Total pages in book: 76
Estimated words: 71312 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 357(@200wpm)___ 285(@250wpm)___ 238(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 71312 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 357(@200wpm)___ 285(@250wpm)___ 238(@300wpm)
“I agree,” Ethan admits and puts the safety back on the gun before tucking it into the back of his pants. “If something is trying to lure you outside of your own warding then it wants to attack.”
“Makes sense, right? I have an advantage here.” I wait a beat, listening for Hunter again. He’s doing one more round just to be sure nothing is out there.
“I’m going to check the cameras,” Ethan tells us and goes back into the kitchen. “Hunter didn’t hear a car drive by or anything?”
“No,” I say as I follow him. The food is getting cold, and we have no reason not to eat right now. I take my seat and mix my rice in with my veggies. “He felt the same thing I did.”
“Which was a shift in energy?” Ethan perches on the edge of a bar stool as he pulls up the security system app on his phone.
“Yeah. That’s really it,” I offer with a shrug. “I can’t describe it better. Energy itself isn’t good or bad. It’s what you do with it.”
“Could it be that ghost?” Nik gets the honey from the panty and goes back to his plate. I realized right away that adding honey or sugar—sometimes both—to everything is a faery thing. Fae immortality must come with some sort of cavity protection because my teeth hurt just looking at his food half the time.
“I really doubt it,” I answer. “I’ve been a medium my whole life and can count the times ghosts sought me out specifically on one hand. But I’ll find out tomorrow when I go check it out.”
“I’ll go instead,” Ethan says without looking up from his phone. “If something is trying to draw you out, then you should stay here.”
“I’m not hiding out at the house,” I immediately counter.
“Something is going on, Anora. Laying low for a day or two makes sense.”
“You were the one arrested for murder,” I remind him.
“Falsely arrested.”
I press my lips together in a smile and roll my eyes. “Of course, falsely.” Hunter shadows onto the back porch, shifting into dog-form. I get up and unlock the door, letting him in. His tail wags when I bend down, scratching under his chin. He pretended to be a real dog for so long I think he got used to it. “The Ley line’s main artery runs through the center of town. But it has little veins that runoff, if you will, and some of them are closer to the surface than others. There’s a hot spot nearby,” I remind Ethan. I’ve spent the last couple months studying the Ley line as much as I can, trying to comprehend the vast amount of power the thing carries.
“And it ebbs and flows,” I go on. My great-grandmother, JoAnna Lancaster, bought this house after moving away from her judgey family in New England. While I have no proof she was a witch, I don’t have any that proves otherwise either. Though since Estelle was raised as a witch in the area, it makes sense to assume her mother was the one to teach her about witchcraft. “I think that’s why this house was built in the first place, and why JoAnna bought it. She could use that hot spot.”
“And if it was a random fluctuation, then we have nothing to worry about,” Ethan states, though the look on his face tells me he doesn’t think this was random.
“And if it’s not?” Nik asks before eating a spoonful of honey.
“Then I should tell the High Priestess,” I answer. “As far as I know, tapping into the Ley line without the coven’s permission is against the rules. That’s why the Grim Gate Coven is here in Thorne Hill. And why Thorne Hill got its name. You know…all the magically grown thorn bushes were supposed to keep people from wanting to settle in this area.”
“But the Ley line was too alluring,” Nik goes on. “Both beautiful and dangerous. Like a woman.” He looks at me and winks. “You know the Fae have a healthy respect for Ley lines. Over the centuries, we’ve seen them corrupt both warlock and man.”
“Nons have tapped into the Ley line?”
Nik bobs his head up and down. “Many times, and it never ends well for them. It’s rather dangerous, really, when nons acquire a basic knowledge of magic but lack the ability to use it.”
His words hit me, and I look at Ethan, and his expression lets me know he’s thinking the same thing I am. If there’s anyone who knows all about magic but lacks the actual ability to use it, it’s the Order of the Mystic Realm.
Chapter
Eight
I hold my hand up to shield the sun from my eyes, debating on going inside for my sunglasses. It’s nearing nine o’clock and Ethan is installing more security cameras around the house. “You don’t think that’s a little overkill, do you?”