AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Or they were.” Stone doesn’t elaborate. “If Nolan got out today, the killer could have too, and we don’t know how long the sow’s been dead. Could be minutes. Could be hours. Only an autopsy by someone used to dealing with shifter healing will tell us. Do me a favor. My woman thinks the world of you, and she has lost all the family she ever had except you, Dottie, and me. Stay safe. Don’t let her lose you too.”
“I can do that,” I promise.
“You good this close to the swamp and the sea hags?” He stares over the water and its stillness that hides so much.
“The sea hags don’t scare me. We’re kin of sorts.” The spirits of women suspected of witchcraft, the sea hags were killed by humans—whether they’d practiced any spellcraft or not. “Another time or place, and I could’ve been one of them.”
“But you have your kin right here in your sisters. Chase and me too if you’ll have us. More importantly, you’re a Fury needing revenge. If Nolan’s right, you’ll get it.”
“If he solves the case before we’re all kicked out of Syn City for the Huntresses to turn it into their own private shooting preserve.”
“We have days yet to fight that battle. Let’s just get through tonight.” He turns to head back toward Kiva, stops, and looks at me. “The marshal asked for your help. You willing to give it to him?”
Do I want to remember whatever it is that my mind might have blocked to protect me? No. But will I try? “Yeah. I’ll do whatever it takes to stop this insanity.”
Stone walks away, and I stay alone where the ground meets the water among the cattails and lilies that shouldn’t have the fluorescent glow that they do when the moon hits them just right. A sea hag glides through the water toward the shore. I don’t move. As I told Stone, the hags invoke a lot of feelings for me but not fear.
According to the legends, she can’t see, but she can hear. Perhaps she can sense me the same way I do her. With long, stringy, dark hair and a greyish face, I wonder how she looked in her first life. Had she been tan-skinned like my sister Hazel or as fair as my mother? Did she enjoy working with plants the way I do? Or cooking love into her spells the same as she did her suppers? I sit and stare at her, searching for answers that I don’t really want. Because if my family’s here, if my mother or sisters are here, no amount of revenge will be enough to give them justice.
A shimmering blue orb floats over the water, and I glance behind me. Nolan holds another magical light in his hand, the swirling green resting above his palm. “Neat trick the Nymphs have with their glow balls. They offered me a shiny stick to go with them.” He snickers. Men.
“Of course the Nymphs turn sacred powers into dick jokes.”
“They seem sweet enough but like I said, not my type.” He stares at the water. “Is that a sea hag?” His hand goes to his weapon. Stupid wolf. Still carrying a firearm in a deity daughter town.
“Don’t bother her, and she won’t bother you. At least not while I’m here.”
“I heard they drag their victims to the bottom of the swamp and drown them so they’ll have company.”
“They used to be humans. Or witches. Maybe a bit of both.”
He steps next to me, his boots almost touching the water. “Like you?”
“Exactly like me.” I don’t give him time to ask more questions about that. “Besides, we both know you’re more scared of itty bitty snakes than real monsters.”
“Woman, you’re mean enough that a snake wouldn’t dare slither this way just to bite me.”
His low chuckle works a kind of magic on me that has nothing to do with spells or witches. I glance up at him, the way his strong jaw and whiskey eyes reflect in the light, and I’m so glad he’s here and safe. That he wasn’t the one the killer went after. No matter how selfish or insensitive that makes me. I can’t lose anyone else. “Don’t you dare die on me,” I whisper.
“Same.” There’s a brokenness to his voice, a vulnerability I haven’t heard before. “You’ve already done it once. I can’t live through it again.”
It’s time to let go of old resentments, fears, and the crap ton of emotional baggage that comes with it. “Let’s see if we can knock some memories loose and find my killer.”
13
NOLAN
Sadie by the water shouldn’t stir everything in me, but it does. Finding her here soothed the fear I’ve had in the hours since I heard about the latest murder. My wolf has paced with the need to see her, and my fox wanted to say screw the investigation and get back to our mate. This many personalities fighting for space within me is exhausting, and I’ll be wiped before I can sleep again with knowing I let another shifter down.
“What do you mean knock your memories loose?” I ask. “You don’t remember the murder.” Or at least that’s what she told me. Had she lied?
“The therapist who treats the Furies.” She stops and gives me a don’t judge look. “I mean the Syndicate pays her to consult with all seven Houses, but she says we need her most.”
I’m not judging in the least. Hell, I’m glad they have someone on staff who’s trained to deal with trauma. “Makes sense given that every one of you was a murder victim.”
“She says I might be repressing some of my memories about that day.” Again, she stares at the water instead of going on with the explanation, and the worry coming off her in waves through the mating bond doesn’t surprise me.
“I would block every memory of that day if I could, and I was only there for the aftermath.”
