Page 4 of Kat Bethel

“Check your email,” Willow finally said.

I scanned the room one more time to make sure nothing would jump out at me the second I was distracted. I tried to open the email, but the internet stopped on the loading screen.

One bar.

Static broke Willow’s voice when I put the phone back to my ear and she said,“Your husband’s been calling me.”

I tried to swallow the rock in my throat and failed. My hand clenched around the phone. “Good for him.”

Boiling hot rage gathered in my chest and threatened to burst free, all while something cold and heavy threatened to suffocate me. I took another deep breath, in through my nose, trying like hell to focus on the here and now.

I didn’t burn an entire house down just to let him continue to occupy my thoughts.

The shadows shook, as if they felt how my insides quaked like a storm just waiting to burst free and cause hell.

“I don’t know what happened, but I told him you were out working. Wasn’t sure how you wanted to play whatever this is.”The call quality went back to normal with a pop that hurt my ears.

She always had my back, even when she didn’t know what the situation was. My ride or die.

I walked around the room with the candle, letting the smoke fill every corner.I banish negativity from this space.

Banished him from my thoughts was more like it. “Esme? She had to abandon her hunt?”

“Her hunt is over.”She sighed with enough exhaustion that I knew it hadn’t gone well. Not that anyone thought it would. The last thing Esme needed was to worry about me.“You’ve missed a lot.”

“I’m sorry.”

Useless words that did nothing to change the fact that I’d made a grieving mother’s life harder.I’m sorry, Esme.

“Shut it.”She didn’t have the energy to put her normal fire into it.“This place is a known problem in the archives.”

“Yeah?” Why hadn’t we taken care of this place then?

“It’s normally contained.”She hummed, like she did when she was reading over something that doesn’t make sense.

The lights went off, blinding me with sudden darkness. The flame of the candle held strong, as the walls closed in tight around me. Every breath was a struggle as if all the oxygen had been sucked out of the room.

The shadows grew darker around me, as if they needed to snuff out what little light I had left, only to realize it was the candle they were after. There was a sense that someone was leaning over my shoulder, to get closer to the flame.

My heart pounded as I reached for some sage from my tool belt. The deep inhale over the candle made the flame flicker.

What the fuck!

A heavy weight briefly rested on my back, and the urge to jerk away hit hard. It took everything inside me to stay in place and not flail like prey.

The lights came back on even stronger than before, making the room hum to life. By the time my eyes adjusted the shadows were back to normal, as if it was all a figment of my imagination.

Except for the exhale of release that came from everywhere and nowhere all at once.

This didn’t make sense.

Lemon balm would have no effect on any monsters lurking. This ritual was for me. Why did it retreat, though?

Willow continued, not realizing what happened,“There is an abandoned settlement in town, known for being destructive, but our ancestors refused to take action.”

Slow, lazy footsteps climbed up the wall with deliberate steps.

“The local authorities keep people out. It’s an actual law in town.”