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“To truly understand the power of the Magnus family you have to understand how interconnected they are to this island, to the people that live here, Nate.”
“Has there ever been another male witch or is Nate the first?” I roll my eyes at Nova’s question.
“No. Nate is our first.” That’s not entirely true but Annabeth doesn’t need to know ALL the details of my family’s past.
“If there’s nothing else, I’ll mosey on over to city hall and check-in.”
“Oh, no worries, Nate. We will take very good care of your Nova.” See, shit like that is why I’m shooting these looks at Annabeth and wondering yet again…how the hell do I get this woman off my island and get my life back the way it was before all of this…chaos she brought with her took over?
Chapter Six
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Nova
I spent the day with Annabeth and Ruth. They’ve introduced me to several people in town and I’ve actually found myself very entertained. I even forgot for a little while why I was on the island, especially when they took me to one of the many farms that offer a fair-like atmosphere with their pumpkin patches, pie contests, and corn mazes. The whole island goes big for Halloween.
When I get back to my room, it takes a call from my boss to remind me why I am here. The conversation has my whole mood changing and I go to bed looking for work with other newspapers. Surely, I can find a newspaper other than the Centennial to write for. It’s after midnight when a knock comes that jerks me from my sleep.
When the knock comes again, I stumble out of bed and open it without really looking to find out who it is first. When I pull the door back, Nate is standing in front of me in a soft-looking sweater and a pair of jeans that should not look that good on a person without it being a crime. It also looks like he hasn’t been asleep once tonight. The only sign of distress showing is the fact his hair is all rumpled and looks like he might have been raking his hands through it repeatedly.
His eyes do the same thing mine are doing, only to me. I can imagine what a hot mess I must look like standing in my night clothes. And I do not look like I have my shit together. I don’t look like I just stepped out of a fashion magazine’s photoshoot for fall. Instead, my hair is a crazy tangled mess, I have sleepy eyes that squint in the light coming from the hallway and I’m sure I look like I was doing exactly what I was…sleeping like the dead.
Nate gives me a cocked eyebrow like he might be asking me a question without actually having to ask it. It’s late and I don’t have the mental fortitude to play games with him. If he wants to ask me something…
“Do you open the door like this to everybody who knocks?”
My face melts into a frown. I do when I’ve only had a few hours’ sleep. Why is he so pissy? I’m the one who got woke up. It takes me a minute to realize what it means that I am in my nightgown. A nightgown that isn’t very thick and has been well-loved, so much so you can practically see through it.
“Shit.” I turn around to grab the robe I have thrown over the back of a chair close by the door. As I’m tying the belt, I finally break down and ask, “Can I help you with something?”
Or is this just torture for staying when you wanted me to go? I think it, but I don’t say it. I still need my interview with him. The fact he wants me to leave rankles. It miffs me bad.
“There’s been another one.”
It takes me longer than it should to follow him. Another one? Another witch? Another male who held the title of witch of the island before he did? When it finally hits me, my eyes widen and I burst into a flurry of movement. There’s been another murder?
“Oh shit! Where? Is it another girl? Another tourist?”
I’m jerking clothes out of drawers and getting ready when he puts his hand on my arm. I’m thankful he stopped me before I just dressed right in front of him in my rush to get all the details and go out to where the body was. However, I can do without the physical contact as it makes that weird electric thing happen all up and down my arm.
“She looks just like you. I think it’s time for you to le…”
I put my hand on his chest to move him backward and out of my room, “I’ll be down in ten minutes…,” I rethink, “five, five minutes.”
“To leave the island?”
“What? No. So you can take me to the crime scene.” Like I would leave now. Not when I may have just found the very thing I need to snag a job at another paper. Why is the man so damned hell-bent on me leaving? I understand we might have gotten off to a bad start but is that really the reason he wants me gone? Or is Nate Magnus hiding something, something much bigger than being a witch? Am I being cautious or rushing right into the waiting arms of something much worse, much darker, than any witch? Am I rushing into a final confrontation with a madman?
Chapter Seven
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Nova
It takes us almost all day to go over everything. Nate was right, the second dead woman looked just like the first minus the color of her eyes. She was a tourist too. The sheriff was the person who called Nate to tell him about the newest murder and sent him to check on me. Other than the time we spent in the truck on the way over, I’ve not seen much of Nate.
I followed the Sheriff for the most part, and then talked to the medical examiner by phone since they sent the bodies to the mainland coroner. I am headed back to the Sheriff’s Department when Nate pulls up beside me in his truck.
