Chased By the Crows’ Call (Red Brick Road #1)

Prologue

NINETY-NINE YEARS AGO…

Placing both pinky fingers in my mouth, I sharply whistled across the expanse of corn stalks. Rows of the grain stretched out all around me as far as the eye could see.

The high-pitched tone pierced the air, disturbing a few birds enough to prompt them into startled flight across the late afternoon sky.

Rays of the sun beat down on me, unforgiving and inescapable in the wide, open space.

I removed my brimmed cap and wiped the sweat from my forehead with my tanned forearm.

The cuff of my sleeve, rolled up to my elbow, was already soaked from the same action that had been repeated several times since the morning.

Quickly, I raked my fingers through my damp locks of golden hair, then shoved my cap back on.

After giving Corbin a few minutes to respond to my call, I grumbled to myself about his piss-poor timekeeping skills.

“I’m out here sweating my balls off, and he’s probably rolling around in the straw with Mrs. Miller’s granddaughter.”

I stopped and gave several more sharply impatient whistles.

Waited.

No response except the light rustling of the corn leaves as a breeze slithered through them.

An aggravated sigh escaped my lips as I turned and looked at the scarecrow tied to the cross frame to my left.

“What are you looking at?” I barked at the pathetic and lifeless decoration.

Also, no response. Go fucking figure.

I smacked a crisp corn leaf away from my arm as I continued heading to the edge of the field. If Corbin blew me off for a pair of pretty eyes, I might just strangle him for real this time.

It wasn’t like our tiny hometown of Falston was overflowing with occupants.

Everybody knew everybody here, and that was the way we liked it.

Living in such a rural area, we relied on one another to lend a helping hand where needed.

Hell, the baker’s wife seemed to know when someone ran out of sugar before they did.

Emerging from the last row, I scanned the town’s central courtyard. Our first annual fall festival kicked off that night, and the setup had already begun.

“Good day, Bale!” The cordial voice of the mayor greeted me from the other end of the courtyard.

Placing my fingers to the brim of my cap, I tipped my head in greeting to him. “Afternoon, Mayor Polk!” I called back.

Approaching each other, we met in the middle of the courtyard. He clasped a hand on my shoulder with an oversized smile. “What do you think of the festival setup so far?” He gestured to all the volunteers bringing in crates of produce, flowers, and signage.

Politely, I smiled and nodded. “Looks like it will be a fine start to a tradition. Listen, you haven’t seen Corbin around anywhere, have you?”

Giving my shoulder a firm pat before releasing it, his fingers stroked his patchy beard beginning to show his age with the incoming flecks of silver.

“Hmm, I don’t believe I have. But if I do, I will be sure to let him know you’re looking for him.”

“I would appreciate that very much, Mr. Mayor. Thank you.” I flashed a charming grin.

Useless bastard.

He could tell you where his mistress was at any hour of the day, like he had some sort of dick-driven radar. But when it came to anybody else? Not a damn clue.

Approaching the primary street that ran through town, where all our shops were lined up, I grew more annoyed with Corbin’s absence. It was the last time I let him bum a smoke off me if he was going to ditch me on a day like today.

We always got together on November fourth, the day we had met as kids and decided we’d be best friends for life. Well, it was decided after we had tried to pummel each other with apples plucked from his family’s apple trees.

His Grammy had given us both a stern talking to when she saw all the wasted fruit across the lawn.

My ear still ached thinking about the way she had tugged on it and threatened to knock me into last century.

But not before feeding me some homemade pie and telling me, “I won’t have you meeting your maker on an empty stomach, now sit down and make sure you clean off that plate. ”

Needless to say, pie fixed everything.

Speaking of pie, my nostrils twitched at the scent of freshly baked pastries wafting from across the street.

I jogged across the empty road, and as I reached out to pull open the door to the bake shop, Corbin’s heavy footsteps sounded off at a fast clip as he ran down the sidewalk.

“Bale! Bale!” he yelled with urgency as he skidded to a stop next to me.

His hand grabbed my bicep hard enough to turn me to face him, dragging me a few feet away from the bakery.

“Corb, what the hell? Where have you b—”

“Shut up! We’ve got to go. Right now.” His hand shook my arm roughly to emphasize the urgency. “I’ll explain on the way.”

“Okay, relax. Let’s go,” I agreed as I kept pace with him back down from where he had come.

Corbin’s head was on a swivel, eyes twitching this way and that. I had never seen him so freaked out before, making me question what trouble he had gotten himself into. His overgrown black strands of hair hung out of place in front of his eyes.

After rounding the corner, away from prying eyes, he seemed to breathe a little lighter but didn’t stop moving.

“It’s the Town Council,” he said as though it explained everything.

Noticing my raised brow, he further explained.

“They’re planning something big for the fall festival tonight. I overheard it while I was with Maribelle.”

I scoffed in disbelief. “Maribelle? The girl with the lazy eye?”

“Not important, Bale!” he scolded. “Fuck—focus. Whatever they’ve planned isn’t good. The entire Council was talking about sigils and witchy, demonic stuff. Blood oaths, herbs, words that don’t even make sense.”

My hands grabbed the sides of his face and stared him in the eyes. “Tell me the truth, Corbin. Did you get into that bad batch of cider again?”

“I’m serious, Bale!” he growled as he shoved my hands away.

Raising both my hands in front of me harmlessly, I took a deep breath. “Alright. Just calm down, we’ll figure it out together.”

As fate would have it, at that exact moment, Falston’s sheriff stepped up onto the walkway with us. He wasn’t alone either. Joining him was the rest of the Council.

“Gentlemen, apologies for the interruption, but we have some business to discuss with you both.”

I opted to begin with diplomacy. “Sheriff, good afternoon. I’m afraid Corbin and I have some business of our own. Perhaps after tonight’s opening ceremony?”

“Devil worshippers!” Clearly, Corbin took the less polished approach as he jabbed a finger in their direction accusingly.

None of the Council members blinked an eye. Instead, one of them stepped forward with a toothy grin. “No need to be so hostile, Corbin. We mean no harm. I think if you give us the chance to explain, you will find we have quite the proposition for both of you.”

Before my best friend could dig us a hole deeper than the Grand Canyon, I lifted a hand to him to stem off any protest.

“What type of proposition?” I asked partly out of curiosity and partly to buy us some spare time to determine our next move.

Looking all too smug, the Councilman reached into his suit jacket and pulled out a small brass pendant suspended on a chain.

“This right here,” he started, “is the solution to Falston’s biggest problems.”

It looked like cheap jewelry to me.

“How do you figure?” I glanced at Corbin, then back at the man. “Because it looks like snake oil from a salesman.”

The laughter from all five members of the Town Council echoed more darkly than made me comfortable. Like they all got the joke, and it was at Corbin’s and my expense.

While the group of them found the situation entertaining, Corbin leaned in and whispered into my ear, “We need to get out of here. I don’t like this.”

I couldn’t have agreed more.

Still holding his ribs from vigorous laughter, the Councilman holding the necklace stepped forward and tossed it at me.

Reflexively, I caught the item in both my hands. At first contact, everything in my body went stiff. My bones felt brittle, my blood ran dry, and everything went oddly hollow.

Next thing I knew, I doubled over in the worst pain I had ever experienced in my life. That damn pendant seared itself into my palm, leaving me unable to shake it off.

At some point, I ended up writhing on the ground. That’s when I heard the shot of a gun being discharged.

Grunting, I attempted to move to assess the situation through the red haze of agony. I never had a chance. Corbin dropped to his knees next to me, his hands clutching his midsection. Crimson blood spilled through his fingers from a fresh bullet wound.

Black crept in at the edges of my vision and my soul. No, this couldn’t be happening to Corbin and me.

Our eyes met, our fates sealed. Unspoken between us was the acknowledgment that whatever awaited us, at least we had each other.

Right before consciousness failed me, I heard a quiet chant from one of the Council members.

“Stramen et plumae. Tenebrae vos ambos decent.”

Straw and feathers. Darkness suits you both.