Total pages in book: 69
Estimated words: 68024 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 340(@200wpm)___ 272(@250wpm)___ 227(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 68024 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 340(@200wpm)___ 272(@250wpm)___ 227(@300wpm)
“What happens to Hallows End and all the people there?” Lucy asks.
“They’re gone,” I say before Xander can. His sober, dark eyes tell me I’m right. “Wiped off the Earth as if they never were.”
“Yes,” Xander agrees.
“Absolutely fucking not.” Lucy stands to pace.
“Hey, don’t worry,” Lorelei says and takes Lucy’s hand in hers. “It’s been three hundred and thirty years. Right, Jonas?”
“Almost thirty-one,” I reply. “Come Samhain.”
“That leaves us with two whole years to get this right,” Lorelei insists. “We have plenty of time.”
I can’t help but laugh. When all eyes turn to me, I take a breath and shrug. “You have no idea how quickly time passes.”
“But time doesn’t really exist,” Giles adds. “It’s something we use here in this realm, but it doesn’t exist, so it shouldn’t factor in.”
“I like that philosophy, but the truth is, we do use time in this realm, and it absolutely does factor in here,” Xander replies. “And I agree with Jonas, time goes fast. Two years sounds like a long time, but it’ll move quicker than we want it to.”
“Great,” Breena mutters. “So, not only do we have to catch a killer, but we also have a deadline on lifting the curse. No pressure or anything.”
“I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again. If you don’t want to—or can’t—help me, I understand.”
“Oh, no,” Breena says and stands to reach out to me, taking my hand. “That’s not at all what I meant. We will help. It’s just frightening. And, honestly, intimidating. But it’s going to happen, Jonas. You’re our family now.”
“You are perhaps the kindest soul I’ve ever met, Breena.”
Her cheeks flush from the compliment, and then she returns to her computer.
“I have a woman I can reach out to in Louisiana.” Lucy pulls at her bottom lip. “She’s possibly the most powerful being I’ve met, and she’s just wonderful. I’ll call her first thing in the morning.”
“Miss Sophia?” Xander asks quietly.
“Yes.”
“Good thinking. Giles, were you able to get that tiger’s eye sphere we spoke about last night at your shop?”
“Yes,” Giles replies, fishing around in his satchel for the crystal. “I knew that a friend of mine in Boston would have it. So, after we spoke, I called him and then drove over to pick it up.”
“Excellent, thank you.”
“After you came to Breena’s?” Lucy asks, and Giles frowns at her.
“I wasn’t at Breena’s last night.”
Now, both Breena and Lucy scowl at the man.
“You knocked right on my door, Giles,” Breena says, addressing him for the first time. “Right after you tried to call me.”
“I did try to call,” he admits. “Because you won’t freaking talk to me, and it’s damn frustrating. But I can assure you, I was nowhere near your house. I had to go into Boston, and traffic into the city is always a bitch.”
Lucy and Breena share a look that’s full of confusion.
“What happened?” Xander demands.
“We were in my house,” Breena begins, “talking and such, and my phone rang. I dismissed Giles’s call, but then there was a knock on the door. It was Giles. It didn’t really surprise me because I’ve been dodging him for a few days.”
“We are going to talk,” Giles assures her, but she ignores him, and Lucy picks up the story.
“Breena wouldn’t invite him in. Oh, my goddess, Breen. You refused to welcome him in, and he even mentioned it.”
“What did he say?” Xander asks.
“’You won’t invite me in?’ That’s what he said. And Breena said no and told him to go. Thank the goddess you didn’t invite him—or it—in.”
“What was it, if it wasn’t Giles?” Breena demands. “I know what Giles looks like. I’ve had a crush on him for my entire adult life, remember?”
“For fuck’s sake,” Giles murmurs under his breath.
“This isn’t the first time one of you has had contact with this,” I say. “Lucy, you saw the dog in the night when you were walking with Nera.”
“That was no dog,” she counters. “It had human eyes.”
“It can’t be a skinwalker.” Xander scrubs his hand through his dark hair. “It just can’t be.”
“What in the ever-loving hell is a skinwalker?” Giles demands.
“I don’t think we want to know,” Lorelei says. “It sounds creepy as hell.”
“Oh, it’s worse than that,” I reply.
Chapter Twelve
Lucy
“It literally cannot be,” Xander insists, and Jonas shakes his head.
“Why?” I ask. “Why can’t it be?”
“Because based on everything I’ve ever read or have been told, skinwalkers are a Navajo legend. They’re witches who can take the form of an animal, not a person, and they’re creepy as fuck. They don’t just take the shape of the dog or animal. They’re not a typical shifter. They’re malevolent, and they look as such.”
“That red dog I saw looked pretty damn malevolent,” I mutter and reach down to pet Nera, who hasn’t left my side all day. “And I think it’s safe to say that I can now consider myself an expert on such things.”