Chapter 39
Closing my eyes, I hold my hands over the crystal. “Ostende mihi viam,” I chant. Through my closed eyelids, I can see the light emanating from the stone. I imagine my parents’ faces and repeat their names in my head.
Felicity Blackwood.
David Blackwood.
Mom. Dad.
I open my eyes and look at the clear quartz crystal in the map in front of me.
I used a spell in the book to make this an enchanted compass.
The closer I get to what I’m searching for, the brighter it gets.
And I repeated the locator spell and have narrowed the area down to just a few blocks.
We parked in an empty lot on the first block, and we’re about to head out on foot.
“How do you know you’re close?” Xavier asks as I start walking down the sidewalk. It’s late, but not the middle of the night, so there are a few people out. If anyone sees what I’m holding, they’ll assume it’s some sort of battery operated toy.
“It glows brighter the closer we get, and dims as we get farther.”
“Great, we’ll be playing a game of magical hot-and-cold,” he huffs and I ignore him.
“Then it will glow red when we’re there.”
My heart is in my throat, and each beat gets me closer and closer to seeing my mother. Do I look like her? Sound like her? Maybe she’s a vegetarian too. What kind of magic does she like to practice? And what about my dad? Is he into sports?
I just have so many questions.
I was in Italy when I was found—rescued or kidnapped, I haven’t determined yet. I have dark hair and green eyes, which could make me be a bunch of different nationalities, but I wonder if we’re Italian. If so, is that why they named me Florence?
And what about my aunt? I bet she was one of those cool, rich aunts who didn’t want kids but spoiled me. I just have a feeling we’ll get along and hang out once the shock wears off that I’m still alive.
Oh my god, I’m going to have to tell them that I’m married to this vampire who’s following me like an overprotective puppy is my husband. What the heck will they think of that?
“Not this way,” I mutter when the crystal starts to dim. We go down a block only to turn around, and then the light starts to glow bright. We go another block. It’s even brighter. “We’re almost there!” I look up, blinking to adjust my eyes after staring at the crystal.
“Wren,” Xavier starts, hand landing on my shoulder. “Wait a second.”
“No, why would I?” I ask and pick up the pace, looking back down at the glowing quartz in my hand.
“Wren,” he repeats after I’ve gone a few yards ahead. He stops in front of me, forcing me to stop as well.
“What are you doing?”
He cups his hands around mine, blocking out the light, and steps in, brows furrowing. “There is a cemetery on the next block.”
His words bring the slightest shock to my system but I recover fast. “And houses all along this side.”
“Wren,” he says again, tone begging. I pull my hands from his and he shakes his head but lets me keep walking.
The light grows brighter and brighter. We’re on the side of the street with the houses, and a low stone fence lines the sidewalk across the street from us.
I can make out the dark shapes of different tombstones.
I start walking faster and faster as the light gets brighter and brighter.
But then suddenly, it starts to dim. I come to a halt and spin around. Did I go past the house? I go down the block again, and the light gets brighter…and then dims.
“What?” I ask, shaking my head. Xavier’s hand lands on my shoulder and he ushers me across the street so we’re walking next to the cemetery.
The light gets brighter.
My breath comes out in ragged huffs and I stare at the stone in my hands, too scared to look up. It gets brighter the second we step foot on the cemetery grounds.
“Maybe…maybe they live behind the graveyard,” I rush out. “Or they’re caretakers and live on the grounds.”
“Maybe,” Xavier says.
I swallow hard and watch the light take on a reddish hue as we go row after row through the graves.
“No,” I whisper as the light changes from a soft yellow glow to blood red. “No.” My heart feels like it’s going to fall out of my chest but I shake my head in denial, braining running a million miles a minute with reasons why they could be here and be alive.
“Wren, wait.” Xavier’s hands go to my shoulders, trying to stop me. He can see in the dark and I can’t, and he sees it before I do. I keep going, watching the red light glow brighter and brighter. I jerk my head up, eyes madly trying to adjust.
The crystal falls out of my hand, and I think I might throw up when the names on the graves come into focus.
Felicity it’s my Antonio. I quickly open the text and am stunned by what I read.
Buck and Gavin’s bodies were just found
Holy shit. What happened?
Like you don’t know
What? Why would I know? I haven’t seen them since that night at Maria Elena’s
Ask your husband then
WTF are you talking about?
Their bodies were found with their hearts ripped out
In a shallow grave
And you’re blaming Xavier for this??
Of course, I fucking am.
Xavier wouldn’t bury someone in a shallow grave.
Unless he wants them to be found to send a message. Think about it, Wren! I told you to be careful around him. He. Is. A. KILLER!!!!
I lower my hand, blinking to readjust my eyes to the dark after staring at my phone’s bright screen.
Xavier wouldn’t bury someone at all if he didn’t want them to be found.
But if he did…I look up in his direction.
He’s still standing by my family’s gravesite, his tall and muscular form just a black shadow in the night.
“Xavier,” I say, voice coming out a hoarse whisper. I push off the grave and start toward him. “Xavier,” I repeat. He hears me through the quiet of the night and rushes over.
“Wren,” he breathes, taking me in his arms.
“Xavier,” I say again before he has a chance to ask me anything. “Did you kill Buck and Gavin?”