Total pages in book: 122
Estimated words: 114557 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 573(@200wpm)___ 458(@250wpm)___ 382(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 114557 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 573(@200wpm)___ 458(@250wpm)___ 382(@300wpm)
“I wanted you to see the front of the house first. It takes your breath away the first time.”
“My breath is still missing.” Wiley looked at the grand staircase that twisted up to the next floor, glad Baer wasn’t leading him there. He had a few quirks he still hadn’t mastered with his obsessive-compulsive disorder, and stairs were the worst. “This place is fabulous.”
“Yeah, it is. Come on. We’ll go find the others,” Baer started guiding him through the house again with a wave of his hand. “They could be outside already. We have a clearing in the woods where we practice our magic. But I doubt they’re out there yet since they’re waiting on doughnuts. Hope the aunts aren’t too disappointed.”
Wiley’s head perked up. Was there even more to this family? “Aunts?”
“It’s what we call the goddesses.”
Sounded like an innocuous name for supernatural beings, but what did Wiley know? All he was sure of now was that anxiety had tied him into knots. He wanted these guys to like him, and he hadn’t even met them yet. He wanted to be a part of a brotherhood and have powers. Nothing in his life had ever been this exciting. It all seemed way too crazy to be real. He was clinging to the notion that he saw a man turn into a cougar. That should be proof enough.
They walked around the staircase and into a grand living room with windows along the back wall letting in tons of sunlight. Voices sounded from the left, and they followed them into a family room where three men milled about. Two of the men sat close on the brown couch, while another stood by the windows.
Everyone eyed him curiously, and he fought off the urge to squirm. He’d hoped for a deep sense of connection when he was finally faced with them, but all he felt was nervous. The two on the couch were nearly in each other’s laps, so they were likely Clay and Dane.
Baer cleared his throat. “Guys, this is Wiley. He’s one of us.”
One of the men got up off the couch and approached him with his hand out. He was tall, easily over six feet and big, with black ink down one arm revealed by his blue T-shirt. “Hi. I’m Clay Green.” As he got closer, his brows met in a frown. They shook hands as Clay looked over his shoulder at the other tall man by the windows.
This man was slimmer and as he came forward, he proved to be just as tall as Clay. Slight hints of gray marked the hair at his temples. This man shook his hand as well, but he was also frowning. He kept glancing between Baer and Wiley, and his lips suddenly twitched.
“I’m sorry I didn’t get the doughnuts,” Baer said. “There were pestilents at the shop, and I ended up having to fight to get us out of there. But I brought something better. I brought one of our brothers.”
Clay took a step back and shook his head. Even before Clay opened his mouth again, Wiley’s stomach dropped to his feet, and disappointment swamped him in one massive wave. He knew exactly what was about to come out of Clay’s mouth.
“Hate to tell you this, Baer, but he’s not one of us.”
Chapter 3
No!
Baer’s stomach twisted. It was like someone had kicked him in the chest. This didn’t make any sense. Wiley had to be one of them. One of the aunts had obviously sent Wiley to the bakery. The exact same bakery Baer had been sent to. It was all part of their crazy, secret plans.
There had been the strange feeling when he first saw Wiley.
“I’m sorry, Baer. He’s not one of us,” Clay said with a shake of his head.
Baer looked from Clay to Grey, who was staring at Wiley with a speculative expression. “Grey?” he prodded.
The Soul Weaver’s powers allowed him to see into the very soul of a person, to read their past and other bits of critical information. He couldn’t imagine what he was seeing inside of Wiley, but there had to be some hint as to whether Baer had made an enormous mistake.
“Sorry, Baer.”
“No!” he shouted out loud this time. “That can’t be right. One of the aunts told him to go to the bakery. Jo told us we had to go to that bakery. We were put on a collision course so that we could meet him.”
Dane stood and shoved some of his light-brown hair from his eyes before wrapping one arm around Clay’s waist, a sweet smile on his face. “Are you sure it was an aunt?”
“What?” Baer choked out, but their attention was now on Wiley, who was looking as if he were wilting in front of Baer’s eyes. The guy had been so enthusiastic in the Jeep on the way to the plantation. He’d soaked in every word Baer spoke. But now his brothers were saying that this guy wasn’t a part of their brotherhood. No! It wasn’t fair to him.