Total pages in book: 69
Estimated words: 68024 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 340(@200wpm)___ 272(@250wpm)___ 227(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 68024 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 340(@200wpm)___ 272(@250wpm)___ 227(@300wpm)
“Yeah, no one suggested this was a good thing,” Lorelei adds.
“That’s not what I meant. I’m just saying, there aren’t many Navajo in this area. At least, that I’m aware of.”
“Doesn’t mean they aren’t here,” Giles says. “Although why anyone would be here for a couple of hundred years just to kill one witch each year is beyond me.”
“Maybe they don’t live here,” I suggest. “Maybe they just come here from wherever and then leave once the job is done.”
“Like a hitman?” Breena asks with a frown. “That seems weird, even for us.”
“Generations of Navajo witches, making the journey to Salem just to kill one of us every year. That doesn’t seem plausible.” Giles looks over to Breena. “You’re right.”
“But it could be any witch who can shift,” Lorelei points out, frowning at Xander. “Just because you choose things like cats and birds doesn’t mean that someone with a dark spirit couldn’t or wouldn’t do creepier things. Are you considered a skinwalker? Isn’t it just another term for shifter?”
“I’m absolutely not a skinwalker,” Xander says, shaking his head emphatically. “What I do isn’t meant to hurt anyone or impact them in any way. It’s just a form of transmogrification. But what you suggest could happen. I think we’re quickly learning that anything can happen.”
“You know what?” I decide right on the spot. “Screw waiting for tomorrow morning to call Miss Sophia. I’m calling now.”
I reach for my phone, open my contacts, page down to her name, and hit FaceTime.
After just a few moments of ringing on the other end, Sophia answers, and her sweet smile is a balm to my overstimulated nervous system.
“Well, Lucy. How lovely to see you.” But her eyes narrow on my face. “Oh, dear.”
“Yeah. It’s lovely to see you, too, but this isn’t just a leisurely phone call. We’ll do that soon.”
“I hope so. How can I help?”
“Well, first of all, I’m not here alone. I have a room full of people with me.”
I introduce the others one at a time, stopping when I get to Jonas.
“This is Jonas. And what I’m about to tell you is a story that you may not believe.”
“I’d like to hear this story.”
The others are quiet as Jonas and I tell Sophia about the curse of the blood moon. When we’re finished, Sophia blinks, takes a deep breath, and then blows it out slowly.
“This is absolutely fascinating,” she says at last. “I can’t say it’s anything I’ve heard of before, but I’m in a very different part of the country. Let me ask around and do some reading.”
She scowls as if she’s frustrated.
“What is it?” Xander asks her.
“Well, it’s peculiar. I’m completely blocked when I try to reach out and speak with Jonas’s guides or ancestors. It’s like the phone is just…disconnected. That’s not unheard of, but it is rare for me. I want you all to be very careful. This isn’t the kind of curse you simply play with. It’s powerful. More than any of us realize. I can feel that much. But it’s also not the only reason you’re reaching out to me tonight.”
“No,” I agree. “We’re also calling because of some other weird things that have been happening in Salem.”
“It’s almost Samhain, child,” she reminds me. “Of course, things are happening. And I hope you’ve reinforced your protective shields.”
“We have,” I rush to assure her. “And will continue to do so. But I have questions about skinwalkers.”
Miss Sophia’s eyes sharpen and narrow, and before she can ask questions, I tell her about the red dog and the fake Giles showing up at Breena’s home.
“Excuse me,” Miss Sophia says and sets down the phone. I glance at the others in surprise as we hear running water and see lights start to flicker around the room.
She lit candles.
“I’m sorry,” she says when she returns. “I needed to reinforce my protections here. What you speak of is not something I’ve ever heard your mother or aunts talk about before.”
“Us, either,” I agree.
“But we’ve never been a target before,” Breena adds. “Miss Sophia, could things like this have happened to Agatha and the hundreds of others who were murdered before, but they just didn’t say anything to anyone?”
“Agatha would have told her sisters,” Miss Sophia insists, completely dismissing anything to the contrary. “I can’t imagine that any witch wouldn’t confide in someone they trust after seeing something like that. It has to be frightening.”
“What if they didn’t know?” Xander asks. “What if they didn’t realize that’s what they were seeing?”
“Possible,” she says slowly. “But unlikely.”
“We didn’t know that the thing at Breena’s door wasn’t Giles,” I insist. “Miss Sophia, it was Giles in every way—his mannerisms, even his voice.”
“But Giles would never have said, ‘you won’t invite me in?’ He never would have asked it that way.”
“No,” Giles agrees. “I wouldn’t have.”