“Everyone is fine,” Hale soothes. “I promise. We’re all just worried sick about you.”
I tighten my grip on the phone. “I’ll be able to see you on the weekend.”
“Which is a month in the covenstead.” Hale’s voice drops to a harsh reprimand, but I know he’s pissed at the witches, not me.
“Hale.” A cold shiver crawls up my spine, and I swallow. “Something happened here. Something that’s never happened before. I just got so mad and…”
There’s a long pause on the other end, and I’m afraid the call got disconnected.
But then Hale curses colorfully and says, “I was afraid that would happen.”
“Wait. What?”
“Izzy.” Hale’s voice turns urgent. “When you get back here, we need to—” Static. “He’s going to—” Static. “She didn’t want you to—” Static.
“Hale! Hale, you’re breaking up. Hale!”
Silence.
I glance at the phone in dismay, but the call has been dropped, and there are no bars. Whatever Soraya did to allow me that phone call, my time has run out.
Panic beats in my chest like a snare drum.
What was Hale trying to tell me? And where are my mates and friends? I should’ve demanded a better explanation. Fuck. Fuck.
Fuck!
I look around the room again. There have to be more answers here.
My gaze lands on a bookshelf, stacked with old, worn books. I move towards the shelf and run my fingers along the spines. Most of the titles are in a foreign language…except for one. It’s the thicket volume and protrudes over the edge of the shelf, like it wasn’t meant to be put there in the first place.
Tentatively, I grab the tome and trace the gold lettering on the cover.
Creatures of Myth and Magic.
I flip it open, scanning the pages as I perch on the edge of the bed, the weight of the book in my lap. The very first entry discusses shifters—reiterating what Christian told me in his office when I discovered that the supernatural exists.
“What do you want me to find, Soraya?” I murmur as I gingerly flip through the pages.
Witches.
Vampires.
Banshees.
Reapers.
Gargoyles.
Golems.
It’ll take me days to finish this.
I hug the book to my chest as determination floods me.
I’ll read every last page of this book if that’s what it takes. Something’s happening to me, and Soraya… Hale… They all know what thatsomethingis.
I stare at the intricate symbols surrounding the text on the cover.
