Page 23 of Widow’s Walk

Amy shivered again, wrapping her arms around herself.

Rhiannon smiled faintly, almost amused. She turned to Matt. “I don’t need you to tell me about the bones, Sheriff,” she said. “The house already has. The pieces of their story are buried here, both literally and figuratively.”

Amy’s breath caught. “The protective spirit?”

Rhiannon nodded. “Yes. The bones are tied to her, and to him. They may hold the key to understanding why she’s still here, why she’s still protecting this place. What she feared. But there’s more to it. Something unfinished. Something…” She trailed off, her brow furrowing.

“What?” Kaitlin whispered, leaning in close.

Rhiannon’s frown deepened. “Dark. Violence occurred here. Not just with those young women, but before them. When these two spirits walked the earth as human beings.”

The room fell silent, the flickering candlelight casting eerie shadows on the walls. Amy’s heart thudded painfully as she tried to process Rhiannon’s words. It was all a bit much to take in.

Rhiannon stood abruptly. “I’d like to see the house now.”

Amy stood near the back of the formal living room, her arms crossed tightly over her chest as she watched the medium, with her silver-streaked hair and flowing scarf, glide through the room.

Rhiannon stopped near the large stone fireplace that dominated the parlor’s west wall, her palm outstretched. Her lips moved, but the words were too soft for Amy to make out. Kaitlin, standing next to Amy out of the camera’s view, leaned in eagerly to hear.

“This is incredible,” Kaitlin whispered to Amy. “She’s so in tune with the space. I mean, I don’t know if I believe it all, but…” She trailed off, biting her lip as Rhiannon opened her eyes and turned toward the group.

Amy offered her a faint smile. She wasn’t sure what she’d expected from this séance and walk through, but it definitely wasn’t this. The house itself felt different tonight, more alive than usual, as though it didn’t appreciate the intrusion of cameras, sound equipment, and the woman in a scarf whispering to its walls.

“Do you feel that?” Rhiannon asked, her voice low and lilting. She ran her fingers along the edge of the mantle slowly.

“Feel what?” Matt whispered to Sully, leaning casually against the far wall. Amy silenced him with a scowl, catching the way both men scanned the room, watching for… something, even though they clearly weren’t engaged in this process.

Rhiannon tilted her head. Her eyes were sharp, but her expression serene. “Her energy,” she said simply. “It’s thick, like a blanket. Protective… nurturing. Guarding.” She walked around the room.

Amy shifted her weight, her arms tightening over her chest as she glanced toward the tall windows that overlooked the front lawn. The glass reflected the dim light of the room, turning the windows into dark mirrors. She’d spent months in this house as they scraped away years of neglect, and she’d felt that same sense of safety and protection Rhiannon described. It was the reason she’d fallen in love with the place.

But tonight, with the cameras and the crew and the strange buzz in the air, it felt… off. Changed.

“Something changed in here recently,” Rhiannon echoed Amy’s thoughts, her voice soft but insistent. She turned slowly and swept her gaze over the room as if listening to something only she could hear. “There’s an opening. A weakness.”

Amy’s stomach tightened.

Rhiannon’s steps slowed as she moved toward the windows that covered the opposite wall with a view out to sea. The camera crew followed close behind. Amy hesitated for a moment before stepping after them.

The room was still half finished; the floors had been stripped down to the subflooring, and the walls patched with fresh plaster. Rhiannon stopped abruptly in front of the new French doors at the center of it all. Her hand hovered over the bass handle but didn’t quite touch. She inhaled sharply, her shoulders stiffening.

“This,” she blurted. “This is new.”

Amy felt the blood drain from her face.

“Yes,” she said carefully, stepping forward.

“We installed the door a few weeks ago.” Sully’s low voice rumbled from back of the room. “There was a window there before.”

“It didn’t make sense to keep it. The porch was completely cut off from the house,” Amy added.

Rhiannon turned to her, her eyes narrowing. “It didn’t make sense to keep it? Or it didn’t make sense to you?”

Amy bristled slightly, but before she could respond, Rhiannon pressed her palm flat against the door.

“This door,” Rhiannon said sharply, “is an opening. Not just physically, but spiritually. It’s like you’ve cut a hole in the house’s shields. Shields that were keeping something out. You’ve all seen them, here in the house. The protections.”

Kaitlin gasped softly. The symbols they’d found.