Chapter Twenty-Five
‘I wish I had better news but no one knows who she is,’ Wyn said, emerging from the house with his cell phone still in his hand. ‘There’s no record of a Were living or working in Hilton Head. You’re absolutely sure she was a wolf?’
‘I’m absolutely sure,’ I replied, holding myself in a tight ball on the sofa, legs huddled up underneath my chin. ‘No question about it.’
‘Then she’s our lone wolf,’ he said grimly. ‘All but confirmed.’
Her violet eyes had haunted me all afternoon and now it was well into the evening, the sun gone but the skies still overcast, echoing my mood, a darkness I could not shake off.
‘Can’t you find out more about her?’ Lydia suggested, her face flickering in the orange light of the firepit all four of us were crowded around. ‘Go sniff her out or something?’
‘Not before she could sniff me out,’ Wyn replied. ‘Were senses get stronger over time. I only have two moons, we have no idea how experienced she is, and if she sensed there was another Were in town, she’d most likely try to find me out.’
‘And?’
Jackson looked understandably concerned, leaning protectively over the back of his sister’s wooden Adirondak chair. Wyn stuck his phone in the back pocket of his jeans and sat next to me on the sofa, pulling a striped throw blanket over my shivering legs.
‘Best-case scenario, she knows I’m a Were and presents herself.’
‘And the worst?’
His eyes flickered towards me, the line where he ended and I began blurring under the blanket, our palms pressed so tightly together I could feel his heartbeat in his hand.
‘No way a Were wouldn’t be able to scent a witch on me. If she is the lone wolf and she’s already identified Em, she’d be able to connect the two of us.’
‘She’s seen Lydia,’ I said, unable to keep the fear out of my voice when I looked at her.
‘Then she’s got your scent too, which, not to weird anyone out, is almost identical to Jackson’s,’ Wyn added. ‘None of us are safe.’
‘We need to leave.’ I pushed away the blanket but kept Wyn’s hand in mine. ‘We should go back to Bell House right now.’
‘You really think we’re in danger?’
Jackson’s expression was as grave as his tone of voice. When I nodded, he did the same. ‘OK then, we’re gone. Lyds, go pack your bag.’
‘It’s getting late, shouldn’t we wait until morning?’ she asked, an uncharacteristic tremor shaking the ends of her words.
Jackson was firm.
‘If you’d seen what I saw at the DeSoto, you wouldn’t be asking that.’
‘I’ll call Ashley, let her know we’re on our way.
’ I stood, already dreading my aunt’s response when I informed her that we were in fact about to become a B closer or further away, I couldn’t tell anymore, it was only when my hand struck something hard and sharp I realized I was at the edge of the blaze.
Tears streamed down my face, trying to wash away the tainted smoke.
The fire was held in place by a ring of stones, huge chunks of clear quartz, each piece touching the next to make a perfect circle.
Positioned inside the quartz was a second, smaller circle made of malachite.
Alone, it was a beautiful crystal with healing properties but combined with the amplifying effects of the clear quartz, it would work alongside the henbane to overwhelm and disorient someone.
Oaks from my home. Henbane, clear quartz and malachite.
I should’ve let Wyn and Jackson investigate. Instead I had run straight into a trap. This fire had been set for me and me alone.
‘What do you want?’ I asked no one, the words spitting from my chest as I forced myself to focus. I had to stay present, I had to rise out of this moment, even as it tried to drag me under. ‘Who are you? Why are you doing this?’
There was no answer, only the spitting of the flames and another flourish of smoke.
Rolling onto my back, I reached deep into myself, seeking the source of my magic.
All my ancestors, all the witches who went before me, surely there was something I could do.
I couldn’t summon a wind or settle the elements, no ghosts rushed to my defence, and knowing what herbs were currently poisoning me did nothing to help me survive.
I had no idea how I’d slipped into the past at the Pirates’ House and every time I tried to heal myself, drawing energy from the sea and the sand, the henbane seeped deeper into my skin.
‘Help,’ I whispered as the sky above me disappeared, my eyes watering until I could not see. ‘Someone please help me.’