say took you home?"

"I hitched a ride with David who was heading home after practice. We live near each other," he explained. "I lied to him and told him Esme and I were partners for Ms. Patmore's big Psychology project and I had to miss practice. He didn't suspect much. And dude-I have to tell you about all the shit that went down with the spirits yesterday at Esme's. It was crazy. But I'll save that for when I see you in person. You didn't answer my question, by the way."

"What?" I made a sharp right turn at a stop sign when Cat slapped my arm.

I glared at her. What? I repeated, mouthing it out.

You were supposed to make a left, not a right, she mouthed back.

"Where were you last night? You had Esme worried sick since neither of you were answering your phones," Nathan said as I made a disgruntled U-turn.

"We did another competition and got stupidly drunk," I replied. "But I won."

I saw a movement on my peripheral vision and instantly recognized it as another attempt to strike. I lifted my own hand and caught Cat's before she could slap my arm again.

Stop that, I mouthed harshly.

"You weren't supposed to tell him!" she whispered angrily, yanking her hand away.

"I didn't tell him the details," I whispered back, annoyed.

"Drunk?" Nathan echoed. "That means you two did it last night, didn't you?"

"No," I said quickly. I ignored the pointed look Cat was giving me from across the bench. "No, we didn't. We-we almost did."

"You say that like it's a bad thing," Nathan reprimanded. "If you didn't get some last night then that means you're clearly doing someone wrong. What's it going to take for you to score, dude?"