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A low growl came from Ezra’s throat, surprising me. “Now isn’t the time to withhold information. Speak.”

“You’re not the first I’ve seen.” My jaw clenched. I didn’t want to tell him anything, but his icy eyes dared me to defy him.

“What?” Zeke hopped off his stool, leaning to peer around Ezra.

“I always thought I was insane, like Grandma and Mom, but I think I’ve seen your kind before.”

“How?”

I looked up at Ezra. Was I really about to lay all my cards on the table about the disturbing things I’d seen throughout my life?

Before they could force me to expose what I once thought were inherited delusions, my ringtone cut through the tension.

Hopping off the stool, I rounded the counter and grabbed my cell phone from beside the Keurig. Glancing at the screen, I groaned. I didn’t want to deal with Patricia this early on top of four demons.

Demons. Real, honest-to-goodness demons… A hysterical laugh bubbled up inside of me, but I pushed it down when the phone went silent.

I couldn’t exactly call the cops on them, and it didn’t seem like they’d take it too kindly if I tried forcing them out—if I could even do such a thing to demons.

When I noticed Zeke, Ezra, and Ash watching me, I turned my back to them and answered as the phone started ringing again.

“It’s about time you answered. Do you know how rude it is to make someone wait?”

I stepped to the other side of the kitchen as Ash’s brows knit, as if he heard Patricia.

“Are you listening to me?”

“Yes, Patricia. I’m listening.”

“My God. I don’t know how you get anything done, always stuck in your flighty thoughts.” Patricia’s long-suffering sigh pulled my attention away from Zeke, who sat frowning at me. “I don’t have time for this today.”

You’re the one who called me…

I looked up at the ceiling, resisting the urge to argue. I bit my tongue more often than I spoke to her.

“Your uncle and I have a dinner party to attend this evening, and I already have to stop by the funeral home after I finish with you,” Patricia said, bitterness sharp on the last word. “My whole day is derailed after this mess with Bonnie.”

“Wait, what? Funeral home? What mess with Grandma?”

“That woman. I swear she was waiting for today to pull this. She knew this party was an important fundraiser. I had to cancel my blasted hair appointment this afternoon—”

“Patricia!”

She spluttered. “Excuse me? Don’t you yell at me. I have enough to deal with without your disrespect.”

Picking my battles, I said, “I’m sorry. But what’s going on?”

“Bonnie had an episode last night.”

Warmth surged over my skin, making me shiver, and goose bumps peppered my arms.

“She kept screaming over and over,” Patricia said, pausing. “You know… she kept saying your name. Did you call her?”

“No,” I whispered, barely able to speak over the rising bile in my throat.

“Well, she kept hollering about how ‘they’ found you and a bunch of other nonsense. Tim and I tried to calm her down, but she wouldn’t have it. She kept saying she needed to get to you and keep the shadows away. More of that witchcraft madness.” She sighed. “There was nothing we could do. She wouldn’t calm down, and we were out of sedatives. She had a seizure, and by the time the paramedics got here, she slipped into a cardiac episode.”

I slapped my hand over my mouth to stifle the choked cry threatening to escape.