AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Epilogue
Rowan
My cell phone rings, and I put down the wedding planning magazine. It’s Ven, calling all the way from Costa Rica. It’s been almost half a year since I’ve seen her. After everything that had happened, she’d needed a break—as far away from Raven’s Roost as she could get.
“Hi!” I say. I lean back in my chair at the kitchen side-table and kick my feet up on the chair opposite. The smell of potatoes and sausage sizzling in the skillet tantalizes my senses. “How’s the beach?”
Ven and I talk several times a week on the phone. She’s become nearly as irreplaceable in my life as Xander. I’m planning on asking her to be my witch-of-honor at the wedding. I miss her, a lot, but I understand why she needs some time away from this place.
“The beach is great,” Ven says. “It’s always great.”
Her tone doesn’t match her words at all. I sense a but. “Is everything okay?”
Xander, who’s standing across the kitchen making brunch—and looking sexy as hell in an apron—turns around, a look of concern on his face.
“Well,” Ven says, “There have been some strange things happening here.”
My heart skips a couple of beats. “What kind of strange things?”
“My roommate down here went missing a few days ago. And I heard another witch was missing, too, and then a faerie.”
I can hear the worry in her voice and imagine the way she always wrinkles her nose and bites her lower lip when she’s distressed. I frown. Poor girl can’t get a break, apparently. “That’s awful! I’m so sorry. What can we do to help?”
Xander comes to stand behind me, resting a hand on my shoulder and giving me a comforting squeeze. I look up and offer him a smile of gratitude.
“I know you and Xander have been working on building a network of supernaturals to help with things like this.” She hesitates, as if conflicted about bothering us.
“We can find someone to help, for sure,” I say. I hate the idea that she thinks it’s a burden to ask. “Don’t worry about it. That’s what friends are for.” I look up at Xander. “Who do we know in Costa Rica?”
I cover the phone with one hand and tell him what she said. He gestures for me to put it on speaker, so I do. “Hi, Ven,” he says. “I think I know someone who can help you. He’s a bit… unconventional. But he’s aces at tracking people and has a lot of connections in the supernatural underworld.”
“And you trust this man?” Ven asks.
She sounds dubious. Probably at the mention of underworld. I can’t say that I blame her. I drum my fingers anxiously on the wooden surface of the table.
“Absolutely,” Xander says. “We’ve been in some tough jams and he’s always come through for me. Plus, he owes me a favor. A big one.”
“Okay,” she says, sounding relieved. “Thanks so much.”
“Of course,” I respond. “I’d do anything for you. And if you need us to come down there…”
“I think I’ll be okay,” Ven says. “Especially with Xander’s friend.”
“Just so you’re not taken off guard, Ven,” Xander says, shooting me a sidelong glance, “I should warn you about the unconventional part.”
“Oh?” Ven and I say at the same time.
“Well, he’s half-demon,” Xander says.
My breath catches in my lungs.
“A demon?” Ven echoes.
“Half.”
There’s a silence on the other end of the line. Then Ven says, “That’s going to be tough, considering I was abducted by a horned demon less than half a year ago and came down here to escape the memory of it.”
I close my eyes for a moment in pain. I wish more than anything that I could undo what happened to Ven. That I could bring back each of the women that Aleric had killed.
