Total pages in book: 50
Estimated words: 47894 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 239(@200wpm)___ 192(@250wpm)___ 160(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 47894 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 239(@200wpm)___ 192(@250wpm)___ 160(@300wpm)
“More importantly, the Jeep is still missing,” he growled, brows furrowed, facing Giles, arms crossed, leveling a glare at the man that I was glad I had never been on the receiving end of. “What is going on?” Lorne demanded. “We need to know now.”
Giles moved so fast, I couldn’t even react, but he smashed his hand over Lorne’s left pectoral, in a motion, I was sure, meant to kill him.
“No,” I screamed, rushing toward them, then abruptly freezing as Lorne grabbed his hand, twisted it violently, braced the man’s arm with his other, and dragged him to the porch railing before throwing him over.
Giles Corey was not a small man, but Lorne threw him easily. And it wasn’t far, the snowbank cushioning his fall a bit, though with ice on top of the accumulation, there was a distinct crunching sound, and it did knock the wind out of him, as evidenced by him not moving.
“Wherever you came from,” Lorne began, pounding down the steps, “you need to go back and get the hell off my land.”
Giles rolled to his hands and knees, and I saw it then, the beast he was under his calm, genteel facade.
“How dare you try and take him from me!” I roared, skirting around Lorne before he could stop me, rushing down the steps, then over to the cobblestone path, now barely visible, but knowing by heart where it ended so I could step off.
Drawing wind to my hand, I cleared a small patch of snow, just large enough for me to crouch in, and then spoke to the earth, my land, and it was like new soil, soft, pliable, as I pressed my hands down.
I would do now what I never did in the dead of winter and wake the land from its slumber. It was needed, and when I called on it to kill the man who had threatened Lorne, it would come to my aid. Moreover, Giles Corey would feed and nourish Corvus, as he would be dragged deep and his blood and bones would be added to those of far more venerable ancestors.
“Wait, wait,” Giles pleaded, crawling quickly over to me. “It was an instinctive reaction to him challenging me. It was primal. I didn’t think, simply acted. Forgive me. Please forgive me.”
Lifting my head, I stared at him, and he scrambled back.
“I had no idea you were a branded witch, Xander Corey, or that your mundane husband was branded as well.”
“All that means is that if I weren’t, I’d be dead,” Lorne stated, reaching me and going down on one knee beside me.
“I wouldn’t have killed you,” he rasped at Lorne. “Only put you into a sleep that I alone could wake you…from.” He glanced around then, the color draining from his face. “We have to go inside.”
“We do, yeah,” Lorne confirmed curtly, taking hold of my hands, brushing the dirt from them before taking them in his. “Don’t freeze these off out here,” he ordered me. “I’m very fond of them.”
I exhaled sharply, feeling the anger wash through me and then drain down into the land. “I can’t be without you,” I husked.
“Same,” he said with a grin, then kissed my forehead. “Let’s go inside and figure out what the hell is going on.”
I nodded, and he stood and helped me up just as I heard some rustling.
“Xan,” Lorne whispered, and the fear in his voice had me searching for whatever it was that spooked him.
The low growl turned my head to the right where, outside of the light from the porch, something was standing in the shadows. And I was used to seeing animals step out of the night, but this was different. The eyes were much higher than I expected, but more importantly, the hand on the porch railing was human, while the other one stood out sharply against the snow behind it, covered in fur and ending in talons—the hand that had tried to drag me through the mirror earlier.
“Holy fuck,” Lorne gasped, tugging me after him as we ran up the stairs, through the door, and…were then right back where we’d started.
“No, no, no,” I moaned.
“The fuck did you do?” Lorne yelled at Giles, yanking me off my feet as hot, wet breath bathed the left side of my face and my right shoulder felt as though it was severed from my body. I wasn’t proud of my scream, but the pain wrenched it from my throat.
“Xan!” I heard, and that was all.
FOUR
Ismelled verbena, lavender, honey, and mint, and thought…my grandmother.
Opening my eyes, she was there, Enedina Corey, standing over me. She looked as radiant as I remembered, and taller from where I was lying on the cold ground.
“Oh,” was all I could think to say.
“My darling child, what have you done?”
I sighed deeply. “It’s so good to see you.”