Total pages in book: 142
Estimated words: 134501 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 673(@200wpm)___ 538(@250wpm)___ 448(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 134501 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 673(@200wpm)___ 538(@250wpm)___ 448(@300wpm)
Emberlyn dumped her purse on the floor behind her seat. ‘No, but she loved annoying people. Said it fed her magick. And Gill, Dez and the others are peeved that she left something to non-relatives.’ Emberlyn gunned the engine. ‘Makes me wonder if there’s anyone else outside the family line who she’d included in her will for funsies.’
Driving to Reena’s home, Emberlyn couldn’t stop her thoughts from drifting back to Michael. Unlike his parents, she had no belief that he’d return one day.
There had been a time when she’d used magick to try to track him; when she’d joined regular search parties or even launched her own. But she had eventually accepted that he was lost.
Unlike shifters, werewolves didn’t have fated mates. They could claim people as their mates, but no preternatural link formed. It was no different from two witches handfasting.
She’d started dating Michael in high school. He’d claimed her a year after they’d graduated. They’d moved in together, started to build a life . . . but things had gone wrong. Horribly wrong.
His parents intellectually knew that there was nothing else for her to do but consider the mating null and void – all people did in her situation. Emberlyn got why they didn’t feel good about it, though.
Finally, they neared the Welcome to Bellcrest sign.
There were four neighborhoods in Chilgrave; some separated by large wooded areas, some so expansive their boundaries ‘bumped’ that of other neighborhoods. Bellcrest, filled with Georgian-style homes, was occupied by the majority of the coven.
Each of the three werewolf clans resided at the other neighborhoods – Ashwood, Cedargrove and Elmsbrook. But witches who were mated to a werewolf sometimes lived among their clan, and vice versa.
Emberlyn had lived in Bellcrest as a kid with her parents. Her years spent at Millicent’s manor had situated her just beyond the border of Bellcrest. Emberlyn hadn’t returned to the neighborhood at eighteen, not feeling inclined to rejoin the coven. Instead, she’d moved to the center of the town where the schools, stores and other businesses were located – it was considered neutral territory. Of course, she’d moved in with Michael at Cedargrove when they mated . . . only to return to her apartment in neutral territory after everything fell apart.
Though Chilgrave was reasonably small, anything a person could need would be available here. Which was good because it was hours away from civilization. The town couldn’t be found unless one knew where to look.
Even if any outsiders did manage to stumble upon it, they wouldn’t stay long. There was no cell phone service. No internet. No cable TV.
Personally, she couldn’t imagine having a cell phone. How did anyone get to read a book in peace? Or play the ‘I didn’t know you’d tried calling’ game when they wanted to dodge someone? How draining would it be to feel that you always needed to have something interesting to post on social media sites?
Fair play to them for living in that lane. Emberlyn never could.
‘There’s Mom and Dad,’ said Paisley, waving at the couple through the window.
Kage didn’t bother, keeping his gaze straight ahead.
‘Any progress with your parents?’ Emberlyn asked him.
‘Nope,’ he replied. ‘I’m enjoying the silent treatment while it lasts. They’ll soon be up in my shit, raving about how I’ll regret my choice one day. My only regret is not going through the Change sooner.’ His werewolf-lover had bitten him during sex a few months ago. Instead of using antivenom, he’d let the Change take him.
It did not surprise Emberlyn that Ethel and Thad Sanders were unhappy about their son’s decision. They didn’t have anything against werewolves per se, but they were among the few who considered wolves to be inferior to witches.
‘You don’t miss being able to talk to the dead?’ she asked Kage.
‘Fuck, no. I never got a minute’s peace, and I was tired of helping them cross over. How hard can it be to walk into a goddamn light? It’s not like you can miss it. It’s a light.’
Paisley tossed him a haughty sniff over her shoulder. ‘I still can’t believe you took the Change when you know I’ve been considering it for years. You’ve—’ She gasped as he splattered a teeny fly against the window with his hand. ‘You didn’t have to kill it.’
He wiped his palm on his pants. ‘I don’t like flies. I don’t like insects period.’
‘You need to have more respect for nature,’ Paisley reprimanded. ‘Your problem is that you can’t appreciate the beauty in anything. You should be more like me. There’s no hate in my heart. Only peace and love—’
‘And pure bullshit. You despise lots of stuff and lots of people. Including me.’
‘Why would you ever think that?’
‘Because you told me. Told me every day since you learned to speak.’
Emberlyn inwardly sighed. Neither of the twins were the type to hug, kiss or exchange kind words. Their love language was full of cursing and put-downs and teasing I-hate-yous. They had an airtight bond, but both went out of their way to irritate the other – a childhood habit they’d decided not to shake off, for whatever reason.