Total pages in book: 149
Estimated words: 139076 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 695(@200wpm)___ 556(@250wpm)___ 464(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 139076 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 695(@200wpm)___ 556(@250wpm)___ 464(@300wpm)
Fox pressed a soft kiss to the shell of Winter’s ear and whispered, “That woman loved you with all her heart, and she understands your pain.”
Winter closed his eyes, sending fresh tears down his cheeks. The old pains didn’t seem as sharp this time, and he prayed Fox was right. He recalled the ghost of his mother standing in Marcus’s foyer, smiling at him. She smiled at all her sons as they passed. Maybe Fox was right.
“Thank you,” Winter whispered.
“Thank you for trusting me with this.” Winter opened his eyes to see Fox staring at him with a sad smile on his lips. “It’s clear we both have mommy issues.”
A choked laugh escaped Winter, but it felt good, as if it were clearing out the last of the bad air in his lungs. He roughly wiped his face, but he surprisingly didn’t feel embarrassed for crying in front of Fox. If there was anyone who understood, Fox did.
“Will you sleep in here tonight?”
Fox looked toward the door and sighed heavily. “I might as well. My room is so far away.”
Winter rolled his eyes before reaching over and turning off the lamp on his nightstand. Fox got settled under the blankets and automatically turned onto his side. Smiling, Winter sidled up behind him, spooning him with his arm thrown over Fox’s waist.
The darkness folded in close around them and Winter relaxed to the sound of Fox’s steady breathing. He could smell Fox, feel his warmth. Just something about having him there in the darkness, in his space, made everything…right.
Chapter 24
Fox was struggling to sit still in his seat. The closer they got to the witch’s house, the more frayed his nerves became. Of course, it had been stupidly easy to find that damn woman on the internet. She was listed in the freaking white pages, for fuck’s sake!
Who the hell does that in this day and age? Fox shook his head. A witch who doesn’t give a shit, that’s who.
He wouldn’t be surprised if half the people in the white pages were witches, vampires, or some other dangerous creature just daring stupid humans to come fuck with them.
Cheryl was barely more than an hour north of them in middle-of-nowhere Massachusetts. Fox had tried to find out something about the town online, but it looked like there was nothing more there than a couple of stores, a diner, and a gas station. And lots of fucking trees.
Normally Fox loved being out in nature, but the idea of being completely isolated while going up against a powerful witch didn’t set his mind at ease. Not that he’d feel all that much better about the situation if he were meeting with her in busy Times Square.
Why the hell did she have to be so close?
He was going to miss his Rocky Mountains and bright blue skies of Colorado, but it was all worth it to be close to Winter in Connecticut. But the idea of moving east had soured a little in his mind with the knowledge that Cheryl was so close at hand. Not that he thought she’d come looking for him after this meeting—assuming he survived the meeting. No, he would. Winter was with him. His lover would never allow anything to happen to him.
The GPS chimed again, announcing their destination was on their left in two miles.
Fox was going to throw up.
Was it too late to come up with a new plan? A new way to reach Zelda? Not that another witch was necessarily better, but at least Zelda hadn’t tried to kill him already.
“Any last words of advice before we head in?” Winter asked.
“Don’t eat or drink anything she gives you,” Fox immediately replied.
Winter snorted. “Yeah, definitely not going to do that. Anything else?”
“Stay calm. Don’t provoke her. Keep it all short and to the point. The faster we’re in and out, the less chance we have of pissing her off.”
“What about my gift? Do you think she could see me if I used it?”
Fox’s eyes widened as horror streaked through him. “Don’t! Don’t use it unless you absolutely have to.”
“Really?”
“Yeah. I have no idea if she can see ghosts or if she could see you, but I can’t think of a faster way to piss her off. Do you really want to try to sneak up on a witch? Fuck that.”
Winter reached across and placed his hand on Fox’s knee. “Breathe, baby. I’m not going to sneak up on her, I swear. I just wanted to know what my options were.”
Fox sucked in a few deep ragged breaths, trying to calm down his racing heart. “I’m sorry. You’re right.”
“Do you want to stay in the car while I go in to talk to her?”
“Yes, I would love to stay in the car. I would love to be anywhere but here. Even back at Damon’s. But there is no way in hell I’m letting you go in there alone. I’m sorry I’m such a fucking coward—”