Total pages in book: 76
Estimated words: 71312 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 357(@200wpm)___ 285(@250wpm)___ 238(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 71312 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 357(@200wpm)___ 285(@250wpm)___ 238(@300wpm)
And now I’m crying again. Knowing Allison moved on was a lot, but knowing how much this impacted the families…I really do think this is my calling in the supernatural world.
“What the hell happened, and why didn’t you call me sooner?”
“It’s been a really hectic and crazy week.” I sniffle and sit on the couch, telling Laney everything, starting with Ethan getting falsely accused of murder to everything going on with Stuart.
“That’s fucking insane, Anora. Like talk about the right place, right time, right person.”
“Yeah,” I agree, knowing I have a bad habit of downplaying compliments. “Too bad I didn’t walk in there when I was a baby.” I make a face at my own words. “A lot of lives could have been saved.”
“I’m just in fucking awe, Annie. And you’re hoping to go dig up a grave tonight?”
“Yep. Between you and me, I’m more hoping to watch Ethan take his shirt off and then dig up the grave, but we have to move fast before we’re seen. Getting out of two possible arrests within a week is like tempting fate.”
Laney laughs. “Yeah. And getting caught red-handed is gonna be hard to talk your way out of.”
“For sure. Luckily Ethan has done this before. They make it look easy in movies, but graves are deep down. I planted one tree last fall and thought I was going to die digging a two and half foot hole.”
“Can’t you use magic to dig up the body?”
“I’m sure there’s some sort of spell for it, but I don’t know it…though you did just give me another idea. And we might not have to wait for the cover of darkness to pull it off. Can I call you back later?”
“Yeah. I’m working today so if I don’t answer, that’s why. Miss you.”
“I miss you too. I promised my parents I’d come visit this summer, so I’ll have to bug you then.”
“You better. I’ll get my guest room ready and everything. Bye, Anora. Love you.”
“Love you too, Laney.”
Dropping my phone onto the couch, I pad back into the kitchen, finding Ethan at the sink washing dishes. My god, it’s a beautiful sight.
“Laney said something that gave me an idea,” I start.
“Yeah?”
“It’s kind of long the lines of work smarter not harder when it comes to burning the body.”
“I’m listening.”
“Okay, so this—” I conjure a ball of fire in my hand. “—doesn’t need fuel like a normal fire. What if instead of digging up the entire casket, we make like a tunnel or something, bust through the wood, and I like shove the fire in? There will be oxygen so what’s inside should burn, right?”
Ethan sets the sponge down and looks at me thoughtfully. “If we were trying to use normal fire, no, it wouldn’t work. The fire could choke itself out. But magical fire…it seems possible. It would definitely save us some time and trouble.” He tips his head a little to the side as he thinks. “There’s a spell to cast a circle of silence in your book.”
I nod. “There is.”
“And we have a post-hole digger in the barn. If we make two tunnels—a chimney, so to speak—smoke can come out one end the fire in the other.” He raises his eyebrows and shrugs. “I say it’s worth the try. I’ll check in with Jules and see if she’s made any progress.”
“What about now?” Rene asks, holding the phone up to her ear as she waves her other hand widely in the air.
“You’re good.” Keith gives a thumbs up and carefully puts a piece of black fabric over the bird cam. I wave for Ethan to join us at the grave and he jogs over, effortlessly carrying the tools we need.
“Everyone ready?” I ask, knowing we have to act fast. We’re in the middle of the graveyard, not easily visible from the street, but it’s dark and the light from the fire will be really easy to see.
“Ready.” Rene pockets her phone, picks up a canister of salt and moves down two graves. Keith does the same and Ethan I stand right over Stuart’s grave. Closing my eyes, I visualize a large circle of white light surrounding us. Ethan holds a piece of paper in front of me, using his phone as light so I can read the spell.
“Silentium nos circumdabit. Nullus sonus hunc circulum relinquet,” I chant and feel the slight buzz of magic in the air. “Did it work?” I ask Rene. She puts her hand to her ear, letting me know she can’t hear me. “Cool,” I whisper and then Ethan and I get right to work, removing the top layer of grass so it doesn’t get burned. Then he fires up the electronic post hole digger and I wince, waiting for Rene or Keith to react to it.
They don’t.
We start on the first tunnel, needing to stop and move the dirt a few times, widening the top of the hole so the digger can go all the way down to the casket. My heart is in my throat, and I look from Ethan to Rene and back again. She has Julia on speaker phone and she’ll let us know if there’s a problem with the loop. We won’t be seen, but a die-hard bird watcher might be concerned enough to come check out what happened.